Spring Break!! Woo Hoo!!!

So last week was Spring Break, and for the first time in a long time I actually did something, thanks to my lovely grandparents. This is how it went down: I got an e-mail from my Gramps asking when spring break was, so I replied and told him it was the 17th through the 25th of March, then he replied by saying that he & Gramma really missed me and would I like to come out to Arizona for a visit during the break, so I replied “YEEEESSSSS!!!!! Of course!!!!!” So he booked my flight to leave on the 16th and to return on the 23rd.

Now, let me just remind you that New England weather hates me, it really does…I plan for a hike and it rains, I want to go for a bike ride, ditto and on and on. Well the 16th was no different, the nigh before they said to expect flurries and snow on Saturday, so I went to bed thinking “Haha, Suckers!” I woke up with the weatherman telling me to expect 1”-2” of snowfall per hour starting at about 6:00pm. So, I thought, well maybe my flight will be fine. Nope. Flight was cancelled. Cancelled! So I tried calling the airline, big mistake, big HUGE mistake. I was on hold for about an hour before Ry reminded that I was on my cell phone, during the day, and not a weekend. I quickly hung up and told Ry to hop in the car, so we could go to the airport ticketing counter and get my flight rescheduled. We zipped on down there (it’s only about an hour away) screamed up to the curb and I FLEW out of the car and up to the ticketing booth and guess what? It was devoid of almost all human life except for one lonely airline chica who gladly and helpfully scheduled me for a flight leaving out of Boston on Sunday. So Ry & I went back home and settled in for the snow, and did it ever snow! It was buckets (or so it seemed) and we went out with Molly into it and played around and then watched a ton of movies, and went to bed.



As it turns out we got about a foot and a half of snow; it was pretty, but I was ready for the Sunny Southwest, not dreary New England! Ry and I made arrangements for Molly (he was going to Florida to see his Nana) and spent Saturday packing, then headed up to his parents house in the Boston area, so we could have a short trip into Logan in the morning. We arrived at Logan at about 6:00am so I would have 2 ½ hours to check in, and it was a total zoo. Everybody flight had been cancelled on Friday and most of Saturday so everyone was flying out on Sunday morning. Well I rushed and rushed and even rushed my good-bye to my sweetie so I could make the plane on time. I rushed to my gate, threw myself down and heard it “Due to a maintenance problem your flight has been delayed…” AAGGGGHHHH!!!!! They wouldn’t even give us an estimated time of departure so that I could go and have coffee with Ry or anything, but every hour they pushed it back another hour, it was awful. Finally at 1:30 we boarded and left. The flight was easy and it was a direct one, so no connections. The girl sitting across the aisle from me had about 10 beers on the plane, and she was tiny and she seemed fine!

I arrived in AZ intact and very happy to see the Grandparents; we had Mexican food and relaxed in the evening. The week I spent there was wonderful, we went to the pool. I got to drive the golf cart around, we saw a concert (The Guseman Family, pretty peppy group, the son was the most talented though) had Chinese food went shopping. Interspersed with all of this my Gramma showed me the picture of the pine needle baskets she makes and the decorative gourds she makes and designs. She showed me pictures of her when she was little, and where she grew up, pictures of my dad when he was little. We had heart to heart talks about my Dad my aunt and my uncle (God rest his soul), and life in general, it was the most amazing thing. I felt like I really got to know my Gramma in a very real way, in almost the same way I got to know my Mom over the past few years.



Towards the end of my visit I was able to get together with some friends from highschool, Danielle, Sarah, and Mark. Sarah was one third of our trio (Sarah, Stephenie & Me) in highschool. The three of us went everywhere together and did everything together we were the Three Musketeers. And then senior year, Sarah & I had a huge fight and did speak to each other again. Steph kept us up on each other lives and eventually the loss of the friendship faded from my mind and the Steph got us all back in touch with each other. Until I arrived in Phoenix, I had only e-mailed Sarah, and had not spoken with her. So, at my Aunt’s she returned my phone call and it was the first time I had heard her voice in 11 years! Well, Dani, Sarah, Mark and I all decided we would go to Pizzeria Bianco in downtown Phoenix. The wait was ridiculous but the Pizza was the best I’ve had in my life!

After getting together with my friends, Gramma, Grampa & I went out to the mine claim she used to live in. On the hike out we passed by some bleached out coyote bones. I took a picture of them (it didn't turn out) and wanted to pick up one and take it back with me, but then I thought I might have to answer some tricky questions to TSA. So I left them where they lay, and hopefully will be able to see them again when I take Ry out there with me.


Mine Claim


It was very cool to see where my Gramma lived and summered as she was growing up in Arizona. They just had a shack on the claim and a collapsible trailer that she, her sister and her parents all slept in. They had no electricity and had to drive about 10 minutes to get water. It's amazing to think that her mother and father moved from the "luxuries" of Pennsylvania to absolutely nothing in Arizona and made a real go of it. It impresses me immensely that these are women that I am descended from.

All in all my visit was lovely, and I miss my Grandparents already. But I am slowly trying to convince Ryan to take the bar in Arizona and move out there. Hopefully I'll be going back to AZ soon and making a permanent life out there!