Our visit to Arizona marks the last few days with our adopted baby, Chino. Never heard of Chino? Well, Chino turned us into proud parents (finally) and never disappointed us, because we didn’t ask much from it. Talk about CARma. Ok, Chino is just a rental car, but just go with it. It’s the only baby we have.

So we had Chino for 47 days, and with only three days left before we put it back into foster care (shh, don’t tell it), we took it for one last spin to Sedona and Phoenix. You’re probably thinking “why do you keep calling your baby ‘it’?” Well, because we don’t want to put a label on dear Chino. It’s 2016, after all.

Ok, let’s get back on track. We had a long drive from Las Vegas to Sedona. I believe it was somewhere like 4+ hours. Chino steered us right though, obvi. We rented another Airbnb, this time in the heart of Sedona. And you know what? Sedona is rad. Wait for it…we could see ourselves moving there. Maybe. If we found an awesome house with a kickass view and we both had our own companies so we could work at home. Totally doable, right?

Our Airbnb was stereotypical Sedona. Meaning it was a zen den. Positive affirmations all over the adorable studio, calming faux waterfall near the bed that made me have to pee, a massage table folded up in the corner. It was all wonderful. It was all Sedona.

Plus, it was prime walking location to the touristy “downtown” bit. So we walked a lot. We walked to get the best damn cheese plate at The Hudson. Sorry, Rouge.

We walked to watch the crazy storm brewing over the town.

Don’t worry, we didn’t neglect Chino too much. Because we drove it to hike Cathedral Rock our first full day.

Talk about a hard on. The gorgeous red rocks of Sedona stole my heart. It was desert-y, but lush. It was hot, but not too hot. Plus, we even won a Saucony contest when we were there for this photo.

Thanks, Instagram (and Clara Santucci). We scored some sweet new trail shoes. Which is awesome since we each only own three pairs of shoes (one pair being flip flops).

After exploring Sedona, catching up on Stranger Things, and eating at a delicious vegetarian restaurant by the name of ChocolaTree, we headed towards my alma mater. Kinda. But more importantly, we headed towards my Tristan.

We stayed in the balls-it’s-hot Phoenix area for three sweaty days and nights. Luckily, we scored a spot at the coveted Mandolfi residence. Take that, Airbnb. It was awesome catching up with my Italian lover, Tristan (and her life lover, Pat). Fact: I first met Tristan while studying abroad in 2004. She opened the door to her hotel room wearing nothing but Superman undies…and a scrunchie. It was love at first sight. Don’t tell Pat or Craig. God, we were so young in 2004…

And look at us now. One of us is growing human life inside of them (and it’s not me).

With all the nostalgia, our stay in Phoenix was lovely. Heck, we even managed to find a body of water in the desert. Score.

So we floated in that bathtub-temp water for a few hours, and it felt so good. Until we got out. Fuck, the desert is hot. We should really start a drinking game for how many times I say that in a blog post. Drink.

Would you look at the time? It’s time to say goodbye to dear friends and our adopted Chino. And yes, I had the dude at Enterprise take a pic of us with our baby. It’s what Chino wanted.

Chino, thanks for driving us 6,157 miles / 9,908 km, helping us visit 9 states, 18 national and state parks, and watching us spend 20 nights camping in our trusty tent. You were the best adopted baby. Life without you will be hard, but it’s for the best. Now just go, we don’t want you to see mama and papa cry.

It’s time to leave the desert and roam our way to the city of weird, aka Austin, Texas.