Alone

I am very rarely alone. I am usually good with this, because I have never been the kind of person who really likes to be alone. I love noise and busyness and people and so on. But the prospect of joining Derek on this business trip to Arizona, where he would be working all day and I would be totally on my own, sounded pretty great. What would I do with only myself to worry about all day long? Go on an adventure, of course, and mix in a little relaxation along the way. I threw my camera over my shoulder and headed out.

The mornings were started perfectly with coffee, breakfast, my book and the sunshine. I tried not to feel like a big nerd taking pictures of random things while I was all by myself, so I got pretty tricky at pulling my camera out and taking a quick shot without even looking through the camera. But who wouldn't want this lovely sight documented (don't answer that)?

Then on to mountain climbing. Ok, maybe not a mountain but some sort of steep, rocky peak. Gave me a good work out and more chances to snap photos.

The views at the top were so great, and I found my own little rock to sit on and bask in the sun for a while.

Then I headed to the Beach park. This was about the time that I started talking to myself. I had no one else to talk to, and I just started doing it without even thinking about it. There was usually no one around to hear my random musings, and I learned to keep them in check.

I was still blissfully happy, as you can imagine. 

After some more exploring, I headed back to the hotel for a little poolside reading. Now it really wasn't warm enough to be in my bathing suit at this point (it averaged around 70 by about noon), so I don't want to deceive you with this picture. I had capris on, but it was perfect to sit and read in the sunshine. Have I mentioned the sunshine yet? 

The bummer part of this beautiful day was hunting for thai food, which I was so excited for, and then discovering it was not good. Worst thai food I had ever had - blech. I made up for it with some ice cream on my way home. This was a great time for shopping through the little town. I loved that everything was perfectly in walking distance.

The next day, I masqueraded as an ASU college student and went on campus. I totally fit in. Well, maybe not totally. I kind of felt like everyone knew I was an imposter, but I'm pretty sure that was just my imagination. I'm hoping, at least. I think I would have loved going to college there, you know, in the SUNSHINE.

And I continued to walk all over town and back. I did a lot of exploring, call me your local Tempe expert. Here I am out and about, finding more tricky ways of taking pictures of myself. The trick was always making sure I was totally by myself so as not to look like an idiot. Not sure I succeeded in that. I think I might have made fun of the person taking a picture of themselves in the door reflection.

 

By the time Derek was done with work, I was good and ready for some company. This was one of my favorite meals, at a place called House of Tricks, which is outside on this nice patio.

We did have all day Sunday together and each evening, so I wasn't alone all the time. It was just so foreign to have 8 hours to myself! It was a nice change of pace, and I appreciated it for a couple of days. Such a great blend of time together and time to myself.