Songbird76
Well-Known Member
That sandstorm was on the news here! It looked really bad! I didn't realize you were there right now, but I'm glad you are ok.Hello-
I am in Phoenix and I have been here since Sat. Got off to a bumpy start, but it's ok now. I was unwell the first 2 days, I think b/c of travel stress then excessive heat. I haven't been too active, but we went on a guided sunrise hike yesterday. Honestly, I just want to chill. My sinuses feel great though! lol
There was a big dust on Monday. They don't give you much warning. We went to pick up a pizza when the alerts started coming through our phones. We got back just in time. It got so dark and I went to open the hotel room door because I wanted to see what was going on outside and it blew the door open. We had to put a towel in front of the door because so much dust was coming through. There was a ground stop at PHX. This is a photo of the storm. That's dust, not mountains (behind the mountain on the right). There were some gnarly t-storms behind it too.
View attachment 879731
I am on the fence about coming back here in August. It is searingly hot and the sun is still quite intense. But it's dead and there are maybe 20 odd people at the pool everyday. So, you're not fighting for a chair. They are good at keeping you hydrated at the pool; they come around with large plastic jugs of ice water every 15-20 minutes, urging you to drink. I have never been so hydrated in my life lol Out of curiosity, I looked at how much it was to rent a cabana and it was crazy cheap. So, we rented one for today. It's worth it for the shade.
Just a weird aside, there are quite a few people from France staying here and it's not a tour group. I really wasn't expecting to see people visiting the US right now, given the travel warnings.
Here is one more photo I took on my hike yesterday.
View attachment 879743
There are travel advisories all over the place telling people to be realistic with traveling to the US, that it's possible you won't be let in, that your phone might be confiscated, etc. I think there are a lot of people not willing to try it, but there will always be a few, I guess.
I may be skating close to taboo subjects, but I kind of wonder if there might not be a boycott of the olympic games in 2028. I'm sure a lot of money is going into building facilities for it and if it's boycotted, it will have some major impacts on the economy that is relying on the tourism, etc. I guess we'll see. We have a few years.