Travel Log-Arizona

1 Van
5 travelers
7 States
30 days
5000 miles

The Finck Family epic vacation of 2008 has finally come to an end. I did miss sleeping in my own bed, but we had quite a fun and exciting trip. It was nice to get away from home for awhile and forget about work and issues here in Texas. I followed through with my pledge and did not read or learn anything important. Our trip had three major legs, so I will comment on them separately.

Arizona:
Our first leg was the two-day drive to Sierra Vista, AZ where my parents live. It may seem weird to escape the Texas heat by going to AZ, but my parents live in the South in the mountains and it is much cooler there. In fact the first several days it was too cold to use the pool. They were having their monsoon season and all the rain really cooled things off.








Highlights:
-Spending quality time with my parents. It is rare to have one on one time with just my family and my parents. I love the rest of my family, but it was nice seeing them alone.
-Enjoying 80-degree weather
-Swimming in their pool, one of the reasons we went to AZ
-Had my girly week (wrote about earlier) of reading Twilight and seeing Mamma Mia. We never get to go to the movies, so this was a rare treat.
-We spent the night at my parent’s hotel in Bisbee, AZ. They own the Copper Queen, the oldest hotel in AZ and very historical. We ate three meals in a row at their restaurant and spent the day walking around the town. If you are ever in Southern AZ go to Bisbee and visit the Queen.
-I worked a few days in the kitchen at the Copper Queen. To many this may not seem like a vacation activity, but I grew up in a kitchen and jumping back in for a few days was actually fun.
-Celebrated my Grandma Ellis’s birthday. We had a party one evening with my family. Several members of my family had come to AZ for the weekend, some of whom I do not get to see very often like my Uncle and Aunt, Greg and Jenny, and my grandparents. But also Kathy and Kevin and my cousins Gina and Chris.
-Visiting Tombstone. You cannot go to South AZ being a historian and not visit Tombstone, sight of the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral. It is a bit corny, but we had an enjoyable time.
-When Savannah walked into my parents house on the first day she looked at my mom and said, “you are not my Grandma,” not a good first impression
-The day we left to go home, my dad and I went on a nice long horse ride. They live in a great area where within minutes we were back in a canyon where the landscape changes to trees and running rivers. Our horse ran out of gas after about an hour of climbing, my dad and I are not small men, but it was fun riding with my dad.