Time for a winter vacation

ABV · 01-24-2007

I don't feel like making a long post here, so I'll just make this short. It's cold here, so I'm going to go to Arizona for a week.

Bye.

Tomorrow night at this time, I'll be about a half hour from Mexico. Then I'm heading back to Phoenix for the weekend. On Sunday we're heading north to do a little hiking. Monday we're going to the grand canyon and then heading west to Las Vegas for some fun. Tuesday it's back to Phoenix, and Wednesday I'll be back in the cold.

Thursday I have to be back at work for a design review, but Friday I'll be snow boarding, so it won't be too bad of a week.

All I have to say is that I'm long overdue for a vacation like this.

Anyone else have any big plans for a winter vacation?

Nash · 01-24-2007

Have a good time!

**Goat Blower** · 01-24-2007

My buddy just got back from Phoenix, it was in the 20's while he was there. Hopefully it warms up quick. We're going there in March, I'll be attending the NOPI race that weekend.

**Kracka** · 01-25-2007

I'm going to the Caribbean the first week of April.

**Halon** · 01-25-2007

I'm thinking we need to go on a vacation here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nBAOyKXouk

Kevin 1G Drummer · 01-25-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halon

I'm thinking we need to go on a vacation here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nBAOyKXouk

Hell yeah!! When are we leaving? haha

FattyBoomBatty · 01-25-2007

Must be logged in to view that vid. Hope it was cool.

**Halon** · 01-25-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by FattyBoomBatty

Must be logged in to view that vid. Hope it was cool.

Sucks to be you then. Great video of Bikini Night in Taiwan.

**scheides** · 01-25-2007

Have fun man!

AJ · 01-25-2007

You suck Mark! Have fun!

A//// Guy · 01-25-2007

You are lucky!! Your leaving at the perfect time, its supposed to be really cold this weekend and next week.

TheBlizzard · 01-25-2007

Bastard. Have a safe trip.

dsm95gsxer · 01-25-2007

Just got back from Phoenix, Highs in the 50's and it rained two of the five days I was there. Heard it's supposed to warm up though, have a good time.

**Halon** · 01-25-2007

I believe it snowed in Tucsan recently.

95tsi · 01-25-2007

I'm leaving for Daytona tomorrow morning. Hopfully get some good seats for the Rolex 24hrs of Daytona race. Should be perfect race weather, highs in the upper 60's during the daytime.

Jana · 01-25-2007

Have fun Mark!! See you when you get back!

ylimert01 · 01-25-2007

have fun, i am jealous...i am going to Hilton Head island first week of april..condo on a lagoon 1 block from the ocean wooohoo tan here i come....!

ABV · 02-01-2007

Two things I learned while on vacation:

1. It's warm in Arizona.

2. It's cold in Minnesota.

Ok, so I learned more than that, but those two stand out the most. I had an awesome time. I climbed Camelback mountain in Phoenix. We went to the south mountain and did a little hiking there too, but you drive most of the way to the top though, so it doesn't really count. I went to the Tonto natural bridge which is just amazing to walk through. We went through Sedona, which has some awesome views. Jerome, which is near Sedona, was kind of cool to see with all of the mining history.

I also saw the Grand Canyon for the first time. I could try and describe it and show you pictures, but neither would do it justice. We hiked a little there too, but it was getting late and we wanted to get Vegas at a decent time so we left. Vegas was pretty cool too. We got a hotel off the strip, which was pretty decent for only $50. It was cool to see everything in person. We went to the top of the stratosphere, but I didn't go on any of the rides.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. If I make a habit of going out there in the winter, I would definitely cut out a lot of the stuff we saw though. It was great to see everything, but it would have been a lot better to spend more time at each spot. I feel like we got to a spot, snapped a few pics and took off again. 1700 miles is way to much to be putting on a rental car for a one week vacation, especially if yout add on a 3 hr plane ride each way. Speaking of rental cars, Dodge Chargers with the 2.7 V6 and an automatic are gutless. At least it was quiet and reasonably comfortable though.

I have to say it kind of sucked getting off the plane in 15 deg weather, but my girlfriend suprised me by meeting me at work (where my truck was parked for the week). That made it much easier to come back home.

I took a ton of pictures too. I'll pick out a few of the choice ones and post them up here when I get a chance.

AJ · 02-01-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABV

Two things I learned while on vacation:

1. It's warm in Arizona.

2. It's cold in Minnesota.

Ok, so I learned more than that, but those two stand out the most. I had an awesome time. I climbed Camelback mountain in Phoenix. We went to the south mountain and did a little hiking there too, but you drive most of the way to the top though, so it doesn't really count. I went to the Tonto natural bridge which is just amazing to walk through. We went through Sedona, which has some awesome views. Jerome, which is near Sedona, was kind of cool to see with all of the mining history.

I also saw the Grand Canyon for the first time. I could try and describe it and show you pictures, but neither would do it justice. We hiked a little there too, but it was getting late and we wanted to get Vegas at a decent time so we left. Vegas was pretty cool too. We got a hotel off the strip, which was pretty decent for only $50. It was cool to see everything in person. We went to the top of the stratosphere, but I didn't go on any of the rides.

All in all it was a pretty good trip. If I make a habit of going out there in the winter, I would definitely cut out a lot of the stuff we saw though. It was great to see everything, but it would have been a lot better to spend more time at each spot. I feel like we got to a spot, snapped a few pics and took off again. 1700 miles is way to much to be putting on a rental car for a one week vacation, especially if yout add on a 3 hr plane ride each way. Speaking of rental cars, Dodge Chargers with the 2.7 V6 and an automatic are gutless. At least it was quiet and reasonably comfortable though.

I have to say it kind of sucked getting off the plane in 15 deg weather, but my girlfriend suprised me by meeting me at work (where my truck was parked for the week). That made it much easier to come back home.

I took a ton of pictures too. I'll pick out a few of the choice ones and post them up here when I get a chance.

**this is Jana... didn't realize I didn't log AJ out**

Glad you had a great time!! I love AZ, but could never live there.

Grand Canyon is awesome. Next time I go, I want to travel to the bottom and do more hiking. I think I've been there about 5 or 6 times in my life. It's beautiful!

Sedona - another one of my favorite places for scenery, but the locals seem kind of snotty.

Jerome - is nothing like it used to be. I've been there probably about 10 times. It's become much more touristy than it used to be.

Las Vegas - I definitely want to go back now that I'm old enough to be in a casino.

I've also been to the other places you listed. There's much more in the local area of Phoenix, if you have more time to spend in one area...like you said.

Did you make it Flagstaff at all? I'm sure they had some snow there that could remind you of MN. But it's another beautiful area. Anyway, I could go on...

**Goat Blower** · 02-01-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABV

Speaking of rental cars, Dodge Chargers with the 2.7 V6 and an automatic are gutless. At least it was quiet and reasonably comfortable though.

Where did you rent that from? I'm booking our rental car in the next few days and the best deal I found was $300 for 9 days at Alamo rental on a Pontiac Gran Prix. The Chargers were listed at $500 for the same period because it's a bigger class car. I might just pick up something fun at the auction and ship it back when we leave. Rentals are just too expensive and I don't want a little crap box to drive.