Back Home again; AZ Edition

Things have been kind of slow here, for obvious reason. Unbeknownst to my readers, the lovely Mrs. Flash won us a trip to Arizona to see the Queenies play the defending NFC Champion Cardinals. What an amazing weekend it turned out to be!!. It began with a direct flight into PHX on Saturday afternoon, an open tab dinner from our sponsors at the Arrowhead Rock Bottom (Fillet Mignon, Mmmmmmmmm) followed by a good nights sleep at the Quality Inn and Suites at Talavi.

On Sunday we made the beautiful drive up to Sedona. Although I had been to Arizona once before, almost 20 years ago, I didn't have any real free time to tour and travel. We took advantage of that on Sunday. The short 90 minute commute gave us breath taking views of the desert. The Red Rock trails provided us with a bit of exercise as we traveled the Hollyowoodesque desert. Any moment I was waiting for some old Western vigilante to come jumping out behind a cactus *laughing*

Sunday evening was the big game. Parking was a breeze with free spots at the local high school and comp shuttle service the mile and change to the stadium. We took a moment to absorb the ambiance, especially when we got to the 'Great Lawn' where all the hopping tailgate parties were going on.

Surprisingly, the mix of fans was pretty even, but that didn't last long. As the Grand Pa Quarterback failed to find his groove, the typical fair weather Queenie fans slowly trickled out of the stadium. We stayed right till the 2 minute warning, before sneaking out the back door and down to the waiting shuttles. We wanted to attempt to beat traffic, and have a night cap at Rock, before venturing to the Hotel for our last night of respite.
Monday morning was greeted with rain. We were told it 'never' rains in Arizona, so it was no surprise that it would when we were there. Our early afternoon flight give us a chance to drive out to Mesa and visit my God Mother. She has been Wintering in AZ for over 40 years, so it was nice to finally make it to her place and spend a little time, even though it was so brief.

Before long we were sitting in our plane, taxiing on the run way towards O'Hare for our connect to home. While awaiting the connecting fight, the only delay of the weekend, was a grizzly looking guy and a distinctive dimple in the chin. Yes, non other then Jesse 'The Guv' Ventura. I resisted the temptation to approach him, but when stuck in the line to get to my seat, there he was in the front row on 1st Class. I took that moment for a little small talk, but nothing controversial.

So now we're home, like we never left. The kids are in one piece, Kurly boy is back to normal, and me on the way back to work. It all seems so surreal at this point, but memories, great ones, will linger for some time.

Flash