Splish-Splash at the Hotel

Phoenix Getaway Travelog #3
At the hotel - Sat, 1 Apr 2023, 4pm

Getting to our hotel in Phoenix took longer than expected, what with minor flight delays then going shopping. We didn't get to the hotel until around 1:30. Bad news: they didn't have a room available for us yet. Good news: we wanted to use the pool first anyway, which they gladly allowed us to do.

The pool at the Pointe Hilton at the Peak in Phoenix (the name is clumsy ATM as it was changed to remove a slur against native people) isn't just a pool, it's a waterpark. There's a huge wading pool, a sports pool, a separate kids' pool, a waterslide, and a lazy river.



Being lazy on a river was just our speed, so we set sail.

One thing we were worried about this trip is the cool weather Phoenix has been having the past several weeks. That's why we almost canceled this trip a week ago; we were unsure it would be warm enough for the water. With a high of 80 today the weather's still cool for normal this time of year, but the water in the river was heated nicely so that we could jump straight in, no acclimation required.

After completing 4 or 5 laps around the river— it's big enough that each one takes about 15 minutes lazing along with the current— we hit the water slide twice then sat down in chaise lounges.

We were ready to leave at 3:30pm. Coincidentally our room was ready then, too.



We've settled into the room now. We stretched out our swimsuits and towels on chairs on the balcony overlooking a fountain in a garden courtyard. Later tonight I look forward to sitting out there and enjoying a drink or two. For now, though, we're talking about visiting another jewelry shop then getting an early dinner.

Relaxing Evening, Early Wakeup Tomorrow

Phoenix Getaway Travelog #4
At the hotel - Sat, 1 Apr 2023, 10:30pm

Our simple plan this afternoon of "visit a gem shop then get an easy dinner" wound up taking, like, four hours for a multitude of little problems I don't care to repeat. Like, nothing went right the first time. But now I'm relaxed and happy and don't care to rehash it.

Why happy? Because once we got back to our hotel we ate some dessert we'd bought at the store then went outside to one of the hot tubs for a nice, long soak. The water was really hot (many hotel hot tubs are not hot enough) and, surprisingly, it didn't sting anywhere. That means I didn't get burned while floating around on the lazy river earlier today. Yay, sun tan lotion! ...Especially because being really selective with packing sun tan lotion was one of the tradeoffs we had to make with our decision last night to travel only with carry-on bags this trip.

We're winding down now a good first day on this weekend getaway. I wish it were a bit earlier as today was an early day— up at 5:30am— and we've got another early day planned for tomorrow. Okay, we've only set our alarms for 6am this time, but it's going to be a tiring day as we're going to start with a hike up Camelback Peak. It's an ascent of about 1,400 feet on a trail that is brutally steep.