Flexible Friday #23 Our Free Vacation

Granny is gone.

Which means the laundry is starting to pile up.

But I’m not complaining – really I’m forever grateful for all that she did while she was here.

The list is too long and it might appear as if I were gloating if I told you everything she did.

And I’ve told you before how we feel about gloating.

Then you might start leaving comments filled with jealousy and that would not be appropriate at this holly, jolly time of year.

I can however speak for PhilBillPaul – and often do – hey, he can get a blog if he wants to.

Speaking for PhilBillPaul, he was incredibly thankful for Granny’s presence. So thankful that when we returned from our little vacation that he thanked her so many times she finally told him to shut up be quiet.

We pulled off this last minute vacation by using the last of his soon-to-expire Delta Skymiles which translated into two “free” tickets. Emphasis is not on the word “free.”

I will refrain from making this a post about Delta and their lack of customer service. I have some suggestions for the struggling airline and a new ad campaign they could launch. But first, they’d have to launch some new customer service training that I’d be glad to provide on a contract basis. I’ll save that for another post.

Sooooooo…

Where did we go?

Somewhere I’ve been before. This was my 5th time but it was his first.

Arizona

Hotel Kim is a lovely boutique hotel where we made last minute reservations the week before. You may or may not remember but I was just there in July of this year.

Upon our arrival, my friend Kim our private chauffeur drove us directly to Culver’s for butterburgers, cheese curds and frozen custard.

If you are a V.I.P. like me, there will be a personalized welcome gifts in your room when you arrive.

This time, the gifts were personalized for PhilBillPaul with appropriate reading material and a medley of specialty cashew items – which are his favorite. And some delicious cinnamon almonds.

There was a “Merry Christmas” gift bag on the bed with a warm and cozy chenille jacket just for me.

Furthermore, if you know the right people when you check in, you get a personal tour guide to take you around Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale and treat you to adorable boutique shopping, great restaurants and fun facts about Arizona.

Bonus: The tour guide’s delightfully nice husband will join you for meals.

This kind of service really made up for the NOT-free Delta flights.

Especially since Hotel Kim comped our room which is located in a beautiful area of Mesa.

We introduced PhilBillPaul to my favorite restaurants including Oregano’s, Butterfield’s, Red, White and Brew and Kim added a new, fabulous breakfast place, Crackers and Company Cafe. (twice).

Side note: I think by January I’m going to weigh as much as Oprah. I have a lot in common with Oprah. I didn’t realize how much until her latest article. The things we have in common may not be obvious on the surface since
I am white, several inches shorter and I am not rich. But don’t be fooled by appearances, we really do have a lot in common:

You’ll truly see this next week when I show you what I bake at the holidays…

Oh, sorry, I got distracted thinking about my weight gain – back to the trip.

We did rent a car and drive ourselves to Sedona.

Gorgeous.

Then headed to Flagstaff to spend the night.

No comments on Flagstaff in case someone reading this lives there.

The next morning we drove to…

The spectacular Grand Canyon.

Which was breathtaking and more beautiful than these pictures.

It feels good to add that to a list of incredible places in the U.S. that we’ve been lucky enough to visit.

Don’t miss checking in here next week because I’m going to share one other little tidbit from our Grand Canyon trip that gave us plenty to talk about.

AND, I’m going to have a very personal surprise giveaway that will rival
Hotel Kim’s hospitality.

Until then, have a great weekend and if you go out Christmas shopping, I’m glad to know you’re not in calendar denial like I am. Would you pick up a few gifts for my kids?