Trip to the Desert

Last Wednesday at o-dark thirty, Nate and I headed out on a lonnnnnnnnng drive to Tucson, Arizona. We were both a little grumpy at first, but a short stop to enjoy some nature at Red Rock Canyon between Panguitch and Kanab cheered us both up.

Look how pretty!

Awesome gnarly tree.

So, feeling happy again, and grateful for the wonderful world we live in, we hit the road once more and drove the last 8 or so hours from there to Tucson. Most of the drive was fine, but the last couple hours seemed to take FOREVER. At least we enjoyed the pretty views.

Our first evening there consisted of some swimming, a tasty dinner, mingling with the families, and of course, playing with the new baby, Traci Jane! She is so stinkin' adorable...

With Aunt Beth or Aunt "B" as Cait has started calling me.

Even Nate [who thinks pretty much all babies look like aliens] admitted that TJ is a very cute baby, and said that he is excited for when we will have our own (someday in the fairly distant future). Look how cute they are together!

The main reason we went was to be there for little TJ's blessing. Here she is in her beautiful gown with her mommy and two namesakes, Grandmas Tracey and Jayne. 

Nate also went on a couple of bike rides, since we both just got brand new bikes the day before we left! Then we had a little desert photoshoot to show off our nice new wheels.

Check out the gigantic cactus! Tucson is like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon in real life.

Later in the week we went to the De Grazia Museum, which was really fun. I was able to see all sorts of stuff that I learned about in my modern art class in his works, so that was pretty cool.

So, Tucson was lots of fun, even though it was blazing hot. Seeing little TJ kinda made me want to have a baby, but at the same time not really, at least not until I'm done with school (about 1 year, unless I get my masters). The drive back was really long and tedious, but we stopped at Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon Dam, and then at Red Rock Canyon again. More pictures: