Things I DID in Arizona!

I'm writing to you the 2nd to last night before I leave, since I know I am the best packing procrastinator I know. (They call me the Packastinator).

Anyway, the following is a list of things I did while being home for a month, the last summer break of my life. Those who say Phoenix is boring can only blame themselves. I more than entertained myself, and still have enough on my original list to do next visit.

- Roadtrip with Gina, Lily (her sister), and Ally to Sedona, where we...

- Hiked a few Vortexes -- Airport Rd., Bell Rock, and Cathedral Rock (where we shouted from the tip top of the mountained and our new hiking friends a ways down shouted back!) (Sedona)

- Slid down and jumped off "Slide Rock," a natural waterpark, where we formed "Tribe Red Rock" by painting our bodies with red clay (Sedona)

- Saw a few shooting stars from the Perseid Meteor shower under a blanket in the middle of a dark/damp gold course (Sedona)

- Visited a charming ghost town (Jerome)

- 4 girls go camping with one sleeping bag, a tent, and no supplies... and then we stocked up at the grocery store. (Outside of Sedona)

- Played guitar around a campfire, with a few new friends, while staying up way past camping quiet hours. (Outside of Sedona)

- We had a blowout on the freeway, where we were forced to pullover on the side of a cliff on the way back to phoenix. Some nice old couple stopped and helped us, in the 110 degree heat. We made it to some sketchy gas station, where I filled the tire with air. By time we finally made it to change our tire, dirty from camping and covered in tire grease, our new friend Scotty, the tire guy, sprayed me down with degreaser. (Anthem)

- Exhausted, sweaty, and filthy, we crashed the beautiful Marriot Resort. Since our 1.5 hour trip took 6 hours, we missed tubing in the Salt River, but we jumped into the tubes of the resort's fake lazy river with about 70 fourteen-year-old football boys. (Phoenix)

- Crashed the W Hotel at night (Scottsdale). In addition to the purple lit-up rooftop pool, the patio also has a sandy beach cabana area!

- Crashed the Hyatt Pool! (Scottsdale)

- Went camping with Nora and her dad!! (Just outside of Flaggstaff)

- Feasted on delicious gourmet vegan camping food (cornbread chili, tofu Scramble, smores and banana boats) a la Nora! (eleanordashwood.blogspot.com)

- Hiked some unlabeled trail with a dried lake, ponderosa pines, and spruce trees!

- Hiked Walnut Canyon, formed by water, and loaded with Sinagua indian ruins!!

- Toured Arco Santi, built by the architect Paulo Soleri! (look it up!) (Arco Santi)

- Gambled with my dad at a couple Casinos, where we played blackjack, slots, and a bit of Poker! (Indian Reservation)

- Saguaro Lake with my parents. I really didn't know such a big lake existed, and never looked at a map and realized how relatively huge it is. I'm still in awe of a lake surrounded by baren desert and saguaros. We ate at a restaurant, and found Sandy Beach, an oasis where summer heat refugees were frolicking in the water. (Saguaro Lake)

- Another weekend in Sedona with my parents, where we hiked a couple vortexes. One trail had the famous photographed spot!

- My parents had psychic readings while I had my Aura read. Apparently i'm mostly yellow, meaning that I'm funny, creative, intelligent, optimistic, logical, and so on for 25 pages. (Downtown Sedona)

- My dad bought me a cowboy hat and I played the kokopelli flute in a gift shop for an hour or so. (Downtown Sedona).

- Went to the delicious "Elote" where they made me vegan enchiladas!! A special mention for that! (Sedona)



TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I must go to sleep now, but i will edit this in the morning!!!) au revoir!