redwinelover's Journal, 26 May 2011

Wow, hadn't realized it has been this long between journal entries.

My husband and I took an awesome mini vacation! We'd wanted to go camping, but between the winds and the fire restrictions, that just wasn't going to happen. So Wednesday evening we made reservations at a cheap motel in Flagstaff and I made plans for things to do.

We left Friday morning and did some fun wine tasting. First place we went to was Alcantara Vineyards and was the best - nice views, wine tasting on the deck under an umbrella, great service, nice wines. Bought a bottle there we both enjoyed and had a glass and relaxed. Reason this is so special? My husband doesn't particularly care for wine (gasp!), but he enjoyed this.

Went on to two other wineries up the road. The second one we went to would have been fine if the wine hadn't sucked. I'm (obviously) not much of a white wine drinker, but one I tasted at this place was pretty good. Their reds sucked, though :(. But we sat outside under the roof overhang and enjoyed the tastings, regardless. And a plate of three cheeses, some almonds grown on the property, and some biscuit type things. Oh, and some olives.

We skipped the one that was third on my itinerary only because I'd been there before with a couple of girlfriends and it's just a small room that you stand in at the "bar" for the tasting. No views, no place to sit and enjoy a glass or a bottle, and the wine was only so-so to begin with. So we went on to the last one on my list - Page Springs Cellars.

I'd gone to this place with my friends last year, too, and we really enjoyed this one. So I had high hopes this time. We decided to do our tastings on their beautiful deck that overlooks the creek and is treed and gorgeous and relaxing. BUT that turned out to be the mistake, I think. Because this place you had to go in for each tasting and rather than each of us going in for the glasses, one of us would go. So we basically just got a pour and a VERY brief description of the wine and no sense they gave a damn we were there. It probably would have been different had we done the wine tasting inside, ordered a glass or a bottle after and taken that out to the deck. We did have some amazing bruschetta there - three different types, yummy.

Our second day we went to Call 'O the Canyon - which is the West Fork of Oak Creek in Sedona. This is a 7 mile hike and absolutely beautiful! It's a perfect date hike. Not too much effort - not like the hikes we take here in the Superstition Mountains which are rocky, rugged and varied terrain. This one was often level and with a lot of creek crossings across rocks or logs that were fun. And tons of shade from all the Oak trees and Cottonwoods. Beautiful red rock walls surrounding the canyon, gorgeous views the entire hike. We SO enjoyed this hike and I cannot wait until Fall when the leaves change so we can do this hike then, as well.

As we finished the hike, we decided against going into town for a drink and opted instead to grab our ice chest and take that down a dirt side trail that lead to the creek away from the majority of people. We sat there and drank Black & Tans and had some snacks and just enjoyed the hell out of the scenery there along the creek. Even saw a snake in the water which surprised us both! Probably spent about two hours sitting there enjoying this. Perfect day, again!

The third day we drove the 80 miles from the motel to the Grand Canyon. It was such a beautiful day for this. Since we'd been a few times before, we didn't feel compelled to stop at every lookout or pullout. We stopped at a few and walked along the Rim trying to take it all in. It is such an awe-inspiring sight for any who've not seen it. Pictures cannot do it justice. It's immense and beautiful and a little scary when you realize if you fall, there's a good chance you won't survive! I've yet to go there without having visions of falling the night after visiting! lol After a few stops we found a pullout with picnic tables. Got out and found the trail that lead to the Rim, going past an archaeological Indian tee pee made of sticks of wood. Went on past that to the Rim, and then along the rim for a while off any trail to find a rock outcropping where we could take in the views completely alone. It was HEAVEN, let me tell you. Also had a picnic out there and a couple of Newcastles :D What a GREAT day we had - spent a couple of hours there, enjoying the view and each other's company. It seemed each day was perfect... amazing!

We were driving home on Monday and decided to stop in Sedona and do another hike we'd done previously that took us down to Oak Creek also. A fairly short hike, but steep. We found another spot for a picnic and enjoyed that, then walked along the creek for a while and found another gorgeous spot to sit and enjoy more beer. We each had a Newcastle and a Black & Tan. My husband is GOOD at making these! This one I'd forgotten to put a spoon in the cooler, so he used the neck of the Newcastle to pour the Guiness over! Turned out to be the best one ever, staying separated until the glass was empty. My MacGyver! lol

After a while we packed up our stuff and make the hike back up out of the canyon to the car and drove home. Another perfect day! So we ended up with four beautiful, perfect days - such a great mini vacation! And it only used two days of vacation and didn't spent a lot of money, either. Perfect.

So diet wise? Eh... not so good. But worth it?? ABSOLUTELY! My weight is up - 129.2 today. I'm not going to sweat it. I'd still love to find that 125 and figure out how to stay there without this constant gain and lose, gain and lose, but haven't found it just yet. In the meantime, I can deal with four pounds. I worked out yesterday doing the kick boxing dvd and really love it.

Oh, and I'm having my second Fraxel re:pair procedure done on June 28th. I'm nervous about it as I had SO much pain last time. But damn, it really helped my skin so much! My skin just looks healthier, more even toned, a lot tighter (which I could Fraxel my entire body! lol) and the wrinkles have been softened a lot. And since my dermatologist likes to do Botox first - gives the face a smoother plane to work on
( :D ). Sounds like the perfect excuse to have Botox to me! Ladies - I'd suggest you don't do that unless you know you can afford to keep it up. Why? Because it's ADDICTING! I had it three months ago prior to my first Fraxel procedure for that reason and man, when it wears all the way off, you realize how much it helped smooth out the wrinkles! So you just want to keep doing it. Ah... the price of vanity! lol So I can't wait for the next couple days to go by so it kicks in. You really should get it done before it's completely worn off - works better that way, too, to keep the muscles relaxed. But I didn't realize it would take 2 1/2 weeks to get in there and besides, the first time you have it done, sometimes it only lasts two months. After a while, you can often go 4 months between, some lucky people get six months between!

So that's been my life, for anyone that's been bored enough to read through this entire entry! Hope you're having a great day!

---

595 kcal

Fat: 24.63g | Prot: 23.76g | Carb: 71.50g.   Breakfast: celsius, Total 2% Yogurt, Almonds, Sugar Free French Vanilla Coffee Creamer, English Walnuts, Strawberries, Blueberries. Lunch: kellogg's fiber plus, pink lady apple. more...