Thanksgiving in Phoenix

We spent most of the day at the Phoenix Zoo, as it was the only place open on Thanksgiving (if you ever need to drive in Phoenix, I suggest 9am on Thanksgiving; it was a ghost town). It was about 65 and sprinkling lightly in the morning. We were wearing shorts and t-shirts and thought it was a nice morning. Meanwhile, all the locals were wearing pants, coats, carrying umbrellas, and complaining about how cold it was. The people in Phoenix apparently think anything below 80 is freezing.

The zoo was pretty good (meaning it was better than Boise but not as good as Washington D.C. or Chicago). We got to touch and feed sting rays in a pool, and they had an exhibit where you walk into an area that has about 20 squirrel monkeys jumping around like you were invisible. The keepers squirt water at them if they get too close to the people, but that doesn't seem to stop them from trying again.

After the zoo we hiked Piestewa Peak, outside of Phoenix. It is the second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains. It didn't look that hard on paper, at 1.6 miles, but it is not for the faint of heart. It is very steep (about 1200 feet gained in elevation), the "path" is almost entirely jagged rocks with steep steps, and there is no water or much shade. I can imagine it would be challenging in the Phoenix summer. It took us about 45 minutes to walk up to the top.

For dinner, we learned from last year (when we naively assumed restaurants would be open Thanksgiving evening, and then went into panic mode trying to find any food before finding a Denny's in a part of town in Tampa that was made up of extras from Deliverance) and got a tip that a Ruby Tuesday would be open to cater to the ASU students stuck on campus during the break (and the weirdos who travel during Thanksgiving to places in which they have no family or friends), so we ate there.

I kept my streak alive with a bison burger and salad bar (that is now seven straight Thanksgivings without a traditional meal, and counting, for me).