last christmas

so i'm a little delayed... it's just extending the christmas spirit, right?

on christmas eve, i packed up my suitcase and headed down to the university to take the shuttle to the airport. i had a small panic when i had car trouble (and no plan b to meet the shuttle!), but in a small christmas miracle, i made it safe and in time. normally, i fly out of tucson, but this time it was cheaper to take the shuttle up to phoenix and hop on a direct flight to southern california. all in all, the travel time is about the same, but spending half as much time flying, and riding the shuttle instead was so much more enjoyable! i even got to make some good progress in a good book!

an uneventful, but full, flight brought me to my boyfriend, who picked me up at the airport and broke the news that we needed to do some last minute shopping. usually, i absolutely hate shopping on christmas eve. but i must say that it was not as bad as i was expecting. eventually, we made our way back to his parent's house and it was wonderful to see the family!

the boyfriend's family celebrates christmas on christmas eve, with presents, dinner, and all the trimmings. the baby (she's a year and a half now) had SO MANY PRESENTS! i must say, i got some good ones too :)  dinner was delicious, and it was great to be with family! the next day, we relaxed, watched tv, and enjoyed each other's company. i even got to read an entire book on christmas day - it was wonderful!

i spent the next few days enjoying the company of family and friends - a great way to spend christmas vacation! one of the best days was between christmas and new year's when the boyfriend and i spent the day at the happiest place on earth. i think everyone knows that I LOVE DISNEYLAND. and even though we went on a day that was so busy disney stopped selling tickets, i still had a good time. that's right, they stopped selling tickets. and you know that if disney stops any profit-garnering endeavor, it is serious. we waited in some seriously long lines (i thought the pirates of the caribbean line was for the haunted mansion!), but still managed to ride all of our favorites! we even managed a couple of runs on big thunder mountain railroad! i do love disneyland! we had a fantastic time, but were exhausted and ended our day before the park closed. it was a great way to end my SoCal holiday!

sedona sight-seeing

on the last day of our little getaway, we decided to do a driving tour of sedona, led by a CD we picked up in the lobby of our hotel. after our daily stop at starbucks, we headed to the north end of sedona, stopping at the gates of one of the luxury neighborhoods, and starting the long and unpaved trek to palatki, a site with cave paintings. we decided that our little car (and especially its driver) was not prepared for a lengthy and bumpy voyage, and vowed to make it a definite stop during our next visit.

we headed over to the self-proclaimed "most photographed spot in sedona" that looks beyond a creek to cathedral rock. it was a short stroll to the creek, and after a few photos, we walked to the other side of the park, to one of sedona's famed vortexes. sedona is home to a number of these energy centers, and although the spot was beautiful, i can't say i felt any specific energy there.

the most photographed spot in sedona, a view of cathedral rock

our next stop was airport mesa, another well-known vortex. (one website author actually mentioned having wild visions here) it was a short hike up the mesa, to a crooked juniper tree that is said to be at the center of the airport mesa vortex. although i (again) didn't feel any particular energy at the vortex, the view of sedona - and neighboring towns - was incredible! you could see the trees, the red rock formations, the mesas, it was so beautiful. AND, we later learned that the largest red rock mountain is called thunder mountain - named by walt disney and the inspiration for the ride of the same name. this was extra exciting since big thunder mountain railroad is my favorite favorite disneyland ride. it was great to see the namesake!

the view of sedona from airport mesa

unfortunately, we were rapidly running out of time for our sedona adventure, so we did the rest of our sight-seeing on the road back to phoenix. it was a short drive back to the airport to drop of my co-pilot, and a seemingly endless drive solo back to tucson.