Flying Home and Follow-Up

Like I mentioned in my last post, we had planned on staying the entire week, but Thursday rolled around and Winter Storm Jonas was hitting the news. It was starting to look like we had to fly out that day - or not fly out at all. So as much as it sucked to cut our trip short (Thursday was the day we were going to ski!), we bit the bullet and decided to travel back home.

On our way to the airport (we drove to Washington D.C. for more flying options), we stopped a great local diner (whose name escapes me).

Me and Ashlie at the diner

Once we'd made it to the airport, the best flight option we could get was a flight to Phoenix through Houston. It became apparent pretty quickly that we'd miss our connection to Phoenix, but this was the last option flying out west and we needed to beat the storm! Once in Houston, we walked off our plan and straight on to another one to Las Vegas. (Which is not an easy feat when you're travelling with five people on standby.) We had an hour or two layover in Vegas (slot machines! in the airport!) and then we finally made it back to Phoenix. Three hours of driving, eight hours in the air, and we were finally home, thank goodness!

All buckled up!

Layovers... fun... :P

I only had time to lose about $2 on these before the plane boarded. :D

Because we had to cut our vacation short, we decided to do a "paint and sip" while back in town. We found this great place called Uptown Art in Chandler, AZ that teaches you how to do a painting and provides all of the materials. Plus, you can bring your own wine (or whatever) to drink while you're painting. It was a pretty good wrap-up to our trip.

It was sort of funny though, because they teach you how to do a set painting, but give you freedom to tweak it if you like. As you can see, all of our paitings are unique... but everyone else in the class followed the directions pretty closely. Which is a pretty good indicator of the type of friends I have - quirky and creative. :)

Do any of you have a great local paint-and-sip? Or, anyone in the Phoenix area have suggestions for more great local places to go?

Day 4 - Snow Tubing

The big event of day four was going snow tubing. The resort we stayed at made its own snow, so we didn't have to worry about it actually snowing outside to be able to do this. We bundled up in snow pants and jackets and mittens and hats and scarves and such and made our way to the snow tubing area, which is pictured below. Ten or so pre-made lanes perfect for giant snow tubes. Plus a conveyor belt to take you back up the hill. (Which, lets be honest, is probably the worst part of any form of sledding - getting back up that hill!) You can see it in the very right of the picture.

Aren't they pretty?

In the afternoon we stopped by the only dessert place in town and got some cupcakes. Yum. We made our own dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread, since at the time we were planning on staying three or four more days and didn't want to eat out for the entire vacation.

What We Ate:

Breakfast - Cereal

Lunch - Fries and drinks at the ski lodge bar

Dinner - Spaghetti, garlic bread, and cupcakes

Day 3 - Monticello

On the third day of our Virginia trip, one of my friends, Krissy, and I decided to go visit Monticello, the (former) home of Thomas Jefferson. Aside from DC, this was probably my favorite day of our trip. 

We got to go roadtripping a little bit- Monticello was 45 minutes away from where we were staying. Isn't Virginia gorgeous? Bright skies, pretty trees, mountains. *Sigh* Or maybe it's just pretty to me because I'm used to the desert.

Welcome to Monticello!

I took this picture before we took the inside tour of the house. All I can remember was - dang it was cold outside! I think it was about 2 degrees Fahrenheit after wind chill.

The inside tour was great, but unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures. My favorite room was probably the library (becuase... books!), followed by the octagonal room. (Which is exactly what it sounds like - a room with eight sides.) It was also neat to see Thomas Jefferson's inventions, and the different styles in which he built his house. I would love to read more about him and his family and go back there again someday. I'd also love to go back when it isn't winter, since the gardens weren't much when we went.

The view from the other side. I totally didn't realize this is the building on the nickel until after we'd been... so I didn't get a very good head-on picture.

Thomas Jefferson's grave. Our tour guide pointed out that he did not put "President of the United States" as one of his accomplishments on his gtmbstone (which he desgined before he died). What he put was "Author of the Declaratoin of American Independence of the Statute of Virgina for religious freedom & Father of the University of Virgina." Or as the tour guide put it "freedom of our country, freedom of religion, and freedom of the mind." Which I thought was very cool.

That evening I went to a five-course beer dinner with a couple of my friends. I wish I could say it was amazing, but it was honestly sort of bland and underwhelming. The chef who made the meal did not know his spices very well I feel... Also, I don't particularly enjoy beer, so the company I had was probably the only think I enjoyed about the meal.

What We Ate:

Breakfast - Cereal

Lunch - Burger and fries from this great hole-in-the-wall diner, called Riverside Lunch.

Dinner - Beer dinner

What I Was Glad I Brought:

Warm clothes! It was freezing at Monticello.

What I Wish I Brought:

I just wish I had done more research on Monticello before I went.

Have any of you guys been to Monitcello, or maybe have some fun facts about Thomas Jefferson to hear? I'd love to learn!

Welcome to Virginia!

Day 2 of our trip was much more relaxed. We drove to Virginia the night before, and after a day of walking everywhere, we were ready to do some relaxing. We stayed at a resort in Massanutten, which had tons of classes, amenities, options, etc.

Welcome to Virginia!

The morning's big activity was painting glassware. It was very relaxing and cool to have a painted glass to take home at the end of it. I still have to bake mine so the paint won't come off.

We also had to take care of rental car stuff, which turned out to be sort of cool, because it meant driving through the countryside in Shenandoah Valley. Below is an example picture of just how pretty this area is.

In the evening my friends went to a "Mixology" class, which they seemed to really enjoy. I wasn't super interested, so I took the evening to watch sitcoms and color in my new adult coloring book. After all, what's a vacation if you don't take time to relax? :D

What We Ate:
Breakfast - Cereal (a box to last the entire week, since not everyone ate breakfast)
Lunch - Pizza bagels (another money saver!)
Dinner - Nachos (not an exciting day for food, eh?)

Washington D.C.

Hi all! I took a trip with friends last week, and I will be uploading day-by-day what we did. We spent one day in Washington D.C., and then three days in Virginia. We wanted to spend more time over on the east coast, but the "snowmageddon" threw a wrench in our plans.

The first day was devoted entirely to D.C. My friend has relatives in Virginia, so we bunked there and then took the metro over to Washington D.C. Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

In front of the Washington monument. (Photo taken by Becki)

By the way, we counted. There are 50 flags surrounding the Washington monument. No representation for the district or territories of our country. :P

In front of the Lincoln memorial. (Photo taken by Becki)

Lincoln memorial

The mall

(Photo by Becki)

There was a lot of walking that day. According to my phone, 16,837 steps (which is a lot for me at least...). It made the metro ride back that much more enjoyable. It was also snowing outside, which I loved. Snow is an exciting thing for some of us Arizonians. :)

We spent the second half of the day at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. I loved it! I wish I had taken more pictures, but the best one I have is this picture of a triceratops. We only had about three hours to spend there, but I could have easily spent all day. The museum is free, and had exhibits on animals, the ocean, the history of man, outer space, rocks and minerals, and bones, just to name a few! One day I want to go back and just spend days going to the different Smithsonian museums.

The capital after the snow had stopped.

All in all, a great day! I definitely want to make it back to Washington D.C. some time, and absorb even more history and culture and information. One day was enough to give me a taste, but definitely wasn't enough time to see it all. :)

What We Ate:

Breakfast - Egg casserole prepared by my friend's wonderful aunt

Lunch - Sandwich from Potbelly's (my friends favorite "east coast" restaurant, which has since expanded out to Arizona.)

Dinner - Burgers from Fudrucker's (another great choice, as we were all pretty hangry by this time...)

What I Was Glad I Brought:

Walking shoes

Warm jacket, gloves, scarf

What I Wish I Brought

Ear warmer

A purse (I just had my wallet)

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Day 2

So by the second day of our weekend trip, we had figured out the traffic situation a bit. Which means we woke up at three in the morning (that's 2am in Arizona time!).  Although it wasn't fun to be up that early, it was totally worth it. We got a parking spot that was decently close to the park, and everything was open at 4:30am. Morning glow was gorgeous and it was great to have another day watching the balloons launch.

Morning Glow :)

Sunrise over the Sandias

 The perfect way to sum up the end of the weekend

What We Ate:

Breakfast - Croissant from Dunkin Donuts

Lunch - Subway

Dinner - I was asleep by this time!

What I Was Glad I Brought:

Walking Shoes

Gatorade

A blanket - great for laying back and watching the balloons, also great for keeping yourself warm at four in the morning.

What I wish I brought:

Sunscreen

A sarong

(I totally got sunburnt while driving back to Phoenix! Apparently I can get sun burnt just by sitting in a car :/)

Would I recommend this trip:

Absolutely! Be prepared for a lack of sleep though. :)

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Day 1

My friend and I left from Phoenix around 6:00pm and drove to Albuqueque - it took about seven hours, which means we got there at 1:00am. After accounting for the time difference, that means we got in at 2:00am... yikes! We did stop along the way to stargaze which was amazing! Nothing like stopping in the middle of nowhere to see the milky way. I even saw a shooting star. :)

Although we only got three hours of sleep, the festival was definitely worth it! There were around 550 balloons there the day we went.

There was such a large variety of balloons

 Balloons ready to go!

The balloon festival has morning and evening festivities, so after a lunch at Frontier, we spent the middle of the day taking a tram on the Sandia mountains. (Frontier was super yummy, but also very spicy, for those of you who have a low spice tolerance [like me!])The tram takes you up to over 10,000 ft. above sea level, so there is an amazing view from the top!

The Sandia Mountains

We waited in line for almost two hours, but it was worth it. If you plan on going, bring water and sunscreen though! I definitely got a sunburn waiting in line.

Here comes the tram!

Not for those afraid of heights

The view from the top

After our rendevous on the mountain, we headed back to the festival. Parking was atrocious, so we made it just barely in time for the fireworks.

What We Ate:

Breakfast - Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Muffin

Lunch - Burritos at Frontier. My friend had Carne Adobada (spicy) and I had beans and cheese (not so spicy).

Dinner - Fried mac and cheese (yum!) and the most amazing funnel cake every (more yum!)

What I wish I brought:

Chapstick

Sunscreen

Water bottles

Would I recommend it:

Absolutely! I've never been to anything like it and it was beautiful.

I'll share Day 2 of our trip with you soon! Have any of you ever been to the  Albuquerque balloon fiesta? What did you think?