Ahhh, Vacation

Today was a good start to vacation.

Well, mostly a good start.

If you count the girls starting to wake up at 3am a good start.

Yup, 3am.

East coast time that's 6am.

So after tossing and turning and dozing a bit for a few hours, Hubby was a sweetheart and got up with D&E at 6am.

They left me to sleep a bit more.

And they found a balcony to watch the sunrise.

Then they were back at 7am with a coffee for me.

We started our day off with a hike on Camelback Mountain.

We took the less steep trail.  Chola trail.

And even as early as we started, it was still warm.

We made it about a 1/3 of the way up and then turned around.

The views were amazing.

E taking a pictrure with her Ipod Touch.

After our hike, we headed back to the hotel to swim in the pool.

It was a lovely way to spend the late morning.

For lunch we decided to head to an In-N-Out Burger.

For months we have watched Hubbys' Arizona cousins and aunts post pictures on Facebook of their visits to In-N-Out.

And it always looks yummy.

A quick text to Hubbys' Aunt J and we found out what we should order.  The double double.

So, that's what we did.  We're good listeners.  The girls got cheeseburgers and we all got fries.

And shakes.

2 double doubles and 2 cheeseburgers.  Yum.

Here is my shake.  The Neopolitan.  Strawberry, Chocolate, and Vanilla swirled.

It was delicious.

But, it's not on the menu.

Yup, there's a secret menu at In-N-Out.  Go do a google search on "in-n-out secret menu".

You will find all different ways to order things at the restaurant that aren't on the menu.  But, if you ask they will make it that particular way.

I felt so sneaky when I ordered my shake.  I ordered my double double and fries, then said "and I'd like a shake made neopolitan."  The girl taking my order knew just what I wanted.

Sneaky and I loved it.

E hugging the trunk of a giant cactus.  Most of the prickly things were gone.  Most.

 After lunch we headed up toward Carefree.  We drove through at town called Cave Creek.

It was a fun touristy spot to stop.

I love this "Frontier Town" sign.

D posing near one of the metal sculptures that were around "Frontier Town".

"Frontier Town" had a bunch of shops and a few restaurants all set up in an "Old West" town setting.

This metal buffalo was pretty neat.

It was a good 1st day of vacation.

Tonight we are headed to Hubbys' Aunt J for a big family get together.

I believe there will be about 23 of us there tonight.

Cousins, aunts, and uncles.  Fun.

potd #278.  D resting on our hike.  It is so much fun to take a trip like this with the girls.  They are at a great age for traveling.  And I am hoping it's only going to get better and better as they get older.  We have lots of trips we want to do with them over the next 10+ years.  And hopefully they will want to travel with us even when they are adults.