Road Trip

One thing I love about living in Arizona is the opportunity for a great road trip.  Phoenix may sit in the middle of the desert surrounded by a whole lot of nothing, but that nothing can look  beautiful in the passenger-side window, driving to one of the many destinations within a day's reach.
Last weekend, our friends flew into Phoenix from Jackson, Mississippi and we hopped in the Prius and headed to Vegas!  I love driving a route I've never traveled, seeing all of the beauty this country has to offer, and indulging in any spontaneous side-trip.  We drove through Joshua Trees, enormous red rocks and plateaus, and stopped at the Hoover Dam to take a full tour.  Our tour came complete with an eccentric guide who didn't fall short when it came to inserting some dam jokes into every opportunity.  Neither did I.

Then, we arrived at our destination... Las Vegas!  And, well, I guess that's all the detail I'll divulge, because you know what they say.
I will note that Drew and I did not lose as much as we had last September during our first trip, mostly because I did far less gambling.  Just call me the cooler.

Our road back was just as eventful, as we stopped on the side of the road for an overlook and saw a river at the bottom.  We decided to drive down to the water, and on the way we encountered a herd of big-horn sheep by the side of the winding road.  When everyone in the car started gasping, I was the last to notice.  They stood and stared at us as we parked and stared at them.  I'd never seen anything like it outside of a zoo.  Then, they went on their way up a hill and we continued down to the water to catch the sunset.  That's why I love road trips.  It's those unexpected moments when you follow a trail or climb a rock or chase a river, only to see something you may have never seen before in your life.  I'll end with one final photo we took after getting back to Phoenix, taken at Papago Park overlooking the city.

Cold Snap

Okay, it's that time of year when we thin-blooded Arizonans get laughed at by our Northern counter-parts.  Because IT. IS. COLD.

I know this may not seem like a wintery high temp to most people, but look at those lows! It still amazes me that the temperature can change nearly 30 degrees from sun up to sun down.  Despite my D.C upbringing the sundowns are killing me.  But, if I think I'm unmotivated to get out from underneath my covers in the morning and brave the crisp, cold air of day, I need only look to my poor, Florida-born husband, who has been sleeping in long sleeves and a hoodie for the past week.

We have packed our outdoor pipes with towels so they won't burst (which they often do around here because the desert just doesn't have the infastructure for freezing weather) and our neighbors have bundled up their cacti for the season.

 It may be easy to laugh.  I know 25 degrees is nothing compared to the negative-somethings that so many other people must bear.  It may be easy to call us wimps, to tell us to toughen up, and in times like these it's all we hear from the rest of the country, but to that I respond:

I go running in triple digits.

Give me 75 degrees and I'll wear jeans and drink a hot latte.  When it's 106 we're outside hiking and playing sports when most would pass out.  Yes, we wear camel-backs and drink 2 liters to most people's 12 ounces of water, and lather on SPF 80, but I'll take all of that any day over this. Brr!