Traveled down this road and back again.
This past week I was in Arizona to cheer on my elder brother, Kris, as he competed in his first Ironman. It was kind of a whirlwind - I flew into Vegas on Thursday and met up with my parents, then we drove out to Phoenix, hung out there with our entire family (minus sweet baby LC) for a few days (Kris did GREAT for his first Ironman! Super proud of that guy), and then my parents and I traveled from Phoenix to Vegas again on Monday, going the scenic route through Sedona and couple of state parks.
The change in landscape was stunning, and I was really, really taken in by Sedona, something I didn't expect. I will definitely be making a return trip there soon.
Sedona
What does the top of this remind you of...
At a scenic overlook, my mom took this photo of me with her iPhone camera and then was immediately freaked out by what showed up on it (even though, by now, she should probably be used to it…she's taken photos of me where orbs with faces in them have showed up. C'mon, Mom.) I told her it was just my Spirit Guide, Bea Arthur, showing up to let me know that she was with me.
We ended our little vaca with a night on the Vegas Strip. I don't think Vegas is my town, you guys…it just kind of felt like walking through a noisy, smoky, crowded shopping mall that never ends. My mom did tell me that I should try to go back sometime without my parents, that I'd probably like it more if I were there with some friends. I immediately burst into tears and ran off, yelling that I didn't have any friends and the only people I had left to hang out with were my parents, and so I would never like it more and was never, ever gonna come back, ever!
And then when we were walking back from dinner, some girls asked a couple of guys walking by if they could sit on their faces, which horrified my parents and thus delighted me to no end.
Vegas is weird, you guys.
Things I learned about myself from my trip:
1) I should not travel with my parents. My normally laid-back travel attitude becomes irrationally impatient and then I act like an immature jerk and then feel horrible about myself afterward.
2) The introvert in me desperately needs some regular alone time when I'm vacationing with a group of people. Otherwise I get super cranky and act like a brat. Which my family might be used to by now, but still.
3) Arizona grew on me really quickly. The first day I was there, I was pretty sure it just wasn't the geographical area for me (my SIL Becky and I talked about this our first morning there while we were co-working at a local Starbucks (our condo didn't have WiFi) and Becky posted an FB status about it, and my brother Kris - who loves Arizona - was like, "You've been in Arizona for less than 24 hours and 4 of those have been spent in a Starbucks"…hilarious)…but I really loved hiking in Phoenix, the weather was supreme, Fountain Hills (where our condo was) was really beautiful and surprisingly verdant, and like I mentioned before, an easy day's trip from Phoenix to Flagstaff was pretty damn stunning. Plus it reminds me of "Can't Buy Me Love" and, for some reason, this thing I saw about Kip Winger of Winger on a Vh1 "Where are they now" special, so that's cool, too.
4) I am over the "changing of the seasons" thing. I want perfect weather (Amber's Definition of Perfect Weather: Anything between 45 and 95 degrees), and I want it all the time. Don't get me wrong - I still love the Northwoods, but it's definitely in the long-term plans to flip the double birds to the long Wisconsin winters and head for warmer climes.
5) I never really thought that I'd be a person who loooooves Vegas, and guess what…I was right.
6) No matter how old I get, I'm still probably going to take photos of rock formations that look like peens and send them to all my friends.
The change in landscape was stunning, and I was really, really taken in by Sedona, something I didn't expect. I will definitely be making a return trip there soon.
Sedona
What does the top of this remind you of...
At a scenic overlook, my mom took this photo of me with her iPhone camera and then was immediately freaked out by what showed up on it (even though, by now, she should probably be used to it…she's taken photos of me where orbs with faces in them have showed up. C'mon, Mom.) I told her it was just my Spirit Guide, Bea Arthur, showing up to let me know that she was with me.
We ended our little vaca with a night on the Vegas Strip. I don't think Vegas is my town, you guys…it just kind of felt like walking through a noisy, smoky, crowded shopping mall that never ends. My mom did tell me that I should try to go back sometime without my parents, that I'd probably like it more if I were there with some friends. I immediately burst into tears and ran off, yelling that I didn't have any friends and the only people I had left to hang out with were my parents, and so I would never like it more and was never, ever gonna come back, ever!
And then when we were walking back from dinner, some girls asked a couple of guys walking by if they could sit on their faces, which horrified my parents and thus delighted me to no end.
Vegas is weird, you guys.
Things I learned about myself from my trip:
1) I should not travel with my parents. My normally laid-back travel attitude becomes irrationally impatient and then I act like an immature jerk and then feel horrible about myself afterward.
2) The introvert in me desperately needs some regular alone time when I'm vacationing with a group of people. Otherwise I get super cranky and act like a brat. Which my family might be used to by now, but still.
3) Arizona grew on me really quickly. The first day I was there, I was pretty sure it just wasn't the geographical area for me (my SIL Becky and I talked about this our first morning there while we were co-working at a local Starbucks (our condo didn't have WiFi) and Becky posted an FB status about it, and my brother Kris - who loves Arizona - was like, "You've been in Arizona for less than 24 hours and 4 of those have been spent in a Starbucks"…hilarious)…but I really loved hiking in Phoenix, the weather was supreme, Fountain Hills (where our condo was) was really beautiful and surprisingly verdant, and like I mentioned before, an easy day's trip from Phoenix to Flagstaff was pretty damn stunning. Plus it reminds me of "Can't Buy Me Love" and, for some reason, this thing I saw about Kip Winger of Winger on a Vh1 "Where are they now" special, so that's cool, too.
4) I am over the "changing of the seasons" thing. I want perfect weather (Amber's Definition of Perfect Weather: Anything between 45 and 95 degrees), and I want it all the time. Don't get me wrong - I still love the Northwoods, but it's definitely in the long-term plans to flip the double birds to the long Wisconsin winters and head for warmer climes.
5) I never really thought that I'd be a person who loooooves Vegas, and guess what…I was right.
6) No matter how old I get, I'm still probably going to take photos of rock formations that look like peens and send them to all my friends.
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