MAY

Our hectic life continued into May as well. At this point, knowing that we had our big trip coming up in only a month, we were desperately attempting to lose that glorious "freshman 15" from our bellies, hips, and thighs (well, his belly, my hips and thighs....and belly, and arms, and back, and every other freaking place that fat decided to deposit itself....). Anyway, we started a vigorous workout regimen that included hiking Camelback Mountain several times. On one occasion, we took decided to bring our friends, the Glenn family along for the ride!

(Kinzie was really the one that got to ride though...)

Camelback is actually pretty tough (especially for those as out of shape as we all were), but the view on top is unbeatable - 360 degrees of city views - you can see for miles and miles! This shot is of part of downtown Phoenix.

And here is everyone that actually made it to the top - yes, a 5 year old did it (and yes, she complained even less than I did!)

Later in the month, Anthony joined me (once again) for a trip to California, but this time it was up the northern coast. With all the travel I was doing, I qualified in April for a companion pass through Southwest, which lets him fly free with me an unlimited number of times, whether we pay for my flight or not. I just have to be on the flight with him. I don't know what I would do without Southwest. They are the best airline ever.

We started our trek in San Francisco, and played the tourist card visiting Chinatown, where we actually went to the factory where they make all the fortune cookies! (Ok, maybe not all of them, but something like 2000 per day!)

Anthony made sure everyone in Chinatown was aware of his favorite pasttime...

And then, while driving up in the middle of nowhere, we came across evidence that there are others who share a love for his other favorite pasttime....(but seriously, this was the most random thing I think I have ever seen in my entire life!)

I had one account to visit in a little town called Fortuna, CA - about 4 hours north of San Francisco and 4 hours south of the Oregon border (so basically, 4 hours away from anything at all). Fortuna is in Humboldt county, which is the Marijuana capital of the world. But, despite everyone being perpetually high there, we got a chance to see some amazing scenery. I took about 100 pictures/day, so I'm only posting the best ones.

My favorite thing was the redwood forests. These trees were HUGE!

We even got a chance to climb on top of one, and I even did it in stilettos. Yes, I am that talented.

After that, we travelled just a bit further up the coast to a black sand beach.

We wanted to go back down to the beach that evening, but it was pretty foggy, so we decided against it. The thing with redwood trees is that their bark is actually poisonous, so there are no bugs. And no bugs = no animals to eat the bugs. So there is nothing but trees. Now picture the following:

Swirling fog so thick you can only see a few feet in front of you, it is getting increasingly darker, and the only noise for what seems like miles is a few trees creaking in the breeze. Yeah, it was pretty, but it was also kind of creepy. So we waited until morning, and then went down to look for cool rocks.

Then we drove in from the coast to Redding, and found some more amazing scenic spots.

And....then I got bored with driving so much that I made Anthony take over so I could take some super cool shots of myself with my glamour sunglasses.

Just after we got back to Phoenix, another couple we're friends with invited us to go out hiking and 4 wheeling in southern AZ.

Jonathan almost died, but Bekah saved him. He has such a good wife.

We did some pretty intense climbing.

It was a really pretty canyon that we were in. It was just too hot. And the beauty of this picture is that you can't see all the hundreds of thousands of flies that would cling to your body anytime you stopped moving for more than a milisecond. Sometimes you had to do this funny little dance while you walked and slapped the flies off your neck, arms, and legs all at the same time. They were everywhere. If you didn't move for a full minute, they would cover every square inch of your skin. But isn't this view pretty?

On our way back to the car, I had to save Bekah. Doesn't she look terrified? Good thing I had been working out.

We even made a new friend on the trip, but Anthony wouldn't let me bring him home.

And we topped the day off with some serious 4 wheeling. And no, we didn't get stuck for an hour 3 separate times and nearly run out of water to the point that by the time we made it to the first gas station outside the canyon that we all just about passed out on the floor from dehydration. No, that didn't happen at all.