Day 30 of Mentor on Road, USA

“Perfect sincerity, holiness, gigantic intellect, and all-conquering will. Let only a handful of men work with these, and the whole world will be revolutionized.”
- Swami Vivekananda

Day 30 of Mentor on Road, USA is a drive from El Paso to Phoenix, Arizona which is going to be the 15^th city and 20^th state of our journey. It’s a six and a half hours long drive of approximately 430 miles / 692 kilometers.

Mentor on Road entered the 20^th state of the road drive in USA, Arizona. We started driving on 4^th June from Boston and passed through states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. Driven 5620 kilometers / 3492 miles till now and will drive 15,450 kilometers / 9602 miles in total. We would be reaching Phoenix today evening.

While we were on our way, we passed through dust storms in the desert and a forest fire.

Phoenix is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With 1,615,017 people (as of 2016), Phoenix is the fifth most populous city nationwide, the most populous state capital in the United States, and the only state capital with a population of more than one million residents. Phoenix is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, which in turn is a part of the Salt River Valley.

The early economy of Phoenix was focused primarily on agriculture and natural resources, dependent on the "5Cs" of copper, cattle, climate, cotton, and citrus. With the establishment of the Southern Pacific rail line in 1926, the opening of the Union Station in 1923, and the creation of Sky Harbor airport by the end of the decade, the city became more easily accessible.

Phoenix is currently home to four Fortune 500 companies including:

Electronics Corporation Avnet

Mining Company Freeport-McMoRan

Retailer PetSmart

Waste Hauler Republic Services

Honeywell's Aerospace division is headquartered in Phoenix, and the valley hosts many of their avionics and mechanical facilities. Intel has one of their largest sites in the area, employing about 12,000 employees, the second largest Intel location in the country. The city is also home to:

Best Western

Apollo Group, parent of the University of Phoenix

US Air / American Airlines is the largest carrier at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix

Mesa Air Group, a regional airline group, is headquartered in Phoenix

The military has a significant presence in Phoenix, with Luke Air Force Base located in the western suburbs. The city was severely impacted by the effects of the sub-prime mortgage crash. However, Phoenix has recovered 83% of the jobs lost due to the recession.

The tourist industry is the longest running of today's top industries in Phoenix. Starting with promotions back in the 1920s, the industry has grown into one of the top 10 in the city. Due to its climate, Phoenix and its neighbours have consistently ranked among the nation's top destinations in the number of Five Diamond / Five Star resorts.

One of the biggest attractions of the Phoenix area is golf, with over 200 golf courses. In addition to the sites of interest in the city, there are many attractions near Phoenix, such as:

Agua Fria National Monument
Arcosanti
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Lost Dutchman State Park
Montezuma's Castle, Montezuma's Well
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Phoenix also serves as a central point to many of the sights around the state of Arizona, such as the Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu (where the London Bridge is located), Meteor Crater, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, Tombstone, Kartchner Caverns, Sedona and Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.

Due to its natural beauty and climate, Phoenix has a plethora of outdoor attractions and recreational activities. The Phoenix Zoo is the largest privately owned, non-profit zoo in the United States. Since opening in 1962, the zoo has developed an international reputation for its efforts on animal conservation, including breeding and reintroducing endangered species back into the wild.

Right next to the zoo, the Phoenix Botanical Gardens were opened in 1939, and are acclaimed worldwide for their exhibits and educational programs, featuring the largest collection of arid plants in the U.S. South Mountain Park, the largest municipal park in the U.S., is also the highest desert mountain preserve in the world.

GDP of the Phoenix metro area from 2001 to 2015 (in billion U.S. dollars)

This graph shows the GDP of the Phoenix metro area from 2001 to 2015. In 2015, its GDP amounted to 219.97 billion U.S. dollars.

In the evening we celebrated the U.S. Independence Day at an event hosted by Arizona Asian American Association. We were glad to meet such big hearted people and interact on the objectives of Mentor on Road initiative. Big thanks to the hosts.

The AAAA (Arizona Asian American Association) was founded in early 1988 after a meeting of various Asian American and Pacific Island community leaders at Arizona State University. After a successful convention in May, 1988, the AAAA was formally adopted by about 500 convention attendees. The AAAA was incorporated in the State of Arizona as a non-profit organization in 1992. AAAA is widely recognized by city, county, state and federal officials as well as by civic organizations.

The mission of Arizona Asian American Association is to enhance unity, bring awareness to the public of cultural diversity, and address relevant issues, thereby strengthening the relationship between Asian Americans and the community at large.

The goals and objectives of Arizona Asian American Association are:

To provide an open forum for all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders where they can express and share their concerns, problems and achievements.
To serve as a liaison in matters affecting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the areas of education, immigration, employment, health, human services and civil rights, etc.
To participate in public hearings involving Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, so that they can stay informed and interact with elected officials and other public figures.
To actively pursue the appointment of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to different boards and commissions at city, county, state and federal level.
To promote social and cultural events in order to share our ethnic heritage with other Americans and to foster public awareness of our cultural diversity.
To broaden the organizational base by organizing a massive membership drive in schools and the community at large.
To generate a database for expertise available within the community.
To publish an AAAA directory