in the way i had planned
well it's been a full 5 days since i got back from arizona, plenty of time to recover from jet-lag, and ponder all the great memories, and upload tonnes of pictures that i took there to my flickr page (check them out!). so it is time to document a full account of my trip, as near as i can remember (there was so much packed into a short week, i know i will forget lots of little exciting things). so here we go:
yes. i had fun.
- tuesday, 2007-08-28 - got into phoenix around noon (yay for 3 hour time difference!), and immediately got on the road for tucson, heading for the arizona sonora desert museum. "museum" is a bit of a misnomer, since it is more like a full-on zoo! animals galore! bobcats, bears, mule deer, coatis, javelinas, hummingbirds, parrots, vultures, tortoises, snakes, lizards, etc., etc. it was a blast. i took lots of photos there (you can see them on flickr). and did i mention it was BOILING HOT? the whole week in fact, it must have been 45° celsius, and just coming out of monsoon season, so it was even a bit humid. i almost melted! but i drank lots of water, and thus survived. after the desert museum, my dad and i went to the tucson mall, shopped around, had dinner, then drove "home" to wickenburg, which is outside of phoenix. by the time we got there it was about 11p.m. (felt like 2a.m. to me, which meant BOY WAS I TIRED). end of first day.
- wednesday, 2007-08-29 - i think we went out to the ranch on wednesday, though it may have been thursday. the heat just blended the days together. i shot some cans with black-powder six-shooters. guns are scary and loud. it's so weird being in cowboy country, where people walk around with their guns in public.
- thursday, 2007-08-30 - i think thursday was the night we got chinese food; yes, real chinese food in wickenburg! it was good. mmmmm, pork-fried rice and duck. i believe i just lazed around in the air-conditioned house for much of the day.
- friday, 2007-08-31 - if memory serves correct, this is the evening we went out for dinner at a great mexican place, and then went to see the bourne ultimatum at the one movie theatre in wickenburg. a pleasant evening, because an "action movie night with dad" is the quintessential (if cliché) bonding moment, no?
- saturday, 2007-09-01 - went out to the ranch again in the early part of the day, did a little more black-powder gun target. fun enough, but i don't think guns are for me. again, i suppose this was a hallmark bonding moment though. so it was good. then back to the house and had a nice swim in my grandpa's pool. refreshing way to beat the scorching desert heat! and then a big bbq event in the evening. mmmm steak and corn on the cob and homemade coleslaw and watermelon. that was quite nice.
- sunday, 2007-09-02 - early morning, we headed out for the grand canyon! the drive was beautiful; stopped through prescott for breakfast. drove through the mountains and into williams (old route 66!). when we got into tusayana, there was an awesome outdoor native art show going on. we stopped and checked it out, then onwards to grand canyon national park. what can i say? again, check out the pictures on flickr. simply breathtaking. i got a little heatstroke and sunburnt on my head, heheh. we headed out around 4p.m., and stopped back in tusayana again for a late lunch; then onwards to sedona and oak creek (red rock country!). totally beautiful driving through the red mountains. we stayed overnight at the wildflower inn in oak creek (comfy).
- monday, 2007-09-03 - in the morning, we drove back into sedona, which is a total tourist town, and nothing else! it was crazy! but we had a great breakfast at this café that had 101 different omelettes! i had omelette #37, with cheese, spinach, and mushrooms. mmmmmm. and i saw THE TRIPPIEST THING EVER in sedona. i swear, you will not believe this unless you see it for yourself. brace yourself now: we passed a McDonald's, and the "golden arches" were not golden at all!!! they were turquoise! TURQUOISE ARCHES!!! is that even allowed?! i did not know that the McDonald's franchisers allowed such unconventional breaks from uniformity. simply marvelous. still not marvelous enough to make me really desire their food though. anyway, after getting a cowboy hat in sedona, we hiked up some redrocks. it was serene and beautiful, and dare i say even almost spiritual. sedona is vortex land dontchya know? ;)
- tuesday, 2007-09-04 - time to come home. a long, boring flight from phoenix back to toronto, with a 3-hour stopover, and then onwards home to ottawa. finally got home at 12:30a.m. on wednesday "morning", got to bed around 2a.m., and still managed to get up at 6a.m. and go to work. and that was that. altogether a wonderful time. now go to flickr like i told you, and check out the pictures i took!
yes. i had fun.