October 17th: Even Morning Walks are Pretty!

Jen and I were both up pretty early again the next day, but for different reasons. I was still on East Coast time, but she needed to pack her bags, drive to Phoenix, and fly to Iceland! I decided to take a short walk to check out the sunrise views while she finished packing her things.

I happened to find a small path right next to the hotel, so I walked a little bit and found a clearing that looked out onto some of the rocks.

The colors were fantastic...I don't know that I'd ever get tired of a view like that.

This might be one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.   :)

I didn't wander around for too long, though...I wanted to make sure I could say goodbye to Jen before she left. She was almost done packing when I got back to the room, so we caught up for a few minutes, loaded up her car, and said goodbye. I'm not sure when we'll be able to catch up in person again, but it was nice to see her while I could!

After Jen left, I stopped at the breakfast buffet for a small snack and some coffee, then wandered around to find a good spot to enjoy the view.

Ahh, scenic coffee.   :)

There was a post-wedding brunch later that morning, but I still had a little bit of free time. I could see on Google Maps that the trails I had found earlier that morning went out pretty far, so I decided to go for a walk to check them out.

To get to the trails, I had to walk down to a nearby church, then wander through their parking lot until I found where the rest of the trails started.

Found it!

I figured I'd just wander around until a set time, then turn around and backtrack to get back to the hotel. I didn't have any trail maps, but it was pretty easy to see where I was on Google Maps so I wasn't too worried about getting lost.

Not a bad view for some random wandering.  :)

It may be a little geeky, but I always like when I find a cactus actually growing outside. I'm so used to seeing them in pots! This one was really tiny and made me smile.

Yes, I took lots of cactus pictures.

I turned around at my set time and made my way back to the church parking lot just fine. I decided to walk the long way around, and it was definitely a good decision; they had lots of neat gardens.

I especially liked the cactus sculptures.

I made my way back to the room, got ready for brunch, packed up my stuff, and checked out of the hotel. It had been nice to stay there, but I would be spending the rest of my trip with Timmy and Tara. Brunch itself was delicious and a lot of fun; I wound up sitting with Andrew's brother and sister, his sister's fiance, and Naomi's best friend from Texas. We had a really good time, especially with the running jokes about the server lady repeatedly trying to take my plate away and then her telling Andrew's sister's fiance that he could just pull a chair up to the buffet. I got to catch up with a few more people before everyone said their goodbyes and we all went our separate ways. It had been a really nice wedding...I'm glad I could be there!

I made it to Timmy and Tara's house just fine, hung out with Canyon and their nanny for a little while, then spent a little while getting caught up on a few things on my computer while Timmy and Tara finished up their work for the day.

Their dog Simba kept me company.   :)

They eventually wrapped up their work and we spent the rest of the day hanging out. We walked to a very tasty Thai place for dinner, where Canyon kept waving at a small statue of a lady near the door then repeatedly tried to eat all of Timmy's dinner, then we walked back home and hung out for a little while before heading to bed. I was wiped out!