WAR EAGLE!

(be forewarned, this will be L-O-N-G...)

It was truly the trip of a lifetime. Not just a vacation, but an experience, and one that that we were fortunate to be a part of and to share with some of our best friends. Some of the details may not be of interest to the general public, but I want to have them documented in case they become less clear as time goes on. Some of the photos are repeats from my post a few days ago, but I wanted them all in one place for memories' sake. Without further ado...

Friday
-drive to Nashville
-lunch with the Griesheimer's at McDougal's (maybe the best chicken fingers ever?)
-arrive in Phoenix to meet the Elliott's (sans Lucy & Charlotte, who were missed!) and a MASS of orange and blue in the airport and equal school spirit on display around the city
-"Mr. Fain" gets a lecture from rental car employee Sue (I tried to Google image various phrases to see if I could find a Sue-look alike to give you a better visual, as she was maybe the most memorable character on our trip, but alas, my search came up empty) about proper rental procedure and safety
-pick up our wheels for the trip and make sure it has appropriate Auburn decor (we unfortunately only had two orange shakers to hang out the windows - other fans came much more prepared with flags and decals)

Saturday
-leave Phoenix in the a.m. and head north to Sedona

-the Elliott's share our love of Mexican food so we took advantage throughout the trip. Mexican food in the Southwest is simply fabulous.
-lunch at El Rincon in Sedona

-headed north through Oak Creek Canyon where we were greeted with TONS of powdery snow that made for excellent snowball throwing

-the next several hours of the trip will be getting a blog post of their very own, but to whet your appetite... what do a longitude/latitude misinterpretation, GPS coordinate epic fail, major blonde moment, and a Navajo Indian reservation have in common? Stay tuned for the story, it's fantastic.
-arrive at the Grand Canyon! Cold, snowy, beautiful, overwhelming, and totally worth the drive.

-dinner in Flagstaff at a fabulous Greek restaurant
-long drive home

Sunday

-pep rally in downtown Scottsdale. I've heard different accounts of exactly how many Auburn fans were there, but it was ridiculous (the top left photo shows a glimpse of the thousands of fans turned away b/c they couldn't let anyone else in the actual pep rally for safety reasons).

-dinner at Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chao. Walker will be making a guest blog appearance to share the experience. There was much strategy devoted to his and Reid's quest to consume the maximum amount of red meat as humanly possible.

Monday
-GAME DAY!
-arrive at stadium
-reunions with college pals
-tailgating

-3+ hours of nervous muscle clenching

-the ENTIRE stadium standing the whole game

 -it was sort of surreal. And awesome. WAR EAGLE!!

Sunday
-farewell lunch in Scottsdale

-dinner in Vegas with college buds Adam & Erin during our layover
-long flight to Nashville
-greeted by sweet Eric who stayed up super late to get us at the airport
-arrive at Griesheimer's to find early birthday gifts from my fabulous SIL's

Wednesday
-drive to B'ham, amazed at the ridiculous amount of snow that accumulated in the South while we were gone!

It was nothing short of fabulous, and we are beyond excited to have the experience. WAR EAGLE, and hope all you Auburn fans had as much fun as we did celebrating the win! We may or may not have woken up the next morning to "All I do is win, win, win, no matter what"...