Arizona Day 2: The Grand Canyon (Kind of Subjective, Yes?)

Posted in Travel, Vacations by Marci

Now, don’t get me wrong – I think the Grand Canyon is pretty friggin’ spectacular. And I also think it has definitely earned its place on the 7 Natural Wonders of the World list. I’m just saying, “grand” is kind of subjective, and it could be a perspective that some people might not necessarily agree with. I, however, am not one of those people.

Yay Grand Canyon!!! Bright and early, we headed northwest from Sedona up to the South Rim for our Valentine’s Day adventure. Chris had never seen the canyon before, but it was on his bucket list, so we wanted to do it right. And you know what that means…

HELICOPTER RIDE!!!

And neither of us had ever been on a helicopter, so that was a first for both of us. The most fantastic part of the ride was flying about 100′ over a flat expanse of Ponderosa pines, and then all of a sudden we were flying 100′ PLUS another few thousand feet above the ground! The helicopter stayed level, but of course, our stomachs dropped (along with our jaws). I managed to take some video of the flight, which also features me acting like a complete spaz (as per usual, so don’t be surprised):

(REALLY??? Out of all the screen shots that could’ve represented this clip, THIS picture was the one selected??? REALLY?????)

Me and Chris in the helicopter!

After the flight, we stopped off at some of the view points to take a look around from the ground (and to collect a few stamps for my National Parks passport, which I actually forgot at home – d’oh!). All of the views were spectacular, and they all looked something like this:

It is amazing how the brain can barely process the visual field of depth of the Grand Canyon – when you’re looking at that much space in front of you, it’s hard to believe that you’re not looking at a photograph or a painting. It hardly seems real! Of course, we had to take a gazillion pictures, even though they all kind of look the same, and a picture will rarely ever do the real thing any amount of justice. But I can show them all to you, just let me know if you want to see them (j/k!). I won’t torture you with all of them right now, but here are a couple of my favorites:

By the time we made it back to Sedona, the sun was on its way down and we were ready for our Valentine’s Day dinner (which was delicious – we both had the lobster). I hope that you had a pleasant VD experience, and are looking forward to hearing about the rest of our mini-vacation in Arizona! More to come soon…

16Feb2014

Vancouver in February? Screw That! Hellooo, Arizona!

Posted in Animals, Non-cats, Travel, Vacations by Marci

February is the PERFECT time to escape the Pacific Northwest. It’s rainy, overcast, gray, possibly snowy (or slushy, more likely) and you’re probably itching to see the sun right about now. Seasonal Affective Disorder makes me so SAD!!! So, why not go somewhere warm and sunny? It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, AND I’m turning 40 later this month, so Chris and I decided to turn mid-February into a Sunny-VD-BD Extravaganza by heading out to Sedona, Arizona!

I did a lot of hiking, camping and backpacking in the arid desert canyon-country parts of the US while I was in grad school (Fort Collins, CO, by the way) and I haven’t seen these parts in YEARS. I really miss the desert – as I biologist I’m completely fascinated by how various life forms have evolved and adapted to survive in such a harsh environment. Further, the rock formations make you feel like you’re on a completely different planet. So, I’m very excited to get back to the desertish parts of the country and enjoy the sun, fresh air, and warm temperatures! Happy birthday to ME!

We left EARLY on Thursday morning, flying out from Portland, stopping in Phoenix, and arriving in Flagstaff. We picked up a car and decided to eat lunch at MartAane’s Burrito Palace, which was AMAZING…if you like BLTs and grilled cheese sandwiches and guacamole, the Ultimate BLT is for you. I highly recommend the curly fries, as well. And a strange aside, they DO NOT offer diet soda! Oh well, I’m on vacation, right? Yum!

The smallest baggage claim ever, discovered at the Flagstaff Airport.

I ate this whole thing. Do I regret it? My answer is no. I know you are jealous.

MartAnne’s – Amazing artwork by Emma Gardner graces the walls.

We had some time to kill before our hotel room was going to be ready, so we headed over to Williams and spent a couple of hours at Bearizona, where you can ride an open-air bus (or drive your own car, should you wish to exercise that particular insurance risk) around the park and see wolves, bears, sheep, buffalo and all sorts of other critters. We had a good time feeding the goats in the Bearizona Barn Yard, but watch your fingers! Chris almost came away with only nine of his!

Just a few pictures of Bearizona…if you request them, I can send you about 200 more. Lemme know.

Finally, we headed down 89A through Oak Creek Canyon and arrived in Sedona at the Amara Hotel. Just in time for sunset. Just in time for desert and drinks (the Almond Joy actually does taste like Almond Joy candy bars, and I had to get three of them just to make sure that this assessment was correct). What will the rest of this vacation bring? You’ll just have to wait for the next installment to find out!

19Feb2013

And I didn’t take a single picture!

Posted in Entertainment, Hobbies, Travel, Vacations by Marci

Oh, Reno, how you love to take our money away. It’s ok though, because we enjoy your biggest-little-city can-do attitude, complete with sprawling casinos and “European” gymnasiums (whatever that means). Also, your lack of homeless people hired to shove little pictures of naked ladies at passers-by is non-Las-Vegasly refreshing, so Thank You, Reno, for that.

This year, it just happened that my birthday, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day (yes, President’s Day) fell reasonably close together to have a four-day weekend out of town. Chris and I have stayed at the Peppermill Casino three times now, and it’s rather lovely – it’s all Italian-themed (except for their Chinese restaurant, Chi, which is Chinese-themed) and they have a fantastic spa, casino and restaurants (including Chi). We arrived Thursday night and spent much of the weekend losing money, enjoying drinks (perhaps a little too much on Sunday night), and luxuriating in our ridiculously over-sized suite. Well, the suite itself wasn’t over-sized, just the furniture. But it was awesome! Also, someone might have eaten the Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookies from the honor bar. I’m not pointing any fingers, but that someone might have been me, or as Chris identified as the culprit, Snacky McSnackerton.

Anyway, here is a picture of the slot machine that ate all my money. If you see it, I suggest walking in the opposite direction. The tigers are tricksy and false…their fancy jewels flash and you hear them roar, but they just take without giving. Damn you and your scatter bonuses, Siberian Storm!!!

Additional Reno places of interest that took our monies: the spa (hello, facial and pedicure…I’m pleased to meet you! Why yes, I’d also like to have one of those luxurious robes as well, thanks!), Romanza the Italian restaurant (so happy that we got in on Valentine’s night, although the lobster and shrimp and sea bass that we enjoyed might not have been so pleased), Atlantis casino (just a quick jaunt down the street and…why, I’m so happy to meet you, Sumo Kitty slot machine! Here, take some more of my money!), and the Peppermill Poker Room (Chris can fill you in there, although I will say that the craps table was most uncraptacular. Chris scored pretty well with the dice!).

We were having such a good time that I insisted upon staying another night in our suite instead of heading home late in the evening. And it all worked out…the cats were even happy to see us home. Happy birthday / Valentine’s Day / President’s Day to us all!