Left Wednesday for another trip to Arizona. I can’t say I enjoy being cooped up in an airplane for 4+ hours, and this time was direct both ways, but I’m adapting a bit at making the time go by. Considering I’ll by flying out to Anaheim in just about a month for the Disneyland Half and Dumbo Double Dare, things are looking good. This particular trip, with one of the guys from my company, was to finish our data center build. The trip itself was a success, and everything went as planned, even finishing ahead of schedule yesterday. Today, the flight home started early and we were on track to get home at a reasonable time, until encountering PA Turnpike traffic and rain, turning what should have been a little over an hour ride home into almost three.
Yesterday, after getting done early, we decided to visit a unique attraction in Arizona, The Butterfly Wonderland. What can I say? Going in with low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised. After a short 15 minute 3D movie about the lifecycle of butterflies, we saw a bunch of chrysalids (think in between caterpillar and butterfly), and then were led into a huge 10,000 screened room with literally thousands of butterflies. I can’t begin to state how many different color patterns there were. Some of them landed on my head. It was an amazingly colorful and tranquil area. We spent close to two hours in the facility, leaving after a trip to the requisite souvenir shop. Given that it was a nice dry 111 degrees outside, the inside wasn’t too bad, although the higher humidity in the butterfly enclosure was getting to me. Here’s a really neat picture of the different types of butterflies present…
The Butterfly Wonderland, Phoenix, AZ
We also took a trip back to the Old Town Scottsdale Tortilla Factory, a gem of southeastern cuisine. I stumbled on this restaurant during a visit here back in June, and what a wonderful dining experience it was. Casual attire and a very simple restaurant setting tucked away off the main drag in Scottsdale’s Old Towne area. I highly recommend visiting this restaurant if you’re in the area.
Overall, this trip provided a chance a bit of relaxing, a reward for finishing work early. I met up with a running friend Jen, someone I will see again at Dumbo and at the WDW Goofy Challenge in January. It was nice catching up, grabbing some dinner together, and just having a good laugh.
Now back to my regularly scheduled training – 10 miles up for this weekend!