Baby Moon, part I

This weekend we hit Sedona, AZ for a mini-babymoon.

Baby moons are all the rage these days, or rather I've become more attune to conversations surrounding babymoons. Though the name is a play off of the familiar honeymoon, I'd suggest there are a couple critical differences...

While I was the skinniest I've ever been in my life during the first few days of my honeymoon (God bless the south beach diet), I'm currently carrying around a volleyball in my jeans without much success of hiding it.

And of course I drank from sun up to sun down in glorious Tahiti, while Fresca (black cherry) is the most exciting thing on my drinking menu these days.

And on this trip, we weren't exactly alone like on our honeymoon. But we did greatly enjoy taking Baby S to the Grand Canyon, and on our other adventures. It is fun to have the additional company.

Food consumption for both trips is basically even. Post honeymoon I was thrilled to no longer starving myself (for the record my wedding was the only time in my life I've dieted and didn't really enjoy it) and therefore ate everything in sight; and one of the joys of pregnancy is the excuse that you have to eat every few hours. For the baby's sake of course.

But the weekend was really wonderful. It was extremely relaxing which was our primary goal. We did some great sight seeing, hiking, trips to the spa, shopping. Updates and pictures to follow this week.

The most wonderful thing about the trip?

I didn't take my laptop.

Yes, you read correctly.

I. Didn't. Take. My. Laptop.

And the world continued to rotate. Amazing. It is one of the most liberating things I've done in awhile (sadly). And I only missed it twice, and bounced back quickly. So outside of a few emails and a conference call, it really was a real vacation. A gift that happens when the worlds align perfectly. And thus, I'm refreshed and eager to dive into the holiday madness!

Not to overstate the obvious but the Grand Canyon is pretty, well, grand. In fact, it is so big I look relatively small in comparison!

As I mentioned, I flew in Friday morning to meet hubby who was working in Phoenix. We drove up to Sedona and checked out the town. The rocks are simply amazing. Driving north on 17 they simply appear out of nowhere and engulf the horizon. Sedona sits beneath a perimeter of ranges that come in all shapes and sizes, varying shades of red and are totally awe inspiring.

We got our bearings, eat a delicious 'tex mex' lunch and toured town. After hitting the spa we enjoyed a nice Italian dinner where our server treated us like we were her relatives in for the weekend. That, following the same from the lady working behind the counter at Walgreens, left us welcoming the slow, friendly pace of the southwest.

Saturday we hit the road early for a trip north to the Grand Canyon. It took about two hours as we took the scenic route on the way there. However after passing through Flagstaff there really isn't much more to see or do before hitting the Canyon. And at the southern rim, you can drive nearly right up to the edge, walk the remaining 50 feet and peer right over the edge. So close to the experience visitors are, it left us wondering how many people accidentally fall in each year.

We had lunch over looking the canyon (well in theory anyway) and then walked about a mile along the edge. In short, it is dizzying in its enormity. There is a lot more to say but really you should just get there yourself to experience it firsthand. It is one of the wonders of the world after all!

That night we had a delicious dinner at the Enchantment Lodge, quite a ways out of town but tucked into another beautiful mountain range. The stars were so bright that while we were there in the pitch black of night, they lit up the range to give us a peak at what we were missing.

Sunday we did a big hike, about 6 miles roundtrip in the West Fork area. The air was clean, crisp and piney. The views, amazing. Another nice thing about the trip overall was being there in the off season. It was especially apparent during our hike, reportedly a very popular one in the summer. We saw about a half dozen people all day and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Before heading out of town, we hit the spa once more and I must say, there is nothing as wonderful as a prenatal massage. All in all, a very relaxing weekend.

Enjoy the pictures!