Vacation Days 5, 6, & 7

Saturday we were awakened to a power outage at our hotel. At 7:30am. We thought we would just walk down to the McDonalds a block over…but the power was out all around us. Fortunately there was still hot water, so we showered then drove a ways away to find breakfast. My friends Jason and Scott were getting married today, the entire reason we were here! We returned to the hotel to find power restored, put on our nice, suffocating dress clothes, and went to the ceremony. I didn’t cry, but it was a very touching and heartwarming service, between two amazing people that are beyond meant for each other ๐Ÿ˜ Of course I still had a stupid migraine (too much bright sun and sinus-drying a/c) so we left the reception early. A nap at the hotel helped me though, and we were able to rejoin the celebrations that evening at a local bar for drinks and dinner.

Sunday, we packed up and headed west…er, to my mom’s house east of Los Angeles. She is car-sitting while we are in Italy. The drive from Phoenix to Hemet is only about 4 hours, but it is the I-70 of the desert. Boring beyond belief. The I-10 is nothing but trucks going 60mph and cars going 90. But we made it, her little dog actually liked Paul (Khaos is a man-hating monster), and spent a relaxing evening catching up.

Monday, we did some laundry and sorted through what we were taking to Italy and what we were leaving. When we return on June 28th, we’ll be staying in California for a few weeks. It was another uneventful day, we went out for pizza, did some work on our phones, and lounged around. We hit the sack early, as we had to be back up by 1am to head for LAX. Had to beat the traffic and check in early for our 6am international flight.

Vacation Day 4

Friday dawned a *little* less hot, only mid 90’s. ๐Ÿ˜‚ Paul and I had an entire day free to explore Phoenix. We did a little shopping, had an amazing lunch at Chompie’s, an authentic New York Deli chain in PHX, and then we went to the aquarium! But not to see fish…they were hosting a special travelling exhibition of Bodies Revealed! Learn all about the exhibit here.

I have wanted to see this show since I lived in Phoenix twelve years ago. I always missed it though, in Kansas and around the country. But it was amazingly worth it! The process they use to preserve the tiniest of veins and nerves is unbelievable. Paul was a trooper, medical things are not his cup of tea, but he knew how much I wanted to see this. ๐Ÿ˜˜

After the bodies exhibit, we made our way back across town to a dinner of Panda Express and an early night at the hotel.

Did you know? The city of Phoenix has a little over 1 million people…but the greater metro area has 4.7 million! ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

Vacation Day 3

There’s a Bear in my room! โœˆ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿป

After already hitting 100ยบ by noon, Phoenix reminded me of how un-acclimated I had become. Even with my sunglasses, it was so bright all day that I got a headache. The squinting is not only bad for wrinkles, but for tension in the forehead muscles.

Check out was at noon, so I had to venture out into my favorite big city and kill time until Paul’s plane landed tonight. Not much more to say…I wandered two Targets, a TJ Maxx, a DSW, a Kohl’s, and had an amazing omelette at my favorite NY-style deli!๐Ÿ˜‹

We’re all checked into our home for the next three days, a Candlewood Inn, with an amazingly equipped kitchen, even for an extended stay place. ๐Ÿค” Aspirin has been taken and the lights are going off. ๐Ÿ›

Useless fact of the day: Our hotel is on Baseline Avenue, so named because when Phoenix was being settled and mapped out, this road was the center (or baseline). ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ“

Useful fact of the day: All of the numbered, north-south running roads in Phoenix start low in the middle and get higher as they go out. Streets go towards the east, Avenues towards the west. (< ave. 4 3 2 1 / 1 2 3 4 st. >) ๐Ÿ›ฃ