Our morning in Apple Valley started out nice with us getting a huge breakfast at the Airport. Although it was very tasty, it was also a breakfast that probably threw our weight and balance off! Mark Torri, who runs the restaurant (called "Skidmarks!") at the Apple Valley airport has one of the best portions per price we have ever seen. A few of us ordered what he calls the "Bomber Burrito..."
Wow! This thing is fit to be loaded and/or strapped to a B-52!
Adam took pictures, and it is TWICE the size of his forearm... it probably weighs about 4lbs, and this thing is packed with yummieness!!! Sausage, Ham, Bacon, Eggs, Onions, Peppers, Cheese, more Sausage, more Bacon, more Ham, more... you get the picture! Mark also prepares your meal as you watch, and he has a bunch of laughs for you as he puts the meal together...
Thanks Mark for a super meal! Way better than the well known and well worn $100 hamburger!
From there, we then planned our exciting flight to Phoenix! Apparently, Phoenix holds the 6th busiest airport in the world. Once again, we were treated to another scenic flight with lots of mountains and varying terrain... and another stop at the Desert Skies FBO!
As we were flying towards the the Phoenix airspace, we were surprised to hear our controllers say "Switch to Luke Approach on 118.5..." They were clearing us for an approach just past the "Tank Mountains" and through and towards the Airport that is used for the Air Force's jet transition training!
It was reasonably busy in that training area, and every time the controller called traffic for us, we looked out to see...
F-16's!
It was kinda neat to hear the F-16's working with the controllers, and it was a lot of fun to watch as they went whizzing by on their approaches.
Phoenix is a really great city. From the air, it looks like they took great care in designing it. A chain of 4,000 foot mountains sits in the middle of the city, and all around this mountain chain there are the flatlands in which the city is nestled. To the south, the Salt River flows, along with another chain of mountains. We also saw areas of green again, as irrigation is used for the local farms and orchids. Of course, they also use the water for the golf courses!!!
Once we reached Phoenix safely we quickly got an inexpensive rental car from the airport and drove to... you gusses it... Mcdonalds!!! .
Bretton, Adam, and Ryan shared a fifty chicken mcnugget meal with two large fries and two large sodas. All for just five bucks each.
After dinner, it was time to scamper off for the Phoenix Coyotes NHL game. On the way, we saw a few of the local orchids, and the oranges there looked like they were very nearly ripe and ready for the picking!!!
The Coyotes quite probably have the nicest arena in the NHL... everything is new and freshly painted, and the arena has outstanding sight lines wherever one sits! Adam bought some 50-50 tickets, only to discover that the fine print on the back of the tickets stated "Only permanent residents of the USA are eligible for the prize..." He was relieved and disappointed all at the same time that he didn't win.
We were treated to an evenly matched game, as two of the (surprisingly) better teams battled for fourth place overall in the NHL!! Phoenix jumped out to 1-0 lead, but the Avalanche were able to tie it in the second. Most of us were thinking that we were headed to overtime, when the Coyotes managed to pop in a goal with just 22 seconds left in the 3rd period! No overtime for us, but still, an exciting game!
Of course, we then went to McDonalds for ice cream... and to try and find a hotel!!
We then crashed early for a good nights sleep (no Internet here!)... and to hopefully get ready for the long flights to come in the next two days towards home.
Oh yeah... before we went to bed we finished our Chicken McNuggets. They really weren't all that bad cold!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment