What We Did For Spring Break (Part II)
After our first rental car barely made it to our friends' house, we had arrived in Thatcher, AZ. It's probably not your first choice for a vacation destination, but we had a great time. Since the only reason we went was to see our friends, we could have done anything, or nothing at all, and it would have been a wonderful vacation.
We pulled into their driveway just before dinner time Thursday evening. After a little discussion, it was determined that we should be treated to some really good Mexican food. It's surprising how many good Mexican food restaurants were available to choose from. I knew it would probably be harder to stick to our diet and exercise regimen, but I didn't understand how difficult it would be until mounds of fresh salsa, tortilla chips, and excellent Mexican food were placed within striking distance. That said, we did at least muster up the courage to turn down what looked like the world's greatest fried ice cream (a decision on which I'm still second-guessing myself).*
*It should be noted that Brookie exerted a great deal more self-control at meal-times (and snack times) on our vacation that I did.
The next day was Friday. John had to go in to work, so we played with Julie and the four kids while we waited for him to get home. When they moved back to Arizona, they had three kids and one more in the oven. It was so great to get reacquainted with their kids, and to meet their youngest, who is a living, breathing, baby doll.
Once John was home we put our plan into effect. You see, I thought that since we were in Arizona in March, it would be a shame not to attend a Spring Training game. And Brookie felt it would be wrong to be in Phoenix, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, and not take the opportunity to see all of his buildings in the area. So we decided to spend Saturday in Phoenix and do both. The problem was that Thatcher, AZ is three and a half hours from Phoenix, which would have made a long day longer. Luckily, we were able to drive most of the way Friday night and stay with some of our friends' family.
Saturday morning Brookie and I were on our way to Phoenix for our Frank Lloyd Wright tour before any of the adults were awake. I lost track of how many buildings we saw that morning, but we got to all but two of them. There were single-family homes, a college auditorium, and a ritzy resort. Brookie had all of her maps, and stories about all of locations we visited, and I'm sure she'll eventually post them along with lots of pictures on her blog.
Since the Spring Training facility for the Royals is on the extremely north-east side of Phoenix, in Surprise, AZ, we couldn't quite see all of the FLW buildings in the area. Luckily we left ourselves plenty of time, because we got a little lost looking for the stadium. Like I said, Brookie had maps and directions for her activity, but I didn't print off anything for mine. A quick stop at a gas station, and we were soon picking up our tickets and meeting our friends at the ballpark.
The game was really fun. We had great seats behind the Royals dugout and in the shade. The atmosphere was much more informal than a regular season game. The stadium was much smaller, bringing the fans closer to the action. The kids really enjoyed it too, especially little Sarah, whose blue eyes coaxed the folks behind us to offer her the remainder of their cotton candy. The offer was declined, but I'm not sure if she could have had it anyway – she'd already eaten a good deal of John's pulled pork sandwich. Brookie had a big hot dog, and I had myself an amazingly messy philly cheesesteak. After John saw my sandwich, smothered in ballpark-style nacho cheese sauce, his pulled pork lost some of its luster. His ill-fated plan was to share his BBQ with Juile, who was supposed to get a cheesesteak to share with him later. Unfortunately, the plan was foiled when Julie found she wasn't hungry until towards the end of the game. By then, she just decided to wait for dinner.
The game itself was kind of a wash. The Royals, minus most of their regulars, were beaten badly by the hometown Arizona Diamondbacks. Nonetheless, we all had a great time, and I can finally saw that I've been to a Royals Spring Training game.
We finished off our Saturday in Phoenix with dinner at NYPD (New York Pizza Department), and a quick trip (John's first) to the nearby IKEA. But after a long day, we decided to spend another night at the our friends' family's house, and drive back to Thatcher Sunday morning. On the way back to Thatcher, it occurred to me that Monday was going to be the only driving-free day our trip.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day. John made some ribs and Julie's brother David, cooked some Portuguese style rice. John's mom brought a cake, and 2,400 calories later (just kidding), I was stuffed.
Monday the kids were back in school after their Spring Break, and John was back at work. Brookie and I took our time getting out of bed that morning, but eventually got up, had breakfast and then powered through a workout session thanks to the Nintendo Wii and Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party. We burned enough calories to justify meeting John for lunch at Chalo's (another great Mexican restaurant in the area), and for John's steaks and Julie's mashed potatoes for dinner. As we'd done every night, after the kids were in bed, we all just sat in the living room and talked.
Tuesday was time to head for home. We left early, but not early enough that we didn't have a chance to say goodbye to John, Julie, and the kids. On our way back we went through Albuquerque and stopped at the temple for a session. Afterward, we found something to eat before getting back on the road for our pit stop in Amarillo. Wednesday we left even earlier to be able to finish the nine hour drive from Amarillo to Kansas City in time to return the rental car by 3:00pm.
Brookie had really wanted to go somewhere for her Spring Break, and we were glad we had a chance to take this road trip to Arizona to spend time with our friends. We had a great time, and can't wait until we can visit them again (although I think we'll probably fly next time).
And that's what we did on our Spring Break.
We pulled into their driveway just before dinner time Thursday evening. After a little discussion, it was determined that we should be treated to some really good Mexican food. It's surprising how many good Mexican food restaurants were available to choose from. I knew it would probably be harder to stick to our diet and exercise regimen, but I didn't understand how difficult it would be until mounds of fresh salsa, tortilla chips, and excellent Mexican food were placed within striking distance. That said, we did at least muster up the courage to turn down what looked like the world's greatest fried ice cream (a decision on which I'm still second-guessing myself).*
*It should be noted that Brookie exerted a great deal more self-control at meal-times (and snack times) on our vacation that I did.
The next day was Friday. John had to go in to work, so we played with Julie and the four kids while we waited for him to get home. When they moved back to Arizona, they had three kids and one more in the oven. It was so great to get reacquainted with their kids, and to meet their youngest, who is a living, breathing, baby doll.
Once John was home we put our plan into effect. You see, I thought that since we were in Arizona in March, it would be a shame not to attend a Spring Training game. And Brookie felt it would be wrong to be in Phoenix, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, and not take the opportunity to see all of his buildings in the area. So we decided to spend Saturday in Phoenix and do both. The problem was that Thatcher, AZ is three and a half hours from Phoenix, which would have made a long day longer. Luckily, we were able to drive most of the way Friday night and stay with some of our friends' family.
Saturday morning Brookie and I were on our way to Phoenix for our Frank Lloyd Wright tour before any of the adults were awake. I lost track of how many buildings we saw that morning, but we got to all but two of them. There were single-family homes, a college auditorium, and a ritzy resort. Brookie had all of her maps, and stories about all of locations we visited, and I'm sure she'll eventually post them along with lots of pictures on her blog.
Since the Spring Training facility for the Royals is on the extremely north-east side of Phoenix, in Surprise, AZ, we couldn't quite see all of the FLW buildings in the area. Luckily we left ourselves plenty of time, because we got a little lost looking for the stadium. Like I said, Brookie had maps and directions for her activity, but I didn't print off anything for mine. A quick stop at a gas station, and we were soon picking up our tickets and meeting our friends at the ballpark.
The game was really fun. We had great seats behind the Royals dugout and in the shade. The atmosphere was much more informal than a regular season game. The stadium was much smaller, bringing the fans closer to the action. The kids really enjoyed it too, especially little Sarah, whose blue eyes coaxed the folks behind us to offer her the remainder of their cotton candy. The offer was declined, but I'm not sure if she could have had it anyway – she'd already eaten a good deal of John's pulled pork sandwich. Brookie had a big hot dog, and I had myself an amazingly messy philly cheesesteak. After John saw my sandwich, smothered in ballpark-style nacho cheese sauce, his pulled pork lost some of its luster. His ill-fated plan was to share his BBQ with Juile, who was supposed to get a cheesesteak to share with him later. Unfortunately, the plan was foiled when Julie found she wasn't hungry until towards the end of the game. By then, she just decided to wait for dinner.
The game itself was kind of a wash. The Royals, minus most of their regulars, were beaten badly by the hometown Arizona Diamondbacks. Nonetheless, we all had a great time, and I can finally saw that I've been to a Royals Spring Training game.
We finished off our Saturday in Phoenix with dinner at NYPD (New York Pizza Department), and a quick trip (John's first) to the nearby IKEA. But after a long day, we decided to spend another night at the our friends' family's house, and drive back to Thatcher Sunday morning. On the way back to Thatcher, it occurred to me that Monday was going to be the only driving-free day our trip.
Sunday was a nice relaxing day. John made some ribs and Julie's brother David, cooked some Portuguese style rice. John's mom brought a cake, and 2,400 calories later (just kidding), I was stuffed.
Monday the kids were back in school after their Spring Break, and John was back at work. Brookie and I took our time getting out of bed that morning, but eventually got up, had breakfast and then powered through a workout session thanks to the Nintendo Wii and Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party. We burned enough calories to justify meeting John for lunch at Chalo's (another great Mexican restaurant in the area), and for John's steaks and Julie's mashed potatoes for dinner. As we'd done every night, after the kids were in bed, we all just sat in the living room and talked.
Tuesday was time to head for home. We left early, but not early enough that we didn't have a chance to say goodbye to John, Julie, and the kids. On our way back we went through Albuquerque and stopped at the temple for a session. Afterward, we found something to eat before getting back on the road for our pit stop in Amarillo. Wednesday we left even earlier to be able to finish the nine hour drive from Amarillo to Kansas City in time to return the rental car by 3:00pm.
Brookie had really wanted to go somewhere for her Spring Break, and we were glad we had a chance to take this road trip to Arizona to spend time with our friends. We had a great time, and can't wait until we can visit them again (although I think we'll probably fly next time).
And that's what we did on our Spring Break.
Looks like a blast!
ReplyDeleteGood blog. We had a blast too! Sounds like all we did was drive and eat though. (I'm still upset over that cheese steak) You guys inspired us though. Julie and I have been tracking our food on livestrong.com (we don't have a cool IPod touch like you) for a week and it seems to be working.
ReplyDeletePS. Those blue eyes are awesome! Good picture.
@John
ReplyDeletelivestrong.com is the program that Brookie uses to track her calories (they have an app for that). Good luck! Let us know if you need any tips on treats that don't taste like you're on a diet. I'm down another five pounds since we were there, so now I'm really mad I didn't try that fried ice cream at Casa Mañana.