Thanksgiving Recap

While it wasn't the usual Thanksgiving, the trip to Phoenix with the other JV's made for a great holiday weekend.  The traffic actually wasn't too bad and we rolled into town around 2am.  Everyone pitched in the next day to help make dinner happen for 30 people at the house.  One JV borrowed the chairs and tables from a local Catholic elementary while another borrowed cooking supplies from a neighbor.  The rest of us paid our dues to cover the cost of food and the feast began!  My favorite from the meal was a butternut squash soup...mmmmmm......    It was nice catching up with the other JV's who we hadn't seen since orientation back in August.  It really made me appreciate how close my own community has grown over the past five months. 

On Friday, we went for a great hike up Camelback mountain, which is essentially a huge rock in the middle of Phoenix.  It took us about 1.5 hours to climb but the view from the top was spectacular!  Staying hydrated was always a challenge since we were in the high desert, and it was amazing how drinking two glasses of water almost instantly rid us of headaches!

On Saturday morning, my housemates and I left super early in the morning and trekked up to the Grand Canyon.  We thought, oh, Phoenix... Grand Canyon... both in Arizona... must be a quick trip to go see it... WRONG!  It took us 4 hours to get up there and 8 hours back to LA... but it was so worth it.  It was so massive and humbling to stand right on the rim of the canyon.  Some ledges didn't even have guard rails, so I was slightly terrified just watching people get near them.  I was able to go out on a much wider peninsula, but for the sake of assuring my parents - the boy scout in me assures you it was safe! 

The 8 hour drive home had beautiful views as we saw the sunset over the desert and then the Milky Way in the sky.  Being out in the middle of nowhere made for some nice stargazing! 

While this was a holiday break spent with JV's, I'm very much looking forward the Christmas break back east, and then in Vegas!