The Chicago Cubs are in Town!

The loveable losers made there way to Arizona for a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they lost. At least some things never change.

It was weird watching baseball indoors but the air conditioned 79° compared to the outside 101° was a very welcome addition... I think I can live with baseball indoors.

We got lotto tickets at the game and won our money back! 

Superman was there too! 

My First Arizona Thunderstorm

This past Sunday I finally got to see my first legit rain and a proper thunderstorm! I had to make a Target run and noticed the sky looked a little dark, and after I had got home and been settled in for a bit, the wind picked up and I looked out the window and little drips of water started falling from the sky. 

Of course I ran outside to make sure it was real, and sure enough it was really happening! It was so nice to feel the breeze of a thunderstorm, but then the wind just kept going and soon it was raining sideways! Turns out it had been a series of microbursts and caused quite a bit of damage around the area, lots of trees were uprooted and knocked over, some even fell on cars! Zoinks! Glad that wasn't me! 

RAIN! #LOVEit

Here's a short video of the storm from my front patio, it was nice that I was covered and could sit outside and watch it rain and thunder and lightening! 

A Stroll by the Lake

I took a little stroll down by the lake last night, it was a little warm still but the colors in the sky made it worth it. I was also able to check out the progress on our new building that they are building. It will be nice to have it right by the lake, I'm sure the view will be awesome! 

Dust Storm Warning... For Realz this Time

I was sitting there minding my own business when the emergency alert tone rings loudly from my phone, Dust Storm Warning! I must say this alert is much like a tornado warning back home, the first thing you do before seeking shelter is to run outside and look in the sky! haha! 

Photo: AZ Central facebook page

I didn't take the above picture, I stole it from the local news facebook page but there was no way I could get that perspective from my level.

Here's what it looked like approaching from my complex, looks pretty wicked if you ask me! Then all of a sudden the sky turned very dark and the winds picked up out of nowhere! My friend Tulip lives out by the mountain and she has some wicked pics from there, she has more open area on the other side of her so it was way worse for her. The sky just turned a dark red, it looked like the apocalypse had arrived! 

Some of my other friends who live across the metro area got some nice rain downpours... no such luck for me! Just a couple sprinkles apparently as evident by the horrendous dirty spots all over my car! I long for a good summer thunderstorm, add that to the list of things I miss about Illinois! I think I'll get over it when winter rolls around.

Thankfully I had been home for a good amount of time for this dust storm. I hope the next time one rolls through I'm not out on the road! How's your weather been so far this summer!?

Sibling Visit Part 2: The Grand Canyon

A week between posts was not the plan... my apologies. At long last, here is the much awaited pictures from the Grand Canyon! 

It was $25 per car to enter the park and a few minutes up the road would be the welcome center and parking lots. We visited the South Rim of the canyon since it was a shorter distance. Once you get parked, it's a short walk to the first viewpoint and WOW! The weather was perfect! 86° and a slight breeze kept us cool and we thought ahead and brought plenty of water.

Mather Point

We continued along the trail that follows the rim for a bit to check out some more views...

The wildlife was very chill

NiBo was a little more adventurous than A.drama and I

After we walked along the rim trail (which was paved I might add) we decided we wanted to hike down into the canyon a little ways. I read that even if you are just a little ways into the canyon it's a completely different view. NiBo picked the South Kaibab trail since it was listed as one of the easiest and had the shortest distance for trail stops.

Down and down the trail we go

We almost lost a.drama over the edge!

We made it to the Ooh-Aah Point which was about .75 miles down and took us about an hour I would say. Going down was the easy part... back up was the hike.

If you look closely you can see people up that ledge... we have to get all the way back up there! UGH!

We thought we might have been goners there for a bit (A.drama and I are out of shape) but we made it back up to the bus stop for the trailhead. What seemed like miles and miles only ended up being a 1.5 mile roundtrip hike.

Then we checked out the view as the sun set.

The Grand Canyon was so awesome! If it's not already on your bucket list, I highly suggest you add it and make a point to visit. I will definitely go back! 

Look OL I didn't make it into the next edition of the book!