And Finally....My Night in an Indian Casino

During our trip, we stayed at a really nice resort outside of Phoenix that came equipped with spa, golf course and an Indian Casino. That’s not uncommon for these parts, it seems because in our three days in Arizona, we saw about four Indian Casinos in person and signs for many more.

We had planned on going to the Indian casino at least once after dinner but due to the time change, we didn't make it the first two nights we were in there (in bed at 8:30pm, 10:00 pm respectively) – but our last night, we were determined to hit that casino!

I had walked passed the casino, the first morning we were there, - it was about 6am Arizona time. The parking lot to the casino was probably half full – lots of RVs parked out there – it was like walking through an abandoned football tailgate. The evening we finally went to the casino, the place was PACKED. I’m not surprised but it still amazed me a little bit.

When we first opened the doors to the casino, this big wall of smoke just hit us like a ton of bricks. I think we’re so used to walking into bars and restaurants with the no smoking ban that to see and smell all this smoke really threw us off. And helped determined that our time there was short-lived.

We quickly made our way through the casino – checking out the slot machines and heading back to the buffet. This wasn’t the kind of buffet that you probably hear about or have been to in Vegas. It was $12.50/head after all – I wasn’t expecting lobster tails or shrimp cocktail. Instead, it was like something out of Old Country Buffet – a salad bar, a dessert bar and multiple meat stations. Some of the other patrons that were at the buffet – the character players/towns people from the ‘Raw Hide Wild West’ show down the road, some golfers, and the family I dubbed ‘Jon Pinet’s family.’ If you’re not familiar with Jon Pinet, he is the comedian that has the schtick about eating at a Chinese buffet when you’re a fat person and the Chinese owners get really upset/annoyed with the amount of food that the fat person eats. Anyways – this family of six had two girls – one older girl that was extremely large, and one pre-teen girl that was well on her way to following her sister’s footsteps. It was quite sad, actually…..the larger of the two girls had gone back for her third plate of food and I had gone in about three minutes after her – she also came out five minutes after me too. I’m telling you – this girl could really benefit from the ‘Biggest Loser.’

Another funny observation about the buffet - it was WAY in the back of the casino - you pretty much had to walk the length of the casino to get there. The buffet was separated from the casino by maybe 20 yards of a hallway - and that portion was no smoking. It really amazed me how the smoke never managed to drift back to the buffet area...wonder if there were secret vents or something.

After dinner, my husband said I could go be a slot jockey for awhile. It was hard to find a machine that I liked – so I kind of just walked around and did the ‘Phoebe’ (def: observing other slot jockeys and taking over at their abandoned machine if they haven’t won off of it). Upon my observation, I have to say that you can’t keep the handicapped from their gambling! As we were entering, we saw some people getting wheeled out in their wheelchairs. When my husband was looking over a not-so-crowded black jack table, one lady in her automatic wheelchair almost ran him over to get to one of the empty stools at the table. These were bar-stool height – so she had no issues getting out of her wheelchair and hopping up into a chair (this would have had her disqualified from the Miss Handicap USA pageant, by the way). I saw another lady in a wheelchair whose only handicap I could observe was her being severely overweight. She was on one side in a row of slot machines playing when I was heading to the bathroom. When I was walking back from the bathroom, she had wheeled herself (not manually)to the other side of the row, asked a man to move the chair that was already there, and began her gambling. She was a byoot – a cigarette in one hand, chapstick in the other…good thing the modern-day slot machines are equipped with buttons instead of the old-time levers...and it's nice to see her taking preventative measures from the smoke and dryness of the climate to prevent dry lips.

When we had finally had enough, we started heading out towards the exit only to see a midget woman being questioned by security. The midget woman had crutches and she was wearing wedged flip flops – the cheap kind you can probably find at Wal-Mart or Kmart (not to be a snob, but that seemed to be her speed)….the wedges were of two different sizes – one side was a thick wedge, the other side looked like she had put it through it’s paces and it had diminished to half of what the other side was. My husband thought it could’ve been on purpose since she was in crutches. I wasn't about to ask.

Lots of action going on at an Indian casino – that’s for sure. I would’ve liked to take part in bingo in hopes that it would be like a church bingo function and I could get ten cards in a row and roll down the line in a wheelie chair and stamp along the way – but the room was packed – super packed. And I don’t know how long I would’ve been able to last in the second-hand smoke.

And where do these people come from? I guess when you can't afford Vegas, there are the Indians.

Overall – I don’t think I would go back to an Indian Casino – I’m not a gambler and it’s just not my scene. But you sure do come out of it with lots of stories!

The Pet Shop Boys Were Right! West End Towns = Dead End World

Being on the outskirts of Phoenix - basically in the suburbs - there was a lot to get use to when we got to Arizona:
1) Starbucks was not available on every corner
2) Not a lot of variety in restaurants
3) Not a lot of grass, even on the golf course
4) Strange looking characters at some of the eating places (you'll read about that tomorrow)

On Saturday, my husband and I drove from Phoenix to Tuscon to see the Cubs (who else) play the White Sox at their spring training facilities. Aside from watching the game, we got to see one of my best friends from college - him and his family moved out to Arizona, from Indiana, about four years ago. This really put a damper on my Indiana holiday visits because we would always spend one day of our Indiana holiday at their place - it was a nice reason to get away from town (if you get my meaning)...but I digress.

We went down to the coffee shop in the resort to try and grab some morning drinks and maybe a pastry. The coffee shop served an abbreviated Starbucks menu but didn't have nearly the amount of pastries that Starbucks offers - in fact, I think the Starbucks connection ended at the coffee drinks. I've never seen any of my local Starbucks offer an icing-filled cinnamon bun. So needless to say, we passed on the coffee shop and didn't have time for a sit-down buffet so we went with our usual back-up plan: we'll find something on the way.

What a joke!

If you know something about Arizona, it's that if you're not near a big city, you're not near much. We drove on the interstate for about 20 miles and saw a sizable city. The way I judged it to be a sizable city was that the sign said, "this town - next 4 exits." To me, that's a sizable town, and a sizable town means shopping center, which must have some food joints. I took the first exit of 'this town' and we saw lots of new communities. There must've been at least five new housing communities (already being lived in) and so we thought that a shopping center/supermarket/anything had to be close by. Well, we weren't that far off in that assessment - we saw a sign for Subway and McDonald's....coming soon. Apparently, not soon enough for us. We must've drove around 'this town' for about 10 minutes trying to go down roads that looked promising. Alas there was nothing that we could find and we went back to the interstate - that was my idea of a poorly planned community!

We continue east on the interstate for about 10 miles when we see those helpful blue signs that tell you when there's lodging, food, gas ahead. We took the first exit and proceeded to (not my first choice) Burger King. I dropped my husband off because I saw an enclosed shopping center that surely had to have a Panera or something. Wrong again. It was an enclosed professional center - for eye sight, hearing and insurance. So with my head down, I went back to Burger King and got a really unhealthy breakfast sandwich. And we got there with great timing because when we went into Burger King, nothing much going on outside...10 minutes later, leaving Burger King, there was a big accident right outside the Burger King drive that might have prevented us from getting to Burger King had we come any later.

Back onto the interstate and wouldn't you know, in less than 5 miles, at exit 200, is a whole world of shopping centers and food stuff - like Target, Mimi's Cafe AND Starbucks!!! Double damn! I told my husband to remember 200 cause we're stopping by on our way back.

Driving farther east, it reminded me a lot of my drives from Indiana to New Jersey (through Ohio and the longest way you'll ever want to go through Pennsylvania) - just a whole lot of nothing much. But I sure did like the 75 mph speed limit!

When we finally met up with my friend in Tuscon, I had asked him if he knew of a good place to get gas. He said there was a place on the way to the ballpark so I followed him back onto the interstate, down a couple of exits and to a shopping center that was at least 10 miles away from his house. The gas prices were great but I had to ask him later if that was their grocery store. He said yes. I couldn't believe it because his development - although very sparse - has been around since early 2000s - and to not have a shopping center or even a kwik-e-mart nearby? Ridiculous!

So lessons learned here:
On Star might not be such a bad thing to have if you live in Arizona.
A map of Starbucks locations may not be such a bad thing to carry.
AND always follow the blue signs - they'll never steer you wrong!

Western Snow Birds

In case you're not familiar with the term 'snow bird,' it is actually not a bird but a person. It's what you call a person (usually an older person) that flocks to the warmer climes during the winter months. Growing up, I've always been used to the snow birds of the east, going down to Florida for the winter and driving their big Cadillacs (equipped with Florida license plate) back up to New Jersey/New York. After going to Arizona, I have found that pretty much anyone west of Pennsylvania and South of Michigan flocks to Arizona.

There are plenty of reasons why I think older people tend to go to Arizona vs. Florida. The primary is probably due to housing costs. The second is probably more consistently warm weather. But I did find it funny that at the ballpark, we seemed to be surrounded by mid-western snow birds.

I was actually surprised to see how many "young people" were at spring training - but then I remembered that a lot of schools were on spring break. Other than the young people, there were the older people...beyond retirement age. On our first day at the ballpark, we probably brought the average age of our general section down about 25 years. We had people from Minnesota, Illinois (not surprising since we were at a Cubs game), Iowa and some Michiganites. I think those from Michigan are probably split down the state in terms of where they go - Florida or Arizona. The second day, I sat next to a couple from Indiana and I overheard there was someone from Tulsa. What a mixture. Again, average age of the people around us when we're there: 48-ish. Average age of the people when we're not there: 58-ish.

Half the time they would yap with eachother and then ask my husband what just happened or who this new guy is. My husband, being a virtual encyclopedia of baseball knowledge, was happy to share what he knew. No one seemed to care about the other guy there, with his wife and kids, that knew that the Daktronics scoreboard was made in South Dakota...okay, Dwight Schroot! My husband probably related better with the snow birds because if you ask him how old he feels, he'll tell you, "68.'

On our first night in Arizona, we headed over to my husband's Aunt & Uncle's house for dinner. They're both retired - his aunt will be turning 70 this year and they're snow birds from Indiana. They drive out to Arizona a couple of weeks after the new year and go back to Indiana after Easter. This year's trip is a little shorter due to the early Easter - but they really like it out there with their condo in it's southwestern theme. They asked us how old the people around us were at the game - we told them, politely, that they were about their age. They weren't surprised. Because we were seated under a shaded section, that tends to be where the snow birds gather.

So interesting to hang out with all the retired folks and know that my parents, who are retired, would be bored to death if they lived their lives. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

As Dry as the Dryest Desert

Posting number two about my trip to Arizona is about my skin issues. Arizona is known for it's warm weather, desert climes and in the spring...dry heat.

I have semi-sensitive skin. In the summer, I am oily....in the winter, I am dry. But when I'm in Arizona in the winter, I become SUPER dry. And it wasn't even my whole face - it was only one section of my face - my lower left quarter against my jaw line to my chin. Before going out to Arizona, my forehead was breaking out like a pre-pubescent school boy but that lower section of my face was kind of dry...not overly dry, but dry to where I knew I had to apply extra moisturizer on it. Then while flying out to Arizona, in mid-air, that dry patch of skin became extra-dry. By the time we got to the hotel, my husband said that I had some dry flakes peeling off (how embarrassing!) - so when we got to the room, I reached for my moisturizer and started applying.

Because I'm using Retin-A, I'm not supposed to be out in the sun - so for this trip, I went out and bought a semi-wide brim, straw hat to keep the sunlight out of my face. It wasn't as wide as you would see at the Kentucky Derby but it was wide enough that people took notice because I was like the only one at the baseball park with a non-baseball cap. My hat, along with my big, black sunglasses made me look like an uber-snob - but I didn't care - I had my skin to think of. By the time we got back to our room that night, my skin went dry again and I was scrubbing my face, in the bathtub, to get all the excess skin off. I must've scrubbed pretty hard because that dry patch started feeling raw.

Second day in the sun and I put on extra moisturizer, drank LOTS of water and I even had my Evian spray mist bottle with me to avoid dry and crumbly situations. Didn't work. I had so much skin peeling off, it looked like I had dandruff on my chest (ewww) - so we went back to the hotel room and that's the afternoon I went back to the spa to use their facilities - so I was in the steam room hoping to get some moisture into my face. I loaded up on moisturizer again, before heading out to dinner - and by the time we got home that night....my skin just sucked up any moisturizer that was there and started peeling. So back to the scrubbing.

By the third day, I went to Target and bought a bottle of Oil of Lay - I haven't used the stuff since high school but I figured oil = oily = extra moisture = no peeling. It didn't work...and every time I went back to scrub my face, I had 1/4 of my face bright red and the rest was normal looking- so I had to take time to scrub my whole face so it looked like I had some kind of skin disease of the face, instead of just one, blotchy patch.

Finally back in VA and Monday was horrible - my dry patch was still peeling! I must've applied lotion to it four times in the afternoon alone - and I was applying and peeling and scrubbing - all at my desk. It looks like the worst might be over. I just checked myself out in the mirror and we're at minimal dryness today...thank goodness cause I'm wearing a black sweater...wouldn't want people to think I have a dandruff problem.

But all my dryness problems weren't just with my face. My hands also took a beating and I was applying a lot of lotion. I don't know what it is with my skin but it just likes to soak up moisture. When I was on the shuttle bus heading to the airport on Sunday, my hands looked like the hands of an 80-year old woman! My husband's hands were no better - we were constantly applying the "good stuff" (the good stuff would be Crabtree and Evelyn's Hand Therapy lotion) and we still couldn't manage to keep them fully moisturized.

I guess when you're in the desert, you practically become the desert! That, alone, was reason enough to come home!

Mr. Sand-Hands

This week's blog postings (by Jen) will be dedicated to all things related to my recent trip out to Phoenix and spring training!

I start with today's post about my spa treatment at the resort we were staying at while in Arizona. My husband and I decided to splurge a bit and stay at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass resort and spa in Chandler, AZ. It is about 10 minutes outside of Phoenix. The resort is in a nice, secluded, and picturesque part of town that has an 18-hole golf course, an equestrian center, spa, Indian casino and the set of the live-action, rodeo, western town of Raw Hide. Very exciting stuff!

When I go on vacation, I try to really be on vacation - that includes getting a spa treatment. Especially if it's on the premises, all the better. I scheduled a traditional Aji massage at the Aji Spa. This massage was described as: A combination of traditional Swedish and Therapeutic massage techniques used to induce the highest level of relaxation and stress relief customized to your specific body needs. My specific body needs always includes my lower back and I threw in the shoulders this time around because I've been feeling a lot of tension in there lately. I couldn't wait to get my massage.

When I entered the Aji Spa, I could tell it was going to be great - the co-ed relaxation room was so serene and comforting. The women's only relaxation room was even more serene and relaxing and then the women's lounge/facilities were fantastic - with an outdoor hot tub, indoor sauna, steam room, and another hot tub. They had fully. equipped showers (I'm talking razors, shave gels, towels out to wazoo, slippers, robes) with the rain shower heads. I made it a point to get ready for dinner at the spa because I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

My massage was administered by a male massage therapist - I always request a male because I like my massages deep. I am always so self-conscious under the sheets because 1) I'm naked and 2) I was feeling way fat. I always feel like I should be apologizing to the therapist for all the extra rolls he has to knead. But once I start relaxing, I start to really feel his movements and his hands and I was thinking, 'Hmmm...his hands are a little rough.' I could feel some callouses on his hands and I wondered if this was good. I've never felt callouses before so I was not looking forward to the remaining 40 minutes of the treatment. But then he started doing these things to my legs and I got hot towels galore - like when he was done with my back, he put a hot towel on the upper and lower back to keep it warm while he worked on my legs. When I flipped over and he was massaging my legs, he put a hot towel over my eyes and under my neck to keep me comfortable, and then he put hot towel booties on each foot while he worked on my shoulders. All that hot towel service really made me forget about his callouses and essentially put me in this blissful state where I just wanted to sleep the rest of the day in his treatment room. I forgot about Mr. Sand-Hands and just chalked it up to the super-dry weather in Arizona....

Even though I couldn't stick around very long after the massage, I was assured by the friendly staff that I could return to the spa later in the day to take advantage of the rest of the facilities (ie - sauna, hot tub, steam room). And you better believe that I "persuaded" my husband to leave the ballpark before the end so I could go back and hang out in the spa. I sat outside in the hot tub, under the shade and it was heavenly. I went inside and sat in the indoor hot tub. The only thing that I regret was not having a girlfriend there. When Amanda and I were hanging out in the gym-spa in London, that was totally fun.

So some suggestions and recommendations:
If you're in the Phoenix area, I do recommend the Aji spa - the staff is super friendly and no need to worry about tipping your therapist - tip is already built into the price (20% - which is what I normally tip for a good massage).
I also recommend clearing your calendar for an afternoon just to take full advantage of the spa. As a paid customer, you can use all of their facilities for as long as you want - they have a gym, workout studio with yoga classes, a co-ed outdoor pool that is always kept at 78 degrees, and all the other facilities that I listed above. One lady walked in at 9:30 am - the same time I went in to get ready for my treatment....and she left when I was getting there for the second time - around 4:30pm - seven hours for $35 (she didn't get a treatment)....she really took advantage!