Homeward bound

In spite of the fact that I almost always allow at least an extra hour before flight time, I still usually don't relax until I am in my seat. Always so many little things to remember--where's my ID, boarding pass, book, knitting, M&M's and last but not least, Bob. Luckily, we have it all together so far!

Yesterday was cold enough in the morning that we found some ice crystals on water beside the trail. That turned out to be a short hike, but later in the day we warmed up and walked the Girdner Trail. Great trail system around the Sedona area. 

Now it's time for a little reading and knitting and anticipating the single digit temps that await us!

Vacation fun

We are still down in AZ, enjoying the fact that it is snowing back at home and we aren't there (for once!).

Today we are over in the little town of Clarkdale to take a scenic ride on this train. 

Yesterday it was much sunnier and we hiked to a place called Devil's Bridge. We'll, actually I sort of chickened out and stopped below this rock formation while Bob continued a little farther. I am not a big fan of heights!

And when back at our cozy little spot, I have a little time with needle and thread to work on an applecore sample. 

Time to sign off--all aboard!

time out

 Squeezed in between our Thanksgiving holiday and commencing the Christmas season, we (Bob and I) have snuck away for a little vacation.  Someplace warm!  We are visiting Sedona, AZ, for a week of basically doing whatever we choose to do!  It's not very often that we get the chance to do that, so I have been trying to take a bunch of pictures so I can always remember what it feels like!

So far we have had temperate weather and mostly sunny skies.  Just right for some great short hikes in the surrounding areas.  There is a plethora of trails around here, so there is no shortage of outings.  Yesterday we took a trail that crossed back and forth over a creek bed--

It is dry at the moment, but only about 1 week ago they had a heavy rain and this would have been full of water then.  The effects of the erosion were easy to see.  Glad we could get around without waders!

We haven't really seen very much wildlife here, other than ravens and this little guy--

He seems to have staked out his territory near the entrance to our unit, and just watches us go around him!  He's really little and helpless, so we are fine with sharing our roomy space with him!  

Here's a scene from another hiking area--

These colorful cliffs and landscapes are such a contrast to our usual surroundings in MN, so they really catch our attention.

Today we drove up to the Grand Canyon, and witnessed a unique phenomenon.  The area has been experiencing an "inversion" which creates thick fog in the canyons, resulting in this--

It was like the whole canyon was full of fluffy cotton candy!  We didn't realize just how special this experience was until tonight when I was looking at headlines on the Yahoo homepage, and saw a picture and story about it!

By lunchtime, the fog was mostly lifted, and we had the usual magnificent views of this wonderful National Park.  I think I am adding 2 more things to my "bucket list"--an overnight at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon, and a Colorado River raft trip.  I would love to see the view of the canyon from way down there at the bottom!

on safari

Last Wednesday we spent the day on a safari adventure in Sedona, AZ. I say this because our destination was the Safari Shoppe in the Tlaquepaque center. This is the fine establishment of our niece, Ali, and her husband, Eben. This is the first time we were able to visit them since their move back to the US from Eben's homeland of South Africa. We are super happy to have them living within a more reachable distance. Art, Sharon, Ava, Tre, Bob and I made the trip from Phoenix to Sedona in the morning, then we enjoyed a tasty lunch with Ali and Eben before visiting their place of business.

Miracle of miracles, Bob picked out a new hat! I think Ali is fighting with him over his plastic!

No big deal, you might say. Until you see this--

the lucky fishing hat, stomped on, soaked, windblown, spat upon, well aged. And maybe retired? I will believe that when I see it!

Here you will see Eben and Art explaining the virtues of a good hat to little Tre--

I would love to return to Sedona for a longer visit when I am feeling up to some hiking and exploring. We were all suffering the effects of a nasty virus, which kind of slowed us down. But

that didn't detract from the beautiful views all around us. They say there are mystical forces in those hills, I wish we had found the ones that cure the common cold!

Ava was not deterred by any old bug, in fact, she was able to wrestle this bear for a ride!

We made it back home in one piece, ears plugged and popping for long after we touched down. We hope to return to the southwest again, with plans for even more fun!