.: Yay for Mini Va-cays!

Eric and I had so much fun on our little getaway to Flagstaff this weekend! After Eric got home Friday around noon from being on call Thursday night, we were on the road right away...I drove while he slept. He literally fell asleep when we hit the highway and didn't wake up until we were 5 minutes away from our hotel! It was so great to get away even though it was just for a night. We could have stayed Saturday night too, but we wanted to have a full Sunday so we could go to church, go to the gym, and get some cleaning and errands done before we both had to be at work again today. I highly recommend mini va-cays, even if it is still in your own city...just to get away for a little bit does wonders! Eric and I really needed a break from this desert weather too, and the weather was beautiful in Flagstaff...high in the 70s, low in the 40s, with some thunderstorms rolling in on Saturday afternoon (I don't think I have heard thunder since we left Oklahoma). It was also great to be able to show Eric around the cute little mountain town I went to school in for two years. We will definitely be making this trip again...can't wait for the winter when we can go snowboarding!

We found a lava tube to hike through on Friday afternoon...nothing man-made about it! Pure darkness...about 40 degrees, about a mile each way. It was super creepy. We sent my mom a video from it and she said it looked like the Blair Witch Project. Ah!

Climbing into the cave!

Thank goodness for flashlights and camera flash. If we turned our flashlights off we couldn't see our hands in front of our face! Oh, and I didn't mention there was no guide or anything...we had to find our own way through!

In some places the cave ceiling (is that what you call it in a cave, a ceiling?) got so low we had to almost crawl to get through it.

At the end of the cave!

Beautiful pine trees...a nice break from all the palm trees or other crispy vegetation in Phoenix.

Friday night we ate at a little Thai restaurant...we ate here in April on our way to Phoenix to go house hunting and we loved it, so we decided to go here again. I got chicken pad thai (above) and Eric got pork lo mein. Both incredible.

My dinner after I had eaten my own weight in pad thai...it doesn't even look like I put a dent in it!

We ate breakfast the next morning at a cute little place called La Bellavia. My parents an I ate here on one of their visits to Flag when I went to school there...I think it was parents' weekend or one of our swim meets.

I opted not to have my usual non-fat sugar-free coffee beverage (it was vacation, right?!) and went for the full-fat, full-sugar, with tons of whip cream vanilla latte....YUM.

YUMMMMM! Why do I have a lazy eye?

La Bellavia is famous for their oat pancakes. Filled with berries, apples, or bananas, and topped with an apple topping and butter. No need for syrup. I got apples inside (dad used to always make me apple pancakes! My favorite!). It was incredible...I dare anyone to try to eat two of these things...I think I was only able to eat about a quarter of it...they are so thick and are as big as a dinner plate! Mom, i know you are super jealous right now (she has literally been talking about these pancakes since we all ate there that ONE time! :)