Visiting Phoenix

Scot and I love to travel and visit places we've never been. We have been talking about visiting Phoenix for a while now and we finally got the chance to do that this past weekend!  I am completely in love with Phoenix - I love the weather, there is great shopping there, tons of outdoor recreation, etc.  It's a great place.

 

We left on Thursday and stayed in Albucrackie which is about 1/2 way between The Springs and Phoenix.  Just past Pueblo I went to look at something on my phone when I realized that I had left it on the desk at the house.  Doh!  It was like the year 1998 all weekend without a phone.  At first I was like NOOOOOOO but then I realized...it was actually kinda nice.  On Friday we got up and took a slight detour so we could go to the Grand Canyon which was amazing!  When we were done there we headed over to our hotel in Scottsdale and once settled completely crashed. It was such a long day. 

 

Saturday morning we hiked Camelback Mountain (The Cholla Trail) where once we got to the top had a spectacular view of Phoenix.  It was about 97 degrees that day so we didn't hang out too much at the top.  We were ready to get back and swim for a bit.  After swimming we drove to downtown Phoenix to see what we could find there.  There wasn't anything that really made us want to get out of the car so we decided to go and check out the temple that is being built in Phoenix.  While we were standing outside of our car checking it out the security guard working that day opened the gate for us so we could get a better look which was very nice of her.  That night when we got back we got some dinner and walked around Old Town Scottsdale which was right across the street from our hotel.

 

Sunday we had tickets to Kartchner Caverns which is a beautiful cave down near Tucson.  It was quite a trek so we had to get up really early to make our reservation.  On the way home we stopped at In-N-Out burger for lunch!  Our favorite!  That afternoon was spent at the pool and then getting pizza and gelato for dinner. 

 

Monday was a lazy day.  We got up and went shopping at Fashion Square in Scottsdale, swam, shopped at West Elm and got DELICIOUS cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy!

 

It was such a fantastic trip!  I love Exploring a new city with my hubby.  He's the greatest traveling companion!  Love love love him! 

Had to stop at the Arizona sign on the state border

 

Time to see the Grand Canyon

 

My pictures won't even come close to doing this place justice but if you ever have the chance to go you should definitely go to the Grand Canyon!

 

 

This was about as close as I was going to let Scot get to the edge. There were some crazy people down below where this picture was taken that were sitting on the edge with their feet dangling.  It still gives me the willies to think about!

 

It's so spectacular.  When we first walked up I thought it looked fake.

 

 

You can't even imagine how big it is.  Look how far back that crack down the middle goes.  Insane!

 

 

 

Heading up to Cholla Trail - you kind of walked through a residential neighborhood to get to the trail head

 

View from about 1/4 of the way up the mountain

 

Hiking Camelback

 

Phoenix Temple under construction

 

Old Town Scottsdale

 

 

 Yummy Gelato!

 

 

 If you ever come across a Sweet Tooth Fairy you MUST go in.  These cupcakes are to die for!  Especially that Salted Carmel one.

 

 In addition to exploring Phoenix we were also celebrating our 8th anniversary! It's been an incredible 8 years. I could not have dreamt up a more loving, supportive and amazing husband. I love you Scoty and can't wait to spend the rest of eternity with you!

Hawaii - Day 6

On Day 6 we headed out early to get over to Pearl Harbor before it got really crowded, didn't work.  When we got there we went and got our tickets for the the Arizona memorial but we had about 2 hours to kill before our time slot so we were walking around checking things out and decided to take the audio tour on the submarine.  I DO NOT know how these men lived on this thing for as long as they did.  I think I would have gone insane but it was very interesting.

After the submarine we still had a little bit of time left so we walked around some more and then headed over to catch the boat to the Arizona.  Wow!  What a humbling experience this was.  I wasn't expecting to see what I saw for some reason.  I mean, I had of

course seen it in books and online but it was definitely different to see it in person!

Later that day we decided to head back in to Honolulu to go to the beach for a little relaxing and then to dinner at the Hard Rock.  We love Hard Rock restaurants.  I don't know why but we will usually go to one on almost every trip we go on if there is one around. I think it has a little something to do with the fact that we are not at all adventurous when it comes to food.  That night we did some shopping.  I bought a really cute dress for church from one of the stores and then they had the best, cleanest and most organized Forever 21 I have ever been to!  Fun times!

Hawaii - Day 5

Hey, remember when we went to Hawaii 100 years ago?  Well - here is Day 5 in case anyone out there is interested!

On Day 5 we of course got up and went to the beach but after that headed to Laie to visit the Temple, BYU Hawaii and the Polynesion Cultural Center. 

The Temple was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!  It was just so breath taking and amazing.  We enjoyed walking around and taking it all in for a few minutes!

 We saw tons of these amazing trees when we were in Hawaii.

 We did a little walking around BYU Hawaii and then it was off the PCC.  We had such a blast there - although I am pretty sure it was approximately 250 degrees that day. 

 Tree climbing!

 Getting ready for our canoe ride.

 On our canoe ride.  This was fun but also kind of a life saver since it took us back up to the front of park for dinner. I don't think I could have done much more walking!

 Luau!

 Dinner - Yum!

 We had some time to spare before the show so we did a little more walking around and enjoying the scenery once our tummies were full! (p.s. - it's totally true that you don't know what you look like for sure until you see a picture and let's be honest, this dress is the most unflattering thing in the entire world.  What on earth was I thinking?  Ah well...)

The show was amazing but we weren't able to take pictures.  Another amazing day in Hawaii  down.  Man - I wish I was there right now!  OK, so let's see if I can squeeze day 6 out before January.  Ha!

Hawaii - Day 3

On day 3 we got up and headed over to the International Marketplace to check it out.  It's basically just a bunch of little kiosks and stores that sell the same jewelry, shirts, wraps, etc. but still fun to walk through.

(I totally don't know how to pose for pictures when I am alone so I know I look stupid and awkward ok?)

After the Marketplace we went over to Cheese Burger Waikiki for some lunch.

The Market didn't take as long as I had thought so after that and lunch we decided to hike Diamond Head.  I am a lazy sack of potatoes and especially so on vacation and this hike was a little more vigorous than I had heard but we had a great time and the views were well worth the effort so I will let it slide.  Ha ha!

 (They are big time recyclers on the island.  Love that!)

 (Creepy stair case and bad camera angle)

 (Tons of stairs!!)

(I got my shave ice!  YUM)

After this little adventure we decided we needed a little beach time in our life so we headed back to our hotel and went to Waikiki Beach.

We were pretty much DONE by this point in the day so we just picked up Panda Express and took it back to our room.  We are such adventurous party animals!!