Escaping the winter, Arizona

Hi,

So as it rains and it is cold in Seattle I went to Arizona with my host family to escape the winter.
It was super nice to get some D vitamins and a tan.

My birthday was celebrated here as well and I keep up the tradition. I had my 17th birthday in Scotland, my 19th birthday in England and my 21th birthday in Sweden (I meant to go to Ireland but my economy was low :O)

Now I had my birthday in the USA and not even the city I have spent so much time in.
The place we stayed at was a resort called Paradise Valley in the middle of Scottsdale and Phoenix. It was a cactus landscape in the middle of nowhere and it was nice.
I enjoyed the heat a lot.
We went on a guided tour at the architect campus in the mountains. It was made by Frank Lloyd Wright and it was a super cool place. The guide just told us to stay on the patch as there could be scorpions hiding behind the rocks, good to know ;)
I am actually sad I didn't find a rattle snake, that would had been cool.
But my stupid Scandinavian skin is not meant for that place, I was burning though I used an SPF 45.
And I was so surprised to hear a couple of guys speaking Danish at the airport. That is like the last place you expect to meet Danes.

My time glass is running out now and this journey can now end at any time. Yes, life is full of great surprises so always just smile.

Here are a few pictures, enjoy.

They know how to make cocktails!

Sun Valley, Idaho

Hi,

I have been super busy lately and I have not really had the time to blog.
I have been on vacation twice within the past month and now I have the time to share my experiences.

So I went to Sun Valley in Idaho. My host family went skiing while I took care of the baby. I went to this small tourist town called Ketchum, I bought some souvenirs for my family at home.
I took the baby to see horses at the Sun Valley stables and I was so lucky to see elks! They are not really in Europe and I love finding wild animals.

The place seems like a nice place to go skiing and we went there after the winter break had passed so there were almost no people.
The landscapes were really beautiful and it was super strange as there were no snow as we landed but as we drove up to the mountains more and more snow appeared. Actually, it was one of the most snowing winters they had experienced and I have to say, it was a lot of snow!
My new skiing clothes passed their exam as it kept me warm in this very cold weather.

I like Idaho as it looks like a real Cowboy landscape and it is famous for its potatoes. So famous it is on their license plates!!

I think if you are traveling in the USA and you want to go skiing I think this might be a cool place. Ketchum is also a nice little village to go shopping.

Here are some pictures, enjoy :)