The county of the U.S.A. is amazing. The fact that it spans the width of the whole continent. The fact that almost every type of place can be found here. Considering I took a plane ride from the farmlands of South Jersey from the sprawling metropolis of Philadelphia to the deserts and mountains of Phoenix. It just amazes me that I am still in the same country in such a drastic change of scenery.
This will be my second year in Phoenix. I had a lot of great journeys last year; here is a list of some of them. Hiking South Mountain, Chiricahua National Monument, Grand Canyon, Walnut Canyon, Tubac Glowing Balloon Festival, Tonto Natural Bridge, Watpaki National Monument, Casa Grande, Superstition Wilderness, Canyon Lake, Phoenix Botanical Gardens, and Sunset Crater. And those were just the trips to other places in Arizona.
This week has been weird. The adventure was truly flying from Philly to Phoenix (that kind of sounds like an album name) even though flying isn't much of a journey any more rather than a task that needs to get done. I remember when it used to be an all day event; where if you were flying somewhere it was a big deal and that was your event that day. This one was much different, so let me recount the journey after I got off the plane.
So my friend picked me up from Sky Harbor Airport which is easy to get into but impossible to find your way out of it. So after one full loop around the place we finally figured it out. We are looking a place to live so we drove all around South Phoenix which is an odd place. Every three blocks it changes scenery.
First you're driving through a nice new development, then farm land, then a sketchy neighborhood, then a nice shopping center, and then a weird empty field, then back to the nice neighborhood. Its like that all over Phoenix which confuses me but makes me believe that all the places are a mesh of everything and all types of people.
Then we stopped for lunch at some Popeyes, which is a fast food journey (another good album name) nothing special there just some fried chicken, fries, biscuit, and a drink. We kept looking, and used a lock box to let us into one which was pretty awesome. We are looking for more houses today and hopefully gonna find the one we will move into! That will be a whole separate post for next week!
Anyways after that he dropped me off at the apartment and I relaxed for a bit and then decided to go somewhere so I walked up to the South Mountain, played some pokemon on the way and then went to Tempe Town Lake. This is an awesome park which is situated in between the college city of Tempe (home of Arizona State University) and the Salt River which has been dammed off to make it like a lake setting. They have places to walk, grassy areas (rare for Arizona), a splash pad, Arts building, and boat and board rentals on the Salt River. This place is great on a normal day because you can go and skate, grab some food off of Mill Avenue and eat it at the park, and rent a paddle board and enjoy the cool water. But that day was different; I would say close to 200 people were there just walking around playing pokemon Go. It is officially a cultural and global phenomenon. I didn't think it would blow up like it did! But it is pretty phenomenal to see and to know exactly what everyone is doing.
The next day I had to work (boo) and then I came home and got packed up and went to a smaller park called Kiwanis Park in Tempe just south of Baseline Rd. Again many people playing pokemon. It was nice to walk and have a clear loop that I could walk around enjoy the grass, water, birds, and people watch. I also brought my skateboard but wasn't feeling using it.
That's pretty much the small journeys I've had so far in Phoenix and Tempe (mainly Tempe). I'm closer to Tempe even though I technically live in Phoenix. Anyways on to the next section.
FOOD!
Ry's Bagels (aka Don's Bagels)- Ry's Bagels used be named Don's and if you go to it you will still see a sign out front saying "Don's Bagels" so to me the name never truly changed. It is the best bagel place I've ever been to and it's in little ole' Glassboro, NJ. It has never disappointed me and I almost always get something different. Homemade Bagels of various flavors, homemade cream cheese of various flavors, breakfast sandwiches, sides, coffee, and lunch bagel sandwiches are just a few things on the menu. My two favorites are buffalo chicken on a cheddar bagel or pork roll egg and cheese on an everything bagel. This time I went with the pork roll egg and cheese but on a specialty bagel. Well actually it was just a plain bagel in the shape and color of a pokeball (keeping with the pokemon theme here) Delicious, unique, and perfect as usual!
Mike's Seafood- Before I left for the desert, the last thing I truly wanted was a legitimate seafood dinner and then hang out with my friends. That is exactly what I did; but it was much more exciting than I expected. Mike's is in a place in Sea Isle City, NJ called Fish Alley with all the other fish markets and restaurants. Mikes is a more casual place than the others. It's open air and right over the water on the bay. If you're on the right side you can see the fishing boats pulling in and out of the docks. I ordered the captains special. Fried scallops (my favorite), crab stuffed shrimp, fried flounder, fries, and cole slaw. It was a pretty normal night with the family with a storm brewing in the distance. That storm however was heading right in our direction. Now remember the place is open air; that is a very important part of the experience. Since when the storm finally made it to us and it started raining all the tables on the end were getting soaked and came into the middle. We had a few people join our table to escape the rain. The lightning and thunder was intense especially the one that was directly overhead so there was no delay. Anyways the storm was past within five minutes and everyone dried off their tables and returned to their meals, hopefully not waterlogged. It was an amazing experience to see everyone just accept the storm was here, move away from the edge, and when it was over just go back to their tables and continue their meals without anyone making a fuss or complaining.
Green Mix- I drove past this place every year last year knowing it was there and never stopping. Now I regret doing that. This place is great! Salads, Rice Bowls, Soups, and Sandwiches. It's healthy, delicious, and not expensive as I thought it would be. I was extremely surprised with it and will diffidently be going back again. I had a brown rice bowl with broccoli, red peppers, onions, chicken, a fried egg, and some sweet thai sauce. It was delicious and just enough to fill me up but not make me feel full. I will diffidently be going back for more in the near future!
Well that's the journey this week! I hope you all enjoyed. Next week might not be as adventurous but I will have some stories to tell I'm sure. Anyways follow us on twitter, facebook, and Instagram for more awesome info and pictures throughout the week.
I'm gonna try a new thing this week. Comment on this post, tweet at us, or post on our facebook page a topic and I will write a haiku about it! Please keep it PG but it can be anything within that rating! Hoping to get some good stuff from you guys! Don't disappoint me!
All the Best, Ross
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