Ninja Visit

Grand Canyon's Desert View Watchtower

          My first ninja visit has been a pretty big success.  I swooped into town undetected and got to surprise friends and family by suddenly being in town.  D was neck deep in career stress this month and he agreed that it was a perfect opportunity for me to head home with my parents and sis for a couple weeks to give him guilt-free weekends spent at work.  Now he is nearly done with the stress, I am heart happy from getting to see so many loved ones, and we are both ready to spend time together again.

          Just in time to celebrate my birthday, our second anniversary, and then his birthday all in the span of three weeks.

          My first niece was born in April just down the street from our apartment.  My parents and sis couldn't resist such a perfect reason to visit sunny California.  They took a slow, scenic drive across country and arrived just in time to greet the new baby girl and help out with her big brother while mommy recovered and daddy worked at his new job.  I was in heaven.  What is better than having your newest family member just down the street while your favorite sis is living with you?

          We mostly enjoyed hanging out with each other, cooking together, snuggling the baby, taking big brother for walks, and playing some table top games.  Thankfully we also had time to explore Universal Hollywood's new Wizarding World, Magic Mountain's incredible virtual reality roller coaster, and Cabrillo Beach's tide pools.

San Francisco Peaks

          The visit is over much too soon, and it is time for us to pack our bags.  I am mindful that I'm also packing to satisfy airline regulations for the return trip.  We drive the first day to Flagstaff and enjoy dinner at Olive Garden.  It is quite chilly as the sun sets but the snowy-peaked mountains are the real cause for our breathlessness.

It was a slow reveal today.

          Our second day starts staring into a chasm filled with thick fog that slowly dissolves to reveal the Grand Canyon stretching far below and before us.  I wasn't as awe-struck as I wanted to be.  I hope that one day I'll be able to climb down into it and better feel the immense scale of it.  Regardless of my feelings it was still a very photogenic day.  I made sure to snap squirrel photos for D who enjoys pointing them out on all our trips.

Sunset Crater Volcano

          Day three takes us to the Petrified Forest in Arizona.  Trees that have turned to quartz are broken and shattered all over the place.  Some chunks are as thick as I am tall.  We fight the wind and scattered rain but succeed in filling our heads with the colors and history displayed here.  One day I will return here for some more hiking with D.

Petrified wood next to a living cactus.

          After sleeping in Albuquerque, New Mexico we take the short drive to Sandia Peak for a tram ride to the top.  The wind is strong and I hold my hat down with a head band that also keeps my ears warm.  After yesterday's winds on the cliffs, I am prepared.  I don't want to get punched in the chin by my baseball cap again.  Your wrist is not as safe a place for your hat during extreme winds as you might think.  The views of New Mexico sprawling before and around us are nicely labeled on information boards.  The ski trails are ready for the season's hikers and mountain bikers.  We eat a hurried lunch at the restaurant at 12,000 feet, and make it down on the last tram before they close for the day due to the high winds.

My first snowman of the 2015-2016 snowy season.

          Texas and Oklahoma don't hold my attention along this route, even with all their cattle and long-horned cattle.  Missouri starts to feel more like home, and we all have a good laugh at the billboards:  We're having big fun in Uranus! and Uranus Fudge Factory: The Best Fudge is Found in Uranus!  It's hard not to appreciate the humor.  Storms follow us into St. Louis as we drive by the arch and Eads Bridge.  We have just enough time to snap pictures of engineer James Buchanan Eads's grave before the thunder cracks and hurries us along.

The exact point where Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri meet.

          Finally we are home.  I wash my small load of laundry and head to bed early.  It's amazing how quickly your body gets used to earlier sleep schedules when on a somewhat regimented road trip.

          My week home is spent hanging out with my best friend and her family, playing a little Wii with my mom, helping make cupcakes by finishing extra frosting, celebrating birthdays with lots of family and friends (not all my family, but they still feel like family), tagging along on a surprise trip to immediate care, enjoying so much good food and company, playing fun card games with family, giving many check-ups to many toys, sharing a tree frog with excited kids, trying to stay warm at entertaining soccer games, dropping off a forgotten souvenir, cheering on my husband from afar, covering myself in dog fur from many puppy snuggles, hunting for Lego Mickey and Minnie, and a handful of brand new experiences.  Several parts of this week are forever engraved on my heart.

          Despite the insanity of these two wildest weeks of my life (so far), I am very grateful for them.  I hope my next ninja visit will be just as filled with love and contain only good surprises.

The blue mesa trail at the Petrified Forest National Park.