Road Trippin' Part 2

It was wonderful being in Arizona in winter! I can see why so many people head that way each year.

It was fun exploring around Verrado and Estrella Mountain Ranch with Dad and Janet. Everything was so beautiful, and so many flowers were in bloom. Dad and Janet treated us all to coffee/chai and pastries from the cutest shop!

Cuties hand in hand! 

My dad is the sweetest!

(Thank you for the fabulous lunch on the lake.)

Selah jumping at Sunset.

We spotted colorful fish (kind of like koi), turtles and ducks in these waters.

From there we headed to Scottsdale, which I love. I hadn't been there since I was a teenager.

We got to see my great aunt, cousins and extended family. It was soooo wonderful to catch up and see their beautiful faces!

We enjoyed seeing Old Town Scottsdale that evening which was really charming. Lots of live music along the streets.

From Scottsdale we headed to Flagstaff, which was our hub for our Grand Canyon and Sedona day trips. Flagstaff reminded us so much of Eastern Oregon! There was still some snow on the ground in parts of Flagstaff when we were there. 

As we entered the Grand Canyon National Park we saw lots of elk along the roads. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we loved exploring the south rim.

We ended our day at the Desert View Point, to watch the sunset. It was just sooo beautiful!

It was magical watching the sun set over the canyon!

So much beauty. Do you see the river below?

I loved all of the layers of blue...

Here too.

The next day we headed to Sedona to hike Devil's Bridge. We wanted to watch the sunset at Cathedral Point, but ended up having dinner in town and meeting up with a friend that evening. But just to give you an idea of the beauty of this place, this was the view from the parking lot at the end of our hike that day. Stunning!

Here we are on Devil's Bridge.

Josh ventured out a little farther.

We just loved all of the beauty around there!

Our next stop on the way home was Santa Barbara. We rode bikes along the beach and had gelato at Here's the Scoop, a hidden gem in Montecito. We watched the sun set over the ocean, and had some of the best Argentinian food to go that I've ever tasted. 

Oh, and we also stumbled upon this cute little guy while biking. :)

We stopped at Pismo again on our way up the coast.

We also stopped to enjoy the sunset in Monterey.

We saw tons of little crabs in the water and the kids loved collecting shells.

I loved the swirl on this shell... the coloring reminded me of a Nemo fish :)

From there we made our way home. The kids were sooo ready to see Westley again. Ok, we all were! :) And we got quite the joyful welcome from that sweet boy. It felt great to get away as a family and see so much beautiful scenery, but it also felt great to be back home again. We have so much to be grateful for! And grateful we are. xo