January 27th update

  We've been reading about all of the horrifying weather the northern states have been hit with this year. You're all in our thoughts and prayers. Spring is on its way in a couple months. :)
  We're so thankful to be here in Arizona. Last Sunday we went to the Barrett-Jackson car auction where they auction off multi-million dollar cars. It's unbelievable how much money people have. Bill went with a few of the guys and I road with a couple friends. We ran into each other there. 

Two of my favorites.

 

   A couple weeks ago we went hiking at San Tan Mountain then met friends for dinner at San Tan Flats restaurant. A unique restaurant where can choose a table outside and there is a fire pit next to most of the tables with unlimited wood to burn.

 

   Last Monday we drove to Boyce-Thompson Arboretum State Park in Superior, AZ where we hiked and took a few pictures. Such a beautiful place at 2888ft elevation where the air is much cleaner. We love it so much there so we bought an annual pass and went out there again yesterday, the 26th.

  
   We had hoped to go to Las Vegas for our wedding anniversary January 20th. But do to a few RV problems, we've decided to postpone until tomorrow, January 28th. This will be our 1st time there and will be staying at The Paris Hotel right on the strip for 3 nights.
   We're are so thankful for our friends, Judy and Clyde, who'll be coming over to feed Peppy everyday while we're gone.

   I'm still learning how to use this blog site. If you're interested in our previous blogs, go to the far right side and click on the previous months. I started this in September 2013.

January 10, 2014 Update

   Christmas wasn't the same as being home and we were thinking of you all. It must have been horrible for some of you who were without electricity and the cold weather you've been having must be absolutely horrible. We're so thankful for our friend Mike and friend Randy who have been checking on our house. It was without power for ~8 days. Randy shut the water off then back on after the power came back on. Today the furnace quit again and we're so thankful for Randy to get it going again. Other problems with pipes freezing that we have to address soon. :/
   We had Christmas dinner with 780 people, 18 of which we sat at the same table with and shared the food each of us had brought. We're so thankful to have met Judy & Clyde who invited us to join them.
  We enjoyed candlelight Christmas Eve service at the Celebration Church and driving around looking at lights. January 30th we attended the 'Chihuly in the Desert' at the Desert Botanical Garden with our new friends from New York. Truly amazing talent.

 

 

New Years Eve we had dinner with 10 other people at the Rustlers Roost restaurant which sits on top of a mountain overlooking Phoenix area. Such a fun place.

 

   Time is flying by and the sunshine and warmer temperatures have been so wonderful. We have met so many wonderful people and have done so many wonderful things. Last Sunday we joined friends for lunch at Filly's Grill and Bar overlooking the mountains. Every Saturday & Sunday from 12 to 5pm they have a country band playing outside and the place just packs full of people who ride horses there, motorcycles, etc. They dance, eat, drink and have fun. It's so different here.

 

Horses waiting at Filly's Grill

Fun with friends at Filly's

 

 



December 15th Update

   Although we're enjoying ourselves tremendously, we do miss everyone very much. We've seen and done so much since we've been in Mesa I'm not sure where to begin. So I'll start with todays events. We went to Celebration Church which is the best of the 3 we've tried here. In the afternoon we went to Mesa Art Festival where we watched & listened to a group of 4th and 5th graders play incredible Christmas music using Xilofones. On our way home we went to the Mormon Temple's Christmas light and music program. We've never seen so many lights. It was awesome.
     We bought a rosemary bush shaped like a Christmas tree and a few lights for inside. Bill has decorated the outside with lighted candy canes etc. We met some new friends for drinks by the fire after dinner at home.
   We have been spending a lot of time in the silversmith shop. It's actually sort of addicting. We have to go there in the morning after I go to Zumba.
    We have done some hiking and had nice visits with friends, Leslie, Christie and Avery from Michigan as well as with Aunt Shirley and Frank.

Lights at Mormon Temple

Beautiful Lapis Pendant, earings and mens ring Bill designed and made at the Silversmith shop as well as the ring that I made.

 

 

(Above)November 27th pictures from hiking at Pinnacle Peak with friends Leslie, Christie and Avery.

 

(above) Hike on Wind Cave trail to near the top of Usery Mountain.

 

Tehe

 

 

 

Arrival to Valle Del Oro, Mesa, Arizona & more pics from Bryce & Zion Nat'l Parks

   We've had such a wonderful time visiting some of the most beautiful national parks.  Although we hope to return again someday, there are so many other beautiful places in the U.S.A. yet for us to explore first.
   We had originally planned to arrive in Mesa January 1st, but made the decision to arrive November 2nd. This will give us options to visit areas within a few hours of Mesa. It feels nice to be grounded in one place for a while. Valle Del Oro is such a beautiful, luxurious resort. We're so thankful to have this opportunity. If interested, see http://www.cal-am.com/resorts/resorts_details.php?resorts_id=16        
   There is so much to offer here and so far the weather is great! Tomorrow Bill will go through the 3 hour orientation in the Wood Shop so that he can continue with one of his favorite hobbies. I may go to the fitness center tomorrow, Zumba Thursday and we'll both join the hiking club Friday. We're both interested in the Lapidary(Gemstones & Jewelry) classes and Silversmith among many others. There's many interesting shows to choose from, as well as happy hour with bands by the pool.
   I've added more pictures from Bryce Canyon. We'll add more from Arizona as we get them.

Bryce Canyon National Park

 

Bryce Canyon National Park

 

Zion Nat'l Park

 

Grand Canyon photos

   We arrived at Distant Drums RV Park in Camp Verde, AZ (near Sedona) at noon today. We will stay here for 2-3 nights before venturing further south to Mesa.
   We had a wonderful time at the Grand Canyon. They have no internet access at the campgrounds there, so I haven't been able to update our blog until now. I will post a few pictures of Grand Canyon and will post more details as soon as I have more time.
 

 

 

 

Driving to Grand Canyon Village (South Rim) tomorrow!

   We had a wonderful time at Bryce Canyon on Friday. We drove to Angel Point at the far end of the canyon and hiked a very scenic trail. From there we stopped at several other astounding viewing areas and took many pictures.
    Today we road our bikes along the scenic drive through Zion National Park. I wish I could find the right words to describe what a pleasant experience this was.
   We did not get to hike the Narrows and several other trails in Zion that we would like to as well as several hiking trails in Bryce Canyon. These are two of the most beautiful national parks that we've seen so far and we intend to visit them again someday. I will post more pictures when possible.
   Tomorrow we leave for Grand Canyon Village where we'll stay at the Trailer Village campground for seven nights!

Zion National Park

   Monday we transplanted from Kanab to Willow Wind RV Park in Hurricane, Utah. It's about 10 degrees warmer here. We had a wonderful time in Zion on Tuesday. They have a free shuttle from the visitor center through the park. It stops at 8 different trailhead and viewing areas and you may get off and on all day until ~8:30pm. We road to the end where we hiked a couple of miles along the Virgin River to the gateway to The Narrows. We hope to go back to complete the entire trail, but will need our water shoes as you have to cross the river several times. The Narrows trail continues for 2.2 miles round trip where the canyon walls are about 20ft apart and over 1000ft high. We also stopped to hike and take pictures at 2 other locations. I've attached a few pictures.
   Tomorrow we'll drive to Bryce Canyon which is approximately a 4 hour drive roundtrip. We'd like to see this before we leave the area as it could be years, if ever, that we're in this area again.

Gateway to The Narrows.

 

Hiking at Weeping Rock Trail, Zion Nat'l Park.

 

 

Grand Canyon North Rim, Glen Canyon/Lake Powell, Red Toadstool Trail

   On Saturday October 12th we drove to Grand Canyon, North Rims visitor center. We then hiked from there to Bright Angel Point plus another 3+ mile hike partially along the rim to the campground. I've attached a picture overlooking Angel Canyon, which is a feeder canyon into the Grand Canyon. The access road to the main Grand Canyon viewing area was closed for construction so we're hoping to get a better view from the south rim next week. I've also attached pictures from Red Toadstool trail, Glen Canyon Damn and Lake Powell.

 

 

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon

   We drove into Arizona today to see Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. When we arrived there, we were so thankful to find out the Government is allowing many national parks in Utah and Arizona to open and they let us in! On the way there we hiked the Red Toadstool Trail for a couple miles. There were many red rock formations shaped like toadstools. I will post pictures soon.
   We're planning to go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon tomorrow! We confirmed that they will, in fact, be open at 8AM in the morning.
  Keeping you posted while we actually have internet access today.
   
   

Kanab, Utah

  We're enjoying the town of Kanab. It's known for over 100 old western movies made in the area years ago. It's often referred to as "Little Hollywood" or "The Heart of the Parks". Thanks to the visitor center and our neighbors, we've found a few fascinating State Parks to visit while we're waiting patiently for the National Parks to reopen. Also, we took a tour of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary which is the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. www.bestfriends.org 
   Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park was quite beautiful with its coral pink sand. We had another fascinating day at the Kodachrome Basin State Park which is near Bryce Canyon National Park. There is over 67 sand pipes (see pics below) interesting rock formations. We took a short-cut home down a 35 mile mostly two track dirt road where we were able to view Bryce Canyon from a distance. 
   It sounds like the Federal Gov't may allow the State of Utah to open up 8 different National Parks possibly by Saturday morning. We are very hopeful, but more hopeful for a federal budget.
   I will attach pictures of Kanab area along with a couple pictures from the Jackson Hole, WY area as soon as possible.

Teton Mountains

 

Linda, Bill & Sharon Hiking

 

Coral Sands State Park

 

Kodachrome State Park

                                                                   

Kodachrome State Park

 

43 Mile scenic dirt road between Kodachrome State Park and Kanab

 

View of Bryce Canyon from a distance

 

He asked to be part of the movie. TEHE ;)

 

More Pictures of Yellowstone and Salt Lake City, Utah

   We had an awesome adventure during our 18 days in Yellowstone. On Tuesday, the 24th we drove to Jackson, WY where we spent 4 nights at a very nice campground within a few hundred feet of the Teton mountains and a gorgeous view. We managed to get a few pictures and a little hiking in on the 24th before the snow & rain set in for 3 days. But we had a nice visit with Sharon. So thankful to have the opportunity to visit with her and learn about her interesting life.
   We're now staying at the KOA RV resort in Salt Lake City. We went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Sunday morning which was wonderful. Today was shopping and laundry so we'll have tomorrow to explore more of the Mormon Temple Square. Wednesday we begin our journey to Kanab, UT where we'll be staying at the Kanab Coral Campground. I plan to post more pictures, but here is a few more from Yellowstone and one of the Choir. I love how the Elk was posing for his pictures.

Us on top a mountain overlooking Old Faithful.

An Elk posing for his picture.

Grizzly Bear at the east end of Yellowstone Nat'l Park.

Morning Glory Pool near Old Faithful.

The Grand Geyser.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Sunday morning.