Summer Vacation 2014: Day 1

     This summer was supposed to be a beach vacation summer but since we knew there would be a baby in the future we decided to head out for a little adventure. Tom had only been to the Southwest for a lacrosse tournament at ASU so I was excited to go explore this beautiful part of the country with him and a best friend of mine. We took a Friday evening flight so that we could arrive late Friday night and have all day Saturday. We were stoked for our last big trip before the baby arrives in December!

The flight went pretty well until the captain announced we would be circling the Phoenix airport due to a dust storm in the area. As we circled the airport and looked out the window all we could see was a layer of brown dust between us and the land below. The captain said we had 30 minutes to circle before we would be diverted to California in order to refuel. Sure enough, after about 30 minutes we heard the wheels go up and the plane went back to higher elevation. Off to California we went.

When we arrived in California it was already 8:00 (10:00 St. Louis time). We were very hungry for dinner and hopeful to get back to Phoenix for a shuttle that evening. We would already miss the 9:00 shuttle but were hoping to make the 11:00 pm. We waited in California for about an hour and a half before heading back to the Phoenix airport. When we finally arrived at the airport we were sleepy and starving. It was 10:45 pm when we landed but 11:45 before they could get us into a gate due to all the diverted flights. We missed the last shuttle and the only food open was Starbucks. AND, due to the large number of stranded travelers, we would only have a few hours of sleep by the time we got a hotel room for the night. We cozied up at the Starbucks and made it home for the night.  

Mixed emotions about finally being in the shuttle

At 6:40 we gathered our stuff, ordered a coffee and went to catch a 7 am shuttle. By 10:00 we were in Flagstaff. Only 21 hours of travel to get to Flagstaff, Arizona...not bad, right?! Did I mention I am five months pregnant?

We went to grab lunch then decided to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain for a view of the surrounding areas. It was a beautiful afternoon and the views were incredible. It was a great way to culminate a long anticipated arrival!