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.