This week we had a free day on Saturday!…Well free compared to usual. Trent booked a walk-through with a remodel client in the morning. We also had a few vendor restocks to do and a market…But after that we decided to get away and go up to Flagstaff to go sledding. Flagstaff is our second home and our main get away from work. Owning your own business (or three) it can be hard to find the balance between time working and filling all those demands and knowing when to stop and take time for your family. We have found that the best way for us to do this is to physically get away. Trent and I have a hard time saying no to people because we enjoy our businesses so much! So a get away is just what we need so that we literally can not say yes to people.
With flight restrictions and the terrible stories I hear about how airlines treat people who’s toddlers don’t leave masks on- the last several we went on they didn’t have age requirements yet but after about September they were saying anyone ‘above 2’ on the airline we used and we were shocked when once on the flight we learned this meant even ONE day older than 2 not 3 years old! We got scolded and handed a mask that was literally two times the size of Brightens face. We ended up just putting a bag of snacks in her lap and let them know she was eating… thankfully she enjoyed it and ate the whole trip since the flight was only about 45 minutes long. Anyway, all of that to say that we go to Flagstaff at least 1x per month especially now that we don’t go many other places with the added stress of travel.
I was raised there, with the majority of my cousins all on the same street (and when I say majority I mean the one family that didn’t, lived just a few streets over). I didn’t realize that this was a coveted place for travel until I grew up and moved. I just thought people came to Flagstaff for vacation and we went to where they lived for vacation. I didn’t realize there are places no-one wants to go on vacation haha. I knew, because my parents reminded me constantly, that I was lucky to be raised in such a beautiful place that was just the right size- big enough for everything but small enough to avoid what we considered ‘big city problems’ like crime and traffic. I just didn’t know that pretty much everyone else realized it too.
Most trips to Flagstaff we make it a point to hit at least one of our top three favorite local eateries which include:
Local Juicery- at the Sawmill by WholeFoods
Order: The Works Waffles extra berries instead of banana and just a little extra syrup. Any of the Mylks they have in stock OR in the winter we get the Hot Cacao Drink (Drinks are sweetened with Coconut Crystals and DF).
Delhi Palace Cuisine of India- by Taverna, not to be confused with India Palace or Delhi Palace
Order: the buffet but lately they don’t have it which is a bummer. Veggie Tofu Korma is amazing with the Pilaou Rice and get the GF Naan if you’re not GF.
Hiro Sushi- next to Hunan West and close by NAU. They are literally the best at telling you what is GF and will adjust anything about your order for you to accommodate.
Order: Chicken fried rice with GF soy sauce and the Volcano Roll with adjustments to make GF. Trent likes the Rock and Roll but beware the jalapeños actually have gluten contaminants which the knowledgable staff let us know.
A few other favorites are : Little Thai Kitchen, Diablo Burger (they have GF buns), Fat Olive (they have GF crust but not DF cheese), and Tacos Los Altos (great for a quick stop since they have a drive through. The salsa is to DIE for! So make sure you get extra).
Now that you’re super hungry here is some pictures of us sledding in the sled run my sister, her husband and her kids built in their front yard… actually it starts in the front and then goes down the back steps, through the gate and garden and wraps around behind the chicken coop! It is quite the sled run and it was so much fun!
I’ll put a link to the hot Vanilla Milk Recipe I made to warm us back up afterwards HERE when I get that up on Haws Bees Recipes.
Such a great time! The rain melted the snow just a few days later.! Waiting for the next storm!