One of our favorite times of the year is our anniversary trip. This year, for the first time, we decided to fly, and we went to Arizona. We flew out Thursday night and had all of Friday through Sunday before heading home Monday.
After arriving, it took us a long, long time to catch the bus to the rental area (we could have walked - even though it is miles away). First order of business, of course, was finding some good food! Since COVID was ramping back up, most of our dining was done via takeout. We succeeded night one with pretzel bites and provolone fondue from Culinary Dropout. YUM!
Our first full day started with a walk to a local Kaleidoscope Juice. It was a bit of a mystery finding the place, which was located in a building that it is unlikely anyone who lives in it has 5 kids! As we were standing to order, we realized how out of place we were when a 10-12 year old came down and ordered some drink we'd never heard of! The food was good - maybe a little too healthy to be REALLY good - but Dani loves her Acai bowls!
After breakfast, we headed to Camelback for a late-morning hike. We did some of this hike years ago from a different path when the kids were small.
It was 1 1/4 mile, steep and boulder-filled hike. We were fast hikers, though! We were impressed how many people were hiking and couldn't imagine how many would on a weekend!
The top has big vistas of the entire valley, standing over 1300 feet above the valley. I don't think either of us realized how mountainous the area surrounding the Phoenix valley is, and it made for some beautiful sites.
Arizona in January is a beautiful place!!!
Our day was just getting started. After we cleaned up a bit, we headed south towards Mesa for a little walk around the Mesa temple. It was a good venue to continue our conversations. Dani was disappointed that the Deseret Book's creamery wasn't open for some Graham Canyon ice cream!
After lunch in Tempe, Jared REALLY wanted to "start the year off right," which of course means on a paddle board. The Tempe Town Lake was a perfect venue. The water was perfectly smooth, and there were interesting things to look at on both shores.
Life is better on a paddle board!
After paddling, we decided to rent bikes and explore a few parks in south Scottsdale. While we were biking, we happened upon a disc golf tournament, which was fun to see a few of the throws.
The sun was setting as we got back to Tempe
and there was enough light to continue on the far side of the river to the west side of the lake, where we took the pedestrian bridge back. It was a super fun afternoon and evening together!
We ate a late night dinner outside (under a gas heater - it cooled down a bit) at the Tortilla Factory in Old Town Scottsdale While we didn't get BYU Creamery ice cream, we DID find a place in Old Scottsdale that serves gelato - really good gelato - especially the peanut butter cup!
We were pretty flexible with our plans coming in, and we decided that Saturday we should drive to Sedona to explore in a UTV. We started in the mid-morning, and it was a little chilly (upper 50's - so, not really that chilly!)
It didn't take long to get the hang of the UTV. These vehicles are FUN to drive!!!
We took turns driving. Dani went down a super steep part of the trail and back up the other side - it was pretty awesome and she drove like a pro.
Whoever wasn't driving got to enjoy some spectacular views. And hopefully help navigate (we only took 1 wrong turn!).
The colors of Sedona are incredible, and being off road was a great way to explore.
We stopped for a little walk to an area where there were ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs, and we got to get up close to them. Those were pretty cool too.
Seriously everywhere we turned had spectacular colors and vistas!
Sedona was such a great time for us! We decided to stay a little closer on Sunday. We took a long walk along the canal on a beautiful morning. We spent time goal setting and talking, and then took a drive south of Phoenix to a little place called "The Farm" for lunch. It was a nice, relaxing venu
Afterwards, we headed back to central Phoenix to Papago Park, where we did a couple more short hikes, first to Hole in the Rock, where we also hiked with our kids years ago, and then all around Papago Park. Arizona is paradise in January! Especially compared to the midwest
What a way to celebrate our 18th anniversary. We truly love one another, and we are reminded of that every year as we get this special time together.
Big thanks to Vicki for coming and staying with the kids to help with our trip!
