Grand Canyon National Park

So, for the husband's 31st birthday, we had a road trip to the Grand Canyon! He has lived in the USA for 3 years now and has not been, so we thought it would be a great birthday adventure. Most importantly, we could bring our son, Mr. Butters!

and away the family goes!

The husband and I are not the biggest fans of the heat, so this also is the perfect time to go as it is crisp and cool; perfect autumn weather. We got up super early on Saturday morning to drive to Flagstaff. The drive was pretty cool. Going from beaches in San Diego, to mountains, flat desert, over the Colorado river, into the cacti filled deserts of Arizona, then finally arriving into the forest(like) town of Flagstaff. I thought Flagstaff was going to be a cute college town as Northern Arizona University is a great school and is located in Flagstaff, but it was pretty red neck and we ended up putting all the furniture in our motel room up against the door! Butters spent the whole night growling at our ground floor door as people walked by. I mean, what did we expect though? We picked a pretty cheap motel! The motel was clean and nice, but the people around that area seemed pretty rough.

Again, we got up early the next day and spent 4 hours along the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. It was stunning. It was a clear day, so we could see the canyon stretch as far as the eye could see. Also, because it is currently not the peak tourist time, in some spots, we were the only people around which made the experience that much better. Being able to hear the wind blowing through the canyon, while looking at these amazing red crevices before you is truly a once in a lifetime must see. It was fantastic.

We were going to stay the night in Flagstaff again, but as we had that warm and homey feeling the first night, we decided to make the 8 hour drive back to San Diego! On the way home we took a slightly different route on more secluded highways through the desert, which added to the adventure. I was back in time for work on Monday! Obviously, I was exhausted, but the trip was well worth it. The Grand Canyon, yes I will say it.... is truly GRAND!

oh yes we so took family photos!

Happy Birthday, Husband!

Vienna, Wien, Austria

Vienna, Austria. It has now been almost 6 months since I have visited Vienna, but I still think about this city daily. Austria, is my "new" favorite country. I say "new" as every country and city I have been to always becomes my "new" favorite place for different reasons. However, Vienna is a truly amazing city filled with rich history, amazing museums, and delicious cafe's. Words cannot express how much I enjoyed my week in Vienna, let alone my time in Austria. So, this post will be mostly in pictures. Leaving the opinion, literally, in the eye of the beholder. 

Graz/Thal Austria, June 12th 2014

We actually spent two nights in Graz, but we got there so late on the 11^th and left SO EARLY on the 13^th, we really only spent one day here. Our main trip to Graz was to actually head to Thal; the birthplace and home of Arnold Schwarzenegger. My husband is a mega fan of Arnie’s and has seen every single one of his movies and has lots of “useful” knowledge of the history of his life.

I have to admit, I thought it was going to be a waste of my time, but in actuality it was a great day trip! The bus rides (two busses need to be taken from Graz to Thal) were so beautiful. Large houses were nestled in the green hills and farmlands outside of the city. Then when we found the home of Arnie, we were the only ones there! I have a general theme of not liking crowds, so it was awesome having the entire home turned museum (called the Arnie’s Life Museum) to ourselves. The rooms were transformed into periods of his life, from childhood and early body building days, to movies, to politics. I actually enjoyed the politics section… after all, he was my “governator” in California!

As we were the only ones there, we made friends with the guy working there. My husband and him were huge Arnie fans and talked for ages… which ended up with us being allowed to pick up the sword from “Conan the Barbarian” and sitting on one of the motorcycles from “The Terminator”. We ended the trip lazing in the back garden sipping on a beer and Jayda pestering me to admit I had fun. I didn’t admit it to him, but I did. When in Graz, make the trip to Thal. It’s a cute little village and the Arnies Life Museum is worth the trip.

As it was opening day for the World Cup on the Thursday June 12^th 2014… we didn’t do too much siteseeing in Graz. We walked around for a bit and got dinner. The city is old clashing with modern. Modern art is everywhere within the historical walls. It seemed quite interesting, but other than that I didn’t do anything else. It was straight back to the hotel to watch the opening ceremonies and the match! When in Graz, go to Thal. It is well worth it !

Graz, Modern art in the river