ZooWalk 2009
Dear family, friends, and everyone else reading this,
Thank you for helping make this year’s ZooWalk for Autism Research a success. Despite the record high temperatures (102!) thousands of people whose lives have been touched by autism gathered together for a fun day with a great cause.
The event raised $120,000.
But really the best part is how this event allows families with children are autistic to come have a fun day at the zoo like a “normal” family without fear of being judged by people unfamiliar with autism.
Pictures! (be sure to check out the tiger 
)
(also, I have new baby Phoenix pictures enjoy!)
Another point for fall!
Last night and today, it “rained” in Phoenix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I mean it hardly counts as rain, but it was certainly an improvement to the super high temps!!!
Restaurants
It’s alright. I like that all the sandwiches are on pitas instead of bread. But, their “famous” chicken salad was really kinda gross…
From the outside, That’s a Wrap looks kinda trashy, and the food has lame names, but it tastes really good. I recommend the Turkey Club.
Home Away from Home
So here is sort of what my mid-week life looks like (yes, I like routine, so its pretty much like this every week)
Tuesday
Leave home about 3pm and drive to Phoenix. Its a couple hours drive.
When I get to Phoenix I usually stop somewhere and get carry-out dinner. Then go to the hotel. TV and dinner are next. Then I go to the lounge and check my email. Around 8 I go to the pool for about a half hour. Then its back to my room to unpack. A little more TV, maybe go back online, and then bed.
Wednesday
Wake up at 7. Shower, breakfast and email. Around 8 I get dressed and check the weather (hot… I don’t know why I bother… ok, so really I’m hoping that one of Phoenix’s infamous dust storms will hit while I’m here, cause I’ve never see them in person). I leave at about 8:50 to be at work at 9. Midday, I come back to the hotel for lunch and an internet break and then go back to work until 5. Pick up dinner on my back and basically repeat Tuesday night.
Thursday
Basically like Wednesday except starting a half hour later, we all go out to lunch, and when I’m done, I head home.
Oh, did I mention the pool is salt water not chlorine 
No wonder its so nice.
Dust storm:
New Feature – Restaurants
My mom wanted me to add a new feature to my blog. Restaurant Reviews. While my home away from home has a fridge, there is no way to heat up food, so I eat out for almost every meal while I’m there.
Domino’s Pizza – I love that I can place an order online and have it delivered. Beyond that, it is some of the worst fast food pizza (which is saying a lot, because I usually like fast food pizza).
The Wild Thaiger – Simply excellent thai food (I had the chicken curry and deep fried tofu, but there are a lot of other things on the menu that looked good). The fried tofu was battered which was a little odd, but the curry was yummy. Maybe not the safest parking lot (its secluded behind the building), but the other customers seemed to be fairly upstanding.
Subway – My old standby. Its great on the drive down.
Sweet Tomatoes – Fine tasting food, but wayyyy overpriced.
Sui Wok – Just your usual chinese food. I had the sesame chicken with rice. It tasted good, but wasn’t anything exceptional.
Quiznos – Turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich. It was ok, but has nothing on my beloved Subway. Service was kinda lame (the guy got really confused when I said I didn’t want cheese… sorry, but I don’t like cheese on my sandwiches…
I could get used to this…
Well, tomorrow is day two of my internship. I can’t say anything about it. But so far it is incredible! The people I’m working with are really nice and the work is really interesting. I have wanted to work here for a really long time, but have had some doubts that I could do the work. But so far, I’ve seen how much this really is what I want to be doing. So, we’ll see…
Anyway, I’m driving to Phoenix every Tuesday, staying a couple days, and then heading back home. So today was the first time at this place. And I think I have found the closest you can get to bliss in Phoenix. The hotel itself is a little funky (they advertise as not being a tan chain hotel, and they aren’t).
Because I’m renting a room from them every week for nearly 6 months, they are giving me a King-sized suite at an incredibly discounted rate. The bed is super comfy and there is a big flat screen tv. And the pool. At 8:30/9pm (maybe even later, its open until midnight, but I have to be up early in the morning) it is perfect. There are very few people (one guy swimming laps and another on his computer in the lounge area), the water is warm from the sun beating on it all day. But the sun has set, so no worries about sunburn, no need for sunscreen, its perfect. And there are little LEDs at the bottom of the pool which is a fun touch. I spent probably 10 minutes just floating on my back watching the stars and planes (I almost fell asleep like that, it was so nice…)
So far there have only been three real problems. The heat here is killer. 110 degrees today. It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for problem two, car trouble. The AC in the car doesn’t work. And the little plug in the car doesn’t work (so no ipod, no charging my phone in the car, sigh…). Problem three is the limited food options. ”Imitation” pizza (fast food pizza from a popular chain) just doesn’t cut it when you want fresh fruit 
Anyway, I’m off to bed before another great day tomorrow…
