A Different Holiday Break for Us

Our family vacation plans did not come together last summer given our kids’ work schedule. Pete is a senior in college, so there is even more uncertainty around planning a vacation for this upcoming summer. (Quick aside – planning a summer vacation now is the only logical thing to do when one is staring at 24 inches of fresh snow). So although we had never done a vacation over the holidays we decided now was the time.

We are not skiers so we defaulted to warmer climate options, and after some deliberation we opted for Arizona. I have only been to the Grand Canyon once for a total of one hour during a road trip my senior year of college. If you have seen the movie ‘Vacation’ with Chevy Chase, it was very similar to the scene where Chevy is standing at the canyon rim with his family. He takes a deep breath, soaks in the view, and ushers his family back into the car in about 30 seconds. So given that first experience, I was looking forward to spending some more time there. We had one day at the Canyon, and I’m not 30, 40, 50 any more, so hiking all the way to the bottom was not an option. We trekked about 2 ½ hours down and then back; and it was incredible. As everyone always says, “the pictures do not do it justice”.

We spent another day hiking in beautiful Sedona and the scenery was also amazing. My wife Martha LOVES to hike so she was in her element. I joke that when we’re walking somewhere and I ask how long to the destination she will reply “not far”; which is open to some interpretation. The same could be said that Chicago is “not far” from Boston, relative to say San Francisco.

So after the Grand Canyon we spent time in Scottsdale with a little golf, good books, and some very good food. One of our outings was a food tour to several great restaurants; my idea of good hiking!

After the last two weeks of shoveling, the 70 degree temps of Arizona seem like a distant memory. Stay safe and warm!