Flagstaff, or the last getaway I'll have this semester.

The fact that it took me so long to publish this is proof of the little free time I have.
This weekend (September 20-22, 2013) was unique.
It was the only time I could escape from Phoenix without worrying about homework for my work-intensive journalism class.
I worked ahead in the beginning of the year so this past weekend was entirely free of homework, so I traveled up to my second favorite state school--NAU.
 I began my vacation weekend on Friday morning, stopping by my house with a latte in hand for my mama. (She loves Giant Coffee, so whenever I go home, I bring her a latte.)
We chatted for a while. I hardly get to see her now that I'm living downtown and combating homework assignment after homework assignment.
At around 11 am, I finally made my way out of the house and onto the road.

My cousin is beautiful.

When I arrived in Flagstaff, I picked up my cousin Christina and we headed out for a hike up Humphrey's Peak.
When I was in Payson on the Box Canyon camping trip, I bought a vintage San Francisco Peaks patch, with the idea that I would hike some of the San Fran Peaks then sew it onto my backpack. And, now that I've hiked some of it, I can sew it on!
Christina and I by no means made it to the summit--we are so painfully out of shape. But we decided that, come the end of this school year, we're going to hike to the summit after I get off school and right around the time of her final exams.
We headed back to her apartment (!!!) where I showered and she cooked me macaroni and cheese and beef. That's right, I broke my vegetable habits by eating beef with my cousin. That's how much I love her.
After dinner, I headed over to Hannah's apartment (what is with all my friends getting apartments?) where I met her roommate, the futon I would be sleeping on, and the refrigerator and pantry of my dreams. We unloaded a bunch of food stuffs her mother sent up with me (including a Honey Baked Ham) then headed downtown to shop, shop, shop and eat crepes.

Gluten free crepe? Yes, please. 

But really. We found a creperie that made gluten free crepes, which was perfect for Hannah. On a scale of Paris to Jobot (Paris being the best), this crepe was a little bit below Bellagio, but above Jobot.

Hannah and I finished the evening by driving up toward Lowell Observatory and parking on an overlook to take photos of Flagstaff at night.

I forgot to bring my tripod, so most of the photos are rather shaky, but I believe they turned out rather well, all things considered.

We soon headed back to Hannah's apartment, where we sat and watched The Little Mermaid and The Orphan (which really means sat, cooked dinner and talked with movies playing in the background.) Hannah and Gina cooked a full dinner of Honey Baked Ham, corn and mashed potatoes.

The entire highlight of this trip is that everyone took care of me and cooked me food (Hannah and Christina), made me free coffee (Olivia), or profusely offered to buy me breakfast (Nathan from California).

We slept. We woke up. Hannah made me breakfast before she had to leave to go do homework with her boyfriend (ooooh!)
I'm sorry guys, I totally forgot about this post! Chalk it up to massive amounts of homework.