The Valley of the Sun

Last Monday I flew out of Boston with Mike for immunization training in Arizona. It had been several years since I'd been to Arizona, and when we stepped out of the airport, it was even hotter than I remember (Part of that was due to the fact that the space was enclosed). Our training was taking place at the hotel where we were staying, so we took a taxi instead of renting a car. Our taxi driver took up a winding road into what looked like the side of a mountain (turns out it is called a butte), and we finally arrived to our hotel when we reached the top.

We stayed at The Buttes, A Marriott Resort, in Tempe, Arizona, and I was blown away. Not only were the surroundings beautiful, the staff was exceptional friendly and went out of their way to welcome and assist me. When we were checking in, the staff member at the desk gave me a map to help me find my way around the resort. Because the hotel is built on the side of a butte, it is very spread out. They weren't kidding around when they gave me a map during check-in; I managed to only get slightly lost a couple of times. Here are a few pictures of the resort.

The outdoor pool area- 2 pools, a water slide, several hot tubs, a bar.. (Marriott picture)

My attempt at an artistic shot- it turned out much better than I thought it would

My closet in the hotel room was bigger than all of the storage space I have in my apartment right now

You can't see it, but I also had a patio right outside my door

The view of the resort's pool area at night- I definitely need to work on shooting nightime pictures

A view of the hotel's restaurant, Top of the Rock, at night (Marriott pic)

It was just as beautiful in real life as it looks in this picture (Marriott pic)

Over 2 days, we trained more than 120 pharmacists. It was *wonderful* to have the training at the hotel where we were staying- it just simplified the morning routine (and most of you know how much of a morning person I am!). The ampiphtheater style worked out very well. We used the back row for training at the end, and I stood in the row beneath it, which gave me great visibility to the pharmacists' practice shots. During the training, I ran into two classmates from Purdue that moved to Phoenix after graduation. I also saw John, a preceptor I had when I was an intern in Tempe during the summer of 2006. It took us a minute to figure out how we knew each other, but we finally put our finger on it. John led group meetings that I attended (along with other interns) every Friday, and I felt badly for not remembering sooner. I loved the summer of 2006. The company put me up in long-term housing with other interns in the program, some of whom I got to know very well. Alan and Megan were two other interns from Purdue that were in Arizona with me that summer, and we had such great adventures.

A picture of the amphitheater where we taught

The summer of 2006 (from left to right): Alan, Me, Megan, and Sarah

Having fun in Tempe in 2006 (Note: without the Indiana humidity, I can actually leave my hair curly and leave it down)

Even though we worked most of the day, we had some time at night to enjoy a few nice meals. Shane, a pharmacy supervisor in the area, took us out to dinner two nights, which was especially nice since we didn't have a car. We ate at a tex-mex restaurant (I can't remember the name of it, but I had a great margarita with Chambord there) and The Clam Jumper, both local restaurants. FYI- margaritas and chips with salsa are definitely much better down in the South- I highly recommend you have both if you visit the Phoenix-Scottsdale area.


On Wednesday night, Mike and I had dinner with Lisa, another resident with the company who lives and works in Phoenix, and her director, Elizabeth, at Mucho Gusto, which is one of Elizabeth's favorite restaurants in the area. Lisa also brought her daughter, Sasha, who was a delight. I had just met Elizabeth and Lisa the week before at a conference of sorts (more to come on that later), and I was thrilled to be able to see them again.

From left to right: Lisa, Elizabeth, Sasha, and I at Mucho Gusto

I had a wonderful time on my trip out West, and I can't wait to visit Las Vegas in December!