Arizona Roadtrip, 2009

Before school started, when things were really getting busy, I told myself "You and John should take a trip in October, so you will have something to look forward to." I randomly picked Friday, October 16th, and kept that date in my head, to think about when I needed a break. It is so crazy to think that that date has come and gone!

We decided to do a quick tour of Arizona, since it was somewhere new, and not as expensive as staying at the beach.


First was Kingman, where we stayed Thursday night. We made it in time to have dinner at Cracker Barrel- John's first time.

We made it back again for breakfast the next morning. As you can see by the bag John is holding, I had a good time in the gift shop!

Then we hit the rode toward Sedona. Sedona has been one of my favorite places since we went there on a road trip when I was in high school. The drive there is so scenic and beautiful, a winding road with mountains above, tall green trees and a creek below.

We stopped first at Slide Rock National Park. Erosion has formed what looks like a perfectly (and professionally done!) landscaped water slide that ends in a large, shallow pool. You pay to park, hike through the beautiful hills and trees and end up on the banks of the pool. You can just put your feet in, or climb all the way to the top, sit down and slide all the way to the bottom. I made a promise to myself that someday I will do this!

Next was on to our hotel. This was a true "lodge" experience: there were a row of 16 rooms like looked like attached cabins. It was located right in the red rocks and had a nice feeling to it. The rooms felt like we were inside a lincoln log cabin my kindergartners made, with all of the wood panelling inside. It had one room with a bathroom and a closet, no tv, no minibar. At first having no tv made me nervous (even when I am on vacation, I like a little attachment to the world back home!) it ended up being really relaxing and quiet. Plus, I remembered I had brought my ipod, so we shared my headphones and watched the old episodes of "The Office" that I had left on there.

After resting for a bit, we walked around downtown Sedona. There are a million shops, restaurants and things to look at down one street. We ate mexican food, and enjoyed the views.

The view of downtown Sedona. I cannot describe to you what the red in the rocks looks like up against the brightest blue sky. All I can say is that it actually feels good on your eyeballs.

We woke up on Saturday ready to head out. Our main goal was to make it to Phoenix in time for lunch at Alice Cooper's restaurant. We saw the place profiled on "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain (one of the few travel/food shows we can both enjoy together!) and promised ourselves we would go there one day. Alice Cooper co owns the restaurant with a baseball player, so the decor, menu and style is a cross between a Hard Rock Cafe and the ESPN zone. There are guitars and autographed pictures of rockstars everywhere, but there are also jerseys and sports signs everywhere. One entire wall is covered with GIANT flat screens, each showing a different game. We were wishing that day that we knew what games were important! The food is all named after rock and sports stars, and it was hard to order. The food ended up being really yummy. We will definitely go back again, but need to make sure that there is no major game going on: it would definitely be a different place if a rough competitive crowd was there!

We made it home Saturday night, to be able to go to church and to get ready for the week ahead. Overall, it was a great, relaxing, (sort of) spontaneous kind of trip that was exactly what we needed!