Vacation!!!

So here it is folks, the pictures from my fabulous vacation that you all have been waiting for...

There were stray cats roaming all over the resort. At night they would come out and hunt moths. They also trolled the pool bar after it was closed (kinda gross, but atleast it isn't mice?)

These two are saguaro cacti along the road as you pull into the resort. I took pictures of them because they were cush classic, perfect looking cacti, like out of a roadrunner cartoon.

The whole place was built into this rocky butte, with a creek running through. They really worked with the natural landscape when they built and it really added to the "ambiance." There were 4 hot tubs hidden in various place among the rocks. This is the one that was just outside our room, it was always really quiet because it wasn't part of the main pool area. The waterfall came down right behind it and traveled further down the hill in a very rocky stream. Super peaceful to have the sound of a small waterfall as you sit in a hot tub.

This is a super tall, straight up cactus at the top of the hill I "hiked" (it was maybe  a 500 foot trail)

And this is the little woodpecker whom has made his home in said cactus. If only the woodpeckers attacking our chimney could learn this is where they are supposed to live...

I was brought to the top of this hill to find a geocache. When the GPS pointed up this way 50 more feet, I decided I probably wasn't agile enough to get it. Because failure would HURT... a lot. (It is solid rock and every living thing up there is some varient of cactus with huge spikies.)

View of the phoenix area from the top of the "butte"

View of the cemetary that was just down the street from the hotel. I actually ended up spending some time there (for another geocache). But when there was a couple sitting on the bench literally ON TOP of the geocache, I took a few laps around and explored a bunch. The oldest grave I found was 1933. There were some really interesting monuments and a whole section of smaller plots for kiddos (1930's). I found it super interesting to walk around. I've always been kinda creeped out by the whole, "explore the cemetary" thing, but it was really cool. The desert landscaping was unique, it was a pretty day, there were birds cirping and windchimes... One of the most peaceful walks I've taken.

This kinda gives you an idea of the rockiness that the hotel was built up against. There were tons of stairs to get from the rooms to the lobby to the conference center, and it was a nice little walkabout to get anywhere.

Another view of the pool from my chair :) Its hard to see because I was expertly shooting into the sunlight, but there is a waterfall into the pool and the stream comes down that hill in the background in a series of falls and ponds.

Overall, it was a very nice trip. I didn't get away from the hotel much since we didn't have a car, but I really didn't need to. I got a ton of sun (a little too much in places...), read a lot, made friends with the bartenders at the pool and met some of Heidi's infamous collegues. Many apologies go out for not capturing photographic evidence of Heidi participating in a Wii game of "just dance" but you will have to take my word for it: it happened.

And now, I feel more ready than ever to get "back to the grind," as they say. I have my doctors appointment next week and will hopefully get the all clear to return back to work the following week (April 25).

So those of you who would like to hang out before my schedule gets all kooky again, give me a call. My time is filling up fast... (not really)