Arizona

I put an album up on my Facebook already, but I thought it would be nice to have a record of it here as well :) 

Last week, I went on a road trip to A R I Z O N A ! 

Lucas had an interview for the A.T. Still School of Medicine in Mesa, which is by Phoenix. Instead of leaving me alone on Valentine's Day to drive out there, we decided to go together and make a long-weekend trip out of it !

Being young and broke, we worked hard at keeping our expenses in check- in total, our budget trip only cost us a little over $150 per person- not bad for five days of adventure ! We pulled this off by booking the cheapest motel we could find near the university (evidenced by the fact that more than half of the electrical outlets weren't working, and that the walls were incredibly thin...), and eating peanut butter sandwiches and fruits for pretty much every meal of the day haha. Other than that, our trip was also made possible by our dear friends who helped us cut on costs by offering your homes and hospitality--

Thanks to Trent and Bonnie, for having us over for a very charming brunch at your cozy new apartment, and for making us delicious popcorn for the road ! It was great to see you two settled in and very much in love. You two have a great story, and are truly an inspiration for us !

Thanks to Claire, for being so excited about having visitors ! You really made us feel special, and I hope you are enjoying your boba package :D Thanks for being the best tour guide we could have, for bringing us to the Grand Canyon, letting us build a fort out of your couch, and showing us Flagstaff in a cup !

So now, here are some selected photos from the trip ! Arizona is absolutely beautiful. I always imagined it to be just like the western movies, or the scenery on the license plate. However, there is so much more ! While driving, we passed just about every possible type of natural landscape- desert, grassy plains, scrub lands, cactus forest, snowy plains, mountains, aspen forests...all were lovely scenery to drive through.

on the road !!

almost there...kind of

some mountains on the way to Phoenix

A.T. Still, where the interview was held

it's a nice campus !

Papago park in Tempe

Hiking up to the Hole in the Rock 

looking out at the city !

some normal southern Arizona scenery

a cactus forest ! never seen one of these before...

some shrubby cactus landscapes

and more driving... but suddenly, snow !

gotta take a stop to play in the snow ! unfortunately, I lost the snowball fight :( 

this was our little rental car, it served us well !

Flagstaff, here we come !

beautiful snowy mountains

visiting the Grand Canyon !!! truly amazing

never thought I'd see snow here

dear friends :)

the color palette was lovely

Native American tribute

Macy's ! The most hipster breakfast shop I've ever seen
  

heading back to LA...almost 500 miles !

passing through the San Bernardino Mountains

a gorgeous sunset to welcome us back to California :)