Lots of Losers Out There!

If you want to have some fun without paying much, McDonald's is always a good place! It probably is the most disgusting place that anyone could hang out and eat but there's positive side to that and I've probably written about that a few times. You can see all sorts of freaks, losers, maniacs, you name it!

I was at a McDonald's for a coffee and an argument was started between a man in his late 60's and a younger woman, whom looked like the poor girl was homeless, in her mid. to late 30's.

The man, was allegedly following woman and alleged her of stealing his phone. The woman, in turn, was asking him to stop chasing her! Eventually the so-called manager of the McDonald's called the cops and in this great City of Calgary that they claim the police is short-staffed, first two officers, within less than 10 minutes and then another two(!) shortly after that, arrived!

Imagine the situation: An argument between an old man and a poor homeless woman and then 4 police officers comprises of 3 male and 1 female! If any CPS member or a sensitive member of the public reads that, they might get offended and come after me(!) but I'm not saying anything bad or derogatory about CPS or its officers. All I'm saying is the public is concerned about the response time of the CPS officers and how short-staffed the organization is, not to mention the recent issue with selecting the chief but I have to differ with them! The response time was sufficient and handling the situation was professional. However sending 4 officers for an argument between an old man who seeks companion and a poor homeless lady, I believe, is excessive. I really felt bad for the woman because obviously she was looking for a safe and warm place to spend her night and don't attack me by saying that I don't know the whole story. I know enough to say that only a loser would lure a poor homeless woman to his place to have sexual relationship with. If he really had wanted to help, he would have helped by offering food or cash or even a job. Anyways I would like to insist that the fun part of the scene was not seeing the woman being questioned (whom I felt very bad for, despite what she has done to throw herself in this situation), it was the guy's reaction and the over-presence of the officers. The interesting thing is that not many people paid attention to the story as it was something very ordinary to see in an eating place! I think I should agree with them. It's McDonald's!

Half of a Day in Phoenix Area

I woke up early to get the hell of the miserable Motel 6! The person a the counter was different from the night before, obviously, as their shift changes. This one was even worse! It was a short, ugly, fat, round woman with long fake nails! Some people have every bad things together! She handed me my receipt like she owned the place! I was just happy that I was leaving unharmed! I then went to a Dunkin' Donuts across the street to get a coffee. It was a small place. I wanted to sit and enjoy my coffee but there was nobody inside. Everyone would get the order and leave. So I decided not to stay as well! Considered a safety issue particularly because I was not too far from the motel. The coffee was just average. Its cup was good though! I then drove to South Mountain Park in Phoenix for a short hike. Unfortunately and fortunately at the same time(!) it was a cloudy day! So while I didn't burn or sweat like a pig(!) I couldn't get very good photograph although the view was not significant or anything even close but the park was nice. On my return I spend a few minutes in a nearby McDonald's for my regular coffee. Then I went to a close-by Safeway and then after that to a Wal-Mart. I wanted to buy a sort of small souvenir with either Arizona or Phoenix logo or flag but everything was over my budget but I managed to find a good movie on DVD and added to the other one that I had already purchased, two movies that I had not been able to find them in Canada: Bridge of Spies and Foxcatcher. There was not much time left to departure. I had to be in the airport 2 hours prior to the flight and I knew that after returning the rental I would have to take the bus to go to Terminal 4. So I headed toward Sky Harbor and I guess I was in there at around 14:00 or a little laterThe airport wait was a waste, as usual but was not too bad. The plane though was 1/3 empty! There was nobody in the next seats to me and I was sitting at a window seat.
I still was in pain. My knee hurt, I guess because I over-worked that. I asked one of the stewardesses for a pain-killer and she was nice enough to give me something. The flight left a few minutes before the scheduled time and landed in Calgary with no issue.
The airport, though, was surprisingly buy compared with the time I came back from Las Vegas but the wait time was not as much as 10 minutes.
(Photo: A view of Phoenix, looking north, from South Mountain Park. The Downtown skyline can be seen on the left. This, compare to what you can see from Nosehill Park in Calgary, I should say, is less appealing but Phoenix is a great city)

Motel 6, Tempe, AZ: An Scary Place

I usually don't write in much detail about the places I stay in but this time I am going to because I had never had this kind of experience.

I made a mistake and booked a room in Motel 6 in Tempe a suburb of Phoenix. I regretted that the minute I saw the place from distance and I promised myself that I would never do such a thing in any travel, ever again! As I was approaching the place, driving northbound on a main street of Tempe, I checked the GPS and it referred me to the left. The so-called motel was right on the edge of the road! I thought: How the hell am I going to sleep! I should have probably cancelled it but I drove in the parking lot and went to the reception. There was a tall, looked like either Black or Native guy whom I talked to. First I thought he had a medical condition because it looked like his left cheek is swollen(!) then I realized that he had something big in his mouth and was just talking to me like that. How respectful and nice! He gave me a room in the back but just going through the parking lot and looking at the so-called guests, I realized that I had a mistake, for the second time in the past 10 minutes!

There were two Black guys listening to their favorite(!) music and smoking Marijuana at the other side. Other guests, unfortunately, looked like people who chose cheap places to live. I, however, parked and checked the room out. Tiny room with almost everything that any other room in a different hotel might have but I didn't try anything! No TV! No Shower! Not anything else! I tried the Internet though and it was damn slow. I stayed in the room with the deadbolt on, as that was what the note on the door said and then decided to have a walk outside and check the businesses. What I found was interesting:

1) There was this little cafe, with no customer the entire time I was around, named Bikini Beans Coffee! I was walking by and at the corner of my eyes I thought I had seen girls in shorts or something! and I said: Wow! I got closer and there it was: Two girls in bikinis inside the little store. The store looked like it was for the staff only because the side door(!), which means there is no front door(!), had Employees Only, written on it very big! The front is a sort of window, like a drive-thru, where customers order and receive their stuff! This, apparently is for the safety of the staff because the people I saw in the motel were one step away from being a defendant! When I notice that there was no entrance to the store, I said to myself: What's the freaking point?! If anyone wants to see a girl in bikini, he simply can go to a swimming pool or beach or the way some of the girls dress these days is no different from bikini! So why the hell would he go to a cafe with no door(!) and spend money for a beverage to see the girls from distance?!

Then just a little further there was an adult store but it looked rundown and I was afraid going in! It was a huge store! Probably the size of a McDonald's! At the other side of the street, North Scottsdale Road, there was a nice hotel, a gas station, a Dunkin' Dounuts and Food City. 

I went inside the big store of the gas station. This type of store, in the US, are huge compare to the Canadian ones. Then I went inside Food City and I have to say that it was interesting. It looked like that the majority of the customers, as well as the staff were Hispanics. What was interesting was the type of food and the prices! Even for me who had Canadian money turned to American, some of the stuff seemed cheaper. There was only $0.75 for 1 American dollar at the time. I, however didn't buy anything because I didn't have anything like plate, fork and knife with me and the place is just repulsive(!) in a way that you don't want to stay in and eat! I eventually decided to go back to the damn motel and sleep because staying out requires spending money and I had already spent enough money!

(Photo: The only picture I'm posting here is this one which shows how affordable this great fruit(!) is in Arizona at the moment. You have to pay at least $1.99 for one. Any photo from the damn motel would be depressing!)

Lordsburg, NM and After That

I shouldn't probably say this here but Alphonse actually ruined the half of the already planed trip by rushing us back to Phoenix because he wanted to go back to work on Thu. He has so many good attributes and in fact without him I would have been able to reach neither Telescope Peak, nor Flatiron but he's heavy and slow. Besides he eats a lot! I have talked to him and I don't think it has had any affect, although he knows the issues.

Nevertheless after leaving Hueco Tanks State Park, we took I-10 and headed west to Arizona through New Mexico. Alphonse wanted to stop on the way for sleep in order to be able to save a few hours the day after when he would be driving to California. We stopped in this small town called Lordsburg in southern New Mexico and went to a Motel 6. This motel is probably amongst the cheapest throughout the United States. The strange thing was the man at the reception, and I believe he was the only staff in the entire motel at the time, was an East Indian! They say the only place that you can go and might not see an East Indian, these days is moon! However I wondered how in the hell an East Indian ended up in a small southern New Mexico motel! The place was not very bad. We had had some snacks and then for dinner we repeated that. I had an Apple and Alphonse gave me an Orange and that was dinner!I took a shower and slept. There was a little noise from other guests but not much and I slept a little. It was not very bad.

A wooden style flag of New Mexico. I would definitely have a hike and visit to this state once. The flag represents a local native tribe and in fact shows sun in a yellow background. Yellow represents the 16th Century Spain's flag 

The next morning we left almost at 08:00 to help Alphonse with his timing. We only stopped a few times for gasoline and coffee until we reached Phoenix. Alphonse selected an Chinese buffet for lunch and that was not bad but Chinese food is the kind that I always try to avoid because the as*holes use too much salt, deep-fry many things and they have so much disgusting starch in shape of either Rice or damn Noodle! For that I don't even recall, or better to say try to recall, the name of the place but it was a huge venue close to a gulf course. Alphonse then was trying to find a rental place close to the hotel that I had book. The intention was to rent a car and then go to the hotel after that but he messed up again! The rental place he found in his searches (through his phone and GPS) led us to wrong addresses, twice(!) and eventually we went to the rental place in Sky Harbor! I, happily(!), said goodbye to him there and rented a Tacoma and a GPS there. That cost me a lot but I had no choice. My flight would be more than 24 hours from that time and I didn't want to get stuck in the damn hotel. In the next post you'll, if you read it, what a smart decision that was!
(Photo: This is taken in I-10 in New Mexico on our way to Texas. No photo from Lordsburg as it was night and a short stop at the time)

Hueco Tanks State Park, TX

As I indicated in the previous post our plan of hiking Guadeloupe Peak had to be replaced with a short hike in Hueco Tanks State Park, mainly due to persistence from Alphonse which basically ruined the second part of the trip! I always had problem finding a good partner for hiking. I have hiked with the American guy from Boston, who used to work with us, M. C., I have hiked with The Chef, I have hiked with The Hope, I have hiked with Newlywed and I have hiked with The Lady. Not a single person ever satisfied me as a good hiking partner! They all complained about being tired or cold or at risk! I guess my next hikes would be all solo like many others that I have already done.

This park, just about half an hour northeast of El Paso, was not as exciting as I had expected to be but regardless of that everything after we changed the hiking plan became complicated and chaotic! First we went to park but were stopped by a Texas Parks ranger! It was not only us! He, who looked like he was Hispanic, like many others in the area, told us that we had to wait because there were enough visitors in the park! I didn't understand! In fact I had been to so many parks in the US and Canada and that was the first time I heard something like that. I'm very impatient in situations such as that! We drove a lot to see wildlife, nature and enjoy a hike, not wait outside. So I told Alphonse to switch the plan to some place else! He wanted to wait to see what would happen! Eventually we decided to go and see a nearby guest house that we originally wanted to stay in and that was because I told him that I would not be able to sleep in Palace Inn for another night!

The vegetation is generally beautiful in the park and I'm certain it's more beautiful in summer

The place was not too far and after calling and booking the rooms  we went there to see what it looked like. Unfortunately that didn't seem to be a comfortable place for me to stay! So we headed back to the park and there surprisingly was nobody! No car! No ranger! No nothing!

We went inside and at the booth we found out what had happened. You need to fill out a form after paying the admission and then you're directed to a room to watch a short video to understand the importance of the area, its history and it's significance to local Native people. The clip was good and educational but the ranger then asked us a number of silly questions! We thought he would ask questions about the spots to avoid, collect the garbage, avoid going off the trail and such. Instead he asked questions such as what was the name of this and how many million years ago that happened?! I was going to say: Are you stupid?! You're telling me that your heritage, many pictographs, which by the way we didn't see even one single of them(!), have been destroyed by thoughtless people and you ask me questions about a million years ago! We then left the room after receiving some information as how to make it an enjoyable hike, from the ranger. 

The Hueco Hacienda, the guesthouse near Hueco Tanks State Park where we wanted to spend our night in but then the plan was changed

The park comprises of three hills which are the results of an eruption, millions of years ago. Two of the hills are off limit to the public unless they go there with a guide. We decided to take the only available hill. As I said the ranger provided some information to Alphonse as how to go up, find a cave and see pictographs but after spending nearly an hour and a half we saw nothing! The main reason was that we were exhausted both from the previous hike and the long drive from Arizona to Texas. I had told Alphonse that doing two hikes, even if they are considered moderate, is wrong. That is why I didn't enjoy much of our short hike in this park. 

We then returned to the city and discussed where to stay. Alphonse wanted to get closer to home(!) so after dinner, we drove back toward west with the hope that we can find a nice place on I-10 and sleep. 

(Photo, top: A view from the top of one of the hills in Hueco Tanks State Park looking southwest. The affect of rain, snow, ice and other atmospheric phenomena has made big holes in the area which act as water tanks and from years ago, I assume, millions, animals and human beings have used the area to rest, drink and even settle down)

El Paso is Great!

I had a different view, in my mind, from El Paso before going there. It immediately was changed after we entered the city! It's a modern city like any other major American city that one might have in mind. It certainly is not L. A. (not that I have been to L. A.!) but it's far from a small town I thought it would be near Mexican border. El Poso (Meaning the Passage in Spanish) is laying on the border where at the other side, the city of Juarez rests. The area was shown in the movie Secario. However due to shortage of time and lack of interest from Alphonse, we neither got a chance to discover the city, entirely, nor the border side and the Mexican town. We first went to our hotel and check in. It was a nice and new building by I-10, named Palace Inn. However I had a concern from the beginning: Too close to a busy highway and difficult for me to sleep. We found a good buffet at the other side of the highway and ate there. It seemed Hispanics comprise a big population in the city. Everywhere you go you can hear people speak Spanish and at time it's difficult to say whether it is their first or second language. The restaurant, called Furr's Fresh Buffet, was full of obese people, mostly(!), either young or mid-aged, Hispanic, mostly. It also looked like the majority of the staff where Hispanic as well. This is how I interpret the situation and I'm not being racists: My assumption is all these Latinos were born and grew up in poor countries and barely had anything to eat. Coming to the US, the land of plenty were food is generally cheap, gives them the opportunity to fill themselves up with everything they find!

Palace Inn is a very nice hotel. If you don't have any problem sleeping next to a noisy highway, I highly recommend it but forget about the breakfast and watch the couple who run the place

Nevertheless The food is good for the price you pay and dinner is a few dollar more expensive than lunch due to its more popularity. I realized here, but not only here(!), why Alphonse was so overweight and had problems coming down and going down a trail: He eats way too much! He takes several trips between the table and different serving tables and fills his plate with everything that you can imagine including lots of starch! Anyways we enjoyed our meal and headed back to the hotel to sleep but I didn't have a good sleep the whole night because of the noise from highway.

Part of Furr's Buffet where, I guess, Mexican food is served. That's be corn, beans and some other stuff. Unlike what's seen in this photo, the place is busy and frequented by the staff and customers

One might question why we selected El Paso as a place in Texas to visit. My original plan, which I shared with Alphonse and he agreed to that, was to do the hike of Guadeloupe Peak, the highest point in the state of Texas. He, however, underestimated the difficulty of Flatiron Peak. He said that he would not be able to go on the hike and added that he would start and then would descend. He wanted me to go though. I was in a better shape but had sever pain on my right foot as well as both knees and tendons. We cancelled the plan and decided to replace that with something easier. In addition to Guadeloupe Mountains National Park, which was closed, partially, due to the Government of the US partial downtown, the city of El Paso also is close to Hueco Tanks State Park, Franklin Mountains State Park and the city of Juarez in Mexico. So many activities could be planned when going to this part of the US. We changed the original plan and I kind of regretted that but at that time there was not much we could do. I had told Alphonse that we needed to leave two days off between the two hikes as both were challenging but he wanted to go back to California and back to work. Now I have to plan for another trip to do Guadeloupe Peak. Next time I will approach from east and there will be no Alphonse! I will go all the way to the summit!
(Photo, top: This carriage statue might mean something but being alongside an impatient parson such as Alphonse I couldn't see whether there was any plaque or not. This is erected in a shopping plaza in the city) 

Mesa, AZ to El Paso, TX via New Mexico

We headed southeast after we finished our hike in Lost Dutchman State Park. My plan was to go to Tuscon and then from there to El Paso in order to get to Guadeloupe Mountains National Park to hike the highest peak in the State of Texas. However our physical condition didn't seem to be in a status(!) which guarantee our success! My right foot was in pain and my tendons were both very sore (near knee cap) which I will definitely see a physician for. Alphonse's situation was way worse than me although he was saying that he was fine! 

Despite the plan he took Highway # 70 and went through New Mexico. That's what the GPS had suggested, he said. Before leaving Arizona, we checked Goldfield Ghost Town, as he wanted to. It's a nice place to see but mainly for the kids. Besides he never spends a penny and the town comprises of different businesses which make the trip worthwhile. Nevertheless by the time we reached El Paso it was dark and since we had a reservation, we went to the hotel directly. I had booked Palace Inn which is a brand new building with all shiny and new furniture and very clean and nice. There're problems though, in my view: 

1- The hotel is just right next to the Inter-State 10 which is a very busy highway. Everyone who's going to eastern Texas has to take this highway and we know how noisy that could be even at night.

2- The business is either owned or managed or both by East Indians! That is a major issue for a hotel. In this case they try to cut every possible corner to save a Dime!

We got our rooms and then we went out to eat and discuss tomorrow's plan. We, by accident, found this great buffet, which I will write about separately, and enjoyed a good meal. 

Alphonse said that he was not ready to do that hike and encouraged me to go and added that he would come back down if he feels tired or sore and I could continue on my own. I didn't like the idea because first of all I don't know how long it would take and I don't want to leave him there by himself on the bottom. He eventually gets bored and regrets that he has suggested doing that and that ruins our friendship. The other issue was there's a 2-hour drive between El Paso and Guadeloupe Mountains National Park. Going all the way there without being able to hike the mountain would simply be waste of gasoline and time. 

We stopped for gasoline in one of these huge gas station/stores and this old pump caught my attention. Texaco sign, logo or emblem or whatever you want to name it is not seen these years anywhere, at least in Canada. I think it's because the company is now a subsidiary of Chevron

I suggested the other two available hiking areas near the city: Franklin Mountains State Park and Hueco Tanks State Park. Alphonse agreed on the latter. We then returned to the hotel and got ready for sleep. We were both tired and went to bed very early. I guess I fell sleep around 21:30 and then woke up around 23:30 as a result of the noise from highway! That was how I slept the whole night: Sleeping for two freaking hours and then waking up and then staying up for a number of minutes. Then falling sleep again and then waking up from the noise and on and on!
(Photo: While on the highway or any road, I usually look for any possible photo opportunity but Alphonse were driving like a maniac! However I got a chance to take a photograph of this beautiful mountain when we were switching seats. This is hard to say where is located exactly. We were driving on Inter-State 10 in New Mexico but the mountain could be in Texas. This was an experience to prevent Alphonse from driving if we ever will have a road trip! I want a relaxed drive with frequent stops. He just pushes the pedal and wants to get to the destination!)

Hike to Flatiron, AZ

I and Alphonse went down for breakfast at 06:30 with the hope that we get to the trail-head of our hike not very late. As usual the breakfast at BW was horrible and as usual Alphonse ate a lot which would affect him during the hike later! It was a cloudy day in Lost Dutchman State Park, in contrary to what I had experienced a little less than 4 years ago. We paid the admission and hit the trail. It was not very bad at the beginning but then the fog fell on us and Alphonse started to fall behind! I don't remember how many times I had to wait for him to reach me, but it was several times and I also had to answer his question " How do I get there? "! Many came and caught up with us! That not only was very frustrating but also very humiliating!  There has barely been any hike that I let the people pass me, even the ones who were years younger than me!

When we reached the summit, which I hope it was the summit(!), it was very foggy and we barely were able to see a few feet away, let alone the view of the surrounding area. We only took a few photo which are not worth here but instead I post this one which shows the magnificent cactus of Arizona.   

The fog then turned to light showers and that turned the trail, which is mostly, perhaps 99%, made of rocks and big boulders, to a very slippery path. We reached the summit which basically is a vast flat area, after almost 03:45 hours! We spent about 15 min. there, took a number of photos and then headed down. It was foggy all the way to the bottom of the mountain and also it become crowded. The problem, again, was Alphonse's lack of confidence and ability in route finding. He was way behind and at times would sit on his ass to just get down a rock! At one point, when I was talking to a group, I looked up and he was laying on the rocks! He apparently had fallen! The return simply just was a bigger disaster! When we were at the parking lot again he was shaking and barely able to move. My situation was not way better than him, tough! I was tired and my right foot was in pain! We ate some snack and headed back to the town. On the way back I asked him to stop by at a McDonald's so I can get ourselves a couple of cups of coffee. There're differences between McDonald's in the US and Canada. The shape, size and design of cups is different. You get your 7th coffee for free in Canada and that's after attaching the label to a card and presenting it to the cashier at the counter. In the US it's digital. So I couldn't use it. We both were very tired and just wanted to rest before going for a supper. 

Based on my experience if you're going to do Flatiron, like any other mountain, the time of the year is a factor. In March it was dry and hot. In January it is dump and slippery. Besides that because of the fog you cannot see much from top but in both ways it's a good hike and worth doing. For a hike which should be normally done in almost 5 hours in total, I guess we spent a total of 7 hours, at least and that of course was because of Alphonse! I'm not mad at him or anything and I didn't even mention that to him but it was him, after I suggested the hike, who said that he had been exercising and felt good to do any hike! I guess he cannot determine his body situation and that, for an athlete, even an armature, is not good!
(Photo: This picture, taken on the way back, shows what the weather looked like on our day of hike. Everywhere was beautiful though! No complain! Today, when we were leaving Arizona the entire Phoenix area was sunny without even one single cloud in the sky!)

Arizona, Again

I landed in Sky Harbor International Airport once again a few hours ago. I'm back to Arizona after almost 4 years. Alphonse picked me up and now I'm writing from a hotel. I was going to rent a vehicle but he said, while we were planning for the trip, not to. He drove from California and we're going to do a hike tomorrow. He just returned to his room a few minutes ago after we had a supper together. I'm sleepy and I don't know why! My flight took just a little over 3 hours but it was tiring. The tiredness could be a residual of the weekly work. I'm going to hit the sack as we've planned to start our day quite early.  

(Photo: I'm tired and sleepy and haven't had the chance to go out to take photos. We just checked supermarket and got something for supper. This, however, I took when the pilot was turning to prepare the plane for landing. Unlike what I expected Phoenix is cloudy and we even saw a few drops. There's 60% chance of showers for tomorrow but we don't mind that. We're doing the hike)