Packers and Phoenix sojourn

We are starting our Arizona/Packer adventure!  The weather is beautiful, 80's during the day and down to 50 at night.  

We pulled up to our temporary Casa to find a beautiful giant cactus in our yard that is hosting quite a few birds nests, really cool!!

                                         The Cactus

                                                                                

                                            The Casa                                                                        

We are here with Kahla's parents and brother so there are 10 of us sharing the house!  Really great group!!!

We have a fabulous kitchen and a great pool and basketball court in the yard!

                                                                Pool

Basketball Court

We older adults have been enjoying our new space since Tuesday, and all our kids came in Wednesday!  Made a couple of pots of chili, regular and vegan and laughed the evening away!

We are of course missing Dylan's wife Amy and son Malcom and Penelope our dear granddaughter!  This is not a kid vacation but we hope to do some summer lake time with them both!!

We have been exploring our neighborhood and Jean and Jerry walk every day and come back with great information!  They discovered that we have horses directly behind our casa and we stand on the bench and look over the wall!!

Guy and I spying on the horses!

So far I have called the owner every day about random issues, hoping he keeps taking my calls!  He has been really great and I will write a great review when we leave!

Sean, Sam and Kevin (Sean's college friend) are golfing this morning and Guy is along to drive the golf cart!  

The plan is to have a taco buffet and then head to the GLENDALE SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT to soak up the atmosphere and head into State Farm Stadium for the Packers vs Cardinals Game!

I am heading into the pool for a few hours and then it will be time to get motivated!!

More soon...

THURSDAY IS PACKER TIME!

It's another beautiful day and we are all looking forward to the game tonight!  Sean, Sam, Kevin and Guy head to the golf course and the rest of us get ready for the big game!  

The men bring home all the fixings for Tacos and we start the countdown!

                                                        Group pics before the game!

We are blown away by all the PACKER fans we are seeing on our way to the stadium, it is going to be a great game!

                                                            

                                        Grabbing a cocktail before game time!

                                        Glendale Entertainment District outside stadium

                                                                State Farm Stadium

                                        Inside State Farm Stadium

                                                            CRAZY TIME!!

                                                        The Packers WIN!!!!

FRIDAY AND THE HEARD MUSEUM

Most of the Packer gang just wants to veg by the pool today, but Jean, Jerry and I decide to visit the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix.  The Heard has the most extensive collection of Native American artifacts in the world!  

                                                        These are a few displays                                                                  

The museum is beautiful but there is a sadness that surrounds us as we finish in the exhibit chronicling the "Boarding School Movement", hard to believe that children were forcibly taken from their families to assimilate them to white culture.

We stay for lunch and shopping!  The courtyard cafe is beautiful and the food is great!  

The gift shop is really fun and I have some great conversations with the curators there!

                            Jean and I as we depart in front of the Women Sculpture

SATURDAY AND SEDONA

Another beautiful day and most of our party will be heading home today!  Dylan has already left when we awake in the morning and Taylor, Sam, Kahla and Kevin will be leaving in the afternoon. We make breakfast burritos and say goodby to the kids as Guy, Jean, Jerry and I are heading to Sedona for the day!

The ride is easy and we start climbing the mountains to first go to Jerome, a small town filled with artisans!  We try to stop but there is literally NO PARKING.  The town is on the mountain, we are sorry we can't stop but are excited to get to Sedona!

We have arrived!

We visit the "visitors center", and Jean and Jerry get the scoop on the "must see" places in town. After lunch we head to experience some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen!

                                                            Jean and Jerry

                                                                   Guy and I

Would love to visit here again and see dawn and sunset here, it is really magical.

SUNDAY THE LAST HURRAH!

We wake early, straighten up the house and head to the airport.  We drop Jean and Jerry and are so happy we had this time with them.  

Guy, Sean and I are staying in Phoenix one last night at the Sheraton downtown. The hotel is really sublime and we head up to the pool.

                    

                                                           The view from the pool

We get cleaned up and leave for dinner. We are going to try an Italian spot called Forno 301that has homemade pasta and brick oven pizza!

The ambience is great and we are excited to check out the menu!

The food is so good, I tell Sean and Guy I might cry...if you are ever in Phoenix you need to check this out.  

Perfect way to end a fabulous trip!

                                                                Front of Hotel