Travel for Fun

After the family's brief stint in Sedona was called to a halt due to some unfortunate snow fall, we relocated a little earlier than planned to Phoenix.  Phoenix was only a few hours away from Sedona, but it made all the difference in terms of weather and topography.  There are fewer mountains because it's primarily a more urban city.  This leg of the trip turned out to be fantastic.

The six of us stayed at a local Howard Johnson's.  During the day time we went to a local festival and picked up some root beer flavored hard candy.  Straight from there, we went horse back riding at a local ranch.   My horse's name was Nick.  My brother's was Santa and he kept galloping away from the group.

At night we tried our luck at the local entertainment place called Fiddlestick's.  Here we go carted, swung a few hits at the batting range, mini golfed (I won a free game), and won game tickets playing skee ball.

Phoenix was a lot warmer than Sedona and during the day we were able to take a dip or two in the pool at our hotel.  None of us wanted to leave, but the time came where we had to head to the airport.  As we checked in, we were informed that our flight was cancelled and we'd have to wait a few hours and head to a different New York airport.  We took this opportunity to visit a local museum highlighting Heritage and Indian Preservation in Arizona.

Listening to: The Very Best of Linda Ronstadt

Location: Sedona, Arizona

The very last family trip we ever took was to Arizona during the month of January.  It is a winter month and since we stayed in the mountains, we endured cold weather and slight snow fallings.  My parents rented a small ?casita' for the entire family at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona.  The casita had a kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms.  Our accommodations were fabulous and the trip was a success.

During the daytime we would hike around the trails of the resort or take a jeep ride to see nature's wonders and mountainous animals. Since this was a small town resort, the regular town basically closed up shop by five pm.  Our one night outing consisted of purchasing flying saucers at a local supermarket because the ice cream shop was already closed for the night.

We devoted one day to traveling to the Grand Canyon to see the massive rock formation.  The day started out in a town just outside the national park where we viewed an awe inspiring IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon, its inception, and people's adventures in hiking and rafting through Colorado River.  We drove up a windy rode to reach the top of the canyon where we parked the car and saw the view.  Along the way, we saw deer sitting by the side of the road and tried to flash pictures of them from within our vehicle.  It was windy and freezing at the top of the canyon, but the trip was well worth seeing one of the most popular tourist sites in America.

It was nightfall when we headed back to our resort in Sedona.  The only way to get down the mountain was to go back on the windy road that took us up.  As Linda Ronstadt's music blared from the rented car's entertainment system, I can still hear my mother yelling to my father to slow down.  Us four kids in the backseat were clearly cheering my dad on and jeering our mama.  And since I am able to recall this childhood memory, you can tell we made it down safely.

Listening to: The Beach Boys Greatest Hits

Location: Aruba

Each day in Aruba, we would get up early in the morning, lather our bodies in suntan lotion, and walk out of the hotel to the beach.  We would mark our territory with lounging beach chairs and "set up camp."  As the sun would move direction, we would drag our chairs and follow it so we could get the best color on our bodies.  Most days, I would take a walk along the surf with my friend Judith.

One day as we were walking back to our friends, an island native man approached us and asked if we wanted to do any water sports.  We said we would go back to our friends to discuss it and we'd be back.  Most of the girls wanted to do some sort of water sports.  As we walked to the shack, they decided they wanted to try parasailing.  Parasailing is when you attach yourself to a balloon type of parachute and you literally fly off the end of a motorboat.  The air fills the balloon and you ?sail? through the air.  When we got to the shack, we noticed that they had jet skis.  We asked the island guys if they would use those too.  After negotiations we planned the afternoon.  All six of us girls went out on the motorboat, as two of us went parasailing.  Taking a boat ride in the Caribbean sea was delightful and fun.

After the boat ride, we convinced the guys to take us out on the jet skis.  Though they wouldn't let us go ourselves, we each got to take a ride with them and hold on to them.  The luck of it was that they took us out free of charge.  Of course, they planned to stop short and tip us over in the water!  It was well worth it.  And clearly, the Beach Boys' 'Kokomo' was playing in my head the entire time because the opening word to the lyrics is none other than, 'Aruba.'