Michael wanted me to pick something to do for our anniversary. Ugh. That shouldn't be as hard as it was. I just couldn't think of anything I wanted to do. I ended up having to attend a training in Phoenix so we decided to go early and do a little sightseeing at the Grand Canyon and Painted Desert/Petrified Forest. It was nice to go back (we took the children in 2008), although weird not to have the children with us.
It was really beautiful, all around.
As if it wasn't hard enough to decide what to do for our anniversary, my birthday is just around the corner. Late the night before (and when I say late, it really means something), I got a wild hair and decided we should go hot air ballooning. So that's how we started our trip...
Sunrise over the Sandias in Albuquerque, New Mexico...
Our flight was peaceful and calm. I have found that I really love being in the air. For whatever reason it seems to be therapeutic for me.
After all these years together, I find it interesting that for all of our similarities, there are also a lot of differences. Michael never meets a stranger. It is literally painful for me to meet new people. Michael makes friends wherever we go. I am constantly thinking about how quickly I can get away. But on the other side of that, I think I probably forge deeper relationships easier than Michael does.
We purchased a group flight (it was WAY cheaper), so we knew there would be other people in our balloon. It would probably have been pretty comical to hear our conversation leading up to our arrival, as I reminded him that we didn't need to make friends with everyone in the balloon and that it would be much more peaceful in the air if we weren't making conversation. Hahahaha. Our balloon had 2 other passengers (and the pilot). And they were all just as nice as could be, but there was definitely conversation. At one point, I was hanging onto a pole and kind of leaning on it, looking over the edge. Michael asked me if I was clutching. Um, no...just finding peace. 😂
The Painted Desert/Petrified Forest is a beautiful, yet odd landscape...
For whatever reason, I drove through the park...he took pictures. 😜
Michael doesn't really get the concept of "selfies" and decided we should both have our hand on the phone... 😳
We tried to find the same tree that the children sat on all those years ago. When I get home, I will try to find the picture. It's so cute...they are all so colorful. I think this is the same one...
Of course there were several rocks with petroglyphs, but this one is my favorite. I love the little handprint.
Michael is always such a character. He is easy going and fun-loving and just a little goofy at times...Sarah comes by it naturally.
Obviously, we met people here, as well. It was nice to have someone take our picture. 😉
We did some climbing at the Grand Canyon, which is a vast difference from our first visit. The children tease me that it was the best 5 minute trip ever. 😜 I don't think it was quite THAT bad, but I was pretty nervous the last time we visited, as a child had died a couple of weeks prior to our visit. I made everyone stay on the sidewalk or in the observation deck.
This time, we went to a completely different part of the canyon. There were no sidewalks or rails, which was interesting. There seemed to be little paths, specifically for climbing down for a better view. Admittedly, only a few people did that. Most stayed up on the observation area. But I took off my "Mom hat" for just a moment and got a little adventurous.
I "Marco Polo'd" the children from that spot and most of them absolutely could not believe their mother did something so "unsafe." Titus has mentioned it EVERY SINGLE TIME I've talked with him since Sunday. It apparently made quite an impact. 😂
This is actually one of my very favorite photos of the whole trip... I love the way Michael is standing there, looking over the canyon, with that Scripture on his back. Be Mighty!
As beautiful as it was to watch the sunrise from the air, it was also breathtaking to watch the sunset at the Grand Canyon!
While in Phoenix, we stayed in a pretty spectacular resort, built into the side of cliffs. However, it was so hot there, I constantly felt like I was melting.
As beautiful as it all was, near the end of our trip Michael said, "So far I haven't seen anything that draws me to this part of the world." I have to agree. We live in a pretty great place.
A couple of other interesting moments... When I got back to the room after my first day of training, Michael asked me if I had made any friends. After the look I gave him, he said, "Well, did you at least TALK to anyone?" Hahaha. Actually, yes, I did. 😜 Also, he ate scrambled tofu (unknowingly, of course). I actually read the sign so I didn't touch it. 😂 I did, however, eat jicama for the first time. I actually liked it. I'll be adding that to what we eat at home. The children will be thrilled, I'm sure.
It was a great trip, but I know we are both ready to be home. I look forward to doing this again with the children. We'll see how the Grand Canyon goes then...😳
