Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
13
Phoenix & the Valley
of the Sun
Forget the stately cactuses. Forget
the cowboys riding off into the sunset.
Think Los Angeles without the Pacific.
While the nation has carefully nurtured its
image of Phoenix as a desert cow town,
this city in the Sonoran Desert has rock-
eted into the 21st century and become the
fifth-largest city in the country. Sprawling
across more than 500 square miles of what
once was cactus and creosote bushes, the
greater Phoenix metropolitan area, also
known as the Valley of the Sun (or, more
commonly, just the Valley), is now a major
metropolitan area replete with dozens of
resort hotels, fabulous restaurants, excel-
lent museums, hundreds of golf courses,
world-class shopping, four pro sports
teams, and a red-hot nightlife scene.
Sure, it also has traffic jams and smog,
but at the end of the day, it can usually claim
to have had beautiful sunny weather. Sun-
shine and blue skies, day after day after day,
have made this one of the most popular
winter destinations in the country. When
Chicago weather forecasts call for snow and
subzero temperatures, you can have a hard
time getting a tee time on a Phoenix-area
golf course. Phoenicians may get the sum-
mertime blues when temperatures hit the
triple digits, but from September to May,
the climate here can verge on perfect—
warm enough in the daytime for lounging
by the pool, cool enough at night to require
a jacket.
With green lawns, orange groves, swim-
ming pools, and palm trees, it's easy to
forget that Phoenix is in the middle of the
desert. Water channeled in from distant
reservoirs has allowed this city to flourish
like a desert oasis. However, if you find
yourself wondering where the desert is,
you need only lift your eyes to one of the
many mountains that rise amid the subur-
ban sprawl. South Mountain, Camelback
Mountain, Mummy Mountain, Piestewa
Peak, Papago Buttes, Pinnacle Peak—
these rugged, rocky summits have been
preserved in their natural states, and it is
to these cactus-covered uplands that the
city's citizens retreat when they've had
enough asphalt and air-conditioning.
From almost anywhere in the Valley, you're
no more than a 15- or 20-minute drive
from a natural area where you can com-
mune with cactuses while gazing out
across a bustling, modern city.
Best of all, at the end of the day, you
can retreat to a comfortable bed at one of
the country's top resorts.
1
ORIENTATION
ARRIVING
BY PLANE
Centrally located 3 miles east of downtown Phoenix,
Sky Harbor Inter-
national Airport,
3400 E. Sky Harbor Blvd. (
&
602/273-3300;
www.phxskyharbor.
com), has three terminals, with a free 24-hour shuttle bus offering frequent service
between them. For information on airlines serving Phoenix, see chapter 3.
