Etsy is one of the great places to find new friends. It's fun to communicate on the forums but it is even better to meet the people in person.
So we got this great chance to meet with Alla and her husband (Alla owns the stained glass FleetingStillness shop on Etsy). She and her husband were on their way to San Francisco but they stopped here in Phoenix for a day.
What a wonderful day we had! Albina (AroundBeads) also joined us and we had so much fun! We were lucky to have some time to see downtown before we went to our house for dinner and nice quiet evening chatting. The next day we went exploring part of northern and central Arizona.
There was not enough time since our guests were living at 5 PM so we were making plans right while on the road. Since we woke up early enough we were even able to see Sedona!
We were very happy with the nice weather and spectacular views of the red rock mountains.
We started with a relaxing breakfast at the local restaurant.
After that we went to collection of art galleries that are located in a maze of wonderful buildings, arches, and vine covered tunnels.
There were so many unique hand crafted items gathered in one place, it is just amazing.
On a way back we got chance to stop by Montezuma's Castle and get an idea of how the ancient Indians lived in Arizona's past.
It is a very beautiful place with lots of sycamore trees and a bubbling brook.
From there we stopped at Bloody Basin and shot a few guns at a target. Then we went to Lake Pleasant so our friends could see what a pretty desert lake this is.
We hardly were able to get to the airport in time because of the rush hour traffic but we did! So Alla and Mark were on their way to CA to continue the next leg of their vacation and also meet with some of the other girls from our group
How strange and wonderful the modern world is. You are meeting people you met over the Internet and it feels like you have known them for years. We had a very, very good time!
