November 16, 2005

• Arizona Part 2

  
  

  

  
  

  So, we just got back from an awesome cruise to Ensenada for Jober's birthday, I'll post about it, but first here's a continuation of the Arizona trip from 3 wks ago.  So, the day after the wedding Mixygirl and I took some time to commune with cactus before driving up to the Grand Canyon.  I love these Saguaro cactii, they're just insane.  Look at how big this one is.  Makes the Mojave desert just look pathetic.

  
  

   

  
  

  After chilling with the wedding party in the morning, Mixy and I drove to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.  I had just become obsessed with cactii and wanted to see them in all their glory.

  
  

   

  
  

  As you can see, given that this garden had a cactus house, and cactus forests, we had a very good time. 

  
  

   

  
  

  After waiting in a really long line, we went into a tent that was filled with literally hundreds of monarch butterflies.  It was extremely cool, and a great opportunity to get close up pictures of these beautiful creatures.  In the past when I was considering a tattoo, I always had wanted a large monarch butterfly all across my upper back. 

  
  

   

  
  

  On our way out, we caught some unique Arizona sights.  On the left, these cowboy singers decided to "act natural" when they saw me about to take a photograph of them.  On the right appears to be a person in a Saguaro cactus costume escorting a mentally challenged lady into the garden!!!  The last thing I saw that was equally trippy was the weird puppet/light show at the Wynn in Vegas.

  
  

   

  
  

  So, after the botanical garden we drove to try to find a restaurant that served traditional indian fry bread tacos (I heard it's like a taco made with a fried dough shell).  We kind of saw the street to turn on at the last minute and I veered to the right, not paying attention to the fact that there was a car in that lane.  His car is the red one, and ours is the blue one.  I pretty much just accepted the fact that the accident happened and had to be dealt with, but Mixygirl was so pissed at me, she was literally shaking.  Apparently the kid I hit had just gotten this car yesterday which was his first car ever.  I felt pretty bad about that.  On a side note the rental which was a Chevy Blazer was the worst car I have ever driven.  Who makes SUV's that have less acceleration than honda civics.  What's the point?

  
  

   

  
  

  To add insult to injury, we found out that the frybread restaurant was closed for the day.  We did however find a kick ass restaurant that specialized in Southwest cuisine called Sam's Cafe.  Mixygirl had a much needed margarita to chill her nerves out.

  
  

   

  
  

  I had an excellent seared tuna dish (left), and Mixy had a great little fajita and enchilada dish.  After my automobile misadventures we drove the rest of the afternoon all the way to the Grand Canyon.  The drive was really long, and we got to see the landscape change from desert with tons of cactus, to colder with pine tree forests near the grand canyon area. 

  
  

   

  
  

  We stayed at the Grand Hotel right outside the park entrance

  
  

   

  
  

  For dinner we ate at the Canyon Star restaurant attached to the hotel.  It was pretty cool, because they had native american singing and dancing.  They even played the cool indian tom-tom drums, and a flute like instrument.

  
  

   

  
  

  Mixy had some tasty babyback ribs, and I had roasted buffalo meat brisket.  We turned in to sleep shortly after, little did we know how mind blowing the Grand Canyon would be the next day!!!

  • 4:59 pm
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