Rock of Ages

This will be very picture-heavy, guys.

Let's launch straight into this, yeah?

Yeah.

My mom and I flew out of LAX (least favourite airport) last Tuesday and arrived in Tucson (favourite airport) about an hour later. Truth be told, I love flying, but it gives me so much anxiety. Let's face it, though, nearly everything gives me anxiety.

My mom, aunt, uncle, and I left Tucson the next day and drove up (or down, I have no sense of direction in Arizona) to Sedona from their house. The drive was pretty dull, but I secretly enjoyed it. The Arizona desert is so different from the one I live in. There's so much green. And, of course, everything wants to poke you. It's not even cool.

Our first hotel was this gorgeous resort. It was a three-bedroom condo thing, and I had my own fancy bathroom and very nearly private, personal patio. The grounds weren't that special, but who cares about that when you're in the lap of luxury? I called it Shangri La the whole time we were there. I'm not sure if everyone was amused the fourth time around. We'd eaten lunch at this restaurant, Ken's Creekside, before going to the hotel, so we basically stayed in for the rest of the night. I had a TV dinner. In Shangri La.

The next day (Thursday? Probably), my mom and aunt and I went uptown to check out some of the shops. At least I think it was uptown. I really ought to have paid more attention. The street itself was really cool, as the sidewalks were all reddened and the fixtures all copper. In every direction, you can see the amazing rocks rising out of the desert, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I got a few souvenirs and gifts, checked out a really dull museum, and had a delicious mocha. I do like mochas now. We ended the night with Cold Stone and spaghetti.

The next day, we couldn't decide what to do. We eventually settled on breakfast at Coffee Pot Restaurant, a drive to check out Slide Rock, and pizza.

The following day (what on earth are these days of the week?), we left that resort and went to check out some national monuments before checking into the next hotel. We saw Montezuma Well, which was amazing. It's this ridiculously large oasis in the middle of the desert, a huge pool ringed with cliffs and dwellings within the cliffs. If you go down a few steps, you'll find a trail surrounded by nearly lush greenery that winds alongside a creek. It's kind of amazing. After that was Montezuma's Castle a few miles away. The Castle, much like the Well, is amazing. That's best explained via photograph.

We ended up staying in three different hotel rooms, eating a ridiculous amount of food at Coffee Pot Restaurant (fantastic breakfast burritos, and the best biscuits and gravy ever) and El Rincon (amazing green chile and cheese enchiladas), seeing Hangover III (worth it), and going on a Hummer tour on our last day. There was no off-roading, as it is impossible to talk either me or my mom into it. It's just not gonna happen.

After spending one more day at my aunt and uncle's house, we flew back to California and came home to a massive dust storm. That was on Tuesday. It was clear as a bell on Wednesday. Our weather is being absurd.

Well, enough of my nonsense. Here, have some (so many) pictures!

Arriving in Tucson!

She is terrifying.

The 101st omelette has peanut butter, jelly, and banana. It was
commissioned for Elvis.

The Well. It's difficult to capture the scale of this, but it is huge.

Just some ordinary cliffs and trees and people, right?

Wait, what is that in the cliff?

It's Montezuma's Castle, yo.
(It actually has nothing to do with Montezuma, the Spanish just
thought weird things when they came over.)

It has well over twenty rooms and could comfortably house
thirty-five people.

I befriended these guys at our second hotel room. We chilled
for, like, fifteen minutes.

I am their queen.

I dare you to pronounce this.

Snoopy Rock!

Boy Scout Rock!