On South Florida

So there’s been a lot of trip posts – and hell, probably even a moving post – that I haven’t done, but I probably won’t at this point. However, the little jaunt down to Florida recently was actually filled with a lot of new things, so here it can go.

So B is in upgrade training right now and some of his sims happened to be down in Miami. During one block of sims, he had two days off and while he could have come home … we decided to have me go out and visit him instead. I’ve been to Florida before – visited a friend in Pensacola/Ft. Walton Beach ages ago – and have technically been to Miami, but it was an overnight when I was about six coming back from Bolivia.

The flight from SLC to ATL was fine … but we ended up having to buy me a seat into Florida … and had me fly into West Palm Beach, where he drove up and got me … before spending the night in Fort Lauderdale.

The next morning (Sunday, Oct. 9, if we want to be specific), we grabbed our free continental breakfast at the hotel and then drove to meet up with one of the crystal fam, Diana. Funny how when we were younger, we were told to never talk to strangers on the internet or meet up with them, but now it’s simply commonplace. Hell, B and I technically met as internet strangers. This world, man …

In any case, Di’s a sweetheart and it was a super fun time.

From there, it was a long drive south to the Florida Keys. B had been, but I never had, so why not?

Heron House, the cute place we stayed that I found off HotelTonight.

When we got down to Key West, we were pretty starving, so popped into pretty much one of the first restaurants we stumbled upon after parking and walking about. As we were in Rome, as they say, I decided I wanted to try conch fritters. Which I do believe are probably better than the ones I got.

Probably should have tried them at the actual conch fritter shack we saw. Alas.

The chickens were literally everywhere.

After we ate, it was walking around and exploring some.

B with key lime pie ice cream.

Kind of regret not getting one of these, but we did get one you could blow on behalf of a friend.

B with key lime pie from the OG key lime pie bakery (photo above).

Key West bills itself as the “Home of the Sunset,” and you clearly see how many people were out watching it.

… however, those people were clearly not experienced sunset chasers, as this even MORE awesome sky happened about 10-15 minutes later after they all cleared out. I knew better.

So apparently this place is great for Cuban food … and if I had done better research, we may have actually gone here.

The next morning, we woke up to do a short run to hit the major things we missed the day before – the two main Key West photo ops.

Milepost zero.

Did you even go to Key West if you don’t get photos here? And yes, I shoved the kidlets in my hip pack to run with them here.

We grabbed breakfast at a cute French cafe and then walked a bit more.

As I had a flight early the next day, we didn’t linger too much in town – mostly because we wanted to leave time for a few stops in the other keys on the way back north if needed.

Like to see Betsy, the world’s largest spiny lobster.

My inner child could have spent a LOT of money on shells here, and thinks her current adult self is boring (it’s called frugal and practical, kid).

We stopped here for ice cream – B got key lime sorbet and I got one of the best pumpkin ice creams I have EVER had. We also got a snack at the taco truck in the parking lot. Which, according to a chef friend of mine, is like THE place to stop in the Keys (apparently he stops there every time he comes down to dive. so good on us – if a chef likes it, you know it’s good).

The main reason we needed to get back up by a certain time though was I wanted to see all the art deco architecture on South Beach in Miami. Because of course I did.

So cool.

Fun little trip, and I’m glad I could help B break up the monotony of training with a jam-packed, yet relaxing jaunt elsewhere.

In the Miami airport (very, very early).

Phoenix/Tucson January 2022

Whaaaat, another post about another trip to Arizona? Say it ain’t so.

So the basis of this trip was actually the Tucson Gem Show. I’ve been wanting to go for a while and was toying around with going in February, but I waited too long to book the hotel and then it got too expensive and well. It was a thing. But then I found out the dates when my favorite crystal ladies, Joy and Noel were going, and we made it work to coincide with them. Mostly because B needed to bake them a pie (long story – don’t ask). And B was able to find a good hotel rate thanks to the job.

And, since the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix is doing a Chihuly exhibit (and we get reciprocity) … well, it was a northern drive in.

Wednesday, January 26

The original plan was for the two of us to drive together, but B got called for a good overtime trip that would still put him into Phoenix in time for our DBG tickets, so I left alone without him. Weather was good, so I got to truck on down to Flagstaff all by my lonesome. Except for gas (and two coffee stops), I had a very uneventful drive down.

Thursday, January 27

I woke up decently early – early enough to pick B up at Sky Harbor right on time. I picked him up and we tried a new breakfast spot to get him some food – Bread and Butter Cafe.

Mural inside.

Food was … okay. After breakfast, it was on to the ‘bux for some coffee and then the Desert Botanical Garden. We saw the Chihuly exhibit when it came to the Denver Botanic Garden and this one was similar yet different. And still awesome.

Saguaro innards.


Flower with light.


Saguaro skeleton.


Gorgeous potted succulent.

Desert pastel aesthetic of my dreams.

Afterwards, it was some lunch at In-N-Out and then off to Tucson. We also got gas in Casa Grande – which means I want to shout out Fiona the Adventure RAV, my car, who recently passed 300k miles. She went from Kayenta to Casa Grande on one tank of gas and, even in her advanced age, can still rock 29 mpg.

In Tucson, it was about running errands and doing a few things before we checked in.

Like checking out the Madaras Gallery, which B wanted to do.

I didn’t save any of the photos, but dinner was FINALLY at El Torero. The cheese crisp was good, but the tortilla wasn’t fried like it is at Casa Molina, so it got a bit chewy by the end. B got chicken tortilla soup which he loved, but even the small was a meal unto itself, so take that into account if you go. He did NOT need to order the extra taco. I had a chicken enchilada – which was okay – and a green corn tamale which was OUTSTANDING. El Torero is owned by the same people who owned Lerua’s (which died thanks to eminent domain for the Broadway project – learned that story) and everyone always said Lerua’s was the best for green corns. Well, they weren’t wrong. I would go back and only eat the green corns. SO GOOD.

Friday, January 28

Friday we woke up to some hella wind – hi, Tucson. We know. We did breakfast at the hotel and then met up with Noel and Joy for coffee and to give them pie. And cookies.

Good on B to make sure we got a photo.

After coffee, B dumped me off at the gem show and he went off to play some golf.

I finally saw a T. rex. I almost bought it. I probably should have since I NEVER SEE THEM. $140 wasn’t bad, either.

Did I also want this $10,500 T. rex skull cast? Yes. Can I afford that? No.

Insanely awesome native Mexican beadwork creations.

Pink amethyst heart of my dreams. Stupid tent that ended up being only for wholesalers.

After this, B picked me up and we got some food – eegee’s for an eegee and ranch fries and Lucky Wishbone solely for some shrimp and garlic toast. Then he decided to join me at the next show.

B and gong.

The pants were the hit of the day. I got so many compliments on them.

From there (and yes I bought things), it was off to Gates Pass for the sunset.

Do I love B pondering photos? Because I do.

And I kind of forget what we did for dinner that night …

Saturday, January 29

Since we apparently only got breakfast at the hotel one day, we tried a newer place near the hotel in Toast 101.

Totally cute. Would go back.

From there, we hopped over to the Mercado district to get a short run in. Running back, I saw the largest tree in Tucson.

The reason we were over there was, of course, because of La Estrella Bakery. Our haul – a cinnamon roll, a Mexican wedding cookie, a bear claw, two empanadas, and a doughnut – cost us less than $8. They’re the best. And the most delicious.

Quite possibly the best doughnut I’ve had in Tucson – and one of the best I’ve had ever. I also love the light that showed up in this shot.

We also hit up Starbucks before going back to the hotel to pack up the car. B dumped me back off at the gem show for another 15 minutes so I could quickly pick up some things for other people.

I also took advantage of the return trip to take a picture of the $800 opal that still haunts my dreams. So … pretty …

From there, it was time to leave town. However, we did one more detour … to The Thing, since it’s been redone. The price is up to $5/person now (up from … $.75? $1.75? the last time we went), but it is 100% worth the amusement factor.

I’m also not going into all of the details – gotta save some of the mystery – but the world building they went into? Is honestly quite impressive. So, the pictures I’m sharing without context on purpose.

Also not showing you The Thing itself. Sorry not sorry.

Then it was actually on the road for good, stopping in Albuquerque for the night and Texas RoadHouse for dinner since that is apparently road trip food for us. Bar seating was our savior there.

Sunday, January 30

We did hotel breakfast and Starbucks and then hit the road for a fairly uneventful drive home.

With some unintended beauty at a rest stop in New Mexico.

The only other big detour we made was at Colorado’s newest state park, Fisher’s Peak. As I hit all the state parks back in 2018, the fact that a new one came around meant I needed to go see it. Since I don’t know if I’ll be that far south in Colorado again before we move (and our moving date got pushed up anyway), we took the opportunity to quick stop by.

*****

So glad I was able to make it down for the gem show and now I maybe need to go back every year. But for longer.

1.28 sunset on Gates Pass

dusty air
wind swirling
clouds look promising
last light stunning
saguaros swaying
clouds might seem too dark
(but i know better)
(i’ve seen this before)
the desert wants you to have patience
and faith
and it will reward you
as it always does
if you’re in tune,
if you respect it,
if you listen closely
the desert will always
ALWAYS
give your soul what it needs.
always.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1.28 sunset on Gates Pass, 1.31.22

Costa Rica, Take 2

Ever since I tagged along on B’s Costa Rica layover back in 2018, I’ve been wanting to go back. The 29 hours or whatever it was that I was there was clearly not enough to get a taste of things. So, in one of our “fuck it” moments from sheltering in place last year, we decided to book a vacation for late-November/early-December when we knew B had vacation.

The flights started looking a bit iffy, but we decided to not think of that and chanced it (we had been considering cancelling and doing Mexico instead). Thankfully, everything worked out. We left a day early, on Sunday, November 28, to fly to ATL in order to make our morning flight to LIR the next day.

One thing we did was rent a car, since the trip was several days and I wanted to get off resort property to be able to see a waterfall.

That was an adventure and a half, but it worked out okay.

We made it to the resort with no issues. The first day/night was fairly low-key.

Room view.

We had a lot of decent sunsets.

The unfortunate thing is our room was right over one of the bars/entertainment areas so we got to hear live music until 11p every night. Which, if you know us, is waaaaaaaay past our bedtimes. B was able to sleep some, but me? Not so much. I got to get in a lot of reading and I did manage to nap some in the afternoons on subsequent days. We made it work.

Day two (first full day) was filled with pool time (more than expected, as I ended up getting some weird burns since I didn’t properly sunscreen. FAIL.), a run, a nap (clearly), and more sunset time.

Wandered to the beach.

Day three saw us do a bit more. We stayed close to the resort early on – B’s dad had a small procedure that morning so we wanted to be in internet/reception range just in case. So, breakfast, gym time … and then time at the new water park that was built at the hotel. Which was actually a lot of fun. Adults at water parks can get weird … but at vacation resorts, no one cares!

That afternoon we did something new for me (and basically new for B – he’d only done it once before at Scout camp a million years ago) – zip-lining! The Diamante Eco-Adventure Park was just up the road (you could see the zip-lines from the hotel). I’ve been wanting to zip-line for ages, but I’ve heard that the best place to do it is in Costa Rica. Well, the masses are not wrong. It was SO MUCH FUN.

Kitted out before hiking up a hill to do a superman-style zip-line.

The picture package was actually really cheap, so we bought it.

I kind of wish we’d done our research before – the animal park and the botanic gardens would have also been fun to do, but alas, no time.

Day 3 sunset, as reflected off the roof.

Day 4, our last full day, led us taking the rental car for about a 90 minute drive to Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja. In looking for waterfall hikes, I discovered this park. If we had brought actual hiking shoes, I would have definitely considered one of the lengthier hikes, but alas … we did not. So the “nature loop” it was. That being said, the park is full of volcanic activity (think Yellowstone), so we got to see a lot of that stuff along the way. And it had a killer waterfall. And a ton of lizards. And … see for yourself.

Lest you think we didn’t bring the dinosaurs …

Mmm, sulfur.

Brandon in a tree.

Me in the tree.

SO GORGEOUS.

So happy.

Saw some really cool fungus.

Kind of hard to see, but we did see monkeys!

Sad we couldn’t cross this bridge and embrace our inner Indiana Jones.

We ended up getting so many bug bites on that hike, but it was SO WORTH IT. So worth the week’s worth of itchiness endured afterward.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a small coffee roastery to pick up some beans for ourselves and others. Then, it was lazy time the rest of the day.

And ice cream. Always ice cream on vacation.

B double-fisting a margarita and some pineapple juice out by the pool.

Influencer, I am not.

Frolicking on the beach.

Our flight out on day 5 was in the afternoon, so we were able to have a marginally leisurely morning. I used it as an excuse to get in a swim in the hotel pool while it was quiet.

Not an *actual* pool, but it worked.

Jellycat Dinosaur family photo.

Dropped off the rental car and made it through security and check-in no problem, as well onto our LIR-ATL flight. However, we unfortunately did not make it on to our ATL-DEN flight (although we should have. that’s a different story …), so another night in ATL it was. We made it home Saturday morning, no problem.

*****

I don’t think either of us realized how much we needed international travel. Sure, we’ve traveled some within the past two years, but all to regular places and all within the states. What we realized though, is if you’re someone used to international travel – that is, you’ve traveled overseas relatively regularly over the course of your life – it’s vitally necessary for your soul.

So, if you’re reading this, and have tended to travel internationally before and haven’t in several years (or at least since pre-2020), try to book yourself a trip. Your soul will thank you.

Arizona, January 2020

… will I eventually end up living in the desert given how much I travel there? Yes. Yes I probably will.

In any case, I had two (well, three) main reasons to go on this vacation:
1. Free Desert Museum tickets from Visit Tucson that I had to use up before the end of April;
2. Rock ‘N’ Roll Arizona half-marathon in Tempe; and
3. seeing B’s mom who’s trying out wintering in Scottsdale.

I mean, we’re probably going to head back down again for spring training, but that’ll be such a short trip without enough time to head to Tucson. So, this trip.

Wednesday, January 15

We left early as we always do … basically early enough to hit up the Starbucks in Pueblo as it opens. Despite the obnoxious construction going on I-25 between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs, it was a fairly uneventful drive.

Though we did stop at a rest area to pee, and I saw this little gorgeousness.

As we’ve learned we need to see cacti first thing, we exited I-10 a bit early to go straight to Saguaro National Park (east side). This … was a genius idea. Particularly as the sunset that night? I have been WAITING for a sunset like that. You’ll see.

… and B was worried it wasn’t going to be awesome …

Literally in love.

Then finally off to check in to the hotel and hit up Casa Molina for dinner.

Thursday, January 16

This trip also ended up being a good excuse for me to be able to support some friends and get some green corn tamales. The kid of our good friends, Seton and Debbie, sold tamales over Christmas as a Boy Scout fundraiser. Since we all know I love me some green corns, I commented that “oh man, I wish.” Debbie said that if I knew I’d be in Tucson somewhat soon, she’d just freeze them for me. Sooooo … I bought two dozen green corn tamales. We met them for breakfast (at a new place, Baja Cafe, that was delicious) and tamale exchange.

After breakfast, it was off to use our passes to the Desert Museum. It had been a few years since we’d gone, so we were happy to do so.

Snory Gila.

… is it a desert trip if B doesn’t hug a saguaro?

We paid extra to go play with the stingrays. I got super splashed. Which was kind of hilarious.

It started sprinkling as we left the Desert Museum and then it started raining in earnest on our drive back. We got eegee’s and tried their flavor of the month – tangerine. Tasted like a Sunkist … which I like, but it also meant that it was SUPER sweet. We also spent some time at a few of the Bookman’s locations, trying to sell some more of B’s old Nintendo games and picking up some books.

We got in a quick workout back at the hotel – just a run on the treadmill as opposed to our hoped-for bike, but we did get to see a rainbow.

Dinner was January date night at El Corral (which we’ve done before, but hey, it works).

Note to self: skip the bread, skip the fries, only order the prime rib.

Friday, January 17

We woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, got coffee, and then got on the road. Our eventual destination was the place B’s mom’s renting in Scottsdale, but we had a few stops first.

Stop one was Cadence Running Company in Gilbert. A tri acquaintance owns it (who unfortunately wasn’t there as he was at a tri camp), but we were both able to find new running shoes. We’re both sick of specialty running in Denver, so why not try a new place in a different state?

Then it was off to downtown Phoenix to pick up my race packet for Sunday’s half-marathon before finally making it to Scottsdale. We ran a few errands with his mom, squeezed in a super quick bike ride, and then enjoyed a dinner with some of his family that lives down in the area.

Saturday, January 18

We started off Saturday morning by walking to breakfast at Randy’s, a place right around the corner from where B’s mom is renting. It was a cute local place (but beware: cash only). She had to return some stuff to the mall, so we went and got coffee while she did that. Then it was on to lunch and to see her sister and brother-in-law in Mesa (and to steal a whole bunch of the fruit off their trees). B and I got the golf cart tour of their community while the sisters visited.

Saw this amazingly awesome saguaro during the ride.

The rest of the evening was fairly low key with a bit of race prep. B made me my standard breakfast-for-dinner which was amazing.

Sunday, January 19

Most of Sunday morning was dedicated to me running my half-marathon … which if you’re curious about how that went, go here.

Post-race, back to shower and relax before doing a late lunch in Old Town Scottsdale at a place called Cien Agaves.

They had a cheese crisp on the menu so we tried it … definitely not the best we’ve had. Everything looked a touch spicy on the menu, so I decided to chance the cheese enchiladas.

My mouth was on fire the whole time. Also not the best enchiladas I’ve had. Probably would not go back.

We walked around Old Town Scottsdale for a tiny bit afterward before heading back.

The rest of the evening was super chill, mostly just getting all packed up.

Evening sky.

Monday, January 20

We rolled out of bed super early and left around 4am. I made a quick egg at the house, but our first real stop was in Payson – for gas and for more food (tried out BoSa Donuts – pretty good – and, of course, some Starbucks).

Once again, the drive home was fairly uneventful which is always nice.

Vegas/LA Fall 2019

I didn’t write about our last trip to Vegas (back in late July/early August) because it was a super short trip just to sell B’s crash pad car. However, he bought a new crash pad car and we needed to drive it out to LA. So … we did that.

Sunday, September 29:

At the last home game of the Colorado Rockies season, the players come around and hand out stuff to the fans and it’s all fun and great. When we booked our 15 game package, we made sure to do this game as we enjoyed the experience last year. As our Vegas stay was booked starting the 30th and it’s a 12-13 hour drive … we figured we’d just leave after the game and make it as far as we could.

Wellllllll the Rockies decided to go into extras and it finally got to a point where we had to leave. So we did, sometime in the 11th. We listened to the rest of the game during the first part of the drive, happily learning they won in the 13th.

In any case, the delay meant no Utah, but almost – just a few miles from the border in Fruita.

(obviously we could have made the state of Utah, but the best option for hotels once you cross the border is like 100 miles in and that would have put is in super late.)

Food Eaten: (on the trip) Dinner: nachos and beer at El Tapatio.

Monday, September 30:

Woke up fairly early in order to get on the road as soon as we could. As caffeine is needed in our family, a stop at the Starbucks in Fruita was a must. And as Fruita has had some dinosaurs found there … it might be my new favorite Sbux.

Looooooook at all the dinosaurs!!!

From there, a steady drive to Las Vegas. We drove straight to the Bellagio (do we stay anywhere else? not really) where we proceeded to have issues post-check-in for the second time in a row. A few months ago: get to our room and the keys don’t work (electronic lock thingy had dead batteries). This trip: our room that we thought had been ready … wasn’t. Got transferred to a new room, but still, annoying.

We got settled and headed to the fitness room to get a quick workout in (treadmill run and lift). Back upstairs to shower and then out for an early dinner. B had been really craving pizza, so we went to Giordano’s across the street at Bally’s. B had a mini personal deep dish and I had a chicken broccoli fettuccine alfredo.

Gambling might have happened too, but I’m not 100% sure.

Food Eaten: Breakfast: hotel, Starbucks, random gas station snacks (I got a second cup of coffee and gas station coffee goes down better with a snack). Lunch: … I think maybe a bite at Taco Bell? and then just random snacks. Dinner: Giordano’s. Dessert: gelato from Cafe Gelato.

Tuesday, October 1:

We woke up and went for breakfast and coffee, stopping in a quiet conservatory along the way.

So much nicer when it’s not packed with people.

On the way back from coffee, I bought a necklace from the art vending machine inside the Cosmo, but I forgot to keep the picture I took for this blog. Oops. We then went back to the fitness room to bust out a workout before our main event for the day.

This doesn’t have much to do with anything … except the fact that the amount of dinosaurs we travel with now has doubled over the years. Oops …?

Anyway, the main thing we had booked was the Happy Place, which had a pop-up in the Shoppes at Mandalay Place. I had first heard of Happy Place when it had a pop-up in Boston and I had friends who went and it looked totally cool. Completely designed for the instagrams? Yep, but whatever. When I learned it was coming to Vegas and that our drive out coincided … I talked B into going. #worthit.

First room.

(yes I totally also took a picture of me not smiling in front of this wall)

You could also lay down and make confetti angels. Which I did for the boomerang for the instas.

Sadly, the free cookies weren’t very good.

Super bloom room!

Wish I had done my instagram research to make the shots from this room more believable.

My husband totally looks like a serial killer here.

There is a picture of me on the lips couch behind the o in the previous photo, but I figured this super awkward photo of B was way more amusing to share.

Sure, Cornelius. Absolutely.

Very, very true.

Always look up.

Quite possibly one of my most favorite husband photos ever.

Yes there were people in each room to take pictures of you if you needed it. I’m serious when I say this place was basically designed for social media.

This ball pit was B’s favorite part of this whole thing. Because dude. Ball pit.

Confetti in my eyeballs … but still fun.

Yes, yes we did, Happy Place.

In case you’re wondering … YES I COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. Pop-ups live now in Vegas and in Philly. GO. If it ever comes to Denver I’m going again. SUPER fun. And I probably should have given it it’s own blog post. Meh.

Afterward … we did a tiny bit of gambling at Excalibur (cheaper craps tables for the husband) before stopping at Eataly in Park MGM for food.

B had a panini. I went simple with steak and potatoes. Next up was Margaritaville for a quick drink.

Saw this across the street. We were there on the second anniversary of the shootings.

We went back to the Bellagio for a little bit to chill out and gamble some and also gather our energy for dinner.

Dinner was at Black Tap inside the Venetian. We heard about it watching “The Flay List” on Food Network – Black Tap was the place Bobby Flay’s daughter Sophie liked for burgers. It looked fun, we found out there was a location in Las Vegas … we decided to go.

We didn’t get one of the fancy burgers – just the All-American – but it was delicious. My only complaint: bun needed a tiny bit of toasting. And the fries (regular and sweet potato) were mediocre.

They have CRAZY milkshakes. We went fairly subdued with the Brooklyn Blackout. Only thing that was a disappointment on it were the brownies – super dry and almost seemed hollow when you bit into them. Shake itself was delicious, if not extremely rich.

Didn’t gamble as much back at the hotel as the MLife system went down, but that’s probably not a bad thing.

Food Eaten: Breakfast: Sadelle’s, Starbucks. Lunch: Eataly (separate drinks at Margaritaville). Dinner: Black Tap LV.

Wednesday, October 2:

We had no rush to leave Las Vegas, but kind of decided to head out of the hotel fairly early anyway. We grabbed a small bite at the hotel before heading to a place we tried last visit, Saint Honore, a sister concept of our favorite coffee shop, Cafe Lola. We tried a regular doughnut last time, but I really wanted to try the beignets this time around.

Pretty dang good.

A hop across the street to Target to pay my bill and then up the road a block or two to Cafe Lola. Because of course.

All decorated for the holidays. Also: spot the dinosaur.

Our coffees and my favorite, the pasteis de nada.

After B got a bit of work done, it was off to LA. We were tossing around the idea of Palm Springs or somewhere else in California … but ultimately decided to just explore LA some more. Ended up being a fairly low key evening with a run and some food.

Food Eaten: Breakfast: Cafe Gelato, Saint Honore, Cafe Lola. Lunch: random drive snacks. Dinner: our standard Whole Foods in Manhattan Beach. Also a later evening snack at Taco Bell (and a gas station Haagen Dazs bar).

Thursday, October 3:

We decided to do one of our favorite little places for breakfast in Hermosa Beach in Martha’s 22nd Street Grill.

Mostly because of this view. Ah, ocean.

After breakfast, off to the LA Farmer’s Market. B got some coffee and then it was time to wander around. We really didn’t buy anything, but it was pretty cool. Bonus is that it was right next to the Grove (fancy shopping center) which had a Sprinkles in it. Sprinkles makes the best pumpkin cupcake I’ve ever had … and their cupcake store/ATM shut down in Vegas (booooo). As we’re in the season of all things pumpkin/pumpkin spice … I wanted the damn cupcake. So this location was a bit fortuitous.

Tried a doughnut in the farmer’s market.

So pretty.

From there, a few miles away so I could visit the actual store of Trashy Lingerie. It was different from what I was expecting, but I’m glad I went. Didn’t buy anything, though.

Street art across the way.

We had a touch of car trouble after this (seriously never buy from the used car lots on West Colfax, people) so our afternoon plans kind of got thrown out the window. Thankfully we didn’t have many. I’m not going into details about all of what happened … but know that it sucked. Hard.

And also made us feel a lot better about dinner that night.

Mmmm, In-N-Out.

I wanted to try to catch the sunset at the beach as I usually try to do, and we kind of made it.

The peace of walking along the shoreline hearing the waves crash along the shore was exactly what we needed.

Food Eaten: Breakfast: Martha’s 22nd Street Grill, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Bob’s Donuts. Lunch: Norm’s, Sprinkles cupcake, Whole Foods. Dinner: In-N-Out Burger.

Friday, October 4:

Early wake-up call to get to the airport as B had to leave on a trip and I had to get home.

Also, did you know that the Delta SkyClub has a toast bar so you could make your own avocado toast? Well, now you do.

Food Eaten: Breakfast: Delta SkyClub. Lunch: Athenian Restaurant once I got home. Dinner: … random stuff around the house.

Vegas/Tucson Adult Spring Break 2019

Thanks to Ironman training, I haven’t really traveled much this year. I’d had a couple trips tentatively penciled in (tagging along with the husband), but none managed to pan out.

Then, B and his dad were planning on going to the Wild/Knights game in Las Vegas in late March. I was thinking, hey, I want to go too … why don’t I drive down and bring the bikes? And maybe we can go to Tucson after? Well, the game didn’t pan out, but the trip did.

Thursday, March 28

Since the game didn’t work out, B decided to go up to visit his parents in Minnesota for a few days while I made the drive out to the desert. Instead of doing Denver to Las Vegas in one shot, I decided to split the drive and spend the night in Page, Ariz., hoping for Horseshoe Bend at both sunset and sunrise.

I left Denver pretty early Thursday morning and trucked on through to Fruita. My first planned stop was Colorado National Monument. I was ideally hoping to run there, but the massive death plague (… allergies? bronchitis? still a mystery …) that hit me put the kibosh on that. However, I still stopped in to see it.

Totally worth the detour.

I also saw a sign for a Dinosaur Hill and I wasn’t not stopping there, either … so I did the small hike at the site.

From there, I cut down at Crescent Junction/Moab in Utah and moseyed on down that way toward Page. I almost stopped at Arches, but decided to hold off.

Driving.

I honestly don’t remember what I ended up doing for lunch this day – I think random snacks at a 7-11 somewhere – but dinner was a sushi place in Page that ended up being pretty tasty. Horseshoe Bend was ridiculously busy at sunset, but it was pretty.

Didn’t get a picture of the dinos last time through.

Friday, March 29

Dawn at Horseshoe Bend was much better. And much quieter as things tend to be.

After getting some photos, I headed back on the road to Las Vegas. I almost timed it perfectly to get in the same time B’s flight did, but not quite. I picked him up, we grabbed a simple and quick lunch at Chipotle, and then checked in to the Bellagio. Dinner ended up being at the buffet because we couldn’t really think of anything else and it’s an easy way to eat a lot of salad.

From there, we split up – B dropped me off at the Neon Museum, as I was FINALLY going back at night (… thinking that I’d need something to do while he was watching hockey) and he had a few errands to run.

The Neon Museum is awesome regardless of when you go, but I would suggest going both day parts, especially as they continue to restore more signs.

I also got tickets to see Brilliant!, an art installation in the north gallery (a gallery I didn’t get to see last time I visited back in … 2014?). Brilliant! was AWESOME. In the next few photos, the lights you see are NOT restored; it just looks that way.

Saturday, March 30

The original plan for this day was wake up, go for an early run, hang out in the spa, maybe by the pool, and gamble. A very low key, chill day.

Actual plan was a bit different. As I was still pretty sick – and coughing to the point that I was sleeping on the bathroom floor away from B so we could both get some z’s – I got forced to urgent care that morning in order for some definitive answers. I had puzzled out bronchitis with a nurse friend of ours … but urgent care people said allergies. I’m still unsure as to which it actually is/was.

Bellagio conservatory earlier that morning.

Breakfast prior to urgent care was at Blueberry Hill off strip. Coffee post urgent care was, to no one’s surprise, at Cafe Lola.

The cappuccino was probably the worst I’ve ever had there (booooo) but still pretty good. The pasteis de nada (Portuguese egg pastry) was delicious as always.

Post-coffee, off to pick up my medication, get a car wash, and back to the hotel. B still wanted to run, so he hit up the fitness center while I grabbed a book and hung out by the pool. He joined me after and we both decided against the spa. We ate lunch at the Pool Cafe and then decided to gamble some.

Most all gambling for me was TERRIBLE this trip, btw. After a couple good trips, I finally had another bad one. Booooooo.

Dinner was at In-N-Out, as it is.

Sunday, March 31

We left Las Vegas pretty early to get to Tucson as we had an important detour along the way. Breakfast was just crap at Starbucks, as it’s easy. And stupid.

Our detour was Grand Canyon National Park – somewhere neither of us had ever been to. We didn’t have/take the time to hike, but we will definitely be returning at some point.

Such well traveled little dinosaurs.

Lunch was at a KFC at some Route 66 town nearby (I forget which one) and then we continued the drive down to Tucson. Neither of us were all that hungry, so dinner was Cold Stone and french fries.

Monday, April 1

Since we were staying at the Doubletree Reid Park, we got free breakfast every day at the hotel, so that was food every day.

I think B made me do a virtual visit with another doctor this morning since I was still dying, but I don’t 100% remember.

We tried a new lunch place in Baggins Gourmet Sandwiches and it was really good. Have never tried them in Tucson before but we will definitely return. I tried running at Reid Park – got about a fifth of a mile in before hacking and dying. B continued on … but not me.

Dinner that night was an old Tucson standard – eegee’s and Lucky Wishbone.

B wanted a bit of pool time so he did that and we both decided on a drink by the fire pit – beer for him and a glass of wine for me.

Tuesday, April 2

After breakfast at the hotel, we decided to forgo Starbucks for coffee (like we did the previous morning) and headed to Le Buzz over by Mt. Lemmon. I had hoped to get some time on the mountain this trip, but alas, that was not to be.

Post-coffee, we spent some time at Bookman’s buying books before heading to Choice Greens for salad for lunch. B got on the bike today while I attempted to blow up my giant T. rex tail pool float I bought the previous year. It took forever, but I was successful!

I am also ridiculous, but you knew that.

After a couple hours in the pool, we headed off to dinner at our favorite Tucson Mexican food spot, Casa Molina … and ate a ridiculous amount of food. Oops.

Wednesday, April 3

Wednesday was hike around cacti day … which we are realizing needs to be way earlier in the trip. Like first night. It’s where we’re both the happiest.

The first stop of the day was at Saguaro National Park West over by Gates Pass … which we had never actually been to – we always hit up SNP East.

We saw a snek! I’m pretty well zoomed in on this rattlesnake – they were off trail and still pretty calm. No rattling out of them!

The desert was nicely in bloom.

Saguaro blossom!

Petroglyphs.

We stopped back by the visitor’s center again after hiking to let them know about the snake and then got lunch since we were both starving. Food ended up being a lot of repeats – lunch at In-N-Out and yes, dinner was at Casa Molina again. Regrets we have? Zero.

I forget what we did most of that afternoon post-lunch – probably mostly packed – but I did want to get some sunset pictures over at SNP East so we did go do that before dinner.

Desert skies are amazing, man.

Thursday, April 4

We were up super early to drive back home, since we’re in the time of year where Tucson/Arizona is an hour different (silly daylight saving time). Breakfast was at Waffle House since not much else is open that early.

The drive was mostly uneventful, which is nice, but we did get a killer sunrise.

Lunch was at a Jimmy John’s in Albuquerque (that was highly obnoxious to get to) and dinner was pizza of fail when we got back home … since we didn’t have much food in the house.

*****

I would argue this was one of our worst Las Vegas and worst Tucson trips. Partially because I was sick and partially because we didn’t have the best plan going in. Or the plan got shifted so terribly because I was sick. Still, time in the desert is a good thing and I know I needed to get out of town.

Tucson, January 2018

I seriously go to Tucson/Arizona enough at this point that I’m just titling these posts as to when I go. Which I’m pretty sure I’ve also intro’ed with before. *shrugs*

In any case … I had a serious, serious hankering for Mexican food. Not the green chile-based crap that you mostly find in Colorado. Oh no, I wanted the deliciousness I get in Tucson. As I don’t work … I felt like adventure. I was considering going on my own … but B wanted to come … so we went together.

We tried getting Hamilton tickets in the DCPA presale the morning of Monday, January 25th … but our random lottery numbers were way too far down. I also in theory had a Global Entry appointment that afternoon, but thanks to the government shutting down, that was also cancelled. So, we decided to get a bit more time in Tucson and bust out of town Monday.

Dinner was at K Bob’s in Las Vegas, N.M., and we stopped for the night in Albuquerque. Got up earlyish Tuesday morning and continued on driving. I mostly just snacked for lunch and dinner was at the glorious, wonderful Casa Molina. Cheese crisp, beer, bean burrito … and instead of a green corn tamale, I decided to try a chicken enchilada.

It was pretty dang delicious.

After dinner, we met up with our friends Seton and Debbie for a drink at the Tucson Hop Shop … and to pick up Girl Scout cookies. Mmmm, Thin Mints.

We found out late Monday night that the government was reopening, so I called on Tuesday to try to reschedule my Global Entry appointment at DIA. Yeah, unless I wanted to walk in that day, they weren’t going to help. I got on the site to reschedule when we got to our hotel … and the next appointment in Denver? July. Not helpful. I checked Tucson … February 3. Also not particularly helpful. However, I saw a spot for Nogales (the border) … they had a ton of spots open. I picked an early spot for the next morning.

So, Wednesday morning, we woke up early, got breakfast at the hotel, stopped for coffee, and then took I-19 south out of Tucson to Nogales, Ariz., just at the border. 20 minutes later, Global Entry appointment was taken care of, easy peasy.

We stopped at Mission San Xavier del Bac on our drive back to Tucson. I’m pretty sure I’d been there before – I did have a great-aunt who was a nun, after all – but I definitely didn’t remember it. So, we stopped.

The Mission is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona, which is pretty dang cool. It also still has Mass to this day, even as they continue to renovate it. Plus we saw a few crested saguaro on the drive, so that automatically made it worthwhile.

After, we drove back to Tucson to pick up a tote bag at a visitor’s center that I won off the @visittucson Instagram feed, Bookman’s to check out the used books, and then some In-n-Out Burger for lunch.

Afterward, we spent some relaxing time by the pool (even though Tucson was kind of cold … well … comparatively) before heading off to Saguaro National Park. We picked up a few items at the Visitor’s Center (because it’s been closed most every other time we’ve been), went for a short run, and then caught the sunset – something I’ve been trying to do for a while.

B and saguaro.

Crested!

Sunset.

Almost doesn’t look real.

Pics taken, we did our standard Tucson meal for dinner – Eegee’s (where I tried their flavor of the month – prickly pear – and it was weird), a stop at Wienerschnitzel for fries and good ketchup, and then Lucky Wishbone. I got my usual shrimp, but B actually decided to try their fried chicken:

It was surprisingly good.

While tasty as always, I think I might actually be able to skip Lucky Wishbone next trip. And only mooch off of B’s eeg.

Headed out early the next morning and decided to do the whole drive in one day.

New Mexico state monument as seen off a rest stop somewhere near Truth or Consequences. Have always wondered what it was for. Monument was closed. Remains a mystery.

El Camino Family Restaurant, Socorro, N.M. (no web site). Lunch stop. Average BLT. Glad I got cheese on my fries.

We get bored, we take selfies. Okay, I do.

Dinner to make it quick and easy was Golden Corral in Pueblo, Colo.

Short little jaunt, but always nice to head to Tucson for a visit.