A girls’ weekend to Phoenix

 Our overnight excursion to Phoenix almost got scuppered when Quinn had one of her stomach migraines about 30 minutes into the drive. She started feeling sick so I pulled off the highway and she and Laurie got out. She retched several times, poor kid. Then they got back in and we drove to a Fry’s (supermarket) that was not too far away so that Laurie could get some things she felt might help. Quinn gets these “stomach migraines” every few months. Quinn and I waited out in the car while Laurie and Mercy trolled the aisles and then queued at the checkout counters (early morning Saturday shopping in this heat brings everyone out at once). I confess I kept the car running for the a/c because it was already over 100 degrees.

I wasn’t sure whether we’d turn back or not. With a less determined soul than Laurie, we might have, and I was already wondering if I’d be able to get any money back on our hotel reservation. However, my daughter is steely when it comes to traveling and by the time she returned to the car, Quinn had fallen asleep anyway. So we continued to Phoenix with my audiobook of “Babel” playing. I offered to turn it off but Laurie had got hooked on the story (we are going to Bookman’s bookstore at some point so she can buy a copy.) 

The rest of the drive went fine and we decided to stop at our hotel before we did any shopping. The resort looks beautiful from the outside but it’s showing a lot of wear. I can’t fault that the a/c in our room is barely keeping the room coolish because, honestly, at 115 degrees what can I expect? I am grateful for any amount of “cool”. And, later, when we went to Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, even the mall felt quite warm on the top floors.

We had a very happy time mainly window shopping. The mall is full of very fancy shops like Prada and Gucci and Louis Vuitton. People watching there is fun, especially as this weekend is the opening for the Barbie movie so there were lots of trendy--Scottsdale is very well heeled--pink clothed, beautifully made up young and not-so-young wandering around. 

We went back to the hotel at around 6:30 to go down to the pool. It has a “river float” attraction, where you have a large inner tube and float down a man-made channel. The pool was packed of course, the water was tepid and I tried not to think too closely about the water quality. I reminded myself of the number of summers my family and I would head to Plattsburgh Beach, just over the border in New York State; the packed beach, the murky brown lake water. However I DID make sure I had a shower when we went back up to the room. The shower water was colder than the pool hahahah

We had a very late dinner at Cheesecake Factory. I asked Laurie to drive because I don’t see well at night. Hoping that improves in a couple of weeks. I confess I am still very nervous about the op. But onward, coraggio!