Mini Family Vacation - Grand Canyon 2017
Last year most of my siblings (outside of Ally) took a weekend trip to Catalina. It was such a hit that we decided to up the ante and go on a road trip over Memorial Day weekend. The genesis actually began as a gift for Jake (my younger brother) for his 26th birthday. One by one we all decided to tag along before there were six of us piled into a mini-van bright and early on Friday, May 26th.
Life on the Road
Friday, May 26, 2017
Jenn and I arrived in Riverside a little after 8 AM, having downed our Starbucks and preparing ourselves for the 6+ hour drive to Flagstaff, Arizona. The last time I was in a mini-van with all three of my siblings had to have been over ten years ago, driving around Maui and the big island of Hawaii. And before that would have been the drives to Tucson to visit my grandparents. It's been a long time.
It was sort of surreal sitting in the middle seat (my normal spot) having Jake drive me, Jenn, Amy's boyfriend Ryan, and Ally through the desert and to Arizona. We made a quick stop at a Del Taco somewhere outside of Palm Springs, but our first official pit stop (after stopping for gas and sunscreen in Riverside) was in Blythe.
There we stopped and got a quick bite to eat at McDonald's. Really the only highlight here was a wall I spotted on the side of the McDonalds that was a great spot for pictures (as shown before). From there we piled back into the van and kept going on our way to Flagstaff.
Along the 5-Freeway there was an abundance of signs for "really good" fresh jerky. Me just being me I said we should stop there, and managed to convince everyone it was a good idea. The shop which was not too far out of Blythe was actually really nice and I bought some teriyaki jerky. As of this writing, I've eaten half of it and it's really, really good.
From there outside of getting gas in Anthem (Ally's new favorite town) we made a bee-line for Flagstaff. The one hitch in the plan was a major accident on a small freeway leading to Flagstaff. Instead of arriving at 3 PM with normal traffic, we were stranded on the freeway for over an hour, until finally making it through and onto Flagstaff. We arrived at the Drury Inn, after checking in and dropping off our bags we went down for their complimentary happy hour. We all had drinks and made our way out to dinner.
I volunteered to have the pressure of finding places for dinner. For the Szerlip's food is one of the pre-requisites to a great vacation, and so the pressure was on. We ended up at a restaurant in town called, Root. For some it was a home run (Jenn and Jake), for others (Ryan and I) it was a missed opportunity, and for Amy and Ally, I don't think they cared. Jenn got the Swordfish which was phenomenal. Ryan and I had the gnocchi (something I found out I loved in Chicago), and not only was it lacking in quantity, it also lacked in flavor. After dinner, we walked around the quaint town of Flagstaff, got some dessert, and called it a night.
A Grand Day
Saturday, May 27, 2017
We woke up bright and early once again for day two of our Memorial Day weekend getaway. After I went for a run Jenn and I met up with the rest of the gang, jumped in the van and were off. After a quick stop at Starbucks for some much-needed refueling, we hit the road for the Grand Canyon.
On the way, we made another pit stop, at the Flinstones Bedrock City, an RV stop that for some reason my family stopped at on our way home from the Grand Canyon nearly twenty years ago. I don't think the place has changed at all in twenty years and outside of making it a good restroom break, we took a bunch of photos and kept going. I wonder if we will all be back there again in twenty years?
We made it to the Grand Canyon right around 10 AM, got a great parking spot and started walking. We spent the next couple of hours walking around, taking photos, and enjoying a beautiful morning at one of the seven natural wonders of the world. As a kid, we always thought it looked like a picture, and now at 30, I can say it still does. We had a great time finding places to take pictures, and hiking along the canyon. It wasn't until a little before 1 PM that we packed it up and jumped back into the van and on our way to Scottsdale.
The drive from the Grand Canyon to Scottsdale was a lot easier than our drive the day before. Outside of struggling to find a place to eat lunch (we landed at a random Sonic in the middle of nowhere), it was a pretty smooth ride. We arrived at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa a little after 4 PM. Upon checking in we all were offered a free glass of wine which is exactly what the doctor ordered after our long day. We got two casitas, one for Jake, Amy, Ally, and Ryan, and one for Jenn and I. We went our separate ways for a couple hours to relax and decompress.
After taking some video and pictures of our beautiful room, Jenn and I laid down and watched the original Jurassic Park. Because of our late lunch, we didn't go out to get dinner with everyone until 6:30 PM. We walked from the hotel to a nearby Mexican restaurant called Blanco Tacos + Tequila. It was such a good meal. Jenn got some carnitas tacos (her new favorite thing) and I had shrimp tacos. Unlike the restaurant in Flagstaff, it seemed like everyone came away much happier after this meal.
We left dinner a little after 8 PM, walked to a nearby Trader Joes and got some wine, and enjoyed it on the patio of their room. After an exhausting couple of days of travel, laying by the pool and doing next to nothing tomorrow sounds absolutely glorious.
It's Hot Hot Hot
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Today marks our last full day of our Grand Canyon trip. Jenn and I slept into until a little after 8 AM. I went out for a run at the gym while Jenn got ready for the day. After my run and meeting up with Jake/Ryan at the gym, I walked across the street to grab Jenn and I Starbucks. That might have been a mistake because it was close to 100 degrees at 9 AM with no breeze in sight.
We met up with everyone a little after 10 AM at the pool at the Andaz. Amy and Ally were nice enough to snag us some optimal spots. I hung out under a covered seat and listened to my book while sipping on a bloody mary, while Jenn got some sun and enjoyed her pina colada. I don't know how my family can stay out in the sun for hours, but after two hours in the baking heat of Arizona, Jenn and I called it.
We ended up going to the hotel restaurant for lunch and split a delicious hamburger. It was the perfect light lunch after a warm day in the sun. We went back to our room and laid around, watched the opening day action at the French Open and relaxed.
We all met up at our place at around 4 PM and opened another bottle of wine. I brought out a card game I purchased called Happy Salmon. We were set up outside and our first game could not have gone any better. It went so well that security came over and told us to quiet down. Happy Salmon was a success.
We finished our last night in Scottsdale at Tommy V's Urban Kitchen. We were all tempted by their three course special but instead, all got the dishes we wanted. I went with the shrimp risotto and Jenn had the spaghetti with meatballs. It wasn't the best Italian food ever, but it was pretty dang good. We walked over to Starbucks after dinner and picked up an Arizona coffee mug to add to our travel collection and drove back to the hotel and called it a night.
Although it was a short weekend getaway, today was by far the most relaxing of the trip. I could have used a week of these types of days. It was an incredible adventure with the entire family, getting to experience both one of the natural wonders of the world and relaxing in the desert of Arizona. Even though the drive home from Scottsdale turned out to be insanely brutal, it's a weekend I don't think any of us will forget.
