Knife free fun.

Manda's parents left this morning. It was an action packed week. *yawn* I'm still recovering from all the time spent in the car.

Our first stop was Tombstone, a historic western town about an hour southeast of Tucson. It took us roughly 3 hours of listening to country music to make the journey. Now I don't hate country music. In fact I usually enjoy it in small doses. Three hours was a little much but worth the pain. I did learn a few things.

Manda's dad loves country music. Loves it. I'm talking "shamelessly singing off-key at the top of your lungs" loves country music. It was adorable. And he actually has a decent voice. It was just those really high notes that made my ears bleed. Almost erased those images of him with the machete. Almost.

Manda's dad knows a lot of random facts about random things. Thanks to my blackberry we were able to investigate his random knowledge. As a group, we are now much smarter.

Tombstone was a hit. Manda's dad loved the old western town and the characters found throughout it.

After a quick three hour return trip to Phoenix for a night's sleep, we drove five hours up to the Hoover Dam the next morning. I tried to rebel against the country music. After all, I'd listened to 6 hours of it the day before. My protests succeeded for about an hour. But I was ultimately overruled by everyone else. Manda apparently had forgotten how much she just loves country music! :o)


Hoover dam was a hit as well. Manda's dad was impressed with the engineering feat but not the prices of the food. No he didn't like the prices at all.
From the Hoover dam we drove 3 hours to Williams, Arizona. Williams is found on the historic Route 66 which immediately earned it cool points with Manda's parents. I thought everyone had driven on Route 66, but apparently if you're from po-dunk Alabama there's a good chance you haven't.

Williams is where the weather caught our attention. 39 degrees. Really? 32 degrees with wind chill. Really?! I knew it would be cooler, but that's down right winter weather!

Manda's dad again earned adorable points by continually talking about the weather difference between Phoenix and Williams. To quote: "15 degrees I could see, but a 40-50 degree difference?!" For us Arizonans, this difference is not only expected but welcomed. Northern Arizona is our haven from the heat.

The next morning we caught a historic train to the Grand Canyon. Again, Manda's dad was adorable. Apparently he likes trains.
For those of you who don't know, Manda's dad was in a motorcycle accident 3-4 weeks ago. His broken bones and road rash are still healing, so he's still taking life slowly and from a new perspective. He was an absolute delight on the train ride. It was like watching a kid experience something new for the first time.

Needless to say, the Grand Canyon was a huge hit. How could it not be? ... well, the bone chilling cold almost ruined it. We had to get creative to keep warm.
After touring the great state of Arizona from the southeast corner to the Northwest corner, we called our sight seeing adventures complete. Manda's parents are already compiling a list of things they want to see the next time they come.
And for those of you wondering, the machete never appeared. Although there were some points during the many hours of country karaoke that I wished it had!

Peace Out!
:o)

Hiding the knives.

My pseudo "in-laws" are coming to town. That means my pseudo "father-in-law" is coming as well... and staying with us. For those of you who don't know, Manda's dad scares the SH*T out of me.

Don't get me wrong. He's a nice guy. He just loves his daughter a LOT. And when I saw a lot, I mean this:

Back in 2004, Manda was moving out here from Birmingham, so I flew out there to drive back with her. Her car was packed up, we're saying our goodbyes and getting ready to drive away. Her dad hadn't said ONE word to me the entire time I was there when suddenly, and I mean suddenly, he looked me square in the eyes and said "you take care of my daughter."

I admit, I peed myself a little. Which in my mind is better than soiling myself. Less stinky.

The next few times he saw me, he looked through me. Then a few times after that he started talking to me when he'd had a few drinks. Only after the Thanksgiving diarrhea incident has he actually acknowledged my presence and started what some would consider "normal" conversations. Diarrhea brings people together. Just saying.

Because her father and I are in that cautious and delicate stage of developing and establishing our relationship, I'm scared that the more time I spend with him the greater the chance of me screwing up is. Not that I'm a screw up, I mean I can be, but you know what I'm saying... right?

Did I ever tell you the story about when he was sharpening his machete? Manda is shaking her head right now because it wasn't really a machete, it was a pocket knife that, in my mind, was the size of a machete. Anyways, he was sharpening his machete when he says to Manda's mom "you know what I'm gonna do with this?". Ummmm... What? "I'm gonna use it on Lindsay since she's the reason my daughter's in Arizona."

I've been assured he was joking, but I'm hiding all the kitchen knives just in case.

Peace Out.
:o)

Climbing Rocks.

Yesterday, Manda and I went climbing at a local rock climbing gym. She'd never been so I was prepared to show her how it was done. That one time I went in college 8 years ago was enough to make me a professional... right?

I like to think I'm athletic. I mean, I work out regularly and I played varsity sports. It's part of my genetic make up... right?

Pshh. Whatever. Manda freaking walked up those 20-30 foot walls like they were horizontal. While her athletic abilites were a pleasure to watch, and believe me I enjoyed every second of it, I was left feeling like an ackward 13 year old boy who loves star wars, trying to dance with two left feet. Not pretty.

Needless to say Manda showed me a few things. I was the student and she was the master. I left with lots of bruises... She left after barely breaking a sweat.

If she weren't so damn cute, I'd have been more upset at her for showing me up. But alas, she's adorable. She can win every time and its okay with me.

Peace Out.
:o)