About 48 hours ago, I was getting ready to leave for the airport.  Snow had fallen again, freezing rain was coming down and the roads to Newark were treacherous.  Despite these obstacles, the flight came close to leaving on time.  But that wasn’t meant to be; instead we had to wait on the tarmac for three hours.  I was convinced that we wouldn’t leave the airport, let alone make it to our destination.

But fate wasn’t going to let me down again – not after totally dropping the ball on us for Vegas in December.  The plane took off, and a few hours later, I arrived in Arizona for my conference.  Crystal clear blue skies, bright sun and desert.  Couldn’t ask for anything more.

The hotel is gorgeous and overlooks Camelback Mountain (see the pool photo above).  I’m spending time with my colleague and friend, who lives in Scottsdale and has been serving as a fantastic tour guide.   We went hiking yesterday and did a little shopping today (I bought a souvenirs for the girls today and the best part is that they’re not t-shirts).  I have a king size bed all to myself.  Life is sweet.  Another two days of this bliss before I head back to the cold, crappy New York winter.  I am inhaling every moment of this short trip because such voyages don’t come around very often.  Even the conference is interesting so far.

This corner of the country is quite beautiful.  The summers must be horrendously hot here, but hell (no pun intended), you can still spend almost all your time outside nine months out of the year.  There’s definitely something to be said for that.