Column: Spring break — Arizona adventures

Oh, beloved spring break. These last two spring breaks I have had the wonderful opportunity to visit my lovely family in my home state of Arizona. Here is a recap on my days spent in the Tucson/Phoenix area!

Day 1: On April 3 I started the day waking up at the crisp hour of six o’clock in the morning. I left my house around 8 am to make my way to LAX to catch my 10:05 am flight. Just my luck my flight was delayed 50 minutes. After waiting at gate 12 (by myself) for almost an hour it was time to board. Let me make one thing clear, I am TERRIFIED of flying. Considering that I have grown up traveling all over the world without having a problem and now being scared for my life baffles me. The plane ride was short and I was anticipating to get off that metal death trap to be picked up by my Aunt. I got off the plane and was welcomed by my Aunt Dawn. We enjoyed a quick lunch and headed to my favorite place, the mall. The mall was busy and I was quite tired. My Aunt having such a generous soul bought me many clothes that I absolutely love.

Day 2: The morning started with a homemade, yet quick breakfast and preparing for our girl day. My Aunt Tonya met at my Aunt Dawn’s house and we left to go to our massage appointment. This was my first massage. At first, I was a bit nervous of having a massage because I am super ticklish, but in the end it was totally worth it. After our massages, we got our nails done! It was really nice having all this pampering done! Normally, I do not have time to go out and get my nails done, so it was a great time to relax and enjoy the moment.

Our nails were manicured to perfection and we had time to waste. Guess where we went? To the mall of course! Feeling rejuvenated we hit up the mall and walked and shopped our way through H&M and Old Navy! One can never have too many clothes!! After that, we went to a high class, reclining seat, and movie theater and saw ‘Get Hard’. It was quite funny. By the end of the movie, my aunts and I were stuffed with popcorn and soda pop and headed home to eat dinner with my uncles.

Day 3: Happy Easter! Sunday morning we woke up very early to head to Phoenix and Camp Verde, Ariz.  The familiar Tucson to Phoenix drive was short and we arrived in Phoenix in a matter of time! My Aunts and I dropped off my Uncle in Phoenix and we headed up north to Camp Verde to go zip lining. The journey to Camp Verde was filled with singing along to mainstream radio music and beautiful scenery. The anticipation was turning from anxiety to excitement as we drew closer to the Out of Africa Wild Animal Park where we would take on the Predator zip line. The Predator zip line consisted of soaring over the wild animals of the park, such as lions, giraffes, and bears! I was actually more cold than scared that day and even ended up going upside down on the zip line! It was a great experience and I am so glad I was able to endure this with my favorite aunts!

Day 4: On Monday we actually slept in for a bit and went out to a local breakfast and lunch place called Sunny’s. The food was great! Soon after breakfast my Aunts’ friend Belinda arrived! We talked to her for a while before heading out on our next adventure! My Aunts, Belinda and I went to the movies to go see “Furious 7”. For not seeing any of the Fast and Furious movies I actually thoroughly enjoyed and understood it! As the day moved along it was getting closer to the highlight of my trip! The ARIANA GRANDE concert. Little did my aunts know, but I had been eagerly anticipating this day since we purchased the tickets back on Dec. 22. The concert was great, as expected from an artist like Ariana! We all had a great time!

I would like to thank my Aunt Tonya for standing in line for an hour to buy me the light up cat ears and T shirt. Also, thank you to my Aunt Dawn who bought me my ticket.

Day 5 and 6 were very low-key days of me packing and getting ready to go back home!

I had an absolutely great spring break! I love my Aunts who have taught me to be generous and strong; and I love my home state of Arizona, where I was taught to enjoy the simple things in life.