Phoenix AKA Paradise

Hubby and I took a vacation a few weeks ago to Phoenix. We went to a Rockies game (they lost), another Diamondbacks game, went hiking, ate lots of food, drove around and generally had a friggin' kick-ass time. I decided I love Phoenix and the surrounding areas, especially Tempe and Glendale. I've pretty much decided we need to move there...now what to do with that pesky little thing called a mortgage...hmmm.

Anywho, for those of you who have been asking, here are some pictures :)





Welcome to Chase Field! Woohoo!







This is a picture of the World Series trophy the Diamondbacks won in 2001. So THAT'S what it looks like. Living in Colorado means I wouldn't know except if I caught a glimpse of when the Red Sox won it on our home field. But I'm not bitter :)







This is the score board with the roof closed. Yes. There is an open and closed position and it's the coolest thing I've witnessed. Seriously.







These are pictures of the roof in various stages of opening. It only takes about two minutes and they play music you'd expect in "2001: A Space Odyssey". It's amazing. Even the walls/bilboards fold open to expose the sky and the downtown skyline like in the last picture.

FYI, I'm in absolute awe of this ball park. Let me give you a comparison. At Chase Field the ushers welcome you in, there are food vendors and apparel vendors and people giving stuff away in raffles and all sorts of things all over the place. At Coors Field there are a few food vendors and one or two apparel stores.

At Chase Field they want you to have a genuinely great baseball experience. At Coors Field they basically dont care if you show up just as long as your ticket got paid for.

At Chase Field fans cheer and shout and yell for their favorite players. At Coors Field drunk women whistle at the good looking baseball playesr (their words, not mine), no one pays attention and Hubby and I end up being the only ones cheering....at our own stadium!

Chase Field is awesome and you feel the pulse of baseball fans. Coors Field has the aura of "sit down, shut up and buy something".



They also have a live organist. How freakin' cool is that?!



This is me and a lifesize cutout of "The Big Unit" AKA Randy Johnson. And yes, that's really how tall he is and how small I am.





Hi From Chase Field!!








Anywhere with palm trees and cactus (is it cacti?) is fine with me!!










We hiked Camelback Mountain. Here's a few of us on the mountain, a view from the top and then a view of the actual, whole, mountain. And us being lame with a cactus :)

Well that's it for now. There's a ton more but I really don't have the patience for that ;)