Prev/Next


Fun for the whole Family:
www.fojin.com

"No, It's a vicious lie!"






Archives:

2014-Today
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002

October 15, 2016 - 9:08 p.m.
"phoenix"

Hey Journal!

Tonight we're in Chandler, Arizona.... just outside of Phoenix!

It's been a long day but I'm surprisingly not that tired. I think I'll fall asleep quickly as soon as we get to bed but for some reason I have a little extra energy tonight!

Technically it's 12:08am at home right now and we woke up at 5:10am... so it really has been a long day.

So, we got up and got out last-minute things ready for our trip. Dans mom arrived promptly at 5:30 and we hit the road for JFK. Dan drove on the way there and we made good time. It was early so there wasn't any traffic to contend with.

When we got to the airport we checked in at the Delta counter and then got on the line for security. Once we got inside, we found our gate and sat down for about 5 or 10 minutes until they started boarding.

We got on, got to our seats, and there was a woman already seated on the aisle seat. We had the window and the middle. Dan sat by the window and I was in the middle.

The woman was very chatty, she talked a LOT during the flight. It turns out she's a receptionist at a law firm on route 110 and lives in Lindenhurst. She was very nice, but she really got attached to us. She came to Phoenix, too, to visit her son and then to go with his family to DisneyLand!

Dan and I ate our sandwiches and played some games from the puzzle book I had gotten dan for his Japan trip.

At one point I tried to listen to my podcasts and she asked what I was listening to. When I told her a podcast, she asked me what a podcast was.

I didn't sleep at all on the flight, really. I had some sprite and pretzels as a snack.

We landed in Minneapolis and had to change planes. Our new friend followed us to the new gate because she was on our connecting flight as well. We talked the whole way there!

When we arrived, Dan and I went to the bathroom and then took a walk around the airport because we had about an hour to kill before the next flight.

When we got on the new flight, our friend was supposed to be seated in the row in front of us but they asked her to move for some reason. She would up about 5 rows ahead.

On the second plane we had the most obnoxious engines! They made the loudest noise!!! Luckily I had my earplugs with me and they really helped. Our seat was directly next to the engine!

I caught up a little on the Scott Mills podcasts and I even got a little sleep in. I woke up on and off and we landed around 12:45!

We had to go to baggage claim and on the way we were joined by our new friend. You know, we never got her name!!

Fear not, though, she's on our returning flight next Saturday!

So, Dan and I got our bags and then went to the rental car shuttle. It was a full shuttle and when we got there we only had ONE car to choose from. Not much of a choice. Since they had so few cats available they let us take a "luxury" car instead of mid-sized.

We picked a nice one and then got in and off we went. National is really great, you don't have to go to the counter or anything- just get in and drive away!

We keyed our hotel into the GPS and made our way here. It was 93 degrees out and I was wearing my sweater and jeans and it wasn't crazy hot. I mean, I quickly switched to shorts and a tee, but that's the beauty of a dry heat!

We got to the hotel and our room was just ready! It's a Home2 hotel and it's really nice. It was built only a few months ago and it's pretty snazzy. We brought our stuff to the room and then got changed and headed out for lunch.

Dan found this cool looking place called The Organ Pizza and we tried to go there but it was closed! It opened at 4 and we had arrived at 3.

We decided to get some fast food to hold us over and then come back later. We searched nearby and found a Culver's nearby. I had never been to one before and was excited to try it out.

Turns out today was National Cheese Curd Day so dan got a special 2$ cheese curd deal! I got chicken fingers, fries, and mashed potatoes. The restaurant was really nice and the people who worked there were super super friendly. In fact, I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant with more friendly workers. It was confusing but really nice. The girl who helped us was one of our favs, along with a guy named David.

My food was good with the exception of the mashed potatoes. I mean, they were okay but not great.

After we ate we decided to go to a place called Tempe Beach Park. The name is a bit deceiving as there isn't a beach or anything like a beach there.

We walked around and I caught a TON of Pokémon! First off, they have Ekans all over! They don't have wheedles at all... so basically the Ekans is the Weedle of Arizona! Meanwhile that sucks for them bc the Ekans needs 50 candy as opposed to 12 to evolve.

So, I caught a few new ones that I hadn't encountered before as well as some ones i already had but were kinda rare.

New ones, I got the evolved form of Ekans, an evolved Growlithe, and more but I can't remember!!

We planned only to walk in this one area but kept going farther and farther. We wound up in this little town that was super-nice. We walked down the main street there and, just by chance, walked past a Fat Tuesday!!! I spotted it and Dan and I decided we NEEDED to stop for a drink!

We each got one and sat outside near the street. It was a nice stop and we had a good time sitting there watching people go by!

It was perfect weather today, hot-- dry heat-- comfortable! I loved it. Remind me why we live in such a cold place again....

So, we continued walking and wound up walking through the ASU campus. Lots of Pokémon there, too! We turned around there and headed back. It was a loooong walk!

We made it back to the car and then headed to a nearby Target to get some water-- we were thirsty and we figure we need some bottled water for the rest of the week.

So, the plan was to go back to that pizza place later but we got more food than we expected at Culver's and neither of us was hungry for more food!

We went to the Tempe Target and got the water-- as well as some clearance pants I hope to wear to work! Never can pass up a Target deal!

Next it was back to the hotel. It was about 8:30 and we wanted to go in the pool. We out or bathing suits on and headed down. Unfortunately there was a group of people sitting down there eating and a bunch of kids in the hot tub so we decided to skip it. We'll have to go tomorrow night!

We got back to the room, showered up, and now we're off to bed. It's currently 9:45 and I'm looking forward to getting a full night's sleep!

We really don't have any plans for tomorrow except for going to that pizza place! We'll see what adventure comes our way!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)