Happy Birthday To Me!

I know, I know...pretty low-key and subtle title. It seems like more of a birthday weekend because of how sweet John is. I was surprised to come home on Thursday night from work, which allowed us to play on Friday because John had taken the day off in case I was home early. Even though I still have lots of my sick symptoms, we went to the newly-opened water park in north Phoenix called Wet 'N Wild. We needed to check it out as official Theme Park Testers.

We arrived at the parking lot around 11:30 AM and spent the next six hours riding as many water rides as we could! The park was packed with people, so that proved to be harder than expected....we did a lot of waiting-in-line before finally being able to temporarily cool off from the 110-degree temperatures! The park was fun, but we probably won't go back. It took an hour for us to drive to the other side of the valley. Just for the record, I kicked John's butt in the water racing tubes twice! He will tell you otherwise, but you will just have to trust me on this one!

For some unknown reason, I have accumulated tons of hotel points through work. Rather than let them go to waste, I got us a great room at the Comfort Suites not too far from the water park. After we finished at Wet 'N Wild, we cleaned up at the hotel and drove to Chili's where John bought me birthday dinner with a gift card he received at work for being so awesome. Saturday morning, we woke up and enjoyed free continental breakfast before driving to the Anthem Outlet Mall just north of town. I haven't purchased clothes for a long time, so it was fun to get a few new shirts. We also found some new polo shirts on clearance for John to wear to work. It was a fun hour of shopping, but I could tell that was about all John was ready for the next thing. What is it about men not liking shopping? He was a good sport. We even made it home in time for John to play some basketball...his favorite Saturday activity!

What a fun birthday weekend. And my birthday isn't until tomorrow! Micah is one spoiled kid!

Reminiscing Sedona Part II

During the first few days of last week, I watched maintenance personnel work on my airplane at the Hawker Beechcraft Service Center at Williams-Gateway Airport in Mesa...until I decided I was too sick to threaten people with my presence! I took my trusty camera to get some shots of my "baby" with panels open and mechanics hanging on every square inch. However, when I tried to fire it up for some photos, my Canon wouldn't turn on. I realized too late that the battery was charging at home! I justify my mistake...nobody wants to see an airplane all torn up and unflyable anyway!

Sooooo, for something fun, I thought I would post a video of my family's trip to Sedona...one year ago this coming weekend! Holy Toledo, it was fun! The "real" Slide Rock in Oak Creek Canyon just north of Sedona was closed on the day we tried to go, so we made our own version behind the house! I thought it was a success because it was just us with no strangers to try to drench through cannonball explosions (courtesy of my brother). It just blows my mind that it was a year ago. My, how time flies!

Canada is Wonderful...in the Summer

I love Canada. We typically visit it every six weeks, just to make sure it is still there. Beautiful country. Cold, but beautiful. My favorite trips to Canada are when I don't have to wear five layers of clothing to feel warm enough to avoid frostbite. Mid-July, you say? Perfect!

We started the week early Monday morning. For a 5:00 AM departure, I had to be up and at 'em at 3:00 AM. I don't mind getting up early and rather enjoy it, but this was a little too early! We flew to Springfield, Missouri for our fuel stop before continuing on to Hamilton, Ontario just south of Toronto. During each visit to Canada, we always spend at least one day in Hamilton. It is a cute "town" of 350,000 people. The best thing? They still sell my favorite candy in the world, Reeses Bites. I always keep my fingers crossed as I walk into Wal-Mart. "Please don't be gone, please don't be gone." They stopped making them in the States years ago, and I am dreading the day the Hershey vaults will finally run dry of Reeses Bites. I check for an expiration date but can never find one. As if I would let that stop me from eating them! For now, they continue to sell them in Canada, and I continue to buy a few bags every time I am there. Bliss in an orange bag? These things are insane. I ate them before I could take a picture. If you have tried them, I am sure you understand where I am coming from!

Tuesday was my trip to Canada's Wonderful (see post below). Wednesday meant a very early morning to have wheels-up by 7:00 AM Eastern time. Unfortunately, Halifax was fogged in and we couldn't get in until that evening. We decided to go to Montreal instead. A very French city, but I enjoy my short visits there. The people who work at Starlink Aviation are very good to us, and we can use the crew car to grab a bite to eat. I also tried to nap in the snooze room, but I don't think I was very successful. At about 5:30 PM, Ron and the rest of the gang showed up for our flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Such a gorgeous city! I love visiting Halifax, as long as the temperatures read in the positive!

Halifax is on Atlantic time (Phoenix time plus four hours), but I luckily got to sleep until 5:00 AM my time. We rode in the company suburban to Subway (Ron's favorite....we eat there at least once a day on the road when we are with him), then to the airport half an hour away. We flew over two hours to our next stop in St. John's, Newfoundland. Check a map...it is almost in Europe! It also has its own time zone, called Newfoundland Time, which is Atlantic plus thirty minutes! It's Canada...and they can do whatever the stink they want with their time zones. After we dropped the passengers off at the U-Haul site, we got to take the van for an hour of sight-seeing and picture-taking. Except for Ron, none of the passengers had been to Canada before. So I took it upon myself to take pictures for them as a memento. And I will always use any excuse to take more pictures! We rushed back to the U-Haul to pick them up, then flew to Quebec City in Quebec. Also very French. Considering how most of this town's economy relies on tourism, you would think they would be more friendly to tourists. In most of the restaurants, I have to point to pictures on the menu so they understand what I want. And sometimes when the food shows up, I am still surprised! And they aren't nice about it!

Friday afternoon we left Quebec for home. Because of all the passengers, we had to stop twice on the way home (an airplane can only carry so much weight...either fuel or passengers, but not lots of both). Our first stop was in Peoria, Illinois so we could clear Customs. After a mad dash to Subway for lunch (you thought I was kidding!), we continued to Garden City, Kansas for fuel. They only had one guy working, so I fueled the wings while he fueled the fuselage tank. Anything to help me get home more quickly to my sweetie! We landed in Phoenix at 5:30 PM after a long, fun, not-cold week. It really is a beautiful country!

Phoenix - Springfield - Hamilton - Montreal - Halifax - St. John's - Quebec - Peoria - Garden City - Phoenix