Last Hurrah at the Resort Tuesday Morning
Sep. 28th, 2025 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerPhoenix Getaway travelog #12
Now at PHX airport · Tue, 23 Sep 2025. 1:30pm
We're at the airport now, chilling before our flight home in 2 hours, but before coming here we did enjoy a last hurrah at the resort this morning.
We got up early this morning, around my usual weekday 6:45am alarm. Aren't we supposed to sleep in on vacation? Well, yes and no. When the sun's up early and sets early it makes sense to make good use of daylight. And it's not like we were up late last night anyway. We tried using the resort's hot tubs after dinner but both were broken. One had no heat, the other had no jets. So after a short soak we returned to our room for the evening.
Yesterday was pretty quiet at the water park. Today seemed even quieter. Even though this is a great time of year for #PoolLife in Phoenix— the weather is hot but not too hot— the resort hasn't been too busy. I figure that's because school's back in session, so families aren't taking trips outside of the weekend. And even on the weekends they're buying fewer day-passes as kids are busy with sports and other activities on the weekends. And that was all part of my plan for why to make this trip now. We balance great summer-y weather— even though today's high of 100° is crisp Fall weather by Phoenix standards 🤣— with less crowding.
We spent a few hours at the river ranch this morning, alternating between floating around the lazy river and relaxing on lounge chairs in the shade. Come 11:30 or so we decided to call it a day... er, morning... and headed back to our room. I'd arranged a late checkout of 1pm so we could shower, change, and pack our bags after using the pool.
I noted the less-than-full battery to the attendant processing car returns and asked about the cost.
"It's only 12 cents," he said with a chuckle. "We'll email you a receipt."
"12 cents per kilowatt hour," I responded, "That's great. Without a membership the commercial recharging stations are charging 48 cents on up."
Except I'd misunderstood him. The rate wasn't 12 cents per kilowatt hour— which I estimate would've come out to $4 or $5 total to top off the battery. I checked the emailed receipt just now on my computer, and it shows 12 cents, total, for the electro-fillup. Bonus!
Now at PHX airport · Tue, 23 Sep 2025. 1:30pm
We're at the airport now, chilling before our flight home in 2 hours, but before coming here we did enjoy a last hurrah at the resort this morning.
We got up early this morning, around my usual weekday 6:45am alarm. Aren't we supposed to sleep in on vacation? Well, yes and no. When the sun's up early and sets early it makes sense to make good use of daylight. And it's not like we were up late last night anyway. We tried using the resort's hot tubs after dinner but both were broken. One had no heat, the other had no jets. So after a short soak we returned to our room for the evening.
Breakfast at the Cafe
Since we were up early today we opted to sit for breakfast in the hotel's small restaurant. The past few days we've contented ourselves with eating protein bars in the room so today we decided to splurge a bit. Plus, one of my elite benefits here at the Hilton hotel is a $30/day food credit. Yesterday we used the credit toward our lunch at the pool cafe. Today we figured we wouldn't stay late enough for lunch so we used it toward breakfast. Not that it covers breakfast. $15 each doesn't even get the job halfway done when breakfast plates are around $20 apiece, plus $5 for a juice or soda, plus tax and tip. But it changes the cost calculus enough that we enjoyed dining out instead of eating protein bars in the room.Quiet Morning in the Water Park
After breakfast we returned to the room, relaxed a bit, and changed into our swimsuits to hit the lazy river just after its 9am opening time.Yesterday was pretty quiet at the water park. Today seemed even quieter. Even though this is a great time of year for #PoolLife in Phoenix— the weather is hot but not too hot— the resort hasn't been too busy. I figure that's because school's back in session, so families aren't taking trips outside of the weekend. And even on the weekends they're buying fewer day-passes as kids are busy with sports and other activities on the weekends. And that was all part of my plan for why to make this trip now. We balance great summer-y weather— even though today's high of 100° is crisp Fall weather by Phoenix standards 🤣— with less crowding.
We spent a few hours at the river ranch this morning, alternating between floating around the lazy river and relaxing on lounge chairs in the shade. Come 11:30 or so we decided to call it a day... er, morning... and headed back to our room. I'd arranged a late checkout of 1pm so we could shower, change, and pack our bags after using the pool.
Making Time to Shower and Change
The late checkout wasn't strictly necessary. The hotel is fine with guests staying in the water park all day after the normal 11am checkout. We've taken advantage of that policy several times in the past... packing our bags in the morning, stowing them in the car, staying in the pool area until sometime mid-afternoon, and changing in one of the bathrooms when it's time to leave for the airport. But having a room to go back to is more civilized, and today the timing made sense for that. Plus, taking a shower in our private room instead of changing quickly in a public bathroom has made me feel a lot more refreshed.Little Charge for Charging
Like I said at the top, we're chilling at the airport now. Oh, returning out rental car involved a bit of... weirdness. Remember I maligned renting an EV because figuring out charging without an annual subscription is a pain in the ass. And expensive. Well, I decided to simplify the conundrum of "a pain in the ass and expensive" down to just expensive and return the car with 60% charge to the rental depot and pay whatever ridiculous marked-up rate they charge for electrons. Y'know, like how they charge you $6/gallon for gas if you return the car less than full.I noted the less-than-full battery to the attendant processing car returns and asked about the cost.
"It's only 12 cents," he said with a chuckle. "We'll email you a receipt."
"12 cents per kilowatt hour," I responded, "That's great. Without a membership the commercial recharging stations are charging 48 cents on up."
Except I'd misunderstood him. The rate wasn't 12 cents per kilowatt hour— which I estimate would've come out to $4 or $5 total to top off the battery. I checked the emailed receipt just now on my computer, and it shows 12 cents, total, for the electro-fillup. Bonus!
