Edited August 21, 20214 yr by Sesquashtoo

Great morning set of Phoenix! Hoping FlightBeam ports their KPHX soon.

6 minutes ago, Pugilist2 said:

Great morning set of Phoenix! Hoping FlightBeam ports their KPHX soon.

Phoenix is my childhood home town...lived off of Central Ave, in the lee of Camelback Mnt.  As a teen, we moved to Scottsdale, and then at 18, moved to Malibu, California.  Loved Phoenix...and will retire there. Probably, actually in Fountain Hills. I ride motorcycles, and my wife rides our four horses (with me occasionally also on one of 'em, lol), so a perfect State for those two pastimes...

Edited August 21, 20214 yr by Sesquashtoo

Nice!  How do you find the sim compared to where you grew up?

1 hour ago, ryanbatcund said:

Nice!  How do you find the sim compared to where you grew up?

You can definitely see Central Ave..., the golf course at the base of Camelback, and so on.  Of course it is not a picture, but I can definitely VFR around to all my old haunts...South Mountain Range Park...where We did a lot of hiking and horseback riding. But..what would have been a hoot, was if they would have had the fountain in Fountain Hills, that shoots a water geyser high into the desert air. I did look for that, ..but nope.  That's a famous landmark in the area. That's where my wife and I will be retiring to. We want to get a ranch just outside of town, as we have horses and have always lived a horse ranch lifestyle.  We hope to continue that in retirement. 🙂 

13 hours ago, Sesquashtoo said:

Phoenix is my childhood home town...lived off of Central Ave, in the lee of Camelback Mnt.  As a teen, we moved to Scottsdale, and then at 18, moved to Malibu, California

With my own past as a pasty-faced Brit yoof growing up in Southend-on-Sea in Essex, I have to confess to a certain amount of envy here <grin>. Such places were the food of dreams. When I eventually made it to California for the first time (Santa Cruz, on a weekend off on a work trip to the valley) I couldn't believe my eyes - it was February but the sun was out in a blue sky, it was about 70 degrees, there was a proper boardwalk on the beach and the place was packed with Harleys, hot-rods, roller-blading bikini wearing girls and all sorts of other decidedly alien things. It was six months later on another trip I drove down the PCH and hit LA, and Malibu.

Couple of years after I had a choice of trips one January, I could do Minneapolis/St Paul, or Miami and then Phoenix. Much as I love the Twin Cities I'm not entirely stupid, so off to Miami I went. They had the first snow there for something like 40 years that week, wiped out the orange crop apparently. And would you believe it, the same thing happened in Phoenix. I've got a photo somewhere of my rental car parked in front of one of those huge cacti out in the desert somewhere covered in snow.

That's when I realised I'm actually a weather god (or demon, I suppose) <grin>

3 hours ago, andy1252 said:

With my own past as a pasty-faced Brit yoof growing up in Southend-on-Sea in Essex, I have to confess to a certain amount of envy here <grin>. Such places were the food of dreams. When I eventually made it to California for the first time (Santa Cruz, on a weekend off on a work trip to the valley) I couldn't believe my eyes - it was February but the sun was out in a blue sky, it was about 70 degrees, there was a proper boardwalk on the beach and the place was packed with Harleys, hot-rods, roller-blading bikini wearing girls and all sorts of other decidedly alien things. It was six months later on another trip I drove down the PCH and hit LA, and Malibu.

Couple of years after I had a choice of trips one January, I could do Minneapolis/St Paul, or Miami and then Phoenix. Much as I love the Twin Cities I'm not entirely stupid, so off to Miami I went. They had the first snow there for something like 40 years that week, wiped out the orange crop apparently. And would you believe it, the same thing happened in Phoenix. I've got a photo somewhere of my rental car parked in front of one of those huge cacti out in the desert somewhere covered in snow.

That's when I realised I'm actually a weather god (or demon, I suppose) <grin>

Yep...I had a fun and diverse childhood. My father was a land developer, so after he closed on build projects. (He and his 4 business partners actually built Scottsdale from the desert up, and we moved into the first model home in the lee of the Superstition Mountains. That was the view that greeted you each morning...the sun cresting the rise and tops of them!),  we then moved to Malibu, and after adjusting to the climate AND 'social change'  I became a Malibu Surf Punk, with all the other guys...adored Annette F. and all the Beach Party movies (that actually echoed the social moiré's for California Coastal Teens of the 60's),  I surfed at (every weekend!!!!) in Malibu, at Zuma Beach,  Will Rodger's Beach)  Santa Monica Pier...(got bit by a mid size Tiger Shark on one float in to shore (on the south side of Santa Monica Pier)  after a surf run.. and that bast**d took off most of my top right thigh, but left my 'jewels' intact(!!!!), ,..but that is another story. (almost died on the beach at 20 years of age)...)  Yep...most good times...a few nasty ones...and then after graduating College,  my chosen career took me to oversee company operations in Ontario, Canada, and have been in Canada ever since.  Having said that though..my wife and I long for the Sonoran Desert, and will plunk down somewhere around Fountain Hills (love that town!!!)...and, just a few miles out of Scottsdale with rolling hills filled with desert fauna and cactus...that BEAUTIFUL fountain...and stars at night...that are literally diamonds in the Heavens.  Great to look at, as you sip your glass of wine, while relaxing in your spa, after a day's full calendar.  Love the Sonoran Life Style...and miss it terribly!  We're gonna get it back!  Cheers!

Fountain Hills, Arizona:

"Sesquash says, "'C'mon down...and rest a spell!"....plant roots...

 

Edited August 22, 20214 yr by Sesquashtoo

1 hour ago, Sesquashtoo said:

Sesquash says, "'C'mon down...and rest a spell!

Thanks for these, I enjoyed 'em. If I could just do a "Scotty, beam me up" kind of thing I'd be there in a heartbeat, looks like a great place to visit. But in the absence of such tech I will instead rely on msfs and head off there in maybe the Bell 47 or the Grravel. Should still be a good trip even if it's not 100% accurate.

2 hours ago, andy1252 said:

Thanks for these, I enjoyed 'em. If I could just do a "Scotty, beam me up" kind of thing I'd be there in a heartbeat, looks like a great place to visit. But in the absence of such tech I will instead rely on msfs and head off there in maybe the Bell 47 or the Grravel. Should still be a good trip even if it's not 100% accurate.

 

Hey Andy, as a South West 'home boy'...I have the following to offer....

A great trip to plan and I suggest for real life, is fly into Las Vegas (cheapest flight to get to the South West)

You can either spend a day and night in Vegas or not...

Make arrangements when booking for a car at the Las Vegas Airport...

Day One/two,  Travel out of Vegas to the Grand Canyon, and (you can book in a beautiful Lodge right in the State Park!) enjoy for a day or two

Day two or (or three) drive to Sedona, and take in the truly (for real!) spiritual essence of the place, and visit Oak Creek Canyon for foot wading and a picnic upon the monster flat river boulders, with your feet in the water! If you are a Catholic, (or not!) you would want to visit this site, called Chapel upon the Rock.  It is simply amazing, spiritually peaceful, ..and oh...light a candle for any of your parents...we all do there, when coming back for a visit! 

https://chapeloftheholycross.com/

https://visitsedona.com/

Day three or four,  drive down to Phoenix and visit many parks and sites, including South Mountain State Park.  (stay on the paths...rattlers!)  Enjoy the wonderful Sonoran Desert City.

Day four or five,  drive across I-8 (shortest route) or I-10 to San Diego and spend time on the boardwalks, the wonderful beaches, take in the Pacific salt air, and visit Mexican Town for sure!

https://lazytrips.com/trip/road-trip-from-phoenix-to-san-diego

Day five or six,  Drive up the coastal highway to L.A.,  and enjoy Knots Berry Farm,  the La Brea Tar Pits, Olvera Street, and Pacific Ocean Park, if still operating.  A drive down to Monterey, to visit Hearst Castle is a memorable experience. 

https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/things-to-do/discover-olvera-street-and-historic-el-pueblo-de-los-angeles

https://www.knotts.com/

https://hearstcastle.org/

 

Day six or seven, drive back to Las Vegas, turn in the car, and board your plane for Britain...  and you would have had a marvelous tour of some South West treats!~

We did that on our touring motorcycle from down through Chicago, following the old Route 66.  Saw where Billy the Kid got put to bed....the Dirt Nap...!

Ses

Edited August 22, 20214 yr by Sesquashtoo

21 hours ago, Sesquashtoo said:

I have the following to offer....

Hi Ses, and real thanks for taking the time to put that together. Sorry to say I won't be taking any of these suggestions up in real life - I swore off airports and international travel generally when I hung up my instructor's bat-cape some years back. Too many miles to enjoy it anymore, and especially not post 9-11. But I will expore some of things via the wonders of the sim and this internet thingy in general.

We did have a few trips quite similar to your suggestions back in the day though. We had one starting in San Diego (came in via a Houston connection for some reason - didn't realise that was such a big airport - took about 40 minutes to get from our arrival to departure gate, which was a sahme as there was only 20 minutes between flights!), spent a week there doing a lot of what you said, then drove to Palm Springs (passing through), 29 Palms (one night stopover) and then on to Tucson for a week, rather than Phoenix. Purely because I'd never been there but I had been to Phoenix a couple of times.

Not been to Vegas myself, but my wife had a couple of conventions there. But done the SF to LA coast trip a few times over the years. One of the great discoveries for me when I was working for Amdahl, which involved lots of trips all over the US and Europe and who were based in Sunnyvale, was that apparently airfares from the UK were so much cheaper if you stayed in the US over a full weekend. Apparently it must have been some kind of deal between the hotel and air industries. It was actually cheaper, for example, to fly out to KSFO at the start of a trip, and then keep the hire car and drive down Highway 1 at the end of the week/two weeks or whatever, stay a couple more nights either on the way or in LA and fly back on the Sunday or Monday, than just fly back home on a Friday night after the class was over. Such a hardship, but I endured. Several times.

And given my teenage years listening to the Beach Boys and generally growing up with the Californian fantasy thing, cruising down the PCH in a rented Mustang, stopping off in Big Sur, visiting San Simeon etc, was absolutely magic.

I used to buy a little enamel state badge at the airport for any state I'd been to. Ended up with 36 of them and enjoyed pretty much everywhere I went. I even enjoyed Detroit - and the bit I was in felt like a war zone at the time, looked totally bombed out. It's one of the things I really love about MSFS - the quality of the scenery is so good I really do feel I can go back and re-visit a lot of these places and get a lot of the same vibe back again. And without some screaming small child in the seat behind me - even better <grin>

But I am also envious of the bike ride down R66 - that must have been something. I was a Kawasaki man for a while in the 70s and 80s - Z650 and Z1100, probably not the approved sort of ride for Route 66 but the 1100 (the big shaft-drive one) would have loved it.

I'll post some of my pix from my Phoenix exploration seperately.

cheers,

Andy

5 hours ago, andy1252 said:

Hi Ses, and real thanks for taking the time to put that together. Sorry to say I won't be taking any of these suggestions up in real life - I swore off airports and international travel generally when I hung up my instructor's bat-cape some years back. Too many miles to enjoy it anymore, and especially not post 9-11. But I will expore some of things via the wonders of the sim and this internet thingy in general.

We did have a few trips quite similar to your suggestions back in the day though. We had one starting in San Diego (came in via a Houston connection for some reason - didn't realise that was such a big airport - took about 40 minutes to get from our arrival to departure gate, which was a sahme as there was only 20 minutes between flights!), spent a week there doing a lot of what you said, then drove to Palm Springs (passing through), 29 Palms (one night stopover) and then on to Tucson for a week, rather than Phoenix. Purely because I'd never been there but I had been to Phoenix a couple of times.

Not been to Vegas myself, but my wife had a couple of conventions there. But done the SF to LA coast trip a few times over the years. One of the great discoveries for me when I was working for Amdahl, which involved lots of trips all over the US and Europe and who were based in Sunnyvale, was that apparently airfares from the UK were so much cheaper if you stayed in the US over a full weekend. Apparently it must have been some kind of deal between the hotel and air industries. It was actually cheaper, for example, to fly out to KSFO at the start of a trip, and then keep the hire car and drive down Highway 1 at the end of the week/two weeks or whatever, stay a couple more nights either on the way or in LA and fly back on the Sunday or Monday, than just fly back home on a Friday night after the class was over. Such a hardship, but I endured. Several times.

And given my teenage years listening to the Beach Boys and generally growing up with the Californian fantasy thing, cruising down the PCH in a rented Mustang, stopping off in Big Sur, visiting San Simeon etc, was absolutely magic.

I used to buy a little enamel state badge at the airport for any state I'd been to. Ended up with 36 of them and enjoyed pretty much everywhere I went. I even enjoyed Detroit - and the bit I was in felt like a war zone at the time, looked totally bombed out. It's one of the things I really love about MSFS - the quality of the scenery is so good I really do feel I can go back and re-visit a lot of these places and get a lot of the same vibe back again. And without some screaming small child in the seat behind me - even better <grin>

But I am also envious of the bike ride down R66 - that must have been something. I was a Kawasaki man for a while in the 70s and 80s - Z650 and Z1100, probably not the approved sort of ride for Route 66 but the 1100 (the big shaft-drive one) would have loved it.

I'll post some of my pix from my Phoenix exploration seperately.

cheers,

Andy

For touring, I own a 2018 Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental, and when riding solo, (my wife won't go on the following....), I own a 2004 Kawasaki ZR-7S in racing red.  It reminds me of the 1973 Kawasaki Z1 900 I had the first year it was R.T.M.  I met my wife while at College, and she comes from a 'horse' family. So,  I got into horses, and she got into motorcycles...and it has been a blend of each, thereon. 🙂  We are shortly planning a trip to Nova Scotia's, Cape Breton Island, for September.  We were last there (on a 2008 Honda Goldwing GL1800) a few years ago...so want another around the coast 'redo'.  Lots of walks on the beach,  sipping a bottle of wine between us, at three o'clock in the morning listening to the waves, and gazing at the stars overhead...a warm blanket below us, ...yep...light wind breakers both on...yep...this September is whispering to the both of us... 🙂

Nice tidbits of chitchat...🙂...

Beautiful series of pics...!!

Have been to Phoenix just once...nice and modern airport...stayed a few days in Scottsdale...liked it much..!

14 hours ago, P_7878 said:

Nice tidbits of chitchat...🙂...

Beautiful series of pics...!!

Have been to Phoenix just once...nice and modern airport...stayed a few days in Scottsdale...liked it much..!

Thank you 'P', sometimes sim snaps,  cause content discourse. 🙂  Phoenix has changed (for the worst!) since I was a young boy and freshly minted teen, there.  If you stood (when I was a lad) upon South Mountain, you could see the Phoenix downtown core AND, South Mountain (which is a state Park now, has been for years...) and surrounding the base of South Mountain, were Navel Orange orchards.  Now?  Well,  total urban crawl and expansion. No more orchards, but hundreds to thousands of tile roof tops of the 'burbs.   Also, because Phoenix Council years ago, never allowed for an elevated inter-city highway system, 'rush hour' is just a 24 hours 'thing' Phoenix'ians have to deal with.  Major roadway congestion is a real problem.  With my wife and I looking to settle down about 25 miles outside the Phoenix boundaries,  that won't be an impact for us.  In fact, all we would ever need to 'major' shopping is either within the Town of Fountain Hills, or my also old stomp,  my 'Dad's building project in the 50's....Scottsdale itself.   Oh, one more thing,  in the start of the 50's decade...and this is for real...,  Sage brush and Tumble Weed, could in fact be seen tumbling down some of the paved, and unpaved streets of Phoenix in most of the 50's, and the early 60's.  Also...and no word of a lie...a lot of the era's  pick up trucks, had a three rack long-gun hanging from the back window wall, with most times one or two Winchester 94 Lever Action's racked on the rack. This was a common site...and nobody at the time even thought much, or flinched in seeing that.   Phoenix was surrounded by cattle and horse ranches, and back then...there WERE real life Cowboys and Cowgirls.  Not Hollywood...the REAL DEAL!  This was their survival tool out upon the desert.  Also...(LOL!!!), the old joke was that 'come 5 o'clock...all the sidewalks were rolled up, and the town went to sleep.  That was sort of true...people worked hard...and needed their rest from the heat and chores of the day.  Saloons and Bars stayed busy...lol.  I have fond memories...of my growing up on the Sonoran Desert....for sure! 

Edited August 25, 20214 yr by Sesquashtoo