- I HATE flying so I decided this time, I’d drink a beer before the flight. I felt kind of lame for relying on something instead of being mentally tough. But we got to the airport so early, it made it easy. I only had two beers but it really helped me relax enough to make it through.
- It is light ALL THE TIME in Arizona, and possibly New Mexico too. I feel like we got up so early every day there because the sun was just…up at 4. It was pretty crazy, to be honest. On one walk Ash and I took in Tempe, it was literally 5:15 am and so many people were out and about, including a sketchy guy riding a razor scooter with a hatchet in his hand! He didn’t threaten us but it was a weird sight for sure.
- White water rafting is awesome! I was nervous at first but I enjoyed it immensely. So they rate the rides 1-5. Ones being a nice calm ride; twos and threes are what we did which got intense but not crazy. I think I could probably do a ride that was threes and fours. We all thought so. I look forward to possibly planning another trip where we do that.
- The drive from Phoenix – where everything is the same sand color and cacti abound – up to Flagstaff, was probably my favorite scenery. It turned into 7,000 feet of elevation and lush green forests on either side of mountain roads. That alongside the drive into Denver from the western part of Colorado were the best. Well, ok, the drive to Albuquerque was also awesome but because the landscape changed every twenty minutes. I think that was one of the best parts of our trip: just seeing so many different places.
- I always had the idea that Kansas City was huge. But it actually felt very small. In fact, the day we got into town, which was the 4th, was surprising – I saw hardly any people! Granted, the holiday, but still. We stayed right near downtown and the streets were practically empty. I guess it just isn’t that big of an area after all.
- Little Rock feels smaller than Tallahassee. That seems odd to me. Our in-townish pop is about 200k. I saw a stat that said 300, but that’s including Monticello, Havana, and Quincy, which are tiny towns. But Little Rock is supposedly also 200k but I always feel like people talk about it like it’s a big city. They don’t even have a Total Wine! They have fewer breweries even. So in that way, I gave Tallahassee another notch in the pro column. They also got one when Phoenix turned out to be Satan’s bedroom.
- On the drive to Albuquerque, it was a little rainy and then we got a beautiful double rainbow. I said to everyone it was a good luck sign and the trip was going to be awesome! And the next day, as we pulled into a parking lot way out in the middle of nowhere for a hike, the damn rental car died! It was a Chrysler Pacifica, if you’re interested to know. In the past, it’s been a perfectly fine car, comfortable and drives well, but we all know American engines are trash. But anyway, I believe it’s always darkest before the dawn and the one day in ABQ was the one day we had nothing to do so in that way, the inconvenience was not too bad.
- Denver, what’s the deal? It had an interesting vibe and the area we were in was super cute. But I saw SO few kids. Anywhere. We happened upon a very nice park (Cheesman park) and even at 8 am, it was very crowded with people running, walking, etc. But zero children. I find this very odd.
- On the Denver note, one of the mornings we went looking for bottle shops and happened upon a huge one named Bevy’s. Ash brought it up on google maps and I began driving. Seeing as how it was in a suburb, I didn’t question too much as we wove our way through nice little areas and homes, but as we neared our destination, it appeared that someone had labeled their actual house “Bevy’s” and it took us there! The real store was about 10 minutes from there and we had a good laugh but that has happened to us in maps before.
- The KC airbnb had no wifi. Ash and I both looked at that one before booking, of course, but naturally assumed that everyone offers that as an amenity. When we got there and the kids looked to hop on a network, quickly realizing there wasn’t one, I went back to the listing to see that in fact, there was not. It was weird to break away from it but not the worst, to be honest. In fact, as noted in my cliffs notes version of my recap, we ended up watching old Twilight Zone episodes. Elliot got really into it actually and now we want to watch them all. Funny though: we saw one episode I know I remember watching with my dad. Look up “Willoughby”.
- We went to the petrified forest while on the way to Albuquerque and it was pretty cool. I’d always heard about it and once had this idea to write about someone who did steal a piece but it made them feel guilty. We did not steal anything, I assure you. The park could stand to be laid out a little clearer. They give you this little map thing but it’s a bit confusing. The entire place is about a 28 mile drive and you pretty much have to drive all the way back to the start to get back on the highway. I thought we could do it in an hour but you may need more like 2-3.
- I don’t know which city I liked the most or even what might go into making that decision. Was it the general feel of the place? The quality of their things such as breweries? Was it where we stayed? I don’t know. I think I enjoyed Arizona a lot, even though I suffer when there’s not a ton of greenery around. That and Denver were probably the best to visit. I’m not sure I’d live out that way. I’m still tossing around Tennessee.
- I’m still not totally caught up after vacation. We got the lawn taken care of and I did laundry; I did manage to finally log all the empty beer cans that had been mounting up. But I feel like I’m still struggling to get back to “normal”. Love vacation but it’s always a bit of a hurdle!
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Enjoyed reading this! I am one of those people who enjoys flying… but I don´t do it super often and I have never had a really bad flight with turbulence or fighting people (you read those stories of crazy behavior on flights- yikes!). I would say if you are constantly using alcohol to deal with life´s stressors and unpleasantries, that could indicate a problem but not to help you get through a flight. I hope to make it to AZ next year- reading what you said about it makes me really want to go! I was talking to a family member recently (who I just met- rather a distant relative) who lived in AZ for seven years and said what you said- that with heat, people are outside super early and then they stay inside for the most part. I want to experience that and see all the beauty!! I have never been to KC but I felt the same way about Springfield, IL. I just assumed it was much bigger being the capital of IL but it seemed really small to me. Even odder to think that it is the capital with the behemoth city of Chicago in the state. (Though I realize its due to geography that Springfield is the capital.) I think it´s so neat all of the places you visited in one trip!!
I think that a lot of state capitals are not that big; they are just historically that. And yeah, I was really glad to visit these places. It’s great to get away from it all but also, come home and appreciate that too.
I’ve been white water rafting once and it was amazing. I, too, think it is amazing to see how the scenery changes from area to area. Mark and I noticed that places even smell differently and we think that is cool!
Yes! I noticed the smells too. It’s so cool.
You really covered a lot of ground on your trip!
I feel like AZ has been calling to me for the last few years, no idea why. I’ve never been there. Interesting the lack of children in Denver. Cheeseman park is in a nice area, as I recall (also happens to be build on a cemetery). I know back in the ’80s or so, it was known for a place for gays to hookup? Don’t know if that’s still the case. That was pre-internet :P. You picked a great time of year for white water rafting!
LOL; I don’t know if that’s still true about that park but I mean, the area we stayed in seemed like young professionals. Could be a lot of childless people, straight and gay. Who knows? And yeah, the rafting was top notch. So glad we did it.