International Auto Show

The big event for us yesterday was the International Auto Show being held at the Phoenix Convention Center. There were no goals to seek out any special vehicles except that it has been many years since we have seen, up close, all the new technologies that have been incorporated into automobiles. This was an opportunity to see them all.

We arrived at the show at around noon, parked and purchased our "Senior" tickets at the entrance for $6 each. We actually had $3 discount coupons but the ticket agent said they weren't any good for the Senior rate since the discount was off the regular price and we saved more by not using the coupons. The show contained just about every model of most of the auto producers and there were many exotics in addition to those. I think I saw where there were about 400 vehicles in the show. There were test courses for many of the vehicles in case you wanted to test drive a vehicle. Below is a photo of the show:

The Jeeps happened to be one of the first displays we saw when we arrived on the floor. They had, in addition to their models, a 4 wheel drive course that you could ride in one of their vehicles to experience the capabilities of their off road vehicles:

We walked around the entire show and were primarily interested in the SUV models of the manufacturers. In our opinion, the best suited models for us that we saw, in addition to the Jeeps, were from Toyota, Ford, Mercedes and Lexus. Not that they were affordable, but they had great features that would be perfect for our traveling.

In addition to the vehicles, there were other vendor booths and some entertainment. This is one of the "acts" that was working the floor of the show. It is what is called King Robota:

and was a real hit with all the kids. It was a robot that was nothing but a glob of shining metal:

We never heard of this creature but it was very entertaining.

Was the show worth the trip and the money to park and go into the display area? Probably not. This isn't one of Josie's favorite activities and I appreciated her indulgence and patience while I had my thrill of catching up on all the new vehicle offerings.

Last night we tried to locate the High School football championship on TV at the Sun Devils Stadium but couldn't find it on our satellite stations. We were looking forward to watching Robert's team  - Cot and Lois' grandson - play for the state championship. We read this morning that his team lost, 27-3, so we were sorry to see that outcome. It still was an experience of a lifetime for him.

We had a call last night from our friends Rodger and Sue Sandlin who are, once again, working at Amazon.com in Campbellsville, Kentucky. They indicated that Amazon is probably not doing as well this year as in years past, but there are still several weeks left before Christmas. It sounded like everything else is about the same there, and there aren't many familiar faces that returned this year. This may be the last year for them and we hope to connect with them again in the the near future, probably here in AZ where they plan to visit next year. It was nice to hear from them.

There are no special plans - yet - for today, so we'll see what develops...