I've missed spring break. The beach vacations to exotic locales, sleeping in, getting a tan....this year I tried to have a mini spring break. I started my week in Austin for work hosting a high school student who wants to be a lobbyist. I was so totally impressed that this junior in high school wants to be a lobbyist (who dreams of that?!) that I had to take her down for two days. We had too much fun in the capitol and dined at the Austin Club with the who's who in town. I managed to squeeze in a little time with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins and ate at Salt Lick in Driftwood. When Guy Kawasaki tweets "Had BBQ at Salt Lick. Now I can leave Austin in peace," you know it has to be good - and it was. I had a quick turn-around Wednesday night. Packing in two hours and getting a little sleep before my 7 a.m. flight to Phoenix.
For Christmas, I got my sister a dream trip to spring training in Arizona. It's the baseball fan mecca. A place where you fly into Sky Harbor and you're surrounded by your own kind wearing their team's gear. Two Mariner's fans told us the best stadiums to visit in the car rental line. Two fantasy baseball fans from California waxed poetic about their first visit to spring training in '69.
My mom being the awesome mom she is got us upgraded to first. The flight was fabulous until the end. I'll spare the details but there was a lot of praying going on. Phoenix is not an easy airport to fly into apparently. We arrived, got our car (a tempermental Ford Edge), checked into our hotel in Surprise and drove to the stadium for the 1 p.m. game vs. the A's. Surprise Stadium is wonderful and our seats were two rows from home plate. The game was pretty slow but the Rangers won.
That night we drove into Glendale to visit Westgate. It's this amazing shopping and dining village surrounding the football stadium and the hockey/basketball arena. We found Margaritaville, my mom's mecca, and my sister commenced rolling her eyes. My mom and I bought our gear for the JB concert in April.
The next day we drove to Sedona to see the red rock formations and visit the art galleries. Arizona is not my kind of beautiful. I would never be satisfied with the brown landscape and gravel for a front yard. However, by the end of the trip, I found the sage bushes and mountains growing on me a little. Sedona is a different kind of Arizona and it's amazing that our country can be beautiful in so many ways. We really enjoyed the shops at Tlaquepaque and my sister bought some handmade jewelry. We tried really hard to buy into the new age energy of the town and find the "vortexes." I've decided that I want to go back and spend a couple of days there hiking, taking in some spa services and eating at D'Lish.
That night we made it back through the mountains to watch the Royals vs.
Dodgers. Once again we had fabulous seats and Muhammad Ali (a Royals fan!) was a stone's throw away from us. Spring training is a great place to go celebrity watching. The weather was perfect and the fireworks were beautiful. (Nothing compares to the fireworks at the Ballpark, which are coreographed to music).
On Saturday we got up early and went back to Surprise Stadium. The awesome thing about spring training is that the players are so friendly and accesible. We walked among the entire Royals roster and minor leaguers at their practice fields, the players readily sign autographs and will talk to you during batting practice (just watch out for those fast-moving homeruns). This game was my favorite because we sat by the two fantasy baseball fans and a couple from Fort Worth who have held season tickets since they moved to Fort Worth. Between all seven us, we had baseball trivia flying (what's your favorite baseball movie? Who's the player who was sent to Japan?). Owen Wilson made an appearance at this game - he was researching a role for an upcoming movie and he is a Rangers fan.
After the game we headed over to Scottsdale to explore the fashion district, dining district and arts district. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to Sprinkles before they closed. I did shut down JCrew though!
Sunday was bittersweet - time to come back. We had a late flight out and with the time change I didn't get to my house until 11. So this week is my recovery week. I also have to catch up with my trainer!
What did Robert do while I was gone? Had fun with the guys and worked on a surprise for me. He organized the garage Kelly-style with fancy hooks for my wreaths, shelving and more. All of my gardening stuff is organized and easy to access. He is so awesome.
I also walked out back after work to find my Shantung Maples blooming with yellow flowers. They didn't do that last year and I think they are starting to thrive. I have to be patient because they are slow growers but worth the wait. The ground cover I planted last year has triple the blooms this year. So many good signs in the garden. My seeds have sprouted inside and in a week or two they will be ready to transition into the garden. I'm hoping the survive!
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