More Beautiful Bryce

These were all taken on the Navajo Loop Trail at Sunset Point. This is short trail, 1.3 miles, but it is listed as strenuous. You can see that the bottom is a lonnnnng way down and, you guessed it, a lonnnnng way back up.


Going down.

This area is called Wall Street where the walls close in. Kind of like the real Wall Street at times.

Towering Douglas fir trees reach for the light above.


On the floor of the canyon I felt like I was all alone in the world. My husband, who takes lots more pictures and spends much more time along the way, was out of sight behind me and there wasn’t another soul or creature in sight. Until...


On the (huff and puff) way back up, I took every opportunity to stop and take photos. Here is a trail maintenance crew getting their marching orders. They must be in great shape at the end of the season.

Thor’s Hammer from the upbound trail. Puff puff puff puff

And a view back down the trail… puff puff puff puff. Such a wondrous hike, but I wasn’t ready to do it all over again.

And Then There's Bryce

Arriving at Bryce in the afternoon, we just had to get to the park to take some shots of this amazing place. This was our second visit, but there was no less sense of inspiration.




"Stay on the trails" "Dangerous cliffs" "Stay away from the edge" Lots of warning signs...



Of course, a REAL photographer ignores all of those warnings.



These strange, white Hoo Doos remind me of a group of people having a meeting; possibly about how to get down from their predicament.
And here's more "on the edge" photography...



And even more...



The people on the lookout above us gives a perspective of the size of this wonderous place.


Of course there are just too many sights to see and too many photos to take, not to mention deciding which ones to upload...


And of course there will be more to follow.
Just a reminder: Click on the images to view them larger. I'm trying to figure out how to upload them in a larger size, but until then...

Uneventful Mother's Day Travel

Unlike my Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad, No Good Birthdy this trip was just like we like it; UNEVENTFUL.



We drove from Flagstaff, AZ to an RV park just outside of Bryce Canyon. This was all new territory for us as we had never driven all the way up Highway 89. We found it to be a good highway with lots of interesting sights. The first part of the trip took us through the Navajo Nation where we saw many contemporary hogans.

We caught a glimpse of Lake Powell as well as the Glen Canyon Dam that is very impressive. This hydroelectric plant produces 1320 megawatts of power and is over 500 feet from the crest of the dam to the bottom. No wonder it looked so big as I viewed it out the window of the motorhome!



The many beautiful rock formations begged for our exploration, and we definitely plan to do that sometime when we have the time.

After our previous stressful, hot, expensive adventures in southern Arizona, we were glad to be further north where temps were cooler and relaxation was the order of the day. We found the visitors' center very helpful in supplying information about activities, sights, maps, drives etc. etc. After learning that Saturday was National Train Day and that there would be a FREE talk at the historical train station, we decided to attend.


Flagstaff has a long and interesting history with trains that continues to this day with both freight trains and Amtrack coming right through the center of town as often as every fifteen minutes and at a high rate of speed.

We learned that the early town was built up the hill from the present location, but because the trains could not make it around the corner and up the hill from a dead stop the depot was built on the flat. Eventually, the town built up around the depot making it much easier for passengers to get to and from the train. Of course, we heard much more about the history of the town, the trains, the train robbers, the early businessmen, and more....very interesting.


And naturally, we did some Geocaching as well. One of the most unusual sites is the Elden Pueblo very near the RV park where we were staying. In order to claim it as a Geocache find, we had to take our picture there.

S*W*A*G Breakfast

For our last S*W*A*G breakfast John and Rita hosted those of us who were still in Yuma. It was our first Boil in a Bag omelete. What a great way to feed a crowd; fun, too.



Not to mention, delicious.

Wild Burro Romantic Saga

Sad and dejected; not to mention sexually frustrated burro.






The girls are watching the whole process...

Sara enjoyed watching and listening, too.




Even a jack rabbit showed some interest.




And the winner is:

Judy's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Birthday

We left Yuma on my birthday, a sad day for several reasons. No one but the young likes to get another day older not even the young at heart. It was also sad to leave our Little House on the Desert and good friends we’d made in Yuma. However, it wasn’t hard to leave the heat of the over 100 degree days.
After having trouble getting both our neighbor’s, Dick and Linda, fifth wheel and our motor home out of our lots and onto the street we should have known that the rest of the day wouldn’t go well. We drove to Alamo Lake east of Quartzite, AZ for a couple of days of relaxation but…as we neared the State Park, the compressed air in our motor home fell to a low level and we drove on into the park with bells and whistles sounding. At the same time, our frig door came open and fell half-way off, so I had to hold it back in place while all this scary stuff was going on. After finding a parking spot, the air pressure was totally gone, so there was no more moving.
Hee Haw

A mechanic was called from 45 or so miles away, and even with Bob’s good directions (Turn at the ranger station, go past the state vehicles and find us in B10), it took several hours for him to find us. Or rather, for Bob to find him and lead him to our spot. When he finally arrived we found that he was a talker who had to tell us his life history and that of the dogs that he had owned.; all this with the meter running at $75 an hour. He finally got to work and by-passed the air dryer and got us running again. We then moved to a spot by Dick and Linda where we could pick up a breeze and a view of the lake. Did I mention the hot weather; air conditioning was a must!

We enjoyed watching the wild burros scampering over the hills near us. Sara enjoyed watching, too. One male was insisting that another male stay away from his harem. Even at 100 degrees, they ran all over the hills till the interloper finally gave up with much heavy breathing and sad hee-hawing. We took the dogs down to the boat ramp for a cooling swim in the afternoon, and Sara became a retriever for the first time.
We stayed two nights and then drove back to Harcuvar for our mechanic to install a new dryer - translates into BIG BUCKS… Part of the way in, we heard a loud boom and Kerthump, ketchup, ketchup (my word processor changed ketchup to ketchup; see it did it again) that was a signal that a tire had blown. Fortunately it was an inside dually, so we were still able to drive in on the five remaining tires. A call to roadside service at 9:30 am resulted in a tire change (more BIG BUCKS) by 2:30 pm. The RV park that we had pulled in to had only 30 amp service, not enough to run our two air conditioners and not enough to keep us cool. We decided to move to another “nearby” park that promised 50 amp service, but… We didn’t find it in the nearby town that was listed as its address. I asked a UPS man where it was and he told me that it was down the road a bit. How far? Oh, about 8 miles he replied. It was actually 21 mile or so, but at least we got cooled down. We figured that he drives that stretch of road so fast that it seems like 8 miles to him.
Of course I didn’t take pictures of this extended fiasco… I felt like high-tailing it to Vegas and on up through Nevada along our usual route to Teri and Doug’s place near Emmett, ID, but no, Bob still had his sights set on a trip up through Utah and back to Bryce Canyon.

Our next stop was supposed to be at Dick and Linda’s in Cottonwood, but we bi-passed them in favor of getting further north to cooler weather. No further problems except a slight overheating issue on the grade up to Flagstaff. We unhitched the car and all was ok after that.

Good Bye Sunset

This is the view from our backyard on May 4th, the night before we left for the drive north.

Sara on Watch

Sara spent a great deal of her time watching for her BFF, Muffin, who lived across the street. Lying on the hot concrete in high temps didn't seem to bother her, but it did bother me. I would call her into the air conditioned house after a bit.

Always hoping for a sighting of Muffin, Sara was usually rewarded by catching a glimpse of Muffin looking for her, too.

Spring in the Desert

Plants come to life during April and May in the desert around Yuma, Arizona. We have enjoyed blooming cacti, trees and bushes all spring.

A Plain 'ol Plane

The auctioneer and a helper's hand.
Shade for the crowd, but it was too cold to sit there. Really!

We attended an auction just a couple of blocks from our house the other day. It was fun as auctions usually are with a chance to people watch as well as to get involved in the excitement of the bidding. Well, bidding is exciting when you win and get a good price; not so exciting if you lose the bid and then kick yourself for the next week because you didn't go just one more... That's what happened to me with a sewing table that I really wanted, but stopped when the price went to $90. I've been kicking myself ever since. I did bid on a yard blower and vacuum that I got for $12.50...oh joy of joy!

Sara's Therapy

After Sara got her cast off of her broken leg, she was unwilling or unable to walk on it, so she had swimming therapy in the Colorado River. She wasn't crazy about it, but it did strengthen that leg. Now she, mostly, walks on all four.

Car Companions

Teri and Sara snuggling during our lonnnnng car trip to the Grand Canyon.

Beauty in the Desert

Saguaro cactus in the KOFA Wilderness near Yuma. If you look closely, you can see an aerostat, a tethered radar balloon, that keeps an eye out for low flying aircraft that may be part of a drug smuggling operation out of Mexico. Click on the photo to see it more clearly.