Weekend in Arizona

Thursday 4/7-Sunday 4/10: ASU Art Museum, Movie, Flower Child Dinner, Taliesin West

Mr. E and I took a relatively quick trip to the Phoenix area so that we could revisit the amazing Chihuly in the Desert exhibit at Taliesin West during the evening hours. We had a late flight on Thursday and got to our hotel, the Hyatt House at ASU campus in Tempe, just after midnight. Since we were both working the next day, including presenting a webinar for me, we took time to unpack and get everything set up for the morning. Mr. E helpfully suggested I use the elevated metal tray from the microwave for my DIY laptop riser this time around. Perfect

I grabbed breakfast the next morning at the buffet in the spacious cafe and bar area and then set to work. Mr. E headed to the nearby Starbucks for his coffee and then set up to work in the large seating area near the bar for most of the day. We were able to take a lunch break together and initially tried to go to the Original Chop Shop but struck out on parking so instead made do with provisions from the nearby Whole Foods instead. If the weather had been nicer (e.g. not mid 90s and full sun), we could have walked to both places, but we opted to drive instead.

On Friday evening, we went to the ASU Art Museum for the opening of a new exhibition, New Earthworks. We enjoyed strolling the underground galleries and were struck by the unique architecture of the museum itself as well. The evening wrapped up with a stop to purchase some wine and spirits and then dinner in our room with the items we'd purchased previously.

Saturday morning was a return trip to the buffet and Starbucks. Then I watched a virtual event from the Alliance Francaise in the room while Mr. E worked on email downstairs in the bar area. We regrouped for an early afternoon movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once (love Michelle Yeoh!) at the AMC (thanks to C for the gift cards!) and had just enough time to do some travel planning back at the hotel before heading out to Flower Child in Scottsdale to meet up with K & M for dinner and our evening visit to Taliesin West for a self-guided tour of the Chihuly glass sculptures (which we had seen during the day when we visited in early December).

Our 6:45pm entry time was perfect, as we arrived right when the sun was setting so were able to take a first pass through with twilight over the desert and a second round in full dark when the lit-up sculptures presented a striking contrast to the landscape. Lots of photos below... Some of my favorites are the ones that I took of the reflection of the sculptures in the window of the dining room and of course also the bunny visitor on the grass.

Since we had a morning flight on Sunday, we decided to just head back to the hotel after finishing up at Taliesin West. All went smoothly with the rental car return and flight, and we arrived home in the late morning to unpack. I was able to go to the 3pm classical concert at the Crocker after taking a nap but ended up going to be early as I was feeling exhausted for some reason. Mr. E had time for a workout and getting ready for the week. Next up: Fort Collins!