I'm Back!

Did you miss me? I had a wonderful vacation for the past couple of weeks and it was hard to come back to work this week. Ryan and I flew into Tucson, Arizona, where his parents live during the winter, on April 5th. We drove to Portland, Maine on Friday the 4th of April, flew out of Portland to Washington Dulles Airport and then connected on to Tucson International Airport.

Our first day in Tucson we went to church with Ryan's parents and then to the Tanque Verde swap meet, which was interesting, lol. On Monday the 7th, I had to go the hospital. My throat had been sore for a couple of days and I felt like I was developing strept throat. It turns out it wasn't strept throat, I was diagnosed with allergic rhianitis and was given a prescription which cleared me up in a couple of days. We joked and said my diagnosis of allergic rhianitis meant that I was allergic to Ryan, lol. We went to the Casino Del Sol Casino later that evening.

On Tuesday the 8th we went to Old Tucson Studios, where numerous old western movies and tv shows such as Little House On The Prairie were filmed. It was quite the place and we spent all day there.

On Wednesday the 9th, we got up early and hit the road for San Diego, California to visit Angela and Darren. We got into San Diego at around 3:30 and Angela and Darren prepared us a wonderful dinner. We relaxed that evening with a few beverages.

On Thursday the 10th we went to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. That place was awesome! I had a fantastic time walking the grounds and seeing all the animals. After the zoo we went to Balboa Park, which was beautiful. That evening Angela and Darren took us to Rubio's for dinner for a big feed of fish tacos. They sound disgusting, but they were delicious! After supper we drove to La Jolla and saw a bunch of seals beached on the shore and then watched the most beautiful sunset.

Friday the 11th we hiked Torrey Pines Park for a couple of hours and then spent the afternoon at the beach. I tried boogie boarding for the first time, which was super fun! I also saw two dolphins swimming in a wave about 50 feet in front of us - it was spectacular. That evening was our last night in California. We took the trolley downtown and had supper at Henry's Pub. It was a great evening!

On Saturday the 12th we hit the highway, back to Tucson. We stopped in Gila (pronounced Heal-a) Bend, AZ for supper and gas and we spied a beautiful clay outdoor fireplace which we bought for Ryan's parents as a gift.

Sunday the 13th was Ryan's 30th birthday. He started off the day with a round of golf with his dad and his dad's friend Eric. Eric's wife and Ryan's mother and I went to the St. Xavier Mission Church while the boys golfed. St. Xavier Mission was built in the 1700's and it's absolutely stunning. We had a big ham dinner that evening and then cake, ice cream and gifts.

On Monday the 14th we went to the Biosphere. I found this place extremely boring, lol. While I can appreciate what they're doing there, I'm not the least bit interested in science. We stopped at the Tucson Mall for an hour and then drove to an area known as Gates Pass and watched the sunset there.

On Tuesday the 15th we went to Sabino Canyon. This place was nice, but the numerous postings about the high level of mountain lion sightings in the canyon made me a little timid in that area. After Sabino Canyon we drove up to the top of Mt. Lemmon. This was beautiful and we even saw some snow on the top of the mountain, being that we were 8,000 feet above sea level. We didn't get to go to the Grand Canyon while in Arizona, but Ryan's parents said that Mt. Lemmon was just as nice as the Grand Canyon and I believe them, as it really was spectacular. The Grand Canyon is also 8,000 feet above sea level, just like Mt. Lemmon.

On Wednesday the 16th we went to Nogales, Mexico for the day. We got there in the morning, had lunch and did some bartering with the locals. I got two beautiful paintings for my living room for $23, and some decorative clay pots for outside and a silver bracelet for $20 from another vendor. Ryan got a Corono jacket for $10 and a litre of tequilla (which he sampled and deemed was good, lol) for $7. Nogales was quite the experience for me as I'd never witnessed such poverty before in my life. It was difficult to see the numerous children, flithy and begging for money on the streets. It was even harder when you'd see some mothers pushing these children out to you to beg as you walked by. There were blind men begging on the corners, a man with no legs in a wheelchair, etc. It was tragic to see this and also to see the shacks that these people live in, nestled up in the hills. It's make one very thankful to be a Canadian when in a third world country.

On Thursday the 17th we drove to Benson, AZ to the Kartchner Caverns, which we amazing! We weren't allowed to take photos of the caverns due to their fragile state. I highly recommend you check out their website. After the caverns we drove to Tombstone, AZ. This is the town where the famous gunfight at the OK Corral was held and the real Wyatt Earp was the sheriff. That evening Ryan's aunt Bernie and Uncle Dick (who also winter in Arizona) had us over for supper.

Friday the 18th was our last full day in Tucson. We did a bit more shopping and had lunch and then played a round of golf in the afternoon with Ryan's parents. Ryan's parents then took us out to the Olive Garden for a fantastic supper.

Saturday the 19th we were flying back the same route, Tucson to Washington Dulles and then on to Portland, Maine. Our flight to Maine was delayed for 3 hours, so we had to kill three hours in Washington, which wasn't that bad as it's a huge airport with lots to see and do. We didn't get into Maine until late evening and we were exhausted from travelling all day. We drove on to Fredericton the next morning (we did park and fly with a local hotel and left our car there while we were away). We stopped in Houlton before crossing back into New Brunswick and I was on my doorstep at around 7:30 Sunday night. It was a long weekend of travelling.

We had a fantastic trip and would love to do it again sometime, as there is so much to see and do there!