arizona: seeing all of scottsdale 2

After getting ready really quickly (seriously I got a shower, hair and make up in 25 minutes...of course it was not my best) we headed to the Auburn pep rally. By the time we got to the OUTDOOR event the fire marshall had closed it because it was too crowded. BOO! We and hundreds of other fans headed to the parking deck next door to watch/listen from there. Zach decided he wasn't too sad about the change since he the view for picture taking was much better where we were :)

pep rally

parking deck

pep rally

parking deck

After the pep rally we ate a late lunch at this yummy cheese steak place and met up with some great friends from college. We sat and talked for quite sometime and found out while we were sitting there that the restaurant was running out of food. Actually quite a few restaurants and bars ran out of food and alcohol during the weekend. They TOTALLY underestimated the traveling powers of an Auburn fan!

Our plans for the evening included attending a party at the W hotel thrown by Charles Barkley (an Auburn alum) but that didn't start until after 8 so we all piled into Dave and Britney's rental jeep to track down the sunset. We drove up the back of Camelback mountain and watched the sky turn colors and watch Zach run out of memory space taking pictures of the sky turning colors. It was GORGEOUS! I would love to find a house with a back porch that had a sunset view. It would be my goal to sit and stare in silence as often as possible!

After changing into 'party' clothes we headed to the W to see what it was all about. The best part of the party, for me, was being able to walk ahead of all the people waiting because our name was on a special list. LOL! My mom wasn't sure what this particular amusement said about me but I think it says YES my feet are killing me so now let me get in this thing already so I can sit down! But there could have been a little haha mixed in with it :) Because we were among some of the first inside we happened to see Charles B. we were next in line to get a picture of him (and by line I mean people standing around him) when some bubba frat boy pushed ahead of me. After that Mr. Barkley went back into his little guarded room and only came out occasionally. Because I feel it quite silly to stand and stare at a famous person like they are an exhibit at the zoo, we walked around and took pictures of the party and looked for people we knew. We ran into a couple high school/college friends which was cool, drank some beverages, talk to some other random Auburn fans, one of which grew up in Dothan, AL and looked about the same age as my dad which was kind of cool. After about two hours we had had enough of watching people drink and watching people watch Charles Barkley so we headed to the Casino down the road!!

I had never been to a casino before so I was super excited to try it out. All my friends went to Biloxi spring break junior year of college but my parents weren't big fans of that idea so I went to New York City with Zach, Dave who is in these pictures, and another guy friend from Auburn. It was not a hardship! Nonetheless, I got $15 in ones and hit the slots. I went up $5 at one but lost it and ended up making a whole 15 cents :( Next time I'm playing blackjack!!