Nielsen's at The Peninsula

I just got back from breakfast. The hotel does know a Filipino stomach, the buffet was lined with endless choices. I was just a bit disappointed that the mangoes ran out. I am glad to have had 3 slices though. They're as good as always.

I am back in Manila for 5 days. The trip was packed with unwanted events... flight delays, cancellations, airline transfer confirmations. And then when I got to the hotel, found out that the client was unable to make it. Talk about shock! So I made calls, my boss who's only just arrived made arrangements to travel back the next day, but I didn't. Not yet. Then the good news, the client will be arriving a day late, but arriving nonetheless.

So I called mom and met with her and Kuya Jhun for lunch. That was after I've had about 4 hours of sleep. After a quick trip to SM (what would a Manila trip be without it?), we went back to the hotel to rest before dinner at Kuya Eisen's. It was good to see family, share stories, add pounds (the food was great), and just be there.

Today, meetings start at lunch so I will talk some more a bit later.

Rhode Island and Connecticut

As luck would have it, I was scheduled to travel to New London, Connecticut on Tuesday. Had I known what a tooth extraction would feel like, I would have postponed it till after the trip. But you gotta do, what you gotta do. So on Tuesday, right after the biometric scanning for my UK visa application, we headed to the airport.

Side note. Before Jojo dropped me at DFW airport, we had lunch at a new place. I Love Pho (or as I would call it, I heart Pho). I loved this place. Tooth or no tooth, it's good. We started off with fresh shrimp rolls, and then Jojo and I shared the beef stew and crispy noodles. Yummy!

So going to a Connecticut meeting proved to be a challenge in terms of getting good flights. I ended up taking a 1-stop flight via North Carolina and arriving in TF Green Airport (PVD) in Rhode Island. Going home, my stop was at Reagan Airport in Washington DC.

A total of 16 hours of travel for a one hour meeting. The things you have to do. Oh, and of course, I was still on medication because of the tooth extraction the day before. C'est la vie.

Arriving in Manila

The flight travels from Dallas to Manila was uneventful. We watched a hundred movies, ok maybe only 3, and slept soundly (akin to snoring) the rest of the flight. It was rather difficult to stay awake in Japan for the 3 hour layover so Gabriel and I stretched out on the lounge chairs and slept. Jojo watched over us, although at one point, I awoke and saw him with eyes closed too! Can't be helped.

Ate Fe, Kuya Tommy, and Nana picked us up at the airport. When we called to say we were already at the arrival section under the DEF sign, they said they were on their way. Little did we know they were still in Bonifacio Heights and didn't expect us to call so soon. We waited a few and didn't mind looking at the crowd before us who were patiently waiting for their family too (I'm guessing). At one point, Gabriel and I waved our hands to the crowd as if we knew someone there. Hello!

We got to Boni Heights and had the surprise of our lives to see Ate Lelou, Keem, Meg, and Ate Tess over there, pretending to sleep! A most wonderful surprise. We were welcomed into the new home of Ate Fe and Manong Danny and for this we are truly grateful. This was to be the "base" of the Ferrer family as we begin our 17-day stay in Manila. Ate Fe gave us the tour of the 3-bedroom/2 bathroom unit, with spacious patio where -- and this fact didn't escape both Gabriel's and my mind as we continued with the tour -- they had a hammock! It's looking so good already!

A few staple favorites have been prepared like manggang hilaw and bagoong and cherry tomatoes for Gabriel. I also ate ensaymada as I found myself suddenly hungry after the long flight. Totally missed the meal served in Japan Airlines as I was dead like a rock by then.

We went to SM Makati the very next day. Ate henlin siomai and siopao, got our driver's license renewed, and ran a few errands like buying towels and new sim for Jojo's phone. All in a couple of hours, I'm impressed.

We had an appointment in the US embassy the day after. The appointment time showed 9:30am although we were requested to be at the site an hour before. By 8am, we just found a taxi that would take us so yeah, there was a little bit of pressure. And that proved to be the least of our worries that day because we made it on time. The biggest hurdle was that the embassy no longer allowed cellphones or any electronic device and we didn't know about this. We were asked to get rid of them either by leaving them inside our car or with people we're with. Unfortunately for us, we have neither.

Time still being a factor as it is now approaching 9am, we went back outside into the comforting arms of... women with vests selling candies and cigarettes on one hand while getting our attention, "Iwan ninyo phone ninyo sa amin. 150 lang, bigyan namin kayo ng claim stub." Yeah. Uhm, in what planet is that ever going to happen?

So I checked the surrounding area and saw a Starbucks and a Yellow Cab Pizza place. I suggested that perhaps it is the wiser to leave the phones and iPod with someone who works there. So we crossed the street and saw Bayview Park Hotel. A good place to meet trustworthy people also - so in we went.

Went straight to the Front Desk and asked if it's possible to rent a vault or a safe. 'Course the guy said no. So we explained to Richie our situation and while he did not readily agree, he eventually did to safekeep our personal belongings while we are at the embassy. And yes, we ended up paying more than 150 pesos. But it was well worth it.

Back at the mbassy, first they didn't allow the pictures we have with us so we had our pictures taken and mine came out the worst. But I can get over that. Haha. The other rather significant thing that I have to deal with is that my fingers won't scan at the biometric machine. I mean, they can't seem to read the lines on my fingers, and the officer on the other side of the window was getting a bit impatient. I got comments like "Please wipe them dry." to "Are you peeling?" However, they are dry and no, my fingers are not peeling. He finally gave up and stamped a "Check Finger Scans" on my application.

There were no problems with the interview and the minor problem was trying to remember the address and phone numbers to include in the Delbros forms. We don't have our electronic gadgets so the information need to come from memory. Memory worked under pressure, thank God.

Oh, and we saw Dingdong Dantes. Haha. He looks just like Jojo.

We took another cab supposedly going to Glorietta but the driver convinced us that Mall of Asia was the place to go. Fine MoA it is. We first had lunch at the foodcourt, I had sisig, Jojo had katsudon and Gabriel ordered ebi tempura. Then we went to the Smart Center so they could take care of Jojo's problems with his newly bought sim card. And a little later, Egbert came to meet us.

And it was so great to see Egbert and Lavina again. Good conversations and getting caught up while in the office, and we continued this during dinner in a Korean restaurant in Manila. Gabriel fell asleep but he too had a great time.

Jetlag, a necessary evil

We have just returned from our trip to Manila. We arrived on a Wednesday night, and after 24 hours of plane ride and layovers filled with multiple naps and a thousand winks... we finally made it back to our home. So what do we do the first 4 days? Sleep! We can't believe it ourselves, this is the hardest hit of jetlag that I know of that ever happened to me.

Finally, I woke up at 5am on Monday and said to myself that I better stay awake and prepare for work. While I lay on the bed, constantly opening and closing my eyes for about an hour, I'm thinking (and probably psyching myself) that finally, I'm ready. I couldn't sleep anymore. I did not want to sleep anymore.

The day proved to be a long one but I made it. I caught up with a lot of people and was focused the whole day. I read a lot of emails, managed to answer some, and ate salad for lunch.

I can't believe it, here I am talking about a regular day at work when I should be writing about seeing family. The 17 days we were there were spent with family period. We didn't see anybody else. And we would have wanted to see more family but there were just too little time. Gabriel enjoyed himself too much. I'll be posting some pictures very soon. Watch out for it.

We didn't have any problems getting the US visa which was the main reason why we left, but there was a lot of stress involved when trying to renew Jojo's passport. I'll tell you more about that in a separate entry. The good news is, the three of us traveled back to Dallas at the scheduled time and that makes all the difference.

I'll be blogging more soon. See you later.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

I've never been to Tulsa until last night. My flight was re-directed to Tulsa due to bad weather in Dallas. We had to wait for a couple of hours until the sky cleared. We arrived in Tulsa around 8pm, and the flight attendant announced that while we can choose to leave the plane, we need to take all of our carry-on with us when we do according to TSA regulations. She also went on to explain that while we can stretch our legs a bit at the gate, we are not allowed to go past security as the Tulsa airport security has already left for the day, so much so that if we choose to go past the security, we won't be able to come back in. I didn't think Tulsa was that small.

Anyway, I didn't leave the plane. Instead, I listened and sometimes joined in the conversation around me. A couple of pilots (one was seated beside me) were passengers and were talking about the protocols for such cases. The other pilot was with the Air Force, so he was talking about handling some of the bigger planes in the nation.

The visit to Phoenix was good except for the fact that there is more work involved. But that's exactly what we want so why am I complaining? Because in the back of my head, I'm already thinking about the vacation in the Philippines.

Planning a trip

Planning a trip for business has suddenly become regular. I just booked and reserved flights and hotel for Phoenix for a couple of days in less than 10 minutes. Perhaps I have become so used to doing it.

On the other hand, our trip to the Philippines is drawing near. I am excited and although I have not really had the chance to prepare for it, like what to bring back or what exactly to do while I'm there, I'm sure it's going to be a blast! I just want to go to Boracay although with the ferry sinking and the typhoon season still very much present, maybe not. We'll find out when we get there, as soon as we have our visa appointments sorted out.

Gabriel got another trophy for chess as the camp closed today. He told me he could play me and his dad at the same time, so once I get some spare time, we could do that. I'm not sure anymore if it was chess or boghouse he was referring to.

We had buffet lunch at Maxim's and we've decided we won't be going there for buffet lunch again. Their dimsum remains to be the favorite though (especially since we don't know of any other place that serve chicken feet and spare ribs).

Travels and being sick

I was in Phoenix the first half of the week and going back to Dallas, I may have caught a bug on the plane. I woke up at 5am Wednesday morning very sick, sore throat + fever. I thought I could fight it off, so I started to work in the morning, did a couple of conference calls. Then at noon, bam! it hit me. I was freezing to death in Dallas spring weather and my joints were starting to ache so much. My muscles too. And did I mention that I vomited during the next two days? Eeew.

The next day, Jojo took me to the clinic and after waiting for 2 hours, I was diagnosed with throat infection and got prescribed with 10 days of twice daily antibiotics. I thought I felt better after that, but my voice have not recovered and certainly not my body. Still, I had so much work to do, so I found myself engaged in calls and working, rather typing away on Friday. I really did not have any choice. People depended on me.

What is the worst part of being sick? I don't know but I sure don't like the whole idea. People who've seen me sick can attest to this. Haha. I cry, I'm so emotional I would cry if you so much look at me. So no eye contact when I'm sick, ok? My colleagues said I sounded terrible, which I probably did. And you can forget about how I look. I could wear the same clothes for 3 days, if only they're not soaked with sweat. And did I already mention crying? I cry all the time.

Gabriel was the nicest boy ever. He would tell me over and over, "Mom, I'm just here ok? If you feel anything bad, let me know, ok?" And he would pat my back in the bathroom while I do the nasty stuff, and tell me he loves me. Ok, so after the bathroom incident, he told me, "Mommy, when you were vomiting, I almost puked too. It almost makes me vomit to see others doing it." Poor baby.

And Jojo, he was laughing half of the time. Which made me cry all the more. But the other half, he was taking care of me and doing everything for me. Thanks hon. I owe you.

Lazy Sunday

The family just stayed home this Sunday. Gabriel watched the Heart concert on TV and was earnestly waiting for Barracuda to be played. Now he and Jojo are working on completing the South America map.

I, on the other hand, have been doing some cleaning. Now, I'm just surfing the web. This is nice, no pressure to do anything.

For the past week, my thoughts have been filled with going home to Manila. We've already made the visa appointments to renew our visa, we've been checking out tickets and flights, we've been looking at making additional trips while there (just one really, Boracay). And I need to make a list of all the restaurants that we need to go to while we're there for the brief time that we've scheduled to be there.

So busy.

I've been looking at the photobooks that we've created and deciding which one to bring back. Almost makes me sad to think that there are more pictures and memories than photobooks, but there's just not enough time to make them. I hope I manage to make a couple more before the trip, but it does seem highly unlikely. I've got so much stuff to do at work that I would rather just play the Wii whenever I'm at home.

I need to prepare for my trip to Phoenix tomorrow so I guess I'll see you later. Have fun!

How are you?

So this is what my blog looks like. Haha. Guilty as charged! I've been away and now, I've come back to blog for good.

Much has happened in the past and I hope I remember all of them and write them down. For now, I will write about what's been keeping me busy of late. I've been doing a project that has kept me off my blog for a long time, but you know that already.

I'm taking the latter part of the day off, going to Gabriel's school for Field Day and then much later, meeting my secret pal. The school has this (secret pal stuff) set up so that the teachers may have a chance to get a surprise gift here and there, and especially on special occasions. I think this is a good idea for motivation, although I am guilty of not paying too much attention to the gift-giving. Haha. I did not forget about special occasions though, or should I say, Jojo did not forget to get her something. I must admit, I'm really bad at this. At least, I am here today and will meet her this afternoon. What fun!

I almost did not make it because I had a flight yesterday bound for Phoenix. However, flights were cancelled due to bad weather so I'm here. A little side note here, I was in a conference call working from home, when Jojo's tornado-alert gadget went off! Of course the folks on the call asked me what it was, and I had to tell them it's the tornado alert. Turns out, it was not, but instead was a flashflood-alert. Not a good thing either, but I guess I was warned. So flights were cancelled whole day yesterday.

I haven't spoken to my mom in ages, so I plan to call her soon. I remember just last week, Gabriel was telling all our friends that he liked Mommy's sunny-side-up eggs better. He said it was different from how I do it. So I probably need to ask her if she has any other secret ingredient other than salt! Gabriel misses her so much and told me that he wished she was back here.

We also managed to clean Gabriel's bedroom last Saturday. Whew, it was a full-time job but with the 3 of us helping out, we were done by mid-day. Now that his room is clean, I have to say it looks real nice.

So I better get back to work, but I hope I find time to blog later. I miss you too!

Toronto, Canada

So I've been here in Toronto for a couple of days now. Yesterday was busy with work, we were in meetings from 8am, and of course I had to meet Renee even before that so we had breakfast in the lobby at 7.

What can I say about the city? Really have not seen much of it except the 7 blocks we walked from the Novotel Hotel to Sheppard Ave. It does have the look of being provincial but not really, if you know what I mean. Today I'm meeting Renee at 8 for breakfast so I better get going then.

I did talk to Lyn who I haven't seen since college. She said if I wasn't doing anything on the weekend, they'd like to show me around. Tita Norma remembered me from years ago and I heard is also excited to see me. That's nice!

I'll blog soon enough.

Christian in the office

I'm in the office today, second time this week since I have been keeping strange hours the past few days because of this crazy work schedule that has fallen into my lap.

Anyway, Christian, Diana's 4-year-old came to the office with her. So we were having fun, and I guess we got pretty loud because Michael had to shut us up. Haha.

And I suddenly felt this urge to blog and only then realized that I haven't in such a long time. So you've been missing a lot of what has been going on in my life lately, I guess. I hope to be able to get the time to get you caught up.

Let's see. Last Friday, Gabriel spent the night at Joel's and I heard it was a blast. Jojo and I, in the meantime, had a great time at Diana's party and I get to try some new stuff that I've never before tried in my life. Well, there's always room for a first-time, right? Like I already said, it was a great party and we met a few cool people over there too. No time wasted.

Saturday, Joel and Paolo decided to come with us to see Gabriel play soccer. Their team lost but the important here is the kids had fun. So, we tried to tell Gabriel that. The kids played some at home before going home.

On Sunday after church, we bought some fish and crawfish and liempo, so we had a feast over at Anne's. We truly enjoyed it. It was my first time to like eating crawfish. One batch we cooked using the boil we bought which was a Louisiana favorite. The other batch we cooked in gata. Yummy!

And then the next update is, I will be going over to Canada on Sunday for a 2-week client workshop. It will be a long one and I will truly miss my boys. But I'm thinking there will probably be more time to blog over there than here. So see you again soon.

Gate F79, Tampa Bay Airport

I was waiting in line in security, thinking whether to take out my laptop first, or my ziploc of cosmetics. The kind of troubles you face when you travel, and you never get used to. Or maybe it's just me. I think to myself whether, 30 years from now, I'll remember this feeling of routine as I go through the motion. Take out my shoes, my coat. Get my driver's license out, but remember to put it back in. Check out the gate I'm departing from before wandering off. Hearing the plane's engine as it pulls into the gate. Looking at people - blank stares, chatting on the phone, reading a book, sleeping.

Attention please, this is your final boarding call...

I travel a lot. Maybe not as much as some people at work, but definitely more than most people I know - family and friends included. Sometimes I ask myself, do I like to travel? And always the answer is yes. But sometimes, the yes is followed immediately by I'd like it better if I travel with family.

When I travel for work, I seldom get the chance to bring my family along. I actually kid myself. Only once did it happen that my family was with me, while I happen to be traveling for work, and that was when we traveled to Phoenix. I'd like for that to happen again, but it's not common and not inexpensive. And there's Gabriel's schedule to consider as well. So no, it doesn't happen often.

My plane just arrived and I look at the people getting out. Anxious, smiley, serious faces. Jeans, coat and tie, flip-flops and high heels. Strollers, wheelchair, elderly, teenagers. The business man, a family going home (or vacationing, I don't know really). People on the phone.

I'm so used to it now. It's common. But I wonder, will it be something I will miss when I travel no more?

Time to board. I'll see you soon.

Hanging at the FSD airport

Today of all days - I decided to go to the airport early to perhaps try my luck in getting an early flight out. Instead I was informed that the flight to Chicago was cancelled and that I have been re-routed through to Denver to my final destination, Dallas. I tried to disagree, but really, there was no other choice and she couldn't route me anywhere else. Like I said before, Sioux Falls is quite rural. If you miss the flight, then you stay the night. I wasn't up to staying another night here. No thank you.

Whoa! What was that? I have to check.

4 fighter planes (don't ask me to describe the body of the plane, but remember Top Gun? The rear of them planes looked exactly like those in the movie. Yeah, flames and all. And that's why I deduced those were fighter planes.) just flew out one after the other right outside terminal 5 of FSD. Definitely not commercial planes... the loud noise reverberated through the small airport.

Cool... I just saw a few birds flying in the direction that the planes took. And immediately the thoughts start whirring and I imagined if they could ever catch up. Nah.

Oh, by the way, I have confirmed trips for Philadelphia on the 25th of this month, and then tentatively flying to Tampa on Apr 3rd.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls is rural. Everything is within 10-minute distance from the airport and the people are warm.

The meetings with the client went well and now I can relax a bit and not worry about any report just yet. It was a working lunch and so that meant there is not much good things to be said about it, except that the sandwich wasn't bad at all. And I did have a chocolate-chip cookie, which only made me miss Tiff's snickerdoodles (sugar with cinnamon cookies).

Although I brought the camera with me, I haven't taken any pictures yet. Yes, it is my first time in Sioux Falls, but again there's really nothing extraordinary. And it's not like I have a lot of time outside. I got in pretty late last night (past 10pm) and was out early for 8:15am meetings. Tonight, I may just have dinner down at the lobby. I'm not sure yet whether Sadhik (who I met for the first time today) will be joining me, he said he'll give me a call at around 7pm.

I'll probably head early to the airport to buy the usuals - magnet and shotglass.

I'm just writing as the thoughts come into my head. I know that there were a couple of items that I wanted to write about, but now that I'm online and actually writing, they've escaped me.

Travels and Amazon puchases

There seems to be a lot of projects that will start this month, and after the trip to South Dakota next week, I have travels lined up for Philadelphia, Florida, Minneapolis, and Amsterdam. So listed in order of priority and then percentage of chance that I'll be going. Small chance of going to Amsterdam though, too bad.

I was disappointed to receive the digital frame that I ordered in Amazon, which means to say I will be returning the item as I am not particularly happy. As a consumer, I have a right to be satisfied and if not, then I will exercise my consumer right to return the product. I haven't done this yet with an online purchase though, so let's try my luck.

On the other hand, I also got my DDR game today and have actually tried a few songs. Not the best that I imagined I could do (in my sleep!) but with practice and perseverance and a lot of sweat, I will conquer. I just know it. I need to pick up another dance mat though. Whoever is brave enough to go against me can do so at their expense. Of course, at the rate I'm going now, they'll probably have the last laugh!

I also just discussed the renewal of my visa here in the US with my boss, and it does seem like we will be traveling back to Manila to get the visa stamp as soon as the visa is approved. Maybe not as soon as, but it definitely means that when I travel out of the country after the visa expires, I will have to go get the visa stamped before I could come back. This actually is good news because that means I would get to visit Manila soon! The bad news is, I'm not sure we are financially prepared for this. I still haven't talked to Jojo about it (as I've just found out myself) but I'm guessing we're gonna have to cross the bridge when we get there?

Blueberry cheesecake

I tried out a new recipe for blueberry cheesecake and it was good. I had some of it last night, and I'll be having some more tonight (unless Jojo finished it all). I actually asked my sister for her recipe but it turns out I may not have to use it. If you want to make your own, I will add the recipe for your reference later on. Come visit again.

Well, I'm really just waiting for the fire alarm to go off, and seeing that I didn't want to be engrossed in my work when that happens (we got the email alert about 5 minutes ago), I decided to relax a bit and blog.

Anyway, on to other things. I'm going to need to change my schedule for March as the trip to South Dakota will not be happening until March 11th. But taking care of this is easy enough as I will just need to call the travel agent and he will handle this from his end.

I've been watching American Idol Season 7 for the past several weeks and voting. Sweet huh?

Booked on United

I don't remember the last time I was on United Airlines. I always fly American, or if going to Manila, it's always been Northwest for me. But AA doesn't fly to Sioux Falls. Anyway, most of my time after lunch was spent looking for a good flight in Orbitz, no non-stop flights sadly. And I didn't realize it was going to be harder than I thought. So I had to resort to going to our trusted travel agent to help me out. Five minutes on the call with Motty, and voila! all's done. He even took care of the hotel reservations.

Nice! So now, I'll be able to go back to work.

Monday in the office

It's not your typical Monday in the office - I have been away for 2 weeks! So there's so much going on that I haven't had time to catch my breath. Except maybe now, and so I'm blogging from my desk.

The Giants won last night, it was a really good game. Not the best that I've seen (says the true-blue Cowboys fan that I am) but surely the best Superbowl game I've seen. I've only seen 3 in my lifetime, and that obviously started when I got here in the US. My first game I watched from an overhead projector at a hotel in New Jersey, I was there for a customer centric selling course. The second was at Patrick's place in Dallas, 42 inches but no HD-reception plasma screen. And the last one at Jan's place. 42 inches plasma, high definition, yeah baby!

And so, the undefeated Patriots get their first taste of defeat for the season. What a sour taste after 18 straight wins. I can only imagine how Tom "Baby" Brady must feel.

On a separate note, had a good lunch at Miguel's Cantina with the guys here at work. I ordered a small fajita which wasn't so small, but good fajita, so no complaints there. The walk back to the office was pleasant, and it's always good getting caught up with colleagues after being away for 2 weeks.

Foreseeable future - a trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota in March. Too bad Mount Rushmore is 369 miles away (about 5 and a half hours drive from where I'll be going).

I'll get going.

Gate 4, Flight 1342

I'm at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport waiting at the gate for my 6pm flight back home. I got here early in the off-chance that I may be able to catch an earlier flight, but none was available. So there's nothing else to do now but wait.

I have 40 minutes of waiting to do.

I just checked my work email, and it seems I have a million items to answer, so I'll attend to them and I'll blog back when I get to Dallas. Ciao.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

First things first, so I'm gonna talk about Saturday.

The general direction was Grand Canyon but there were stops along the way. First stop: Sedona, Arizona where we had lunch and enjoyed the view. This city was billed by 1,000 Places To See In The USA and Canada Before You Die as probably the most beautiful city in the country. We got there, and I thought, it was okay. It was different but to be billed as the most beautiful city? Maybe not for me.

We passed by a park covered in snow so we had to make another stop. Gabriel totally enjoyed this. Enough to comment, "I'm so happy! I love the snow more than the Wii." So that's pretty big.

We made it to the Grand Canyon National Park just after nightfall so we decided to grab dinner and take a rest as our entire day passed rather quickly and tiresomely. We were up at dawn, and we covered quite a bit of land, so I wasn't surprised at all to be in bed and asleep as soon as I changed into comfy clothes.

On Sunday, we watched as the sun rose over the canyon at Yavapai Point. Now I know why they call it grand. And I'm ever so glad to share the experience with the two most important men in my life. Jojo couldn't stop taking pictures while Gabriel couldn't stop playing with the snow. And I would have sat there staring at the canyons if it weren't too damned cold.

We saw a couple of deers on the way to Yaki Point. And I conquered my fear of heights on The Abyss. The endlessness of the beauty of the canyon was truly majestic. And so it was with a heavy heart, and perhaps there was a bit of an empty stomach factor there as well, that we headed out of the park and into the nearest steakhouse.

It wasn't on the general route, but we passed through Sedona again on our way back to Phoenix. As the sun was setting and the light was playing the greatest shadows and color combination on the red rocks, driving through the quaint little town and even noticing the faint reflection of the rising moon, we made up our mind. This could be one of the most beautiful cities in the country.

I wished there were more time to spend here but all good times must come to an end - until the next good one starts. So until then, we'll cherish our moments and memories.