The day started out early for Arizona time and not so early for Texas time. Our hotel was on a golf course that allowed access to anyone who was staying at the Embassy Suites. I grew up working at Denver Country Club in high school and college. I always loved early mornings on the course. I knew I wanted to get up early to take a trek across the course and watch the sun rise. The course did not disappoint and the sun rise was beautiful in the Arizona desert.
When I returned I started to write up the report from the day before. Pam awoke and came in the extra room. She had decided that she wanted to go for walk and asked me if I would like to join her. Without hesitation I agreed as it was our anniversary and anything my wonderful bride wants, she should get on our anniversary! Besides you can't win Spouse of the Year without doing the little things.
After the walk was got the girls up had breakfast and headed out to the Verde river near Sedona for our tubing trip. The drive up the mountains was absolutely breath taking. If you have not been through this part of Arizona, you need to put in on the list.
We were not on actual tubes. They were more like an individual raft for each person with a paddle for going down the river. Our guide told us that half of the river was closed off because the water was too shalow to float. But the excursion we had booked would take an hour, and we could do it as many times as we wanted.
Once we got in it was apparent that the river was not moving very fast and paddles were going to be a necessity. The scenery was nothing like I was expecting and something to behold. We live in the desert, but there is a big difference in the plain desert of Texas compared to natural beauty of Arizona.
It took the girls some getting use to the paddle, but they were able to manage pretty well. That is, of course, after AK had a battle with a spider that got into her raft. It was quite the site to see her thrashing around on her raft trying to use her paddle to kill the tiny little creature that was most likely not even a spider. AK was able to win the battle against what she deemed "a killer river spider" and continue her journey down the gentle stream.
Delaney did not fare as well as she got caught up in current that pushed her behind a fallen branch and made her get stuck. The current pushed the rest of us in the opposite direction down the river. Little Delaney started to panic. Pam being the super hero mom she is sprung into action to save her precious little girl, and secured a vote of confidence from her youngest in the quest for parent of the year award.
She tossed me her raft and fought the current up river to get to her little Delaney. Delaney was able persevere the mighty river and get her self free before Pam reached her. I breathed a sigh of relief, not because little Delaney had set herself free, but rather that Pam had not been the super hero she had planned. I still had an outside shot at Parent of the Year!
We continued down river and I soon realized that a diet would be in order once the vacation ended. Large robust people struggle on a low river. In other words, people of my size tend to get high center on the river rocks and sandy bottom often. Either pounds need to be slimmed off my bo-bunk-us, or the river needs to see a steady rainfall for a few weeks. Either way my paddle came in handy getting me on unstuck!
Once we reached our destination it was declared by Pam that we would fight the mighty river one more time. Partly because we had a good time, but mostly because Pam was going to get her money worth! We went back to the car for a few drinks and a snack before we went back out.
The trip went a great deal faster the next time down. The girls mastered the paddle, AK was able to keep the "killer river spiders" out of her raft, little Delaney stayed clear of fallen trees, and I was able to maneuverv around the rocks that attracted my butt like a magnet. We had a great time on the river and would highly recommend it to anyone!
We were all staring and still had an hour and a half drive to Flagstaff. We saw a Carl's Junior and stopped. We don't have these in our neck of the woods so we decided to stop and introduce the girls to Carl. He whipped us up some great grub and the girls mowed through their food like ravenous wild beasts.
Everyone was in a great mood as we headed off to Flagstaff. Pam took the wheel and lead the mighty charge north. The higher we got in altitude the lower and more welcome the cool air was. Pam saw a sign on the road for Montezuma's Castle. You might recall that we decided early on that we would make it a point to stop and see cool things along the road. Plus, Pam decided that it was important to pay Montezuma his respect so he did not come back on us and give us his revenge! The castle was a great site to see and worth the side trip.
While walking back on the trail I noticed a family stopped and looking at something. It turned out they spied a rattler. Personally I only like snakes that I don't see, but this was kind of a neat experience as a ranger came down and caught the snake and proceeded to tell us how they go about protecting them. It was cool to see and educational as well. Who knew we could actually teach the younglings and have fun at the same time?
We proceeded on towards our final destination for the day. Once we arrived in Flagstaff we noticed that we were right next to Northern Arizona University. Home of the Lumberjacks. We drove around one of the prettiest campuses I have ever been on. I was glad we drove through it, not only was it beautiful, it also spurred question s from the girls about college. I had to make sure I got a shirt. After all, who wouldn't want some Lumberjack garb?
We got checked into the Hampton Inn and continued to explore this mountain town. It was getting close to dinner so I found the nicest place possible to take my blushing bride of sixteen years, Del Taco! Now, I like me some Del Taco. We don't have one in Midland and what we do have for fast food Mexican is not that good and way over priced. We had 12 tacos and two churros for a grand total of $12. Take that Taco Villa, it was have cost me almost $30, if not more there.
After our Mexican fiesta for our bellies we took the girls for ice cream and to find a spot for fireworks. We didn't fare to well on the firework and found ourselves headed back to our temporary hotel for the night. The girls passed out from exhaustion and Pam and I soon followed suit in preparation of day three which would include the Grand Canyon, and the surprise we have planned for the trip that girls have no idea about!
This is awesome!!!
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