March 16, 2006
Martha, Look! There's Snow in Them Thar Hills!!
This past weekend in Phoenix Arizona we broke a record. Our first measurable precipitation in almost five months.
Yes, you read that right. We haven't had rain, snow, or any other form of moisture falling out of the sky for almost 150 days (and the U.S. says global warming is a fallacy that we shouldn't worry about now.)
But even though we had precipitation we didn't have just any ol' rainstorm. It rained for 24 hours straight and it also snowed in the mountains surrounding the city. That's rare.
I was lucky enough to travel during the weekend and I took some pictures of these atypical weather conditions surrounding Phoenix.
Now, just note that these pictures may not seem all that spectacular to folks living north of the 49th parallel, or south of it for that matter.
But remember, Phoenix is in the DESERT. Snow in the desert. Talk about an oxymoron that only used to occur here about once every 100 years. Now we get it about once a decade.
Enough rambling.
Enjoy the pics.
(click on any picture to open a LARGE window)
Again, I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about how Arizona weather is no longer just about tropical monsoons and heat waves. Add snow during March to that list.
Thank you kindly.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 5:03 AM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Arizona Vacation Safety - Stay AWARE to Stay SAFE
Why? To save yourself grief. And pain. ENSURE your Arizona vacation safety. Learn about safety issues NOT found in the travel brochures or vacation websites.
You see, when on vacation in Arizona there are a few things that one should be aware of when visiting here. These are the type of things that you won't read about in those slick brochures you find in the travel agent's office.
These are the only things that one will learn about by living here for an extended period of time.
Let's face it. It's a real downer to not have a safe vacation. It's not fun to spend a night in the local emergency room with the kids when they get sick from eating some bad local food or have an accident. Not fun indeed.
But, these vacation safety tips I'm going to share are not about the infrequent accidents that do happen on vacation. The vacation safety tips I'll be sharing here involve things that are totally preventable.
As long as one is aware of them first.
So, let's get started with vacation safety tips that'll help you have a safer vacation here in Arizona.
1. The first of these vacation safety tips is for you to be aware of where you go when you're vacationing in Phoenix. Phoenix is a big place and like most big cities it has areas of the city that are not too upscale.
Now, what are you to do about this?
Well, just realize that there are certain places within a big city like Phoenix that one should be extra careful about visiting.
If you find yourself in a part of town that has a lot of run-down houses, properties with garbage strewn around them, and abandoned cars parked along the streets - then common sense should tell you that these neighborhoods are not too safe.
Trust that instinct. I'd suggest you find other areas of the city to visit or drive around.
You see, Phoenix has, in my opinion, a high crime rate.
I moved here from Canada twelve years ago. What truly shocked me when I moved here was that Phoenix had more murders occur in two months than where I used to live had in a year. And I lived in, at the time, the 'murder capital of Canada'.
So, just do yourself a favor with this vacation safety tip and stay aware of your surroundings. If it doesn't look like a good place to be - it probably isn't.
Trust your gut and get out of there.
2. The second of these vacation safety tips involves somewhat of a local health issue. I'll explain...
The entire metropolitan Phoenix area is located within a large valley. It's surrounded by mountains and mountain ranges. And within this valley is a certain type of 'bug' that lives in the soil.
Actually, this bug issue is similar to most other country's bugs (e.g. Canada's Beaver Fever bug, Mexico's 'don't drink the water' type bug) because it's a bug indigenous to Arizona.
And what does this bug do? It wreaks havoc on a persons health when a vacationing visitor is infected with it. In our case, this bug causes what is known as Valley Fever.
And how does one get infected with Valley Fever? By breathing in the microscopic spores that make up this nasty bacteria.
And what does this bacteria do to a person when breathed in? Well, it can cause flu-like symptoms that grow all the way up to pneumonia, internal bleeding, and very, very rarely... death (gulp).
Now, I'm NOT trying to scare you. So don't go cancelling your vacation plans to Phoenix. We need your sales tax revenues.
You see, this Valley Fever bug usually only becomes a problem when a person who hasn't had Valley Fever comes in contact with it.
And a person comes in contact with it by breathing the bug in.
And the bug is found in soils that are not old and dried out, but rather soils that are newly disturbed.
So, how can you protect yourself with regards to this vacation safety tip? Easy.
Do all you can to stay away from soil disturbing activities.
* Like to visit new construction sites on your vacations?
* Like to do local gardening?
* Like to take up archaeology as a hobby when you're on vacation?
One word of advice... DON'T.
Essentially, don't go digging around places or near digging activities that you shouldn't be around. At least not while on vacation here in Phoenix.
I know, I know, why would you go on one of your southwest vacations in Arizona just to dig in the soil, right? Silly me.
Well, just so you know. I got Valley Fever the first year I moved here. It progressed on to walking pneumonia and left scars on my lungs. I was lucky that that's all that happened to me.
And what was I doing to be exposed to the bug? Just some simple landscaping in my desert landscaped yard.
See? It doesn't take much.
So, just do your vacation planning while keeping this vacation safety tip in mind. Let's not have you getting sick on us. Okay?
3. The last of these vacation safety tips applies to most of Arizona. This one is about bugs too. But this is about a different type of bug.
The real thing...
Scorpions and Black Widows.
Why is this one of our vacation safety tips? Because these little critters can be a nasty safety issue when you vacation here and get bitten by one of them.
You see, these two bugs are extremely common here in the state. Not quite as common as cokroaches, but almost. Why? Because it's a desert here and they're desert creatures.
They like the heat and they like dark cozy places. So, when you vacation Arizona just be aware that these little critters do like to live in places that the kids may go probing around in. Don't let them do that.
Keep probing hands away from dark crevices both inside and outside the house, rental, villa, hotel or apartment.
And if someone does get bit, call the local poison control center and ask for help.
Oh, and by the way, unlike the Hollywood horror movie depictions, these bugs are NOT half the size of a horse. They're SMALL. Black widows are maybe half an inch long. And scorpions get 'as big as' two inches. But... scorpions are FAST. And both can HURT you big time.
So, please ensure vacation safety for your family. Stay away from places these critters habitate. And when you get up in the dark in the middle of the night to get a drink of water - wear slippers. Just in case.
So, to sum up...
Don't get paranoid about these vacation safety tips.
Go vacation.
Have fun. Just keep your eyes open to possible vacation safety concerns. Simple, right?.
Anyway, I hope these vacation safety tips prove helpful to you. Do have a safe trip here to Arizona. Just improve your vacation safety by ensuring you remember these vacation safety tips I've shared with you.
Good luck.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 2:04 PM
September 20, 2005
Want to VACATION Phoenix or DISCOVER Phoenix?
A Phoenix vacation is NICE. But we can help you vacation Phoenix RIGHT. You might come to Phoenix to VACATION. But with our help you can DISCOVER Phoenix.
Everyone takes vacations. But not everyone gets the vacation they want. This can be real disappointing for some adults. But for most vacations - it's the kids who get let down.
Although a person may try real hard to plan the best vacation for their family, sometimes it just doesn't turn out that well. Why?
I think it's because of the amount of searching on the Internet that a person has to do to learn what's really fun to do on a good vacation trip.
Oh sure, the travel agent offices have all the slick brochures with all the pretty pictures inside. And almost all those vacation websites have the nice looking shots of the outside of the hotel and JPEGs of all the pretty people lounging by the spa pool.
But you know the drill...
When you get there is this pretty stuff what you find?
What do you end up doing outside of the hotel?
Where do you go for fun?
Where do you shop for the best clothes?
Where do you get the best deals on things?
How do you find the secret local places that only the locals know about? The places that make the vacation just that much more fun. And special.
Well, good luck finding that kind of information on the Internet.
Oh, I know... You can do that. But you have to search far and wide, usually, to find that kind of information when you're doing your vacation Phoenix planning.
And just so you know...
When You PLAN to Vacation Phoenix Just Know That Sometimes Taking a Great Vacation is MORE Than Just Making Good PLANS
So, why am I telling you all this?
Because, I hope to offer you genuine help when you go vacation Arizona. But I'll be offering most of my help for when you plan to spend a bunch of time here when you vacation phoenix. Why?
I live here in Phoenix. I've lived here for almost 12 years now.
I know this place.
I know what it's like to wake up here when it's COLD, when it's FOGGY, when it's searingly HOT.
I know the TV stations, the newspapers, the theaters, the shopping malls, the secret places to visit. The bargain places, the museums. The nasty city neighborhoods, local safety tips.
All that kind of stuff.
I know a lot of the things to do when you vacation phoenix.
But do know that I also know about southwest vacations stuff. Vacation stuff in Arizona.
I know about the Grand Canyon. Native American sites, and other tourist attraction stuff. All those kinds of places that can do nothing but make your vacation Phoenix-style just that much more unique.
And memorable.
But with this site I'll be writing mostly about Phoenix stuff - because I want to share what I know in detail. Stuff that you might benefit from knowing before you go vacation Phoenix.
Sure, you can find all this out during your Phoenix vacation days here. But why spend your vacation in Phoenix searching for this information...
When I've done it for you.
You just have to get here and then enjoy your vacation when you get here.
You see, I don't know you. But I know what you want. You want that week or two weeks spent on your vacation Phoenix-wise to be a good time spent. You want the perfect vacation in Phoenix.
That's how we humans are. We spend 50 weeks a year working hard so we can afford a great vacation and then we take two weeks (hopefully) having a great vacation.
In this case ... a great vacation Phoenix-wise.
So hang out here for a while. Read some of the information on my site. Let it help you with your vacation planning stuff. Take notes, jot down a few good ideas to help you vacation Phoenix right.
Do this first. So you can vacation Phoenix RIGHT.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2005
Travel To Arizona - But Plan WISELY
Why? Because Arizona IS a desert. So travel to Arizona but use common sense. Learn HERE what is not common knowledge BEFORE you travel Arizona. THEN go do Arizona.
Let's face it, when you travel anywhere there are things you need to know before you get where you're going. Well, when you travel to Arizona that is no different. What is different though are some of the things that might benefit you to know.
You see, Arizona is a unique place. As I mentioned earlier, it's America's desert state.
Yes... desert. Not dessert...
...DESERT.
Now, let's clarify something about this desert stuff before we get too far along...
If you were travelling to the Sahara desert, the one we've all seen in the Hollywood movies, there'd be certain things that you'd prepare for before you went there. Wouldn't you?
You'd make sure you had the right clothes, medicine, documents, travel arrangements, transportation, maybe even camel food. All that kind of stuff. Right?
Well, when you travel to Arizona that's about what you need to do too.
But, what I will do here to help you out is limit what you will need to make sure of before you travel Arizona to only a few major areas of concern. I'll let you figure out the rest when you get here.
Don't worry. I'll cover the biggies here. So that you stay safe as you travel Arizona, perhaps during one of your southwest vacations.
Let me explain what I mean, by just covering the biggies, with an example.
I'm not going to give you information on how to travel safely nowadays via airplane. If anyone is travelling now, they well know about how to travel via airplane. Especially after 9-11. A lot of the tips for that kind of travel to Arizona are no-brainer's, so they don't deserve covering in any detail here.
So, let's move on to some of the biggies, like for example, overall vacation safety when you vacation Arizona. There are certain things to know when you vacation here.
Another big travel Arizona travel tip involves car travel. When one plans to travel to Arizona via car or travel around Arizona via car, especially in Phoenix, there are going to be certain things that you'll want to know.
Like, for example...
When you travel to Arizona just know that travelling around this desert state can be FUN... or it can be DEADLY.
And one more thing about all these tips...
As I mentioned earlier, Arizona is a desert and when you travel to Arizona during the summer there are definite summer travel tips that you're going to want to make sure you know before you go anywhere. These can make or break your vacation.
At least they can make your trip rather unpleasant if you don't apply them.
So, don't worry.
You may need to pay special attention to when you travel Arizona.
But, just like you'd prepare if you were going north of the Arctic Circle to Tuktoyaktuk in northern Canada - you need to think of a few things before you come to a place that can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (in the shade) on a hot summer day.
Remember, this is all common sense. But not too common knowledge.
But after reading some of my travel-related pages you will know this stuff.
And then when you next travel to Arizona you'll do nothing but have a good time (getting) here.
Good luck with your plans to travel to Arizona. I hope this information was helpful.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 3:05 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2005
GREAT Summer Travel Tips are NOT Typical
So how DOES one learn the BEST summer travel tips? PERSONALLY learn them, and maybe get hurt. OR learn from someone elses pain. Learn OURS here. Pain-free.
You see, when you vacation Arizona basically there are three true summer travel tips that you might benefit from following. These travel tips are specific to Arizona and surround the fact of this place being a desert state.
And that it's hot.
And dry.
We have a beautiful state. But one also needs to take several precautions when traveling here or vacationing here so as to best enjoy their time spent in Arizona.
These summer travel tips are not too hard to follow. But they do require one to pay extra special attention to their surroundings at times. Just to make sure that everyone stays safe.
I'm rambling. So I'll get right in to the three biggest summer travel tips that I think you should be well aware of when travelling to Arizona or vacationing here, as part of one of your southwest vacations.
Here they are (in no particular order )...
1. The first of these summer travel tips focuses on something that is a pretty rare commodity here in Arizona.
Water. And more specifically - drinking water.
Drink it. LOTS of it. When you're here.
You see, you may not feel it but when you come to Arizona in the summer months your body is losing a lot more water than it's taking in. You see, you won't feel this because as you may have heard before Arizona may get hot, but "it's a dry heat".
That's true.
But when it's a dry heat one does not feel themselves sweat. And if you have too little water in your body to begin with you aren't going to sweat no matter how humid it gets.
So... drink lots of water when you're here. Buy those small water bottles and carry one with you everywhere you go. Day and night. Force yourself to drink (the water, silly ) even when you don't feel thirsty.
You must consume lots of water if you're going to be in Arizona for any length of time. You need to keep your body hydrated. Especially if you're not used to the heat or you are travelling here to Arizona from some colder state. Or country.
Now, why is this so critical? Perhaps even seeming like rather like a nuisance?
Because you don't want to have happen to you what happened to me the first summer I lived here.
You see, I moved here from cold Canada. More specifically, real cold Alberta. So I didn't know anything about keeping myself hydrated, outside of eating snow when lost in a blizzard.
Essentially, I just moved here and went about my daily activities and didn't pay any attention to keeping myself full of water.
So, after being here about two months I ended up in the hospital with a nasty and good-sized kidney stone. The pain from that experience was (I was told) the equivalent of a man giving birth (how anyone figured they could equate the two events, I don't know).
But I wouldn't doubt that statement.
It hurt. Bad.
Now, just to tell you - I never had a kidney stone before, or since. So this definitely wasn't something I'm predisposed to having.
So, again, drink water when you travel to Arizona or vacation Arizona. LOTS of it.
Stay away from the pain of having your body tell you you didn't stay hydrated enough. It's a real bummer, or should I say 'punch in the kidneys', to find out the hard way.
Moving on...
2. This second of these summer travel tips protects you in a different way. You'll stay protected from the sun if you follow the guidance offered here.
You see, Arizona is one of the most sunny places in the United States. Yes, even more than Florida.
And the sun here is hot, especially in the summer. So it doesn't take much to get sunburned or even sun scorched when travelling here.
You see, I know that you will travel here most likely to do a lot of outdoor stuff with the family.
Suntanning.
Pool stuff.
Boating.
Hiking.
Shopping.
Well, when doing this summer travel stuff it doesn't take much to get a bad sunburn that you'll remember for a looong time.
Why? Because the sun is so hot here in the summer and directly overhead and intense. You can end up getting a bad sunburn in less than an hour of exposing your skin. That is, if you're not tanned and are visiting here from a place that doesn't get a lot of sun exposure.
Oh, and don't forget that if it happens to be cloudy when you travel here - you can still get burned. Bad.
Ask my wife.
Several years ago we went to a local beach and spent the entire day hanging out outside because it was cloudy and we figured it was okay to do this with the sun hiding behind the clouds. Boy, were we wrong.
And, holy-moley, did she get a bad all-body sunburn. Yeesh. I think it raised her body temperature a couple of degrees, it was that bad. She was hurting. Big time.
So, what can you do about this? I suggest you stay covered up with light, loose fitting clothes.
I know, I know...
Getting the rugrats to wear clothes in the pool is like convincing a pig to use a napkin when it eats. I just ain't gonna happen.
So, since that is the case I suggest that you use a good sunscreen in lieu of wearing clothes. But use one that doesn't contain all those chemicals that both protect and soak into the body. Not good.
I hate the idea of my kids, and myself, 'wearing' chemicals in order to stay protected from the sun. It doesn't make sense.
So, I finally found myself an all-natural sunscreen that our family has been using for the last couple of years. It really helps. And it doesn't contain any chemicals. None.
Finally, the kids can go out in the sun and I can have peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about contributing to the ill-effects of the sun on their still unblemished skin.
3. This third of these summer travel tips also focuses on water. But this water you won't be drinking.
You'll be playing in it. Or your kids will be playing in it.
It's pool water. Or more specifically, swimming pool water.
Now, why is tip one of these summer travel tips? Because most people come to places like Arizona to vacation and have fun in the local pools. The ones at the hotel or the ones at the local resorts. Or even the ones at their local friend's house.
But, regardless of where the pool is, they all share one thing in common that can turn out deadly to Arizona visitors. That not-so-nice fact is the fact that Arizona suffers from more child pool drownings than any other state in the United States.
And that's not a ranking that most Arizonans are proud of. So that is why I put it here. To save you from any grief while visiting here or vacationing here.
So, what can you do about this? You can stay aware of your surroundings and where the kids are at ALL times when around water. Especially swimming pools.
Again, ESPECIALLY swimming pools.
You see, it's local law that swimming pools have a five foot high steel fence around them with special self-closing locking gates. But not every residence has installed them yet. Especially the homes where no kids live at.
Like Great Uncle Bill's and Great Aunt May's house.
Or your perpetual bachelor cousin Joey's place.
These are the places to worry about when bringing the kids to them. And these are the places where you need to watch your kids like a hawk. At all times. Even when they're indoors.
I can't emphasize this enough. It would be a real tragedy to have you come vacation here and then have some mishap happen to your little ones.
Don't let it. Please.
Enough said? Good.
So, I hope these summer travel tips will help you have a more enjoyable visit or vacation here in Arizona.
I know you travel here to have fun and 'get away from it all'. That's the way it should be.
And that is why I offer these summer travel tips that you won't hear about from your local travel agent. You know, the kind of summer travel tips you needn't learn about the hard way but instead can know about without having to personally experience them. Or get hurt going through.
So, now you know about these summer travel tips that mostly only the locals know about. And you can now plan to use them during your trip here to Arizona.
I hope these summer travel tips prove helpful. Good luck.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 6:02 AM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2005
DO Phoenix With GOOD Phoenix Arizona Maps
Why? Phoenix is BIG. So get Phoenix Arizona maps that HELP you get where YOU want to go. Phoenix has LOTS of neat places to see. Be sure the Phoenix Arizona maps YOU use help you FIND them. Easy.
Again, in case you didn't know... Phoenix Arizona is a BIG city. I think a few years ago it surpassed Los Angeles in sheer land area size. It's now over 500 square miles in area. Of course this includes all the annexed areas.
But no matter how you look at it - Phoenix Arizona is BIG. And you're going to need some good Phoenix Arizona maps if you're at all serious about getting around town.
Or should I say... 'metropolis'.
Anyway...
Whether You Plan on Coming Here as Part of a Southwest Vacations Trip or a Business Trip You WILL Need to Know How to Navigate Around this Place
You see, Phoenix Arizona is just too big to think about getting around via any other way but by car, truck, or van.
* The bus system here leaves quite a bit to be desired. Trust me on this.
* We don't have a light rail transit system (yet).
* No subway.
* Hitchiking is much too dangerous here.
* And it's way too expensive to think about taking taxis anywhere distant.
So, that's where a good set of Phoenix Arizona maps come in. I've used Thomas Bros. maps for over 12 years now.
You see, Phoenix Arionza is set up as a place that can be fairly easily navigated. With the exception of the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix and Sun City (which both have curving, circuitous roads) - all of the Phoenix Arizona streets are laid out as a grid system.
All the main roads are one mile apart and go in both north/south and east/west direction. So if you look at a map of Phoenix you'd see that it's about 500 little squares of streets and roads.
Now it is easy to get around these streets with such a simple system as this.
But it just gets quite difficult, even for me still at times, when you want to find an address that isn't on one of these one-mile major roads. That's where and when you need those Phoenix Arizona maps to guide you.
You see, you can travel from the north end of Phoenix all the way over to the east end of Mesa Arizona and do this all by highway and you would be traveling over 85 miles. All on the freeway.
That's BIG.
And that's why...
It's CRITICAL to Your Vacation Success That You Have a DECENT Set of Phoenix Arizona Maps to Show You Around This Place
Don't worry if you're looking for major attractions, parks, hospitals, mountains, racetracks and such around Phoenix, you will find this information on some good Phoenix Arizona maps.
But just remember that for them to be useful to you down here in the big city, any Phoenix Arizona maps you use should (MUST?) show this type of stuff.
If you want this kind of detail, I'd still suggest you try using local metropolitan Phoenix maps you'll find here. They're in color and show lots of detail of things around town.
Or you could try this online store which is also a local phoenix Arizona store. If you don't like the map you bought just go to the store here in town and return or exchange it. Simple. Convenient.
I hope this maps information was helpful and will prove useful during your vacation here in Phoenix Arizona.
Good luck on your quest for a good bunch of Phoenix Arizona maps.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2005
Car Travel Tips
These car travel tips may save your life. How? By helping you BEFORE you need it and when you LEAST expect it. Do good trip planning with these car travel tips and THEN go travel Arizona by car. SAFE.
There are a number of ways that one can choose to use to get to Arizona. Amongst them is to travel by car. Car travel may not be the fastest route, or even the cheapest, but in my opinion car travel can be the most scenic way to travel.
You see...
Arizona is Mostly a Desert State And THAT is Why You Need SPECIAL Car Travel Tips So You Can Travel SAFE
Why?
Because, what's so unique about the desert? Well...three things. The biggies...
1. Heat
2. Cacti
3. Lack of visible water
Two of these three desert aspects require specific guidance for the non-Arizona resident looking for good car travel information and tips. This is vital if a person, or family, is to have the safest vacation they can while traveling to Arizona or in Arizona by car, during one of their southwest vacations.
So, I'll be discussing in slight detail travel tips specifically relating to Arizona's high heat and Arizona's lack of water.
I'll leave the car travel tip related to cacti for someone else at another website to discuss. But, hmmmm, maybe I'll just add a short little tip for these prickly pieces of greenery when you're doing your car travel.
And what would that car travel tip be?
Don't drive over them. Your tires won't like that. Okay, silliness aside...
Moving on to these two critical car travelling tips...
1. This first car travel tip details the issue of the Arizona heat.
Now, why be concerned about this when travelling to Arizona by car? Because, I'll bet that you're thinking of travelling here from a state that doesn't get too warm in the summer. Perhaps a state that gets lots of snow?
I'll also bet that your car may not have had a recent major tune up too. Don't worry, most everybody doesn't give their car the attention it deserves. Me included.
So, this car travel tip may sound rather fundamental and elementary but you need to make sure that your car is in absolute tip-top shape when you do your car travel in Arizona. This is especially critical if you're going to be travelling or doing your vacation Arizona stuff in the hotter summer months.
Trust me when I say that you do not want to be doing your car travel stuff and have your poorly maintained car break down on your way to Phoenix on a hot summer day at a location where the still air next to the highway is 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
Not fun.
So, key point with this car travel tip is to make sure you have your friendly neighborhood mechanic do a last-minute checkup on your car before you travel. And be sure to make it one of those thorough 150-point inspections where the entire car is detailed.
Trust me, you won't regret it after experiencing a true Arizona summer daytime 'road trip'.
Now, let's move on to the second car travel tip...
2. This second car travel tip involves that liquid we all need, use, and love (no, not coffee ).
Water.
Yes, good ol' H2O.
Now, why is this part of these travel tips? I'll explain.
You see, this car travel tip is in here because it ties in with the first car travel tip. That is, if you're going to be doing your car travelling through the Arizona desert during the hotter summer months, which are about from April to September, you need to be totally prepared for the remote possibility of being stuck out on a desert highway without water.
Yes, it's true.
Most people who travel to Arizona don't even give it another thought as to the absolute necessity of having water in their car during their car travel trips. Why? Because they are travelling here from a non-desert state. And they're usually not having to worry about having enough water in the car.
But, those of us who live here year-round know how critical having available water is, especially when it starts to get hot here.
So, the key point of this car travel tip is if you're going to travel by car to Arizona during the hotter months I would suggest that you have in your car at least one-gallon for each person in the car.
Trust me, when your car breaks down (along with your A/C) and you're stuck by the side of the road for three hours waiting for AAA to show up you'll be ever so glad that you have water to drink, or put in the radiator, or even to pour on your head or your kids heads to keep them cool.
Again, I know these travel tips may sound rather simple but they can save you from a life or death situation.
That is, you might have the bad fortune of having your automobile break down somewhere remote in the desert, but with proper planning through using these car travel tips, you can still make the best of the worst and still come out with a good, fun vacation experience.
Good luck. I hope these Arizona car travel tips prove useful should you need them. Let's hope you don't.
Thank you kindly.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 6:25 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2005
Arizona Maps Can Make or BREAK a Trip
Planning to travel Arizona backroads, highways, or streets? Get Arizona maps that help YOU travel right. We help you HERE find maps that will help get you THERE.
Let's face it. When you vacation Arizona you're going to need a good set of Arizona maps just like you should for any type of trip you may take somewhere.
It won't matter whether you're traveling to Arizona via road or train or you're planning on doing a lot of travelling around Arizona once you get here...
...When you do one of your southwest vacations in Arizona you're going to have to know where you're going. And of course the only way you're going to know how to get where you want to go is to have some good maps.
Of course, you may know what type of maps you're looking for but you may not know where to find them. One can get maps of Arizona at any of several places at their local retail stores.
But, as you may have found out, most of the time...
The Maps at YOUR Local Maps Store DON'T Have the Same Level of Detail as the Maps Found at the Local Maps Store of the Destination Place. In this Case the Arizona Maps Store.
I found this to be too true when my wife and I were searching for detailed maps of Arizona when we were looking to buy a parcel of land in Arizona. We found maps here we could only find here. Of course, this was before the Internet so now you have virtual fingers that reach across the land, or the oceans if you're abroad.
Nevertheless, you're going to need one of several different types of maps. If you're looking to travel Arizona highways then you're going to need a good map that'll show you how to get around Arizona.
And if you're just looking to find your way around metropolitan Phoenix then you're going to need a very different detailed navigation map.
I'll share with you that even though I've lived here for more than twelve years, I still need sometimes to reference a good city of Phoenix Arizona map since this place is HUGE. It's more than 500 square miles large. And still growing.
And locally you won't go wrong getting the Phoenix and Arizona maps you need here at the Wide World of Maps store online or at the old stand-by RandMcnally.com
So, I do hope that this little tidbit of information comes in handy as you vacation Arizona and travel around this wonderful state.
And as you probably already know... having the right maps will help you know exactly how you're supposed to get around this state.
And how to do it hassle free.
Good luck with your search for Arizona maps. I hope the information I've provided on Arizona maps proves helpful in your efforts.
Thank you kindly.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 6:20 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2005
Spoken Only In Arizona
I overhead this conversation while riding in the elevator at work last Friday.
Woman one: "Thank God it's Friday."
Woman two: "Thank God it's Friday and payday."
Woman three: "Thank God it's Friday, payday, and it's finally below 100 degrees outside."
A conversation like this happens only in Phoenix.
Thank you kindly.
Andre
Posted by Andre Best at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2005
Stop Just TRAVELING Arizona Highways
Instead, let our Arizona highways help you TOUR Arizona. DISCOVER secret places all along our roads that will make your Arizona trip SPECIAL. SEE Arizona. RIGHT.
Why make this effort? Because Arizona's highways are quite easy to use to get around the state.
Arizona has a main highway from Phoenix to Flagstaff and a main highway through Flagstaff heading east/west. It goes east to Albuquerque, New Mexico and west towards California. Phoenix has a highway heading west towards Los Angeles, California and one heading east down to Mexico and southern New Mexico.
As you may have expected, when traveling these highways, perhaps during one of your southwest vacations when you vacation Arizona, you're going to see some mighty beautiful desert scenery along these Arizona highways.
You'll see sites from sand dunes to snow covered peaks. And you'll see everything in-between including desert dwellings and a meteor impact crater.
Yup. Lots of stuff.
Now, most of Arizona's highways are in good shape. They are divided, or four lane separated. Some of the major highways have speed limits of 75 miles per hour. If you're from Europe this might not seem fast, but in America this is some serious speed.
On these highways I'd highly suggest that you do not speed. The Arizona government is being very generous here with the high speed limits and they have zero tolerance for those who speed above these high thresholds.
Now, Arizona does have some highways that are a little less than desirable, like for example the highway through Wickenburg.
It's been a few years since I travelled it but last time I did it was a non-divided, one-lane in each direction highway. It passes through some very hilly areas, has almost no shoulder and is notorious for the highest number of highway deaths in the state.
So why even consider traveling this Arizona highway?
Because if you choose to drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas it cuts off about one hour off this road trip. I will grant you though, this route is pretty - but it is also very risky.
Now, in case you didn't know...
Arizona Highways WILL Take You to All Sorts of Destinations Throughout the Southwestern US
And when travelling around Arizona you can literally travel through every possible climate type found within the United States. Yes, all within the state of Arizona.
Of course, you do have to do a lot of traveling along our Arizona highways at different times of the year. But it is possible to do this. And if you do this much traveling you WILL need a good Arizona map to see a whole bunch of neat things in the state.
You see, most people just think that Arizona is nothing but desert. Not true.
All one has to do is take the Phoenix to Flagstaff highway and you'll discover that you've entered a lower forest area as you've made your way to Flagstaff.
Want to see a true forested area with a desert feel to it? Take the Arizona highway from Phoenix to Pinetop-Lakeside. It's only about 2 hours northeast of Phoenix.
Want to travel through some genuine sand dunes. The same sand dunes used to film some of the most famous Hollywood movies? Travel southwest from Phoenix towards Yuma.
Want to travel Arizona's historic Route 66 highway? Take the highway out of Flagstaff east towards Gallup New Mexico and you're on it.
Have an inkling for Mexican food? REAL Mexican food? Take the Arizona highway from Phoenix south to Nogales. It's only about 3 hours and you are then in Mexico.
Yes, Mexico.
So, I hope you're beginning to see that there is a whole bunch of stuff that exists along our Arizona highways. And when one makes a genuine effort to see this stuff one can have some truly remarkable memories to take back home when the trip is done.
Go ahead. Do travel our Arizona's highways.
Explore Arizona's highways.
Discover Arizona's highways.
And if you want to learn so much more about our Arizona highways you can simply subscribe to the genuine Arizona Highways magazine. It's packed full of stuff you'll love to learn about Arizona. And it's highways.
Good luck with your Arizona highways travels.
Thank you kindly.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
August 8, 2005
Arizona Monsoons
If you have ever wondered what an Arizona monsoon cloud looks like, take a good look at the picture below.
It's all pretty cool when one has monsoon weather clouds like the 30,000 foot behemoth you see in the picture below... eh?
Arizona Monsoon Cloud
Where else can one see clouds like this? Perhaps in the tropics, or south of the equator perhaps. But they are pretty cool. And with coming from Canada I never saw clouds like this my entire life.
But don't let their beauty deceive you. They are also very deadly since they bring the monsoon rains to Arizona as well.
Sometimes vacationers go hiking in the desert areas of the state with clear, cloudless skies everywhere one looks up.
But somewhere else, even hundreds of miles away, one - or a group of these humongous clouds looms on the horizon and is pouring out it's contents onto the dry desert floor and desert washes.
And where does this rain go when it is unable to soak into the parched ground? Horizontal. Fast.
And if one of the unlucky tourists from Germany happens to be hiking with the group in a wash that is connected downhill to one of these torrential downpours, well, you can guess what happens next.
Many a time I've read in the local papers that people were swept away in washes in the northern part of Arizona after encountering a 'wall' of water 40 feet high speeding down a (before) dry wash.
So, beautiful, yes. But also killers, at times.
Ain't nature wonderful how it doesn't let us forget that WE are the puny visitors on this huge and powerful rotating ball?
Andre
Posted by Andre Best at 6:23 AM | Comments (0)