My Trip to Arizona

Please excuse the formatting... I can't fix it!

When people tell you that you need a vacation, they usually mean a couple of things…

• You look “exhausted” (or like crud)
• They know that you’ve been running yourself rugged and that time off has been earned

Either way, I looked at my vacation time at work and realized I had 8 days to use up by the end of February (this was in mid-January).  So posted on facebook “Looking for places to take a vacation this February and I need ideas.  GO!”

I got a bunch of responses…  But my friend Laura said she has time to use up too and would love to go somewhere!  We looked around hotwire for a bit and decided on a trip to Phoenix, AZ.  I was excited but exhausted by the time the trip came so I didn’t really know what I wanted to do (besides sleep). 

Anyhow, it was a SUPER eventful trip

·    Day 1: We got there on Wednesday night and just went to supper at a place called Claim Jumper.   We decided we didn’t want to do anything so we packed up and went to bed.

·   Day 2: We decided to start BIG.  We went hiking… We took a cab to Camelback Mountain where the cab driver made a lot of dollars… He took us on the scenic route.  Oofta.  The cab driver (criminal) dropped us off at the entrance and gave us his card.  I looked up the directions on my phone and learned that he did, in fact, make a lot of extra money.

o    The hike was awesome.

o    We decided to try to walk on the way back (after 3.4 miles on a difficult trail and no experience with hiking vertically).  We made it 3 miles and called a cab.

o    When we got back we rinsed off and jumped into the hot tub and met a group of really nice people… Paul is a coffee salesman from Colorado.  Sheri is an auditor from Minneapolis (small world!).  We met another lady from Alberta, but her name was unique and I’m forgetful.  Lastly, we met a family from Poland; Patrick, Monika, and their daughter Natalie.  That night we went to supper with Sheri and our Canadian friend… The Polish family was supposed to come but Patrick had one too many adult beverages and “fell asleep”.  Monika told us he woke up at 5am to walk to the nearby convenience store to buy a Dr. Pepper and a hot dog.

·   Day 3: We called Aunt Barb and Uncle Tom to go hiking with them.  This time we went a LONG ways… We walked for 8 miles (3 with Aunt Barb) on the national trail; Fat Man’s Pass included.  This one was neat... Lots of drops and climbs and it was beautiful out.  After this trail (and having done the difficult trail the day before), we were exhausted.  By the time we drove from the mountain to a restaurant for lunch, I was so sore that instead of picking up my water bottle I dropped in the parking lot, I wanted to lie down next to it

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o    That night we sat in the hot tub and ordered Chinese food (to be delivered to the hot tub).

o    It was an early night…

·   Day 4:  We were so sore when we woke up in the morning that at breakfast we decided to just spend the day laying by the pool.  It was about 68 degrees so we were pretty much the only people there.  That’s alright; we got sun and sleep!

o    We went to supper with our Polish friends and got some delicious Mexican food. 

·   Day 5: I learned that a coworker had to miss a conference I was supposed to help at (be there by noon on Tuesday) so I had to be there by 9am.  Our flight was scheduled to get home at 11:20 on Monday night… That would mean I would have to drive through the night to get there during the designated set-up time.  With no sleep.  Laura and I decided to wait on standby to see if we could take the earlier flight so we left for the airport at 3pm and sat there for 4 hours to find out we got the LAST two spots on the plane.  I was put in exit row and Laura was put in the last row of the plane… a middle seat.  For the record: I did offer to switch…

All in all it was an awesome trip… Lots of exercise, good time with a friend, great foods, and the opportunity to meet new people.  I would definitely do it again!

That’s it for today, friends… I think I might have found a new hobby!!

Just another day in the life (of a mountain climber??)!