Mini-Vacation in Arizona
We just got back from a super fantastic trip to Tucson, AZ and we wanted to share it with the 2 of you who read our blog. We are pretty exhausted from jet-lag, so I thought it’d be fun to reminisce before we have to go back to the normal daily grind of life.
We flew down to Tuscon in the VERY early hours of Halloween morn, on a tiny “Untied Express” plane. There were only about 30 seats on this plane (2 on one side and 1 on the other). My seat only moved back about 1/2 an inch and it felt way too cramped. It really wouldn’t have been so bad, since the flight was only about an hour and a half, but there was a severely overweight woman sitting right across the aisle from us, who smelled like salami and had horrible (and non-stop) gas…for the entire flight. It actually woke me up from my nap SEVERAL times.
Jill’s mom picked us up right on time and whisked us away on a slew of errands (groceries mostly) before we arrived at the Blandford Estate. The house is a bit off the beaten path, so we try to work in all the necessary errands right away, then we don’t have to worry about it the rest of the trip. Once we were home, we were pretty famished, so Jilly cooked Tikki Masala Chicken and vegetables on brown rice. We ate outside by the pool, in the gorgeous 80 degree temps. It was a picture-perfect afternoon. After lunch, Jilly and I were WIPED out, so we took a nice long nap.
Because it was Halloween, we decided that we HAD to carve a pumpkin before the night was out (or really, Jill did). So she carved an owl and placed it outside to give a nice ambience to our evening. We had dinner with Aunt Pat, and enjoyed a cranberry walnut stuffed pork tenderloin with grilled vegetables, potatoes and salad (oh and pumpkin spice cake for desert). After dinner we attempted to watch a movie, but we were all sleeping by the opening credits.
Friday was our day of Adventure because we brought all of our climbing gear with us. Our plan was to do some sport climbs on Mt Lemmon. In true “Adventure” fashion, we struggled, bled, and suffered a lot before we actually got to the main attraction. After getting lost (several times) and a few hours bushwacking in the rough desert environment, we finally stumbled down the correct wash into narrow slot canyon where our climbs awaited us.
We spent a great half-day climbing all the easier routes. *note: Jake sucks at climbing on this rock and Jill is a super star. In the end we were both having a great time playing on the rocks and we were COMPLETELY alone all day; something we never get in Boulder. We were going to climb some harder routes that looked SUPER cool, but the heat of the day was upon us and we happened to be in a vortex of the largest bees and wasps we’d ever seen….flying all around us. We decided that we didn’t want to risk getting stung or burned (because I left the sunblock at home), so we foraged our way out of the canyon and back to our car.
We were FAMISHED (again) by the time we were heading down the mountain, so we decided to stop by the famous “El Guero Canelo” to stuff ourselves on Sonoran hotdogs! For those of you who don’t know, Sonoran hotdogs are the most amazing food ever (and a specialty in Tucson). They consist of a buttery bun (super soft) with hot dog wrapped in bacon, covered in beans, grilled onions, peppers, salsa, mustard, pico de gallo, and guacamole. Between us, we ate 5 hot dogs, a huge helping of guacamole and chips and an icy cold mexican soda (orange-flavored). We got home around 3pm and decided to lay by the pool and drink beer…not a bad start to our vacation. Side note: while we were having fun, Jilly’s mom was battling the pain of a fractured tooth, which she had to have pulled because it was so painful, but she hung in there like a trooper.
By Saturday we were ready to fully embrance the “retired / vacation” lifestyle. We spent the day hanging out with Jill’s Dad, hiking all over their neighborhood (which had a lot of trails and paths into the desert wilderness), and lounging, reading, sleeping by or playing in the pool. Every day passed quicker than the one before, when you are relaxing so much. It was probably one of the best vacations we have ever had, because we rarely have so much free time to literally do nothing.
Each night we would go to a different restaurant. Friday night we stayed home and cooked another meal, since Jilly’s mom was still in pain. We grilled turkey legs and burgers and other miscellaneous items. We rented a couple of movies (Thor and Now You See Me), and Jilly was the only one to make it through both; though we all stayed awake for Now You See Me (which is awesome!).
Saturday we went out to the Preserve (which is a restaurant located in the Saddlebrook Community where the Estate is), and overlooks the mountains on top of a hill…it is probably the prettiest place in all of the Saddlebrook community, and the food was excellent. We hung out with some family friends. We ate and drank a TON and had a really great night! The evening wrapped up with HGTV and relaxing outside by the pool.
Sunday was the celebration of Jilly’s parent’s 35th wedding anniversary (well it was the day we were celebrating, the actual day was monday). We went to church with her parents (as they like to go every week), and then went out to breakfast. The majority of the rest of the day was spent at the club house pool, laying out and reading (a tough life, I know!). That night we went to her Dad’s favorite restaurant, Flemings, to celebrate. We were STUFFED by the end of the 5-course meal. Like every night before, we tried to stay up but we were basically wiped out and went to bed as soon as we got back home.
Way too soon, we were down to our last day of vacay. Since it was a monday, Jill and I both had to work for a few hours in the morning; too bad we are not retired grrr…At some point, we couldn’t stand it anymore, so we jumped in the golf cart and sped away (at 12 MPH) to get some much needed pool-time.
Monday was much less crowded at the pool, so I decided to be more rambunctious and jump in a few times; splashing around and causing a general ruckus. I got yelled at by the person on patrol, and ALMOST got us kicked out, but since it wasn’t crowded he let me off easy. The bulk of the day was spent at the pool, then spent back at the ranch, taking nice long naps. Our last night in AZ, Aunt Pat invited us and other family and friends over for a relaxing dinner at her place. It was also SUPER delicious (and we ate way too much again), but it was a great end to a great mini-vacation.
Today we had to leave AZ to trek back home to CO. It was a hard journey, as it usually is, and quite exhausting, but we made it home. Its freezing cold here compared to the luscious warmth of AZ, but we will be back soon! The End.
