As I write this, at 4:25 PM here in Arizona, I'm supposed to be on an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin, Ireland for a group tour through AAA. That's OK, though. Dublin has been there for thousands of years and I'm sure it will be there for thousands more, I'll try to get there some other time.
Instead, this morning I boarded an American Airlines flight to Phoenix, Arizona as I switched out my vacation for a different group tour, Canyon Country. As in the Grand Canyon. With stops in Sedona, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and others, and ending in Las Vegas.
The flight was uneventful, except we left a half hour late---yet we somehow landed on-time. I don't know what happened there, but I'm glad it did. After grabbing my bags, I meet the rest of the people who came in at the same time, and board the bus to Scottsdale, where we will be spending the night. The whole group--all 43 of us---will be taking that same bus down the street for dinner. We are meeting in the lobby at 6:45 PM. Good thing I have snacks, as I am really hungry.
This is my second group trip through AAA (really it's Collette, AAA's partner). In any case, so far the trip is very much like the last one, which was to Colorado. It will be interesting to see if there are any differences. I'm sure each tour manager has a slightly different way of doing some things.
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It's a few hours later now, and we are back from dinner. We ate at the Old Town Tortilla Factory, Scottsdale, a restaurant featuring Southwestern cuisine. The food was good, but we were all so tired that we could barely eat. The folks at my table are a diverse group ranging from a bookkeeper for the Navy Exchange to a former Dance and Acting professor from Texas A&M (we are already in informal talks about him becoming my agent after finding out I don't currently have one.)
It looks like a great group, and it should be a great trip.
With that, I'm calling it a day. Good night.
I have been to Scottsdale. so awesome. But I have to ask… what happened to Dublin?