15th Anniversary Trip

To Celebrate our 15 years together (and April's high level of patience in putting up with me all these years - can you believe it?) we took a trip to Sedona.

It is usually about 15-20 degrees cooler up there and is a very beautiful place with red rock formations all over the place. However, when it is 115 here in Phoenix (we have been having a bit of a heat wave), 15-20 degrees less is still a little bit hot. As a result, we scaled back a few of our outdoor activities and caught up on a couple movies.

We had our kids stay with our friends who picked them up after school on Thursday and got to try out having seven kids for a few days.

On Friday morning, we rented a 'tom car' pictured here. It is quite a little machine that is a cross between a jeep and a go cart. We were able to climb up and down some pretty crazy, rocky roads to get to some out of the way sites. These are places where some of the jeep tours take people, but we liked being able to drive ourselves and go at our own pace. It was also fun to drive.

We stopped at the top of one of the trails and had a picnic lunch under some trees. There is some video of us driving it here, but this is definitely not the trickiest terrain. We had to drive it on the street too, but it was funny that it drove much better off road than on the paved road.

When we needed a restroom break, we found this restroom facility that was designed by some cruel, bitter public servant.

On Saturday morning, we went on a bike ride together. The trails were nice and the weather was nice and not too hot yet. The trailhead was just across the street from our hotel. About 5 minutes into the ride, April had to stop because she heard something on her tire. Sure enough, she had hit something and we could hear the hissing coming from the tire. I had some of the tools with me, but not a new tube, so we quickly turned around and rode back before she ran out of air. We made it back to the corner by the hotel.

Naturally, being the good husband that I am, I made sure she had some books to read and the keys to the room. I figured she wouldn't mind if I kept the extra water I had brought for her. Then I went on the trails and enjoyed the ride. Notice that April is missing from my pictures from the trails.

One of the trails was a little more technical than I had expected. I was doing ok on it, but hit a rock on a steep climb that stopped me cold. When you stop on your bike, it doesn't stand up for long. My shoes were clipped in and I couldn't get my shoes out in time, so I fell over on the hill. Luckily there was a bush there to break my fall. Not as lucky, it was a very thorny bush. No deep gashes or serious damage though. I didn't even have to pull out my first aid equipment. I knew the second half of this trail was even trickier, and since my confidence was shot for the day, I made an alternate route and made it safely back to April.

Here is a picture of us near where we had our picnic lunch. It was pretty secluded although some hiking older ladies did come by (I can call them old ladies because they referred to us as 'those kids driving the 4-wheeler' when they came upon us).

This sign was across the street from our inn. Just so you know how classy it was, the Circle K across the street not only had 79 cent fountain drinks, but unlimited liquor.