Justin Wright » Arizona

Back From the Desert

Justin Wright — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:17:36 +0000

It’s been a bit quiet around here lately since I’ve been traveling. I went to Las Vegas and Phoenix and had a great time. It was nice to catch up with some friends and check out some of the places I used to visit while I lived in Phoenix (Papago Brewery is still my favorite!). Also climbed Camelback Mountain twice, which was a nice change from the hikes I’ve been doing at home.

I spent a day checking out some of the hotels along the Vegas Strip as well. Very impressive!

As much as I love the desert, it made me realize how much I REALLY love the Pacific Northwest. Yeah it’s a bit cold and rainy, but the scenery makes up for the weather. I still find myself staring at Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood whenever they come out from the clouds. I can’t wait to bust out the snowshoes soon!

PS. If you’re interested, check out a quick interview I did over at National RV Parks.

The Scottsdale Culinary Festival

Justin Wright — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:53:24 +0000

This past Saturday, my girlfriend and I went to the Scottsdale Culinary Festival by accident. We saw that there was a Robert Mondavi wine tasting event in town so we decided to go check it out. Little did we know, the event was part of a MUCH bigger event. The festival had all sorts of booze, beer, and food plus a few awesome cover bands playing.

Here’s a few of the things we managed to check out while we were there.

Robert Mondavi Wine Tasting Festival

For the past few months, I have been getting more and more into wine. I really enjoy drinking it and I’m learning more and more as time goes on (thanks Gary V!). Anyways, the wine tasting event was pretty cool.

For 3 bucks, we got a tiny little tasting glass and 4 vouchers to try different ones. Of course, the lines were super long so we opted to go for two doubles instead of trying 4 different wines. I must say I was really happy with the wine. I’ve had Mondavi wines before but not the ones I tried at the event. I ended up really liking the Meritage wine, which was a mix of some red wines.

I must say, it was a cool event and I hope to go to more wine tasting events in the future.

Patron Margaritaville

Besides wine tasting, we also checked out the Patron Margaritaville. For 7 tickets (7 bucks), we drank a ultimate margarita which consisted of Patron tequila and Patron orange liquor. I must say, they were damn good. Worth 7 bucks? Ehh not so much. But hey, the whole point of the festival was to try new things.

They also had Bud Light Lime which I actually like, unlike every other shitty light beer made here in America. My girlfriend tried it out with a salted glass and it makes the beer go down super smooth. It’s sort of like the poor man’s Corona Light.

The ony thing I didn’t like was the fact you had to pay 5 bucks a person just to get into the Patron event. This is on top of the 10 bucks a person it was to get into the main event.

The Food

There were dozens of food booths open at the event that were serving everything from pork to sushi. They even had booths that sold nothing but cupcakes (I stayed away). It was a great place to try food from different restaurants here in the Valley for less than it would cost to actually go to them. I ended up trying one piece of pizza from an awesome pizzeria.

Cover Bands

The best part of all was the cover bands that were playing all day. Especially that last band that played Saturday night. I got a kick out of watching drunk people dance and make fools of themselves. It’s always nice to be the spectator once in awhile instead of the main event. Here is a video of the band:

As you can see, there were tons of people at the event. I was really surprised at how big it was since I had never heard of it until we went there. I’m glad we managed to check it out since we only have a few weekends left in Arizona before it’s time to make the move.

Great Urban Race: The Aftermath

Justin Wright — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:10:49 +0000

The Great Urban Race

If you missed my post last Thursday, I talked about the Great Urban Race coming to Phoenix this past weekend. I had pretty high hopes for doing good in the race (I don’t know why). Anyways, now that the race is over and I have all my pictures off my camera, it’s time to break down the race.

The Start

The race started at Sliders in downtown Phoenix. If you don’t know where that is, it is right next to Chase field (Diamondbacks stadium). From there, I had no idea where the race was going to take us. We were given an envelope at noon with the clues in it but no one was allowed to open them until the race started.

Once we heard the speaker say the race had started, I ripped the envelope open and pulled out the sheet with the clues on it. At first glance, the only thing I thought in my head is “we’re screwed.” I know very, very little about downtown Phoenix. Especially when it comes to parks, statues, and museums. I also know nothing about the bus schedules or the light rail so I knew that was going to be a challenge.

Clue #1

The first clue we managed to get done was by far the easiest of the day. All we had to do was find a popsicle stick with a joke on it or get a job application. We chose the job application since I haven’t seen a popsicle in years. My girlfriend ran into a Starbucks while I sat outside Googling away on my iPhone.

Clue #2

From there, we headed north down Central Ave. until we got to the Farmers Market. We had to find an artist there and get a drawing from him. After hitting up the information booth, we managed to find someone that knew who we were talking about. So the guy lead us (along with like 10 people following us) to the artist. He drew up a quick sketch on a piece of paper and gave it to us.

So far so good…

Clue #3

Heard Museum Statue

Once we got the drawing, we continued on our way north towards Honey Bears BBQ. Along the way, we managed to solve another one of the clues. The clue said “it exists today because of Maie.” At first, we didn’t have a clue what the hell it was talking about. But after doing some Googling we managed to figure out that Maie was the first name of the person the Heard Museum is named after.

Once we knew that, we had to stop in front of the museum and take a picture of both of us standing in front of the statue you see to the right.

At this point, we figured we were doing pretty well. Except for the fact that we had already ran/jogged/walked over 2 miles and still had 8 more clues to take care of.

Clue #4

Wow We Look Special...

This was the first mistake we made of the day. We skipped clue #7 (see below) which happened to be right behind the museum. Instead, we made our way north to Honey Bears BBQ.

Once we arrived there, we had to eat a piece of corn on the cob as fast as we could. Then we had to snap a picture of both us holding the completely empty cob.

I realized right after moved on to the next clue that I should of just picked up an empty one from the garbage and snapped a picture. I’ve touched worse things in my life. And that one thing might have put us in the top 25.

Clue #5 & #6

The next stop on the list was Encanto Park. There were two clues on the sheet that were both found in the same place so that was a good thing. The first thing we had to do was go through an inflatable obstacle course. I think it took me about 15 seconds to get through the whole thing.

Once we both finished the obstacle race, it was on to the gunny sack race. We each had to put one leg in the sack and then walk to a line and turn around. This took about 30 seconds to complete.

Both of these clues were really easy. The only downside is that getting to the park took forever. Not to mention coming back from the park. Unlike a lot of the other teams, we did the whole race by foot. No buses, no light rails, and no car rides (we’re badass).

Clue #7

As I mentioned before, the next clue ended up being behind the museum. Therefore, we had to walk all the way back East to get that clue done with. If we hadn’t of missed it we could of ran all the way down 7th avenue to the next few clues and would have easily been in the top 25. You win some and you lose some.

Anyways, clue #7 was found in Monterey Park. I tiny park I have never heard of. Once we got to the park, we had to figure out some ring game where you had to get them apart. It just so happens that my girlfriend used to have one of them and she was able to do it in like 10 seconds. We easily passed a few groups by getting done so quickly.

Clue #8

The next clue was sort of a miracle. We were originally going to skip this one but we ended up getting stuck on a stupid puzzle and had to skip that one instead. What was the clue? To find a jukebox and take a picture of 5 people standing in front of it.

Anyways, after we got done at the park we started running down 3rd Street since we knew that Clue #9 was in that direction as well as #10 and #11. Along the way, we happened to jog right by Hooters. We figured they might have a jukebox so we ran inside and asked one of the girls. As it turns out, they did!

The only problem was that the jukebox was in the back room where the girls change and whatnot (stop thinking dirty). She said other people had asked and that they told them no but guess what…they decided to let us go in the back! Here is the picture we managed to take:

My Girlfriend Wasn't Happy Because Her Hand Was Bleeding

Clue #9

The next clue was to find was a statue of a woman holding another woman (I think that’s what it was). I used to work downtown and remember seeing the statue a few times but could not for the life of me remember where.

Luckily, I managed to come across a similiar statue in Google images on my phone and knew it was the same place. The place ended up being the Herberger Theater Center which was right by hooters. So we jogged there and had a lady playing an instrument take a picture of us in front of the statue.

Two clues to go!

Clue #10

The second to last clue was a word scramble. We had to reorder the letters to form a word. Luckily, we had solved this earlier on in the race and already knew where we were going. We had to find the Orpheum Theatre and take a picture standing underneath the sign. Once we found it, we then had to find someone to take the picture for us. Here is it:

Standing Outside The Orpheum Theatre

Clue #11

And last but not least, the final clue of the day. The good news is that this one another really easy one. We basically just ran down the street a few blocks and had to find some volunteers that were working for the race. They stamped out sheet and we were done!

We just had to run about 7 blocks back to the finish line. Except running wasn’t going to happen. We had already covered about 10 miles and both of us were dying. My legs were on fire and I was sweating like mad in my jeans (it was like 88 degrees).

The Finish Line

Once we made it back, we were surprised that we were not in last place. For some reason were thinking that we took a long time but we did pretty good. We ended up taking 41st place with a total time of 3 hours and 5 minutes. After looking over the results today, I realized that we were only 12 minutes behind the 25th place team. Damn it! We were so close. You can see the results page here. Our team name was Sailor Jerry (the best rum in the world).

Overall I am still happy with our results. We didn’t use any transportation like most of the teams did so I feel good about that. I have a feeling we covered about 11 miles on foot for the day which is why yesterday I couldn’t even get out of bed. I literally felt like I got hit by a truck.

Another thing we did was looked up all the answers ourselves. A lot of the top teams had people on the phone looking up the answers for them which I think would have taken away from the fun of the whole thing.

It was a great time and I really encourage everyone to give it a shot if the race is coming to a city near you. Lots of fun!

Great Urban Race Is Coming To Phoenix!

Justin Wright — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:14:15 +0000

Creative Commons – photo credit: jrover

Something I have always wanted to do is get on the Amazing Race. It totally fits into the digital nomad lifestyle and I think I would be pretty good at it. Plus I like to solve random riddles whenever I get a chance. Unfortunately, I haven’t landed a spot on the show just yet (come on CBS!).

Luckily there is another option. My girlfriend and I signed up to compete in the Great Urban Race here in Phoenix on Saturday. I’m really looking forward to it.

What Is It?

The Great Urban Race is a huge event that is similiar to Amazing Race only it takes place in one city over the course of one day. The mission is to solve 12 or more clues and be the first team to make it back to the finish line.

From what I have read it looks like it will take place all over Phoenix and the hardest part will be getting around the city (which happens to be like 80 miles across).

The Rules

I just took a glance at the official rules and a few things stuck out:

Public Transit Only – Looks like we will be taking the bus or light rail everywhere. That or walking…
No Private Transportation – No taxis or rides from anyone.
Cellphones and Internet Devices ARE ALLOWED – I think the iPhone might come in handy here.

Other than that, it looks like everything else is fair game. As long as we don’t break the law (so much for sneaking on the bus).

What’s The Prize?

First place is a whopping $300 and a free championship entry. Second place is $150 and a free entry. 3rd place is no money but a free entry for the championship. I already have my eye on the championship prize which is $10,000! I’m 38% positive we’re taking that home with us in November. The championship is being held in New Orleans, a city I have never been too. So I really hope we can make it to the championship.

The Race Is Coming To A Bunch Of Cities

If you are interested in competing against us in the championship, you should check out the website. It looks like the race is taking place in pretty much every large city across America. But I have a feeling that you people up north might have to wait for the snow to melt first. Unlike here where we hit 90 degrees already…

Last But Not Least…

Our team name is (insert team name here). In other words, we don’t have one yet. That’s why I decided to write this post today. I was hoping you guys could help us come up with a sweet team name. We also need an awesome costume since they give prizes away for the best dressed.

Any suggestions?

PS. If you are here in Phoenix and participating in the event…watch your back!

A Few Pictures From Tucson

Justin Wright — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:54:03 +0000

A Biker Getting Owned...

It’s been awhile since I posted a travel story so I thought I would write about my latest trip.

A few days ago I took a trip down to Tucson to do some hiking. After I got their I found out that the hike was sort of lame. Considering they had tram rides for people that didn’t feel like walking for 8 bucks. Nothing makes the wilderness more enjoyable than audio guided tours driving right past you. Not to mention there were bathrooms everywhere and power lines running near the trail. My girlfriend and I ended up walking 5 miles down a paved road. Not exactly “hiking.”

The good news is I managed to snap a few pictures along the way. For some reason I really enjoyed the “Hazardous Bridge Ahead” sign. I think it’s because of the detail they put into the bicycle. The rim is smashed and the guy is totally getting owned by the bridge.

I also got up close and personal with a roadrunner. They really do exist! Except they don’t look anything like the one I remember from Looney Tunes. Check it out:

Roadrunners Are Real!

Hanging Out In Downtown Tucson

Once we finished are “hike,” we decided to go walk around downtown and see what Tucson was all about. It’s a pretty cool city and reminded me of Austin in a few ways. The downtown area is more happening than Phoenix which is always nice. 4th Avenue had some cool bars and restaurants and we ended up grabbing some food and beer. We went with the Papago Brewery Orange Blossom, which was by far one of the best beers I’ve had in awhile. It was a lot like Blue Moon but sweeter and more delicious.

One thing I noticed when looking through my pictures is how weird they are. Every picture I took in Tucson is either graffiti or a bus full of graffiti. Take a look:

A Bus Full Of Graffiti

Another Bus Full Of Graffiti...

Do Not Block...Ever!

A Few Pictures From The Drive Home

After walking around Tucson and admiring the graffiti, it was time to hit the road and head back to Phoenix. It’s not too bad of a drive and it went by really fast. Just before we got back to Phoenix I took this picture of some snow on Mt. Ord:

Some Snow On Mt. Ord

It’s crazy how you can stand in 70 degree weather and still look at snow. I can actually see this mountain from my apartment complex. That is if the smog isn’t too thick…

I guess that concludes the story…

A Day At The Wildlife World Zoo

Justin Wright — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:00:33 +0000

A Zebra At The Zoo

This past weekend, my girlfriend and I were on our way hiking when we noticed some dark clouds to the West. Once we saw them, we decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to go up in the mountains. Especially since I still remember the “lightning bolt incident of 2008.”

So instead of hiking, we ended up going to the Wildlife Work Zoo and Aquarium located in Litchfield Park, Arizona. It’s located a little West of Phoenix but was less than an hour away from our apartment.

Its been a long time since I checked out a Zoo. I remember going to one in Green Bay when I was in middle school but that’s about it. I always thought they were overrated for some reason. Now that I really enjoy photography it ended up being a great time shooting pictures of random animals. So here is the recap of the whole experience.

The Admission

For some reason I was expecting the zoo to be less than 15 bucks or so but it was 26.50 a person. Ouch! The good news is the aquarium was included in the price so it wasn’t like the Arizona Science Center where everything inside was extra. They did have a restaurant and gift shop but I did everything I could to avoid it. Of course the exit from the Zoo leads you right through the gift shop…there’s no escape.

The good news is the 26 buck cover charge was worth it. Especially if you have nothing to do and haven’t seen some cool animals in a long time. The Wildlife World Zoo is pretty big and has a lot of exotic animals that you might not see at other zoos.

The Animals

Now comes the fun part…the animals. They had everything from meerkats to snakes in this place. They even had some giraffes and a rhino. Here is a few of my favorite pictures:

A Rhino

Face To Face With A Giraffe

A Fearless Little Duck

The Smallest Deer Ever...

A Meerkat

The Coolest Little Monkey Ever

The Aquarium

Besides the zoo, we also checked out the newly built aquarium. The fact that the admission was included in the Zoo admission made it worthwhile. There were a ton of aquariums with all sorts of fish and animals. Crocodiles, Penguins, sharks, and barracudas to name a few. The only drawback was the fact the inside smelt like a VFW on Fish Fry Fridays.

The only disappoint I had was the sharks. The sign in the front of the zoo had a picture of a shark and it made it look like a large one. It ended up being one of the smaller types which made me cry a little. But they did in fact have sharks, just not the cool ones.

Zoos Are Pretty Cool

I must admit, going to the Zoo is a lot of fun. As long as you can avoid the large crowds of screaming children begging their parents for souvenirs in the gift shop. I had a fun time taking pictures and ended up taking more than 200 by the time we were done.

If you ever happen to be in Phoenix, go check out the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium.

Trip To The Grand Canyon And Flagstaff

Justin Wright — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:38:25 +0000

This past weekend my girlfriend and I made another road trip up north. We went up there expecting to find a bunch of snow in Flagstaff and go sledding. What we found was 55 degree weather and hardly any snow. Here is a video I put together:

A Few Pictures

Besides the video, I ended up with two awesome pictures on my camera. Check them out:

Sitting On The Edge Again… (Here’s the first picture)

Up Close With An Elk

Day Trips Are Awesome

I love going on day trips because you don’t have to worry about packing or flying anywhere. Just hop in the car and see where you end up. It’s crazy how seeing the Grand Canyon was something I always wanted to do when I was little. Now it’s nothing more than a day trip from my apartment. It’s still amazing to see and I really hope to hike down to the bottom sometime.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Phoenix Is Not So Bicycle Friendly…

Justin Wright — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:13:49 +0000

Ever since I bought my bike a week ago, I have been doing some major riding around Chandler, Tempe, and Phoenix. Yesterday I did about 15 miles and a few times before that I did a 10 mile ride. I’ve started to see more and more of the city, especially when it comes to the bike lane system. And the easiest way for me to sum it up is by saying…it sucks.

The Best Of The Cities

Of the three cities I do most of my riding in, Tempe is the best. It has even won awards as a bicycle friendly community through 2007 (according to the sign I saw). However, even this city is pretty crappy when it comes to riding bicycles. Sure, they have tons and tons of bike lanes all over the city.

The problem is that hardly any of them connect. I’ll be riding along a bike lane and hit a stop light, only to see the bike lane disappear into thin air on the other side of the intersection. So I’m stuck riding on the side of the road, which gives me about 2 feet of space between me and the crazy drivers of phoenix. What in the hell?

And the other thing that really bothers me is you never know what roads are going to have bike lanes. So have them, some don’t. Some even have lanes on one side of the road and not on the other. It’s as if the people in charge of the bike lanes got tired and decided to call it a day.

Sure, I could download the PDF map of all the bike lanes, but who wants to spend half the day trying to plan a trip 5 miles across town. I’d rather hop on my bike and start riding.

Phoenix Is Even Worse

Phoenix is even worse than Tempe because is hardly ever gives you a bike lane to ride on. They expect to ride along the shoulder of the road and risk getting yourself nailed by a car going 20 over the speed limit. Not exactly something I want to risk.

The easiest solution is to ride on the sidewalks since it’s a lot safer. The worst thing that could happen is I run someone over that is walking. Sounds better than getting hit by a car going 50 and not paying attention.

The People Are Just As Bad

If riding along the narrow shoulder and feeling the wind of cars coming by wasn’t enough, some of the people hear feel it’s necessary to yell random things and honk their horns at bicyclists. The other day I did a short ride around town and at least 3 people drove along side me and yelled something at me. Who knows what they were yelling but I’m sure it wasn’t “Hey, how’s it going.”

Phoenix Vs. Honolulu

The only other city I have lived in where my main transportation was a bike was Honolulu. And I must say that they had a much better bicycle system that made it easy to get around the city. I rarely got honked at by cars and never had to guess where I could find a bike lane since most of their main roads had them. They made them pretty wide to so you never had to worry about cars coming near you.

My Conclusion

The fact that Tempe is on the list of most bicycle friendly communities tells me that the United States has a long way to go before we are a truly a bicycle friendly country. I really hope a lot of changes happen over the next few years to make it easier for people to get around on bicycles.

But I’m not going to sweat it, I am going to continue to cruise around this city and find a way to avoid cars (I hope). Have a great weekend!

Lake Powell and Page, Arizona

Justin Wright — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:48:47 +0000

After hanging out in Monument Valley, it was time to head to Page, Arizona to call it a night. The entire drive to Page consisted of 50 MPH winds and tumbleweeds blowing across the road. Not exactly the best driving conditions…

A View Of Lake Powell

Once I arrived in Page, the first thing on the to do list was to find a view of Lake Powell. Luckily, there were a few spots to see the lake from. The only downside was it was cloudy and windy so taking pictures was tough. Here is the best picture I took:

View of Lake Powell

Arriving In Page

When I first got into Page, I could tell it was a small town. I grew up in a town of 4,000 people and Page is only about 3,000 people larger. The hardest part of the night was figuring out where to eat and what to do.

My girlfriend and I decided on eating at the Dam Bar and Grille, which turned out to be a really cool restaurant. They served all sorts of things and had some good food. Once we ate, we decided to sit at the bar and have a few drinks. We drank about 4 drinks each and were expecting a bill around $40, but it turned out to be $16. And that included a shot of Patron!

And then the night got interesting…

As it turns out, the Gunslinger Saloon was connected to the restaurant. According to the bartender, this was the “place to be” at night in Page. It was basically the nightclub of the town. I needed to see this. So around 10:30, we made our way into the saloon and I was immediately surprised. I expected a country bar, sort of like Nashville Waikiki in Honolulu, but all they were playing was rap music. There were disco lights along with a dance floor.

At the peak of the night, there was around 12 people in this place. Not exactly the type of crowd I was used to here in Phoenix. Overall, it was one heck of a birthday celebration…haha.

Heading Back To Phoenix

The drive back to Phoenix reminded me of the crappy weather I used to deal with in Wisconsin. The roads were full of ice and snow, much different than the Arizona I am used to. Check out the picture:

Snow Near Page, AZ

Overall, the trip to Monument Valley and Page was awesome. Now I have officially been to every destination in Arizona. The Grand Canyon, Tombstone, Tuscan, Flagstaff, Sedona, and everything in between. Looks like it’s time to head to a different state…

Monument Valley, Arizona

Justin Wright — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:42:02 +0000

This past weekend I was lucky enough to take another road trip. This time it was to northern Arizona to see Monument Valley. This was one of the last places I had left to see in the state of Arizona.

View of Monument Valley

A Cool Place To See

As you can see, the place is awesome. It is one of the coolest places I have seen because it is so different looking. The land is flat all around and the rocks just stick up out of the ground. It sort of comes up out of no where as your driving towards the Utah state border.

Here is a picture I took when Monument Valley just started to come into view:

Heading North Towards Utah

It Was Really, Really Windy…

The only downside was the fact that is was really windy. There were wind gusts that were easily in the 50-60 MPH range. The place is really dry and it was basically like hanging out in a dust bowl. You can see some of the dust in this picture:

Dust In The Valley

An Awesome Experience

Monument Valley was an awesome place to see. If you’re ever out west and looking for something to do, go check it out. It’s a perfect place to take some awesome pictures.

Next stop…Page, Arizona