Another vacation?!?!?

Just getting home from, yet, another vacation. This one was local and was planned (and paid for) way back in May. Dirk, Genna and I went to the Arizona Grand Resort, the former Pointe at South Mountain. We've stayed at the Pointe at Squaw Peak for the last two summers and I wanted to try something different. All I have to say is "Why fix what's not broken?" We should have gone back to Squaw Peak!

Don't get me wrong - the resort was beautiful! The lowest grade room is a one-bedroom suite with pull out couch for Genna, two TVs and a bar. It was like staying in a little apartment. We were walking distance from AZ Mills and our house was a mere 20 minutes away. The best part was the on-site water park, which was the mail reason I decided to book there. It was everything else that made our trip crappy.

Day one

As we were driving to the resort on Sunday afternoon, the Valley was hit with a terrible monsoon storm, and our 20-minute drive quickly turned into an ordeal. The Superstition Freeway was shut down due to flooding beneath the overpasses so bad that the pumps could not keep up. We were routed off at Mill Ave. and turned south to Baseline. BAD CHOICE! Baseline was a river! Everyone was in one lane, except for the stupid people who were trying to maneuver through the deep water. Traffic was horrible all because of two stalled and abandoned vehicles blocking the intersection at Kyrene and Baseline.

(Friendly reminder: If your vehicle stalls, please do the rest of us a favor and push it out of the way!)

So... on to the resort!

The guy at the front desk - not friendly, especially when he told me about the "hidden" $25 PER DAY resort fee, even though my room was paid in full
The valet guy - not friendly (but better than the guy at the front desk)
The room - nice, but had wet carpeting in front of the balcony due to all the rain
The water park - closed that first night due to rain

After the rain subsided we went to Red Robin to have dinner. It was 6:30 on Sunday night and the restaurant was a literal ghost town. I think our table was one of 4 that had people. The staff was sitting around not knowing what to do. I snapped the below shot as we left the parking lot.

Teenage driver - go figure!

Day two

We had breakfast in the room (stuff from home) and went to the water park. It seemed really crowded considering it wasn't even noon. Quickly we found out why - the lazy river was closed and wasn't set to reopen until 1PM. So everyone was crammed into the pool, or going down the slides. So we packed up and headed to the pool by our room where we met Andrew, Sabrina, Christian and Alexandra. They were visiting from Toronto and enjoying the AZ heat (fools). Very nice people! Christian was 9 and Alexandra (Alex) was 7. The three children played for quite a long time together.

That night we went home to check on the dogs, then went to pizza for dinner because I had a $25 gift certificate to use. The manager of my favorite pizza place sent it to us because they burned my birthday dinner but, since it was a pick up order, we didn't notice until we got home. (Did I mention it's a 25-minute drive from our house?) I am happy to report that this pizza was excellent and we personally thanked the manager for the gift certificate. She's really turned that place around.

Day three

Up early... too early. Genna had an 830 swim lesson she had to get to and we took another opportunity to check on the dogs. Then we had lunch, and it was back to the water park. Everything was open and we had a nice time. We floated on the lazy river, we played in the wave pool, the swam around and didn't get out of the water for hours. Each of us even took a turn going down the water slide! But, as it got warmer, the crowds started coming, and the clientele started going downhill. I found myself asking how people could afford such a nice place when they couldn't afford new bathing suits. (Yup - swimming in clothes! One lady even had on a suit that was ripped!) So, we went back to the hotel pool where Genna played more with her Canadian friends. We ended our evening with dinner at 5&Diner. We took some funny pictures at the table and made each other laugh. It was a nice ending to a nice day.

Day four

Dirk had to go back to work so I was in charge of Genna. Nothing new to report - more swimming, more waves, more floating, more sliding. We didn't see our friends, though, and I think Genna was a bit disappointed that she didn't get to say good-bye. They don't leave until Friday, so maybe I can call the hotel and leave a message with contact info. I think it would be cool for Genna to have a pen pal!

After checking out, I took Genna to lunch and we went to go see Dirk at work. Nice place! Since Longs just came to town, everything is new. The building is new, the machinery is new. It even smells new! (Too bad it's in the ghetto.) I met his boss and a couple of the people he works with but missed the person I really wanted to meet. Perhaps some other time.

Been home for a few hours now. Made some phone calls, caught up on some emails. Now it's time to relax. I need a vacation from my vacation!