The Canadians & The Sunbirds
Months ago, I was lucky enough to be invited on a trip to Arizona with my best friend and her mother, and decided to make it a a working vacation, because who would pass up the opportunity to photograph a location like this.
We left Toronto on a morning that looked like this:
There were three lanes blocked at the 427 backing up traffic and causing us to arrive at 7:30 am instead of the desired 6:50am. Despite being late, we flew threw baggage and customs thanks to technology and some very organized and enthusiastic airport employees.
It was freezing rain and a lot of the flights had been cancelled but ours persevered . Once we boarded the plane we sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half waiting to be deiced - which gave me time to have a much needed nap.
The flight seemed like it took 12 hours than just 4 , but when we finally flew over Arizona this is the priceless view our eyes had to behold :
Things I immediately noticed about Arizona were that it was hot but not humid, it was a comfortable heat and much needed for this Canadian. Cacti grow like trees here - not to say Arizona doesn't have trees, there is just an abundance of our favourite prickly plants. There is very little grass here, it's mostly sand and from the highway I could see many miniature sand tornados in the distance - not big enough or powerful enough to destroy anything. I have not yet been able to photograph these but am hoping to get the opportunity.
We are staying at a resort called The Sunbird Resort Community, which is a picturesque retirement community in Chandler, Arizona. I took my camera out the other day and captured life here on a lazy pool day.
There was a golf tournament happening on the resort that day between Canadian and American residents or members of the Golf Club , and they played both national anthems at the opening ceremonies. People in and out of the pool stopped what they were doing in order to stand at attention to both national anthems - including these people who were playing pool volleyball.
They quickly resumed once it was over. Go Sunbirds!
We swam and read by the pool, trying not to get hit by the odd flying volleyball.
So far, Arizona has been a welcome relief from the currently bipolar climate of Ontario, and a beauty of the world that all people should see. Today we are heading off to Sedona for two nights and the next time I blog, I will be blogging my best shots from Sedona, The Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert.
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