Arizona- The Glory of Red Rock Country

Expansive deserts, long winding roads, giant cacti, and red rocks as far as the eye can see; if you've ever had the pleasure of witnessing the splendor of the copper state, you'll know what I'm talking about. Arizona, aka Red Rock Country, was a great trip. I went there for a convention, not knowing what to expect, and I was amazed by the beauty of it. The next few days were filled with fun and adventure, surrounded by my group of friends, as we stayed in a huge home through Airbnb. 

I flew out a few days early to take in the sights. The first stop was Sedona. I took a tour of the city, and walked past one of its oldest churches and the area where their summer solstice festivals are held. Due to the magnetic forces in that area, it is prime for the paranormal and other supernatural events. I will say while I didn't know how active that area was, I definitely felt the "energy" of the area later on during my trip. 

We drove past the giant cacti on one of the main roads. The tour guide gave us the area's history, all teaching us the significance of each place and its history. It was the first time I learned how important words are when used to describe a historical event. 

There were a lot of battles between the native Americans and the "Cowboys" who traveled through Arizona in search of gold during the infamous California gold rush. The tour guide mentioned it when recounting these stories and what he noticed during the description of each battle. When the cowboys won, it was called a victory, but when the natives won, it was called a massacre. Mind you, the natives only fought to defend their land and territory against the Cowboys, who invaded and pushed them out.  Go figure. 

The next stop we made was the Grand Canyon. It was my first time visiting this attraction, and I was no less than amazed. As we got to the south rim and walked westward along the trail, I looked down into the gorge when we stopped to take pictures. I saw snow covering the top rim part that was closest to us, while further down, there was no snow, only red rocks, and dust. I'm still wondering how the snow didn't make it down there. 

We left in the evening, and I stopped by a local Mexican restaurant before heading to the house to meet with the rest of my friends. While settling in, I was hit with jetlag for the first time. I was sitting around the table talking to my friends about where we all went exploring when we landed, and suddenly we all started yawning repeatedly. I grew tired, and we were shocked when we looked at the clock, which showed it was 10:00 pm. I checked my phone, and it was 1:00 am. I  realized my body was still operating on the east coast while physically in mountain time. 

The next day we all went on a trip together to a Navajo reservation. We drove to this dusty and barren area, or so it seemed. We parked and walked to a shed with a ticket stand and a few tour guides in the area. We bought our tickets and walked to a spot with a ladder and a brown pothole cover. Once raised, we all descended one by one down the ladder into the cave. It was a narrow crevice, and I held on slowly to ensure I didn't fall. Once on the ground, we gathered in the middle, and the tour guide told us to stick together and stick close to him as it's easy to get lost in the caverns. 

What he showed us while walking through the caves was nothing short of incredible. I ran my hand against the walls and saw how solid rocks formed while soft to the touch as they crumbled into dust under the pressure of my hands. He leads us through each section, explaining how each part was formed while taking pictures of us. He got some good shots of us, while one of my friends and I took pics of each other separately.  I took one last selfie right as the group turned the corner, and once I was done. I looked around and couldn't tell which direction they were going. 

I started to panic a little once I saw that all of the paths looked the same, and I didn't want to walk down the wrong one. At that moment, I heard the following tour group behind me, and my friend came back and called out to me, and I was able to catch up with my original group. I learned at that moment why the tour guide told us to stick together. 

We ended the tour shortly afterward by climbing up another ladder leading out of the cave. When I made it out, I felt this weight lift off of me as if I had become "lighter" somehow. Like we were reborn spiritually. We then made our way back to the grand canyon, on the northern end this time, and while walking along the rim, I noticed I had to make more effort to breathe. Initially, I thought it was because of the hill we were walking up, but come to find out, the change in elevation caused that. They told us to talk slowly and take deeper breaths to avoid being disoriented or nauseous due to the lack of oxygen.  

The convention itself was great as it was held in phoenix, and I could explore that city and enjoy all it had to offer. I really enjoyed my time there and would go back in a heartbeat. Sedona first for the summer solstice and the grand canyon area to visit Havasu falls. 

 

 

How to quickly pack for a getaway in three hours or less.

 

As an avid travel enthusiast, whether I'm heading out for my next getaway or international trip; the one thing I'm always doing is packing last minute. It's a very bad habit that I've been unsuccessful in breaking. This resulted in me coming up with a strategy that allows me to pack all of my essentials and even some extra's in three hours or less. Hey, I always say, if you can't beat it, then work with it.

 

While I will be describing how I specifically packed for this trip, feel free to tailor this method to your needs. Everything mentioned can easily be substituted, added to or removed altogether, to account for what works best for you. 

 

On my most recent trip to Washington D.C. I will go into detail about how I used my travel essentials checklist as well as my strategy on how to pack everything you need and along some extra's so you don't leave anything out. It was literally the night before I was supposed to leave and I assumed that because this trip was a few hours away, in another state I had more time than I actually did, to pack.

I started packing my bags with what I call the "inside-out" method. This means I packed my clothes, toiletries and electronics, from what was directly touching my body first, and worked my way out from there.  For the clothing, I began with the underwear, bra's socks, pajamas and head-wraps and systematically worked my way to the clothing I would wear outside. 

 

I took (6) pairs of underwear, (3) pairs of bra's and socks and (2) headwraps. one for bed and the other for outerwear. After putting that away I then grabbed (2) bathing suits, (3) dresses, (2) Pants, (2) skirts and (3) pairs of shoes. That didn't include the pair I was already wearing down there. 

 

After the clothing was placed in the suitcase, I then gathered up my toiletries and spent the next 45 minutes sorting through what I needed and was bringing. I used the checklist as a guide to sort through all of the toiletries I wanted to bring and after collecting them into one big pile; I specifically picked the items that were going to be used immediately and the containers were almost empty. This way I finish using the remainder of the product, and lessen the clutter in my home. 

I took what was left of my body scrub, tinted moisturizer, travel size face wash, toner, gel moisturizer, (4) sheet masks, (2) travel size eye shadow palettes, (2) lipsticks, (1) lip gloss and (1) chap stick. Followed by (3) roller-ball perfumes that I needed to finish up. I split the storage of these items between a small makeup case and a small container for the face wash and toner. 

 

The remaining miscellaneous items I brought were travel sized body wash, toothpaste, mouthwash, toothbrush and case for it along with my own towel, towel headband, flush able wipes and washrag. 

 

This was in the same small container as the toner and face wash. This entire process from gathering up what I needed and sorting through what I took and what I put back, lasted two hours and fifty-three minutes. 

 

Despite being in a frenzy since I had to go to bed by a certain time as I was driving down the following morning, I was able to sleep peacefully knowing I packed everything I needed.

                    

The massage you never knew you needed, and have to try

 I never used to take self-care seriously as it was initially promoted to me as a fad, a trend, the next cool bandwagon to jump on. It was never talked about as something of importance, it was often discouraged as anyone seen participating in it, were perceived as lazy time wasters. As a result, whenever my friend would invite me to the Spa with her I wasn't very enthusiastic about it. 

I still went, as I wanted to hang out with her, but I'd never initiate this as an activity for us to do. She always liked to get massages and exfoliation baths, while I enjoyed the bathing pools and saunas.  I didn't utilize the other services as I thought it to be a waste of money. I could do my nails and feet in a nail salon; I exfoliate at home and I prefer to soak in baths that I put together. Massages never did anything for me so I didn't bother with them.  The few times I gave them a try I was often disappointed as both Spas and Massage Parlours would leave me feeling "beat up" and worse than before. I learned to live with the aches and pains as the tension was never relieved so I didn't see the point in getting massages regularly. 

 I was maintaining until my left shoulder started throbbing in excruciating pain. It felt like my shoulder was physically separating from my body. As if it had been bluntly cut by a saw-blade and was now falling away from my neck.  The worst part is it would happen suddenly and randomly. It would start out as a minor pull, then that discomfort quickly grew to a painful knot. 

It always happened while I wasn't doing anything strenuous. While I was sitting at my desk at work, in my car, on the couch, anywhere and time where I was sitting still it happened. On the off chance, it happened during a workout, my shoulders would tighten up and squeeze together. It would slowly loosen once I stretched. No longer being able to endure this, I reached out to my friend Johnny and asked if he had any openings. He scheduled me in for Sunday; and although I didn't believe in what massages could do, I didn't know what else to do.