We did Maine for a week with the LeCuyer family, took our first trip away from Hannah for a McKinsey retreat to West Virginia, then we turned around and took off 2 days later for a week at my parents' in Flagstaff.
Getting there was a bit of an adventure, since Mom agreed to fly with Hannah rather than us taking her for the 2-day drive. Of course Mom was supposed to fly through Houston, but Houston was still rather a mess from hurricane Ike, so Dad saved the day and bought her a Southwest ticket through El Paso. (That should really help their frequent flier account!) Hannah snacked her way across the western US, but was generally cooperative for Mom, and good thing since she (Mom, not Hannah) had a whopping cold by the time she got home. Getting home of course included the 2 1/2 hour drive from Phoenix to Flag, with a borrowed carseat carefully installed ahead of time by Dad. Thank you so much, Mom!!!
Andy and I packed up the car with all sorts of gear (including camping stuff - though we used various brushes with illness to wimp out on our first camping trip with Hannah) and drove to Flagstaff. Unfortunately, there's not a great stopping place - hotels on Andy's points networks - in the middle, so we usually make Amarillo our "half-way" point. This time we pushed all the way to Albuquerque the first day, which left a short 4 1/2 hour drive the second day. So much easier without an empty carseat!
While in Flagstaff, we pretty well met our goal of doing something active outdoors every day. If you've been reading the other vacation posts, you'll notice a theme... We hiked, did some trail running, played tennis, went to yoga, and even took out my parents' canoe that hasn't seen water in years. We attempted a night out to dinner with Hannah in tow, and learned that there are many things easier to eat with a cranky kid in your lap than sushi!
One of the fun things about being in Flag is that my parents know nearly everybody, so they all know who we are. Okay so they all know who Hannah is. One couple even used to go to our church in Virginia! These folks were nice enough to babysit Hannah for the rest of us to go to the symphony one evening. A couple of days later, on our hike, we came across this line of chatty college students. It was the principal horn player, leading her studio on a hike. Hiking horn players and trail runs at the edge of the neighborhood - Dallas leaves to much to be desired.
We also got in some really good house time. One of Hannah's favorite pursuits was playing with the awesome sun beam that streams down the stairs in the morning. We captured some fun short video clips. The drive home isn't really worth chronicling. Some Arizona, followed by New Mexico, then an awful lot of Texas for being such a small portion of the state!
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