"Did a off road drive one day (Tortilla Flat) which was only a half hour drive from Chandler."
Jeepers - what were you driving !?! Half an hour?
Flying in the Phoenix area can be very good but no one here seems to have mentioned sheer density of traffic or heat stress (other than to say that heat doesn't usually bother you Pilot Lad and to start early in the day); the Phoenix training and transition areas are some of the busiest you will find anywhere in the world in terms of volume of traffic, with plenty of mixed types (they are F16's '2 whites 2 reds', and F-35's now, also flown by low houred pilots, albeit Airforce), lots of English as a second language over the airwaves (and that's not just the locals), and historically, a number of mid-air collisions (google for more details of recent accidents) between training aircraft; a particularly nasty one involving a Chandler based Cherokee not too long ago.
Heat (and it's getting hot now) is a big deal in Phoenix. Density altitude can become limiting but the biggest safety factor in my experience is tiredness: fatigue and dehydration - leading to distraction and reduced awareness in the cockpit with a resultant degradation in lookout. Keep hydrated with plenty of water, avoid downing copious amounts of beer every night and p a c e yourself but above all else - LOOKOUT and try to keep safe.