In February we took our annual vacation to visit the grandparents in Palm Desert, CA and Tucson, AZ.
We enjoyed fantastic weather the entire trip. It was in the 70s and 80s in Palm Desert and the 70s in Tucson.
This year we organized the trip a little differently with an open jaw flight itinerary. That gave us one less day of driving since we only had to do the Palm Desert to Tucson drive in one direction.
The girls had a ton of time in the pool in both places. They love hanging out in the Palm Desert pool with Aunt Betsy. Grandma and Aunt Betsy also like to take them shopping.
We did a bunch of cool outdoor things this trip. While in Palm Desert we went horseback riding at Smoke Tree Stables, and we also went for a hike in Indian Canyons. Carol and I went hiking there the previous year and loved it so much we wanted to return with the girls. Audrey also went with Carol and me to ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.
It's become a tradition to have our farewell breakfast at a pancake place called Keedy's. Another part of that tradition is we always try to get a good family photo. We scored this year.
Carol and I love to road trip, so we enjoyed the 5-hour drive to Tucson. I love the wide open vistas when driving in the desert.
In Tucson we visited several favorite places.
The previous year we discovered the fantastic Children's Museum Tucson and this year we returned there and had just as much fun.
Carol and I went for a date night to a restaurant we also discovered last year: the Downtown Kitchen. Even with my post-cancer treatment taste and saliva challenges I enjoyed dinner.
We always spend a few hours at Funtastick's. We ride go-karts, play laser tag, ride the rides and play mini-golf. They also have bumper boats but it wasn't quite warm enough to get that wet. The highlight this year was that Audrey was tall enough to drive a go-kart by herself. She loved it!
Dennis and Mary treated us to lunch at the Westward Look Bar & Grill. We had a lovely lunch on the patio with a beautiful view of the Tucson valley and the mountains to the west.
We also visited the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, another favorite place. It and The Living Desert Museum in Palm Desert are very similar, with a long path that winds through the desert among animal exhibits that manage to not feel very much like a zoo.
Finally, we did some more hiking near Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dennis' house in Oro Valley. We hiked the Lower Javelina trail in Wild Burro canyon starting at the Dove Mountain Resort.
Phew! That was a busy vacation! But very fun.
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