As our trip is getting closer, I have been doing a lot of "we should do that sometime" things. You know, things I've been meaning to do but never find the time for, spontaneous adventures, and checking things off my (massive) to-do list. Here's a compilation of mini posts about those things.
The Magical Mystery Tour
We started off our travels in September with a family trip to New
Mexico, where my parents both grew up. We got to go for a week and
spent time in Albuquerque, Taos, Red River and Santa Fe.
Fishing in Red River was a definite highlight of the trip, I don't think I've been fishing since I was a kid in Florida! It was also amazing to see Zozobra, a 50ft tall puppet they set on fire during Fiestas every year to symbolize geting rid of your "glooms." More about Zozobra here :)
My parents always told me about it, and growing up my Dad even used to make mini zozobras in our backyard :) but seeing the real thing was awesome, even if it was "nothing like it used to be" according to my father who missed being able to go party in the plaza afterward! It was also great to see some of my parents friends (hey Mush and Karen!), places where they used to live, work etc, and spend time with my parents before we take off for who knows how long! Their reminiscing about how different things are now made me think though, how long will it be before I look at Scottsdale that way? Probably sooner than I think...
Roadtrip!
Spooky cafe in La Jolla
Tower of Terror!
Remember those spontaneous adventures I was talking about? My friend Chelsea Jo and I decided to have one. Our friend Sasha recently moved to San Diego, so when I saw a kayaking deal in La Jolla, we took the opportunity to see a
friend and have an adventure!
We met Sailor Mickey
Chelsea and I piled into the car and ventured to California (with a stop in the middle of nowhere, CA to mail Chelsea's electric bill) jamming to any and every song on her ipod on the way. Though we arrived in the wee hours of the morning Sasha greeted us with a smile and gave us a tour of her golf course-side place in Carlsbad! The next morning we did a kayaking tour in La Jolla, and surfed our kayak in beautifully by the way, then met back up with Sasha for some wine and smores by the fire (once we finally got it lit after searching her yard for twigs!) The next day our wonderful friend "Cast Member" Katie Hundere took us to a fun filled day at California Adventure! I am a huge Disney fan and any chance to make it to those parks and I'm absolutely ecstatic! Thanks Sasha and Katie for a fabulous weekend!
Next up on our tick-tock list was Caving.
I found a Geocache by the cave!
sliding down into the cave
Erin went to this cave with her friends about 10 years ago, and told my
dad and I that we had to go see it. Well we've tried a few times in the
past but failed to find it or ran out of time. It's in AZ on the highway between Prescott and Show Low so we've driven past the turn off many times, saying "One of these days we have to go to that cave!" Well it's been one of
those "when we have a free weekend" things for a while now and I guess our
Nov 13th deadline motivated us to make some time!
too low to stand up
So we decided to make a day out of it and went caving up there. It took a little
longer than expected, as Erin was going off of 10 year old memories for
directions, but after a few wrong turns, detours, and about a 30
minute hike, we finally found
the cave. We crawled, scooted, and squeezed our way through the caves
and had a blast! Some of the caves were definitely a very tight fit, and we had to push our way through part of the cave on our side, but we had so much fun there! It was eerie to realize that we were so far underground, crawling around in holes in rocks, and you could be standing right above us and not even know we were there. We all ended up pretty sore the next day from using some strange side scooting muscles, but it was definitely an experience to remember!
Up, up, and Away!!!
His dream come true!
We also FINALLY made the appointment for the helicopter ride we got for
my Dad and Sister's birthdays. And I say finally because their
birthdays were in April. This ride was in October! But talk about
fun. We got to fly all over Phoenix, from Black mountain to Squaw
Peak! And to top it all off, our flight appt was pushed a little late,
and we got to be in the air for the sunset. It was definitely well
worth the wait.
Bird's eye view of the buffalo chip!
Gobble Gobble!
Another thing we knew we really wanted to do before we left was Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is such a great family holiday and I definitely look forward to it each year. This year, since Erin and I will be in Costa Rica (turkeyless) for the big day we decided we had to do it before we left. So we planned it, from Turkey to Trifle, and it went off without a hitch! We managed to capture the holiday spirit so well we even questioned "What would be open today" when contemplating where to go pick up lunch from!
So my
sister Erin and I have some plans. Plans that include lots of traveling. But more on that later. Considering that communication across the world can be somewhat
difficult at times (and if you know me you know that my phone
communication skills are already somewhat challenged), I am starting
this blog to keep you all up to date on my (and Erin's) fabulous
adventures! Bear with me as I attempt to record and share our experiences from anywhere and everywhere! For now the countdown commences. T-minus three weeks until we depart for Costa Rica!
Another thing we knew we really wanted to do before we left was Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving is such a great family holiday and I definitely look forward to it each year. This year, since Erin and I will be in Costa Rica (turkeyless) for the big day we decided we had to do it before we left. So we planned it, from Turkey to Trifle, and it went off without a hitch! We managed to capture the holiday spirit so well we even questioned "What would be open today" when contemplating where to go pick up lunch from! 
