Arizona Vacation

You know the bummer part about going on vacation?  It’s the coming home and missing how great you had it while you were away.

We had wifi everywhere we were, except here at home.  We had a big, roomy nice and new vehicle, except here at home.  We had a big, roomy nice and comfortable house, except here at home.  We had beautiful, breathtaking scenery all around, except here at home. 

So yeah, I’m wishing we were still there.  That’s the sign of a great trip, I suppose. 

The airport was a trip itself on the day we left, the Tuesday morning following Memorial Day.  Yikes, the place was packed and we didn’t expect to stand so long to check our bags or get through security.  But we made it.  It was the first time flying for Sam and Caroline and the first time Grant and Jack remembered flying since they were toddlers the last time.  Security was a little trickier with Jack having his insulin pump, but ok.  He learned a bunch about TSA.

We weren’t able to sit together on the flight.  It was a packed plane and all that was left for us were single middle seats, except for two seats in the last row that Sam and I got so we could sit together.  Everyone did fine, and I was really proud of the kids since they could have been scared and freaking out, but everyone was great. 

I was probably the most close to freaking out because I had Sam right by me on this 3 1/2 hour flight, with no entertainment.  I had packed him up a little backpack of books and things to do on the flight, but once we were unloading the van to get on the airport shuttle, I realized we had a different bag with us and not the entertainment backpack. 

Sam had packed Charles in his own duffle to bring on the trip, Charles being Grant’s big stuffed animal that used to have to go everywhere Grant did, but now Grant is older and doesn’t need Charles.  But somehow Sam thought that we should lug Charles to AZ and back.

 

(I just spotted this pic from last year’s vacation and there you see Charles and the exact bag in the background that Sam packed him in for this trip.)

Once I realized what had happened, I slammed the hatch and Charles, sad to say, stayed baking in the van trunk the whole time we were gone.  So, yeah, Sam and I looked at SkyMall and out the window and took three trips to the bathroom past the very, very large man seated next to us that I don’t think had kids of his own.

 

It was actually fun at the car rental place!  We walked up and there’s Gary’s name on the board like he’s some VIP, which of course, he is in my book.  We had booked a minivan but with his ‘club connection,’ we were hoping to get a free upgrade.  The kids were rooting for this Crown Vic that I’m sure a 105 year old man just dropped off. 

So anyway, things worked out in an excellent kind of way and we got an upgrade to a huge Suburban with room for everybody to spread out.  It easily held six bags of luggage and I can’t tell you how many bags of groceries (we stocked up before heading to the cabin) and now we want one for real.  Really.

We were starving by this time, despite our one ounce drink and the peanut offered on the plane, so we had lunch at a Whataburger in Phoenix.  We were aiming for an In and Out burger, but took first available.  Then we were on our way to the mountains at Prescott.

We had booked this place from Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO) online.  This was our third house we have rented for vacation stays and I definitely recommend.  We have not been disappointed.  But it is the first year I realized it was not V-BRO, as I had been calling it. 

Our cabinhouse was wonderful.  There was ongoing discussion/arguments over what it was.  We called it a cabin and the kids vehemently argued that it was a house.  Whatever.  It was paradise on a mountain. 

I didn’t take an exterior picture since there were pictures on-line, but now I find I can’t copy from there.

The inside was great for us, four bedrooms with six beds, perfect.  It was a great room/loft type house which is what we are considering for our addition so it was fun to see how that would be for us. 

Kinda like Karen and Joe’s!---^

Gary’s favorite feature was probably the multilevel decks to just sit out on and view the wilderness.  My favorite feature was the hot tub right out our bedroom.  And all the windows.  And the shower.

So anywho, after the first night settling in, we spent a whole day here doing not much except waiting for Gary to get back from his mountain hike.

Here he is heading down the driveway to get to a lookout tower on a mountain that looked really far away to me.  Apparently, it looked like fun to him.

He made it there and back in under five hours and I got sunburned legs from sitting on the front porch waiting for him to come walking up so I could relax.

Vacation should be all about relaxation, right?

I was worried that a) he would get lost, b) he would get hurt, c) that he would call me to pick him up and I’d have to drive the Suburb down the mountain myself and that was a nightmare for me to even think about.

Second install to come.