The Canyon is Grand

When eight people go together to the Grand Canyon, you have to drive two cars.  Or least, we needed to for the 2 1/2 hour ride one way to the Visitor Center.  It's a very awesome sight and as Tana said on her first look out, "It almost doesn't seem real".  It's a lot to take in.  From the Visitor's Center on the South Rim, you are not allowed to drive your car on the western leg, you have to get on the tour buses. So, we headed on the self drive part of the Canyon to the east.  It was sunny, but the wind kept picking up.  They said there were gusts up to 60 miles an hour yesterday.  It was much better than that today, but it did put a bit of a haze across the canyon.

As it has often been said, "A picture is worth a thousand words".

We are so enjoying the time with family and still have several days to finish exploring the area.  Tomorrow is a jeep ride!

All Glory goes to the LORD for this beautiful land we live in!

Blessings,

Kathy

Church and Cathedral

Our daughter, Tana, and her family arrived by car after driving all night Friday night.  We have been on the move seeing things in Sedona. They are staying at the Wyndham which is really a beautiful resort.  They arrived at our campground around 8:30 Sat.  We went on a hike, swam in the pool and saw some sights before they could check in at 4 pm.

Ready to move after 12 hours in the car.

It was a great day for a swim and then we drove up to the Church of the Holy Cross.

Craig spotted this eagle head above carved in the rock.

We didn't notice this the first time we were up there.

We got to watch, FROZEN, with the grand kids as Barry and Tana put together a great meal for all 8 of us.

We were all exhausted so Craig and I headed back to the Whale and we all slept like one of the rocks in this area.

We woke up to some clouds and wind this morning and decided to go on a walk along Oak Creek at the base of the Cathedral Rock.  

We said good-bye to our Canadian friends as they pulled out of the park today.  Hope they traveled well in the wind.

These piles of rocks are all over.  They mean different things to different people.  They are just kind of fun to see. Some call them Cairns, but these are all part of some belief in a Vortex around this area that "only the sensitive" can feel the spiral pull upward.

 It was a nice walk over some of the old river bottom and we crossed the creek a couple of times.

This is Carter.

Here's the whole Stevenson Family. Tana, Cooper, Barry, Collin, Carter and Kyra.

The above is a nice fall area.  Below is a tree that looks like a dinosaur head. 

 The sun was out and even though it was windy, the kids were ready for a swim in their hotel pool.

There was a party in the hot tub.

We all went out for a nice Mexican Diner and when we came outside to catch a little sunset, there were people all over looking at the Havolina Pig.  There were a couple of them.  Since the restaurant was called the Javelin Cantina, they probably live somewhere around on the grounds.

We are back for another much needed night's sleep before we all head up to the Grand Canyon in the morning.  We are about 2 1/2 hours away.  Craig and I have been to the north rim many years ago, but never to the south rim.  Hopefully, the wind won't be a problem for the adventure.

Blessings,

Kathy

Fun, Family and Friends

We have really enjoyed our time here in Cottonwood, AZ.  The Mountains of the Sedona area are full of things to look at and hikes to be taken.  This particular park has not been as friendly as all of the others we have been in since being in AZ since Jan.  BUT, it was the Canadians to the rescue again as we have made friends with Rob and Karen Y. from Freelton, Ontario.

Every hour spent with them as been "happy hour".  Thanks you two for making this a much friendlier RV Park!!

This morning we are waiting for Tana and her family to arrive from Aurora, Colorado.  They drove all night and should be in around 8am.

Need I say how very much we are looking forward to spending the week with them and enjoying the Sedona sites!!

Last year the family ran the Bolder Boulder 10k race in Boulder, Colorado and they plan to run it again this Memorial Day.  I loved to run as a child, but at 63, not so much.

  

They also took a trip to Mexico last year.  It won't be quite that warm here, but we hope to have at least as much fun!

Our son, Todd has gone from Indiana to NY for a few days and Jeff's family is heading to SC for spring break.  It's strange that all of our kids are traveling this week, but Craig and I are not.... the ones that live in a Motorhome!!

Hope your day is full of fun, family and friends.

Blessings,

Kathy  

Cathedral Rock

It's a little windy and dusty here today near Sedona, AZ.  So, we took the morning to drive and explore some areas.  We found where to park for several trail heads and we walked up part way to the Cathedral Rock.  We'll make this trip with Tana and her family next week and it was way to windy to be up there today.

This is Cathedral Rock from the Red Rock Loop View.  We drove through the loop and it was a gorgeous view. You can drive down the road to the Crescent Moon Recreation Area.  There is a walk way over the Oak Creek River, but the park guard told us someone had reported that you have to go over stepping stones and they were actually under water at the time.  I really don't think you would want to start this hike with wet shoes. So, we drove on up 89A to 179 to Back O Beyond drive and found a place to park. 

 We also drove up Dry Creek Road to the north of Sedona through the canyons with views in every direction. Below is the view of this majestic Mountain called, Cathedral Rock from the trail head on Back O Beyond road.

We decided to start the walk up the path which divides into three paths. One steep path goes up to the rock and there are two that circumvent the mountain on more level ground.  We'll see which ones the kids want to do when they get here.

You can see the people climbing the steep part to the top.

Several of us "older folks" thought it would better not to make this climb today in the wind... at least that was the excuse.  This is the easier part of the path going back to the parking lot.  It's not easy just to find a place to park in the small areas provided.  Often, you just have to wait until someone comes back to their car so you can take their vacated spot.

We are suppose to have high winds, clouds and maybe some sprinkles before the day is out.  It seems like a good afternoon to do some laundry.  We kinda felt like we went from the HIGHS to the LOWS with the day, but the Lord is in them both.

Blessings,

Kathy

It's Not Montezuma's Revenge

We did some site seeing again today.  Here's the map of the area.  We decided to go to Montezuma's Castle and then to Montezuma's Well.

The Whale is parked where the little x is just south of Cottonwood.  We drove to Montezuma's Castle first.

The story they give is that the Sinagua Indians, who were farmers built these dwelling in the 1100's.  Early settlers marveled at the structure and assumed that it was Aztec in origin, hence the name Montizuma.  But he was never in this area, so it was not his work.  Most of the Indians here and the park rangers believe this was the work of the Hopi Indians.  Anyway, it's pretty incredible to think that people lived in these cliffs.

The cliffs run along the Verde River and they were able to plant, hunt and survive from the abundance around them, even though it's considered desert.

We then drove on down the road to see Montezuma's Well.  It really incredible in many ways.  The water level stays constant and it produces 1.5 million gallons of water a day and has for many years.  You climb up to the top of the crater they say was created with the earth caved into the water pit underground.

Scuba drivers have gone down into this to try to find the source of the spring, but it's too deep and dark for them to really see much.

The Indians built homes again under the cliffs around the well.

There are no fish in the water, only a rare breed of leeches because the carbon dioxide is about 6 times what is normal.

We took a hike down to the bottom of the crater to the water and saw these cacti growing out of the top of one of the rocks.

There were more dwellings built into the caves close to the bottom of the well.

After walking down into the well level, we came back up and then around the rim until we walked down a rock path to see where the water exits the well and runs down thru a canal system until it reaches the River.

We left Montezuma's well and drove down the road a ways to find Montezuma's lake.  It wasn't very large.  I don't think you could ski on this.

The weather has been great, but there is a change in the air.  The clouds began to roll in and it looks pretty awesome as we head back down the road to the camp ground.

It supposed to cool down to the 60's for a couple of days.  Hopefully, it will push some of the warmer weather north for all of our friends and family that need spring to happen very soon.

Blessings,

Kathy