Surprise Getaway

On Thursday morning after I got back from Eliza and Libby's parent teacher conference, Brian told me to pack a bag for a little getaway. I thought we might be going somewhere because on Valentine's day Brian said something else was coming, but I was very surprised to be leaving on Thursday. So that was fun. I was sad to miss my hair appointment though that I had set. But I'll get it done soon enough. Brian had arranged everything--the kids were going to stay at Chrystalyn's, he called Jodi and told her I wasn't going to be at my presidency meeting, etc. Ellie did wake up sick Thursday morning, so that was a bummer, but luckily she was able to go to Brian's mom's for the first day until she felt better. Once we had packed and dropped everyone off, we got some breakfast at Paradise Bakery and then we were off to Sedona. That afternoon we hiked. We decided to try a "strenuous" hike according to the hiking guide we found. We were curious what "strenuous" meant. They were right. :) It was about 2.5 miles one way and a lot of it was rocky and uphill. Of course we couldn't turn back early, but it was fun and had great views the entire time.














After hiking we were ready for dinner, so we went to El Rincon--a Mexican food place we go to when we are in Sedona. We stayed at the Ridge at Sedona--like a time-share type place--in Oak Creek. We went back to the room and watched American Idol, then went back out for some Cold Stone. They had chocolate dipped strawberry flavor. Oh my. It was delicious! I mixed in the chocolate shavings to add some crunch. Yum-o! The next morning we got up and ready and I got to have a little pampering at the Hilton spa. I had a facial--which I always love--followed by a "sedona rock pedicure." I didn't want either of them to end! While I was doing that, Brian went mountain biking. He had fun and only crashed once. :) He had a great time though and saw amazing scenery.





After that we had lunch at Wildflower. I forget how fantastic that place is! We both loved what we had. After lunch we strolled around the shops on the main street. That night we drove up to the Enchantment Resort near Boynton Canyon for dinner. We were going to go to the Yavapai restaurant, but I decided I'd rather have a hamburger type food instead of really fancy, small-portioned expensive food. We ate at Tii Gavo, which is another restaurant at that hotel.


On Saturday morning--the weather was 180 degrees different than the day before--it was cold and raining! We got to sleep in a little bit, then had to check out of our room. At the beginning of our stay, the concierge lady wanted us to do a time share presentation. We didn't want to, but then she upped the anty to a $100 Visa card. We were like, "As much as we hate these things, how bad could it be for 90 minutes to get a $100??" So we gave in and did it. So that is what we did Saturday morning. As I was sitting there, I was thinking, "I am not sure this is even worth $100." Haha. I think the lady was a bit frustrated with us because we told her from the beginning we weren't going to buy, but we would hear it. They tried and tried, but didn't get us! Things like that are always an experience and actually very comical how they start out so high and act like they are giving you this miracle, one time deal of a lower price. It was laughable. So after we made our $100 for the day, we had lunch again at Wildflower, then headed home. And it snowed a lot on the way home, even clear past Camp Verde.



We had a great, fun, relaxing time. Thanks, Brian!