Nature

Let me tell you something: Phoenix is LOVELY in October!

I got to go to Phoenix two weekends ago for work. It was sunny and a cool 95. And I was just loving life and that temperature. October in Phoenix is why people move there. They think "Oh my gosh, this is AMAZING! And the cost of living? WOW! I should move here!". And then they move there. And they LOVE LIFE until July, August and September. And they think "Oh my gosh, this is AWFUL AND I WANT TO DIE!" because the heat is so (SO!) terrible. I don't care that everyone goes "it's a dry heat". Yea, yea, yea. My oven is a dry heat and you don't see me hanging out in there - do you?

Either way, I loved being in Phoenix! And, because I had to be there at the end of one week and the beginning of the next, me and friend (and peer) Priyanka stayed through the weekend with three other people that are in our program: Chris, Karina and Dave. Karina is the only one that reads my blog, but I'm going to tell you about all of them.

Chris: Chris is my favorite person in my program. That is all.

Dave: Dave is my least favorite person. That is all.

Karina: Karina is so funny I can't stand it. She's going to be blogging soon and I can't wait to share that post with you. We're also both going to do match.com (more on that later). Anyway, if you're ever in Phoenix (or if you know a tall, dark, single, Trinidad-ian (is that right, Karina?)... send him her way!)

So, we stayed with them and on Saturday we went to Sedona and stayed in Flagstaff on Saturday night. And then on Sunday we went to the Grand Canyon and then on Monday morning me and Priyanka were at work bright and early!

Let's talk trip details:

*The Ford Fiesta: WORST. CAR. EVER. Worst car ever ESPECIALLY for a 4 person (Chris, my favorite, did not come) road trip. I mean, our knees were in our chins. We could not pass other cars. When I accelerated to 45mphs the car hit 5000RPMS!! Stupid Fiesta. Don't ever get one.

*Team Front Seat/Team Back Seat: The majority of the trip was divided into two teams: Front Seat/Back Seat. Me and Karina were team Front Seat and Dave/Priyanka were team Back Seat. Karina and I get along very well and Dave irritates both of us so it was nice to put him out of sight and just laugh and sing and drive the stupid Fiesta.

*Sedona: Beautiful! Really and truly breathaking and I don't say that about too much scenery (I hate nature). We saw the Chapel in the side of the rock mountain thing (I'm no good at details) and we went to some of the touristy shops and we got touristy ice cream - WHICH - they were out of CHOCOLATE AND VANILA! I mean, really? Stupid ice cream store - you should ALWAYS have the basics. Come on.

*Pink Jeep Tour: We did a PJT in Sedona and it was SO. MUCH. FUN! That is the kind of nature I like! We were bouncing around and hitting 25 mphs and going up and down rocks. And our tour guide, Mr. Alan, for the most part put up with us even if he didn't tell us all kinds of stories or find us a rattlesnake. Mr. Alan has no patience and his wife tells him so and he's sorry he didn't wait for us to look at the camera for our picture but it's time to get back in the Jeep! God, Mr. Alan.

*Flagstaff: We stayed in Flagstaff on Saturday night and that was great. We found an Italian BYOB restaurant convienently located next to a wine store and we enjoyed a sampler of a bunch of things at the table. It was a nice dinner with the Adele record (yes! record!) playing in the background and a good wind-down from the day. I was sleeping by 9pm and it was incredible.

*Drive to Grand Canyon: When we woke up the next morning for a 8am departure to the GC, I almost forgot how much I hated the Ford Fiesta. Well, guess what? I still HATED THE FORD FIESTA ON SUNDAY! But, we saw AWESOME roadkill on the drive to the GC including an elk (or maybe a moose? What's the difference)!!! OMG! The roadkill was HUGE! Really, SO big.

*Grand Canyon: We had lovely weather for the GC. I've heard horror stories of people getting there and it being cold and foggy and you can't see anything! Well - we could see everything! There were so many tourists too! And we really enjoyed the view and I was having so much fun!.... for 25 minutes. See, the problem with the GC is that all it is is ROCK. There is only SO MUCH ROCK I CAN LOOK AT! But they said "no, no, you have to see it from another angle". And I said "Ok". But from the other angle it was still rock and by the end of the three hour adventure I was maxxed out on rock. But, I can check it off my list!

And, that my friends, was the Grand Canyon! Next up: a weekend in Pittsburgh and meeting my nephew!