There are relatively some cool...
by bottleofdoom
There are relatively some cool stores in Phoenix....I find alot of cosmopolitan stuff here that I can't find in Tucson. Especially around the University in Tempe. Ash Avenue is thee place for shopping & dining, etc. You know how every city has it's fashionable area where the 20 somethings hang? well this is what it's like
Petroglyphs....from the ancient past
by chaistarr
Outside Phoenix near Deer Valley is a site of ancient rock carvings, or petroglyphs. No one knows their meaning, but they resemble other petroglyphs around the world. The site is owned by ASU.
my photo is inside the tiny museum there....they're not real petroglyphs! (real photos to come soon!)
see my deer valley page for more
Phoenix Metro Rail
by jumpingnorman
Phoenix Metro Rail
Yes, we now do have a fast, quick and easy 20-mile rail route from Mesa to Tempe to downtown Phoenix (as of 2009) – with an available route to Phoenix Sky harbor International Airport.
I have never found the need to use this since I drive myself around, but for visitors (and even locals), this may be an easy way to go around. It runs 365 days a year and open on weekdays from 440 AM to 11PM, and weekends from 5 AM to 11PM…and fares are $1.25 each way with all day pass for only $2.50…and several other deals that can be found at www.valleymetro.org
Times from Downtown Phoenix
To Downtown Tempe (23 minutes)
To Downtown Mesa (37 minutes)
Phoenix Sky Harbor (14 minutes)
Islands Fine Burgers
by Chiky about Islands Restaurants (chain)
The burgers here are topped with some very different embelishments but are not too exotic to prevent the enjoyment of everyone. The burgers come alone but you can order sides seperately. The sides are so big that you should resolve to sharing them with a friend if you want fries or onion rings or whatever else. There are also select chicken and fish dishes available. The restaurant is usually dimly lit and usually they have only booths, no tables (with free standing chairs). Each restuarant has a number of TV's situated around the dining area so you can equate the high energy surfing music to the footage of surfers in the big blue. All of the restaurants are non-smoking only. I personally try to expereince a new burger every time I go but I don't usually go if I'm only looking for chicken.
Drive north through the Sonaran desert
by L-A
Drive north on Hwy 17 towards Flagstaff via Sedona. You'll find the Bradshaw mounatins, the lovely Verde valley, but before all that, the Sonaran desert is lovely in the morning light. There are many kinds of cacti - some are prickly pear (which a candy, or jam is made from its purple fruit), some are other kinds, but the most famous is the saguaro (pronounced sew-wear-o). These are the huge cacti with the arms. They are normally 100 years old before they grow arms. Some of them along the highway looked pretty sick though.
Apparently saguaros only grow in the Sonaran desert in southern and south-central Arizona and northern Mexico. They don't grow anywhere else in the world. Also this is the greenest desert in the world. Although it lacks water, this desert has plant life, many others don't have much other than scrub brush. And when it rains (sometimes all at once during Arizona monsoon thunderstorms) what does stay in the ground nourishes the flora.