Last Month in Arizona

The last month of my Arizona assignment was chaotic, but fun. I learned I have a hard time being fully present doing fun things with family & friends when I have too many "loose ends" in my life. Next time I will plan better & get more task-y stuff done before trying to run off & camp somewhere!

Heather, my dear friend & old roommate from college visited. We spent a lovely day with her family in the hills of Prescott Arizona; it included a gorgeous trail run with her cousin, ATV's down to skull valley, & staying up late talking and laughing(per our usual). After we left Prescott we drove up to the Payson area, did some dispersed camping in the Tonto National Forest, found out that my air mattress was a single & that two people cannot fit on it, were freaked out about getting eaten by bear all night, explored the Mogollan Rim, & I had a pretty slip on the rocks at the Tonto Natural Bridge, leaving me with a large dent in my left shin. We also went to Sedona for a day, and spent our morning doing a trail run & our afternoon was spent with a random gentleman who was scouting the area for a Meetup Hiking Group from Las Vegas. He was extremely talkative, was huge, had massive hiking boots & was really in to his GPS. For some reason we followed him off the trail & ended up in the middle of nowhere; it was a very long hike, but we did get some rewarding views towards the end. The last few days with Heather were spent in the Phoenix area with the rest of my family; hanging out at the pool, visiting a restaurant with live country music & roasting s'mores over an open fire. During her stay we had plenty of time to reminisce about all of our funny college times together... late night studying, time spent at the Barrs, babysitting "the Mothers", goofing off, & of course our trip to Zimbabwe together.

Heather was so relieved this hike was over.

After I dropped Heather off at the airport, I jumped in the car with Ryan, Ana, Christopher & Josh and we headed back up to Sedona. I think Sedona is currently one of my favorite places in the US. It is not as hot as the valley, but you still get beautiful sun, the clouds that roll over are amazing, and the massive red rocks are magnificent. We rented an adorable little cabin with a loft for "the kids", a little kitchen, and a bedroom for Ryan & Ana. I learned that even if a bed is massive, guys are totally weirded out by sharing a bed with their sister. Christopher slept on the floor instead, and I felt so bad. :( But that was so nice of him; what a gentleman. Josh was also quick to give up his bed; Christopher insisted that since basic training he is fine sleeping on the ground. We had a wonderful time playing 20 questions, but my lack of knowledge of history was exposed. I was very impressed with Josh's knowledge of artists, scientists, and of all of the guys knowledge of history! For some reason I have no retention for names & dates in history!

So windy!!!

At the summit of Bear Mountain

Christopher's ready for The Academy!

Last day at work... my coworkers all brought food & gave me a lovely card!

Assignment #1- done.

What a great experience living with Ryan & Ana! They were so eager to have me join them in whatever they were doing, & so generous with their time, resources, & home. Thank you guys for letting me live with you for 4 months!