resort [re-sawrt]

a place to which people frequently or generally go for relaxation and pleasure
Synonyms include: haven, refuge retreat

I'm back on the road again. This time I'm in Phoenix for another conference. This is actually my THIRD time here; I remembered this morning. The first time was to support Tita Cecile and Fantone who ran a marathon, then I came back with a group of friends to watch Larnie graduate, and here I am again. Of all the places I thought I'd visit multiple times, Phoenix was not one of them. But it is very beautiful here, desert and all.

I flew Southwest, of course, because from Bob Hope Airport, the flight was 1 hour and 17 minutes! The plane wasn't crowded so I had a whole row to myself, which allowed me to move a seat further to get this shot =)

I LOVE seeing the geography from the air - the houses in straight or curvy lines and the patchwork of farmland of course. Such perfect squares and rectangles! I can barely draw a straight line by hand!

To keep me occupied because I didn't have the pleasure of anyone's company, I read...

...and listened to my music. Can't go wrong with Boyz II Men, though "Water Runs Dry" did seem inappropriate while heeding Phil Jackson's words so I switched to some classical sounds.

The hotel where I'm staying is GORGEOUS AND LOOK AT MY ROOM - how pretty!! And my bathroom is the size of a dorm room.

My balcony overlooks the front area of the hotel, and palm trees literally run along every path on this property.

I had been up since 5:30 am, and after I checked in, I had to set up our booth in the exhibit hall so I forgot how hungry I was at 1:45 pm! All I'd had to eat until then were two hashbrowns I bought at the airport. I know what you're thinking - breakfast of champions, right? I sat down and oh, what a feeling to have this perfect, cold glass of iced tea. I forgot how thirsty I was too.

Free wifi is only available in the lobby but it wasn't working for me when I tried. Thankfully, my trusty Palm Pre can be a mobile hotspot so I was all set. Here I'm enjoying my iced tea and catching up on my Laker news...I mean, work email =) There was actually a Laker game tonight and I wasn't sure how I was going to write the postgame recap if I couldn't watch the game. My smarty pants friend, Chris, showed me how to get a live feed so I caught the entire thing. Sadly, I was yelling at the computer screen all by myself in the hotel room. Sorry for the noise, neighbors. And because Phoenix is an hour ahead, I posted the came recap an hour early to the PST peeps =)

The restaurant area is located a floor below the lobby, kind of like a sunken living room. In this case, a SUPER SUNKEN living room. The ceilings and windows are so high that you feel like you're outside with all the light pouring in.

Roy's! If I'm daring, maybe I'll eat here this week, but I don't want to push my luck. Just because I'm here for work, doesn't mean I should abuse the spending "power."

Palm Trees...seriously, everywhere. And they're the thicker, leafier kind. Not like the tall, limp ones in L.A.

After I had something to eat, I walked around the back part of the hotel. There's a pond-ish/lake-ish area, with water running down this stream of stones. Seriously, one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in.

Check out this path of stones. It was a short little way, and as tempted as I was to walk it, like I'm really going to chance stepping wrong and hurting my ankle again. Although, if there was ever a time to sprain my ankle, this conference of orthopaedic surgeons might be able to help.

Here's the river, stream, brook (?) of stones with the running water. So pretty, right?

And there were these Q-tip like plants, and I have no idea what they're called but I'd like to find some back home and display it in front of my house. They're some of the most unique plants I've ever seen...and I just want to HUG ONE!

Foliage...testing out my apertures, ISOs and shutter speed =)

Flowers of all kinds everywhere. I don't know what these flowers are either but they're so pretty!

And in warm climates, of course, hibiscus, which always makes me long for another visit to Hawai'i...*sigh*

Birds of paradise - this one looks like it's posing for me!

There was a path of gravel by some area of trees and I just loved it! I took four different pictures and as similar as the rocks look, no picture every looked the same - amazing.

Right by the elevators was this HUGE window of stained glass. It reminded me of church, no?

My room is on the 6th floor and this is where all the halls look over onto - the lobby and lower area of the hotel. Doesn't it remind you of Daddy Warbucks' house in Annie or the Von Trapp's mansion in The Sound of Music?!

And of course, here I am in the elevator. Bad thing about traveling alone is that there are never any pictures of myself. Actually, it doesn't matter. Even when I'm not traveling alone, there are always a scarcity of Anna pictures, which I don't really mind.

When I got back to my room, it was almost sunset and I'm so happy I caught the tail end of it. Maybe tomorrow I'll find a better view, but this is the view from my balcony. I won't complain. I can't remember the last time I saw a sunset...oh wait, yes I do...Maui a year ago.

Random - I was unpacking and realized I FORGOT TOOTHPASTE! When I asked the front desk where the gift shop was because I needed toothpaste, the guy was like, "OH! I'll just give you some!" Thanks buddy, you saved me like $3.

And that was my first day in Phoenix. If I have time tomorrow, I'll blog again. I better get to bed. These orthopaedic surgeons like to start early - 6:30 am!!!