Thursday, April 14th

I worked until almost 6pm. I had plans to go be at Frankenstein’s by 6pm! It was crazy but pushing through and finishing chapter one of my paper for work class was worth it because coming back Monday, I didn’t have to worry too much about it.

Anyway, I finally made it to his place after 7pm and he pranks me by making me think he packed the smallest duffle bag for the trip because I tend to pack “a lot”. Hey, I’m a girl. We have more things!

I hadn’t eaten all day and only drank one bottle of water. My hands were shaking and although I was not hungry I knew I had to eat. We watched Ronny Chieng Speakeasy on Netflix and ate our DoorDash Wingstop for dinner and headed to bed.

Friday, April 15th

We wake up SUPER early for our 6am flight. We both like being at the airport early. Yay. We were lucky and got the whole row to ourselves. I mostly played on my iPad and watched Flashpoint before opting to sleep with music in my ears.

We arrived at Phoenix, picked up our bags and headed to our rental car. We were upgraded twice and went on our merry way. It was the one we initially wanted but realized wasn’t necessary so it all worked out.

We started driving to Flagstaff stopping at Original Breakfast House since we hadn’t eaten yet. There was a wait and they even had a sign that if it was a busy day, your group will only have an hour and a half before getting kicked out! How crazy!

The food was better than expected, and they give you a lot! We both had leftovers. Frankenstein’s tamales were perfect. The masa was super sweet to me as well but he thought they tasted normal. I opted for the biscuit and ordered their sausage gravy to go with it. The biscuit was sweet which was weird for me. Also having asparagus in my hash was different. Not a fan but I ate all the veggies I could.

This place has cinnamon rolls which I really wanted to order but was so full to do so. The whole time I was there, I noticed every few minutes another cinnamon roll was being served to another table so it must be a hit!

When we got to Flagstaff we parked the car and walked around downtown. We mostly went into shops I looked up and wanted to check out.

• Babbit General Store
• Bright Side Bookstore
• PJ Chilcottage
• Blackhound Gallerie
• Basement Marketplace
• Zani’s

He just wanted to take pictures of downtown so it worked out since I dragged him everywhere. We stopped by Macy’s European Coffeehouse & Bakery for a quick pick me up before continuing around downtown.

Afterward, we stopped by Lowell Observatory. My man loves all things space and this is the place where Pluto was discovered!

I typically dislike tours or “lectures” as they put it but our lady was THE BEST. I did not fall asleep and I retained a lot more information than I thought I would. Either I have to admit to Frankenstein that this shiet is interesting or maybe, just maybe, this is literally the best tour guide ever.

The telescopes are GIANOURMOUS. I was actually disappointed that it was too windy to use. Luckily their cluster of smaller (compared to the giant ones but the cluster is still huge) telescopes were able to be used later in the night.

We checked into our little house we rented. It was super cute and perfect for just the two of us. We laid around for a bit since we hadn’t really stopped since we arrived and then made a pit stop at Basha’s for water. Then it was time to check into our reservations for our first anniversary dinner celebration at Shift.

We didn’t know what to really order so we opted for the Chef’s Tasting Menu. Our first ever Chef’s Tasting Menu. If one person wanted to do it, everyone at the table had to.

We started out with tap water for me, sparking for him, and Paloma for me and a bourbon for him before our courses started to come.

• 1st Course | Roasted Red Cabbage (fermented soy, Greek yogurt, pickled caraway seed)
• 2nd Course | Mushroom Cavatelli (spicy miso beurre blanc, maple eel sauce, pea vines)
• Intermezzo | Sorbet (evoo, sea salt, chevre)
• 3rd Course | Escolar (coconut corn broth, piquillo relish, curry walnut dust, chive oil)
• 4th Course | Mint Chocolate Churro (variations of chocolate, earl grey gelato)

I loved every course and if I had the money, I’d do tasting menus everywhere! It’s nice to get a bit of everything. We were both surprised about the cabbage and made me want to go home and try to do the same. It was better than I expected it to be. The dessert wasn’t bad. Nothing to write about but it was nice to have gelato since our first date was Menchie’s. He said it’s not the same since it’s not frozen yogurt but I’d like to think any form of ice cream, gelato, froyo is okay.

My favourite hands down was the sauce from the second course. If they mix that with the escolar from the third course, I think it would be the perfect pairing. Frankenstein on the other hand loved the third course.

My leaste favourite has got to be the intermezzo. The goat cheese and sea salt ruined the sorbet in my opinion.

We headed back to the Observatory after dinner to catch the stars. Sadly the moon was shining so bright that it was hard to get the kind of pictures we envisioned. They’re not bad but could be better. Next time, we’ll check the moon calendar before booking flights to see stars.

We looked through those telescopes I mentioned earlier and bought things at the gift shop as a memorabilia.

Saturday, April 16th

We woke up early and drove to Williams. We grabbed our Grand Canyon Railway tickets and ate a buffet breakfast at The Fred Harvey Museum. The tater tots and bacon were top tier. I joked I was going to snag some in my bag to eat on the train.

The ride was a little over two hours but it was better than driving an hour and wait to park for another hour. They kept us entertained. They had a newspaper with facts, information, and coupons for restaurants. And once in a while they’ll have stories to tell about an area we were passing by.

What really kept me entertained for a long while was the family sitting in front of us. The little girl kept trying to get our attention … until she passed out from exhaustion.

The little cross picture are communication lines they used back in the day from the Grand Canyon to Williams. It’s still up, even though they don’t use it.

When we finally made it to the Grand Canyon, we were let out and were free to roam about the whole entire area. We walked and took SO many pictures. I love that he is the same so there was no anxiety of “oh crap, I shouldn’t take one” because half the time, he was too. We walked into the market place area, shopping a bit before jumping on the bus to head back to the train.

I got off the bus prematurely which could have been catastrophic if we didn’t make it back to our train by the allotted time. Luckily the couple in front of us, as well as the lady managing how many people can get on a bus at a time, let us on. Whew. Then we had an issue where we couldn’t check in since internet up in the canyon was spotty. Yay boarding group C!

On the ride back we were stopped by the bad guys. They were literally on horses! And even had two of them get on the train and once the train started going again, they walked through demanding money. The kids LOVED it. I even heard one said, “see you later bad guys!”

When we got back at the depot, we walked around the shop and then drove back to Flagstaff. We passed by Northern Arizona University where Frankenstein’s coworker got their doctorate there. It was super pretty so he walked around for a short bit and got a few pics as evidence that he did check it out.

We decided on Fratelli Pizza for dinner. Two small pizzas that was still TOO much for us but we shoveled it down. Per usual, veggie meat pizzas are to notch. I was very surprised by artichoke on pizza though. I actually liked it although their sun dried tomatoes were too hard/chewy so I picked those off and gave them to him instead.

We were about to head back “home” when I realized the Observatory was still opened and I wanted to get the cap. He had gotten one but I was on the fence. Glad he was willing to go back so I could get it. It also gave him a chance to ask questions about one of the telescopes he was interested in to understand what programs it was using.

Sunday, April 17th

Our last day, we woke up later than all the previous days and made our way to Phoenix. I had found a family owned Mexican restaurant but when we got there, it was closed … Oh Easter.

He found out Chase Field was close by so while I searched for a new place, he drove around and snapped pictures the best he could.

We ended up grabbing food at Gallo Blanco. Seriously one of the best Mexican foods I’ve ever had. Their al pastor is top notch although their guacamole could be better. Mostly because I’m use to the Texas way with a lot more vegetables and smooth. Theirs was SUPER chunky and I found a few avocado skins in there as well. Frankenstein said it’s to show how authentic it is.

We dropped off the car and went to the airport. We walked through different terminals to get our steps in and watched planes take off. With us being in boarding group C, we were lucky to find seats next to one another.

By the time we got back to Houston, I was pooped. We picked up our bags, got on a bus to get my car, drove him home, before heading home myself. Luckily I was home a little after 9pm which just feels like a regular day to me so work wasn’t too bad – especially since I got to work it at home.

Our first trip on our first anniversary was memorable. We did a lot and nothing at all. I came back, although tired, but refreshed. I’m not sure when our next trip will be but I’m ready …