Here Comes ... Vacation!

Two days from now my wife and I will be flying off to Phoenix. The purpose of the trip is to attend my nephew's high-school graduation. We'll be seeing a lot more of him once he finishes school--he'll be attending Dartmouth College in the fall, only two hours away from our home.

I'm looking forward to touching base with the branch of our family that lives in Phoenix, but to be honest, it's way too hot for me there this time of year. I like to refer to Phoenix as "the back porch of hell."

Once we've made the appearance at the graduation, we'll be off on a mini road trip in order to escape the heat. First we'll drive to Vegas, where we'll take in the Cirque-du-Soleil like show who's name escapes me at the moment, and the next day we'll hit the northern canyons--Bryce, Zion, and the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I visited these spots as a child, but my wife Elisa has never been there. At Zion and Bryce we'll be staying in the park lodges--unfortunately the lodge at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was booked solid.

After that we'll drive back down to Phoenix and fly back to New England on a redeye. I'll be quite happy to miss ten days of mosquitos and black flies, but I'm sure they'll be patiently waiting for me when I get home.