Throwback Thursday: Spring Break 2012

In light of Spring Break coming up, I wanted to share a few pictures and stories about the Spring Break we spent together while we were dating. This was from March 7-19, 2012. Enjoy! :)

Curtis and I started dating on December 31, 2011, after his first semester of college at the U of A. We were rocking the long distance thing, but anyone who's gone through a Long Distance Relationship knows that it's very important to have something to look forward to. Skype is a wonderful thing, but nothing can replace experiencing life together, side by side. And so, as a reward to myself for finishing massage school, I booked my flight to visit Curtis in Tucson over his spring break.

I flew by myself for the first time ever, navigated through the big airports in Chicago and Dallas, and hopped on a bus in Tucson with no idea when my stop would come. But it was all worth it when I saw him waiting for me at the bus stop, and I jumped off the bus and into his arms.

This was my first time ever visiting Tucson. My first thoughts were "It reminds me of my trips to Mexico..." and that unfortunately, it was colder than my hometown in Iowa was that week! With highs in the 50's and windy, I was unprepared for this "cold" and had to stop at a consignment store for something long sleeved. However, I found the University campus to be beautiful, and enjoyed walking around hand-in-hand with my boyfriend. I was able to meet all his new friends, and make some of my own at a girl's Bible Study. One of the girls let me stay in her dorm while we were "on campus." (I came down on the Wednesday before his spring break so that I could experience what "normal life" was like for him.)

Curtis built this!

On Friday, when Spring Break officially begun, we joined the Navigator group on their Spring Break trip to Chinle, AZ. The main purposes of the trip were to build a house for a Navajo family, and hold a VBS for the Navajo children. Curtis and I both joined the house building team, where he was able to put his many skills to use and I was able to relive my favorite memories from Mexico trips: Chicken Wire and Stucco!

While we were there, we were also able to do a little sightseeing. Our first stop was to Canyon De Chelly National Monument. This was our first official hiking adventure in Arizona together! I remember being quite winded, even hiking down the canyon on the White House Trail. I also remember comparing the scenery to The Lion King's settings. My mind is just programmed that way. :)

The trail that leads down the canyon

The White House Ruins

After that, we stopped at the Sand Dunes near Chinle. This place reminded me of the opening scenes in Aladdin. We loved running through the sand barefooted, up and down the dunes... this was before they warned us about the scorpions and poisonous centipedes that lived there. :P

We left for Chinle on Friday, the first day of break, and stayed through Thursday, then drove to Payson and stayed in the beautiful Kohl's Ranch. (We also stayed there last year over spring break - see pictures and read about that here!)  We went hiking and letterboxing with some friends there - I'm pretty sure this was also my first ever letterboxing find!

On Friday, we finished the drive back to Tucson. I didn't leave until early Monday morning, so we spent that weekend with his cousin at her apartment. We did puzzles, ordered pizza, went to brunch, visited his church, and binge-watched How I Met Your Mother. I questioned why I had bought plane tickets to go back. ;)

That was us, 3 years ago! Such cuties. Now we're planning what could be our last official "spring break!"

Our Great Southwest Adventure: Day 7

Vacation Day 7 - March 22, 2014 - Last day!

For our last full day of vacation, we spent the day exploring the greater area of Payson, AZ, by way of letterboxing! We love this hobby because it will take us to the most scenic, historic, or interesting parts around the city. Curtis and Mitchell also planted boxes on this day with amazing carves, if I may say so!

The day started with Mitchell and Curtis making us a traditional English breakfast with soldiers, soft  boiled eggs, and of course, tea! It was undoubtedly the best breakfast we had this whole vacation! We planned out our day of hiking and boxing, and finally set off on our adventure.

Our first hike started on the 260 trail.

Curtis - "At the University of Arizona, you can minor in counting rings on trees!"

Grant, taking in the beauty :)

Mitch successfully planted a box!

We ended up on the other side of this trail, but thankfully didn't hike the whole 51 miles ;)

Above: Grant is disgusted with our "Arizona Waterfall"

Found a horned toad on the trail!

Mitchell and the toad, representing our hometown :)

The Tonto Creek - stopped here for a quiet picnic lunch.

The boys started panning for gold, so I took pictures of plants. :)

Unfortunately, today's gold panning was unsuccessful. :)

Only Grant can prevent wildfires!

We drove into Payson after the hike, and there we visited the replica of the author Zane Grey's cabin. Sadly, the original burned down in a forest fire.

After this, we drove to the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.

Here's the natural bridge! (that giant hole in the rock!)

Looking down

We hiked down a trail, and now looking up at the bridge!

Fish in the water below!

Daylight on the other side

Looking up at the small waterfall 

I opted out of walking through here - there wasn't much (if any) of a trail, and I have terrible balance. Grant and Mitchell went all the way through, and while they enjoyed the adventure they assured me I made the right decision. :)

Instead, Curtis and I hiked back up, then went to a scenic overlook on the other side.

Our last hike of the day was on Pine/Highline trail, which also met up with the great Arizona trail.

Below - we found this odd: there was a tree bent over like this. Possibly some sort of trap. We didn't go to check it out. Later, we ran into a strange man on the trail, who we later decided was a Vampire Cowboy. All signs pointed to it. It's a good thing we didn't get stuck in his trap. ;)

It was a beautiful day, the perfect end to a wonderful vacation! That night, Mitch made us chicken alfredo and we enjoyed the pool one last time!

Day 6 wrap up: Hiked 8.5 miles, drove all around Payson, got 6 letterboxes, planted 2 boxes.

The next day, 3/23/14, we got up early and had a quiet drive to Phoenix, (for once!) dropped off Grant at the airport, and drove home by 10 am…and finally "relaxed"! What a fun first married spring break! Wonder where we'll go next year? :)

Our Great Southwest Adventure: Day 6

Day 6: March 21, 2014

Farmington, NM to Payson, AZ

For most of our trip, we had carefully spaced out all the places we were visiting and made sure we were only driving 3-5 hours. But today, we couldn't avoid a longer (7 hour) drive. We ended up adding on more to our time by going back to 4 corners. But being able to say you stood in 4 states at once is worth it, right?

it happened ;)

Anyway, today was mostly a long drive with a few letterbox stops. It was all worth it by the end though, just wait to see why! :)

$3 per person to stand here and say you did it. Now we don't have to do it ever again. :)

After this, we began a long and boring drive through Navajo land again. There aren't many letterboxes around, so it was mostly a "hurry up and get to I-40" kind of drive!

We did stop at the National Hubbell Trading Post site, and enjoyed driving through Chinle, where Curtis and I went with the U of A Navigator group for Spring Break 2012.

We didn't really tour, just stopped to get the National Park passport stamps and say we did. ;)

Finally, we made it to I-40! Stopped for another letterbox on historic route 66, somewhere near Navajo, AZ. This time on the far East side of the state (as compared to day 2, when getting a box on the far West side!)

Continuing West, we stopped in Holbrook, AZ, to check on a letterbox Curtis planted, and ended up relocating it. 

Driving through Holbrook is interesting, to say the least!

Dinosaur statues all around the town...

Interesting statues….

And "Bucket of Blood Street". How did it get that name??

We continued a little further West, to Winslow, AZ. It was a lovely town and we'd love to come back and visit!

The Turquoise Room, an artsy hotel.

Take it Easy, Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona! :)

The reason why we came? Because Winslow, AZ is the home of Arizona's Whispering Giant Structure! 

Curtis and I have now visited 3 of these - in Minnesota, Kansas, and Arizona. They are all amazing carvings, and all happen to have a letterbox hidden somewhere nearby with an equally amazing carving of the statue! Maybe someday, we'll plan a vacation completely centered around finding these in each state. :)

I could tell why the carver wanted the statue in Winslow. It was the perfect location!

After this, we started on the last leg of today's long drive - South to Payson, AZ.

We are entering the Tonto National Forest…trading red rocks and snow capped mountains for pine trees!

This drive was hilly with winding roads, but beautiful. It reminds me of Colorado. I love how different all parts of Arizona are!

We finally reached our destination - 12 miles North of Payson, AZ, is a beautiful ranch called Kohl's Ranch. We have now been there twice, and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to visit this beautiful part of Arizona!

We even got upgraded to a deluxe cabin. Here's some pictures of the inside:

Master bedroom…complete with Jacuzzi tub!

Second bedroom

Kitchen, filled with all the supplies we needed to make our own meals here.

Living room with fireplace & tv

In the dining room, facing living room.

Outside the cabin, facing Tonto Creek

A look at our home for the next 2 nights!

Our good friend Mitch came up to stay with us for the weekend. He also brought delicious steaks for our first dinner there. To wrap up this long driving day, we relaxed and enjoyed the resort's pool and hot tub!

Day 6 Wrap Up: Drove 390 miles, Hiked 2.6 miles, visited 4 Corners and Hubbell National Trading Post site, got 2 letterboxes, and stood in 4 states at once! ;)