A quick trip

My friend Kathy drives up from Yuma, Arizona (two hours from Phoenix) every summer for a few weeks during her vacation.  I decided with all the traveling Justin has been doing (yes, I am aware I went to New York last month) I'd try and either fly down and drive up with her, or visa versa at the end of her trip home.  It worked out better that I fly to Phoenix, so that's why I did this past weekend.

I flew out Friday around 5 pm and got there around 6 pm (thanks to the time change).  Kathy picked me up and we stayed at her brothers home, who lives in a suburb of Phoenix, after a quick dinner on Mill Street.  Her brother recently moved to the area after getting a job there as an orthopedic surgeon.  Thanks to a busted real estate market, and finally making some good money as a surgeon after going to school for over a decade, they have a really nice home, and really awesome backyard.  It's pretty much the only thing I took pictures of too.

Gated pool.  To the left is the kiddie slide.  Right down the center is a shallow area for kids, complete with  spot for a giant umbrella.  

Table with a bench, to the right is the big slide, and a little cave that is under a waterfall when you turned it on.  The shark is in the deep end, and what you get took at when you jump off the diving board.  The hot tub is behind the rocks and shrubs on the left too.  

Diving board and a couple of little rock spots to jump in.  There's a sandy part behind, and you can sort of see the splash pad right out side the gate.  

Splash pad

The rest of the backyard.  It's lined with citrus tree's (more out front).  There is a little walkway under the grass going from the fort to the ground level trampoline -leading to a sandbox, completely shaded by the tramp.  That was the coolest thing I had ever seen!  

Front courtyard

Front of the house.  

The next morning we left Phoenix and headed for Las Vegas.  We stopped at the Hoover Dam.  We didn't do too much there since we had her dog, Bos, with us, but it was too hot to do much.  The cool new bridge which bypasses the Hoover Dam is finished, so that's what you actually drive on.  We did drive over to the Arizona side of the dam and got out to take a picture.

We got into Las Vegas and checked into our hotel.  It happened to be the exact hotel we stayed at on our way to Palm Desert earlier in the year, which I hadn't realized when I booked it.  Bos hung out in the hotel while we ventured to the Strip.  We had no desire to walk around much, so we parked at the Caesar Forum shops and had dinner at Max Brenner.  Jodi ate there in New York and said it was the best Macaroni and Cheese she had ever had in her life.  I couldn't bring myself to order Mac & Cheese at a restaurant, but their Pulled Pork Sandwich was delicious.  It's known for the chocolate and dessert, so we ordered that as well.

We were pretty boring (and tired) and ended up getting a red box for the hotel and actually both fell asleep an hour into the movie.

Bos in the back seat of the car.  This is how he spent most of the trip.  

Sunday we left for home.  Made a quick stop in Cedar City for lunch and made it back to my house around 4:30 that afternoon.  The kids were happy to see me (and I was happy to see them).  I came home to new furnishings and bedroom arrangements -I wasn't surprised, Justin tends to do this whenever I leave for any amount of time.  I may make a few household improvements myself the next time he goes out of town.

It was a quick trip, but it was nice to hang out with Kathy and I think Justin liked playing Mr. Mom for a couple of days.