Caleb's precious grandparents offered for us to use their timeshare points for our honeymoon. After researching the different resorts available, we settled on the Cibola Vista Resort and Spa in Peoria, Arizona, because of the beautiful pictures of the accommodations we viewed online. Neither of us had ever been to Arizona, and we excitedly decided we would drive up to the Grand Canyon during our week's stay there.
After our beach reception, Caleb's best man, Jacob, drove us to the tiny Gulfport airport. We made it just in time- we only had a few minutes to spare before boarding our plane! Once buckled into our seats, we slept. When we arrived in Houston, our layover location, we discovered our next flight had been cancelled. Everything worked out WONDERFULLY when we went to the counter. Our seats were next to each other on the flight (our tickets for that flight had placed us on separate rows), we had time to eat lunch before boarding, and each of us even received a meal voucher! Once on the plane, we realized that we had definitely been upgraded. This plane had enough leg room in between rows so that Caleb's knees weren't smashed into the seat in front of him. :) There was a crazy cat lady as well. We started hearing meowing. I'm not kidding. A woman a few rows in front of us reaches into the overhead compartment and pulls out not one cat carrier, but two. Yes, she had two cats on the plane. When the meowing was quieted, I slept more. At one point I remember waking up when my head hit Caleb's shoulder. That was the happiest kind of tired I've ever experienced!
We picked the perfect place!!! Caleb and I fell in love with Peoria. Actually, we fell in love with every part of Arizona that we saw- Peoria, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and everything in between. The resort we stayed in was everything we expected, and more. We had two balconies to visit for breathtaking scenery.
The next morning, we worshipped at the Church of Christ in Glendale. I got to see my cousin Ashley, and we just had a great morning there! I loved the old time hymns they sang, and the lesson was uplifting and encouraging.
On our way to the Grand Canyon, we wanted to take a detour through Sedona. Our plan was to check out a natural rock slide, but the lines were incredibly long! We needed to get to the Grand Canyon well before dark, so we did less touristy stuff. We stopped at a little creek, and though the temperature was in the 100s, the water was frigid! Caleb also wanted to do a little rock climbing, so we pulled off on the side of the road for that. ;) I had to be the photographer, so I couldn't go with him......
The drive from Sedona to the Grand Canyon was the most beautiful drive I've ever taken. Awesome would be an accurate word to describe the scenery. I was in awe of my God. There was a pull-off where Native Americans had booths set up and were selling little Christmas ornaments, jewelry, dream catchers. I regret not buying a keepsake! There was a spot up there as well that offered such a gorgeous view. The picture below does not do it justice at all. We also drove by Humphrey's Peak, and we took about 30 pictures of it; it was in our view for a long part of our drive!
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| Humphrey's Peak |
And then we made it to the Grand Canyon. Once again, pictures don't do it justice. The view was worth dodging all of the tourists to get to the railing and look over. Like I said... God is awesome. There was also a friendly elk in the parking lot that we made friends with. :) We only slightly disobeyed the signs that said, "DO NOT APPROACH WILDLIFE."
On a side note, we freaked out a little on our way back from the GC because we had a large withdrawal from our rental car company, though we had already paid for the car months in advance. Turns out it was just a deposit though. No freak out needed after all :)
We ate. A LOT. Target was just down the road from our resort, and we loaded up on candy, a couple of times throughout the week. Ghirardelli chocolate, Sour Patch Kids, gummy bears, Sprees, peach-o's. The scales did not look so pretty when we returned. ;)
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| Smash Burger |
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| Parlor Pizza lived up to its reputation! |
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| Breakfast by Laura |
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| And of course, Starbucks |
Lake Pleasant was only a few miles down the road from our resort. It was so pretty- like an oasis in the desert. The lake actually supplies the Phoenix area with its water. The gift shop worker told us all we needed to know about the lake, and more! We told him we are in school in Louisiana, and he replied, "I've heard of that state." Haha! We visited Lake Pleasant twice to swim around and look at fish with our goggles. The water was so clear! I'm used to muddy Mississippi water. We also kayaked around the lake and saw some wild donkeys. They were adorable! There was a baby that galloped clumsily down to the water to get a drink.
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| We made another friend. |
We hiked a trail that was not far from our place at all. The full version of the story goes like this: We first attempted the hike in the middle of the afternoon, right after lunch. I majorly wimped out from the heat and full stomach combination. Our next attempt was later in the evening, and it was successful!
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| Excuse the wet-from-lake-then-wind-blown-dry hair |
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| Caleb was much more adventurous than me! |
We saw awesome plant life on our hike. I was fascinated by all of the cacti and other desert plants. (Hey, this could go wonderfully in a lesson on plant adaptations in 5th grade science!) There are three little cactus plants from Wal-Mart in our apartment to always remind us of Arizona.
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| This one reminds me of something from a Dr. Seuss book. |
That Friday morning, we got up at 2:00 a.m. in order to catch our 5:00 flight. We returned our rental car, and donated the water bottles we had left over to the guys working in the garage. Then we shuttled to the airport, and waited sleepily to board. On our layover in Houston we had Shipley's, our favorite! You would think Caleb and I are morning people from the time of our wedding ceremony and our 5:00 flight, but we certainly are not. The 5:00 flight was the cheapest. :)
My sweet Mama and Daddy picked us up from the airport and treated us to Chic-Fil-A. The reception preparations began immediately! Oh, and those cool Wikle girls made us "welcome home" signs :) So thoughtful!
Oh my. Now I want to go back SO BADLY! Go visit Arizona if you've never been. You won't regret it!
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