March 4, 2007
Well, we really stayed in Pearl, MS, but I didn't think anyone would recognize that. It is a suburb, nothing special. Saturday we slept a little later because we had a shorter drive than usual.
We entered Alabama and stopped at their nice welcome station. The lady there gave me info about Birmingham. There were 2 or 3 things we would like to have seen - and no, Bear Bryant's grave was not one of them. We finally picked the Alabama War Memorial (does anyone see a trend here?) It is really nice. I am sure Don will send photos. You walk up a path so that you don't see the parking lot, just the wooded area where it stands. A very medatative place. It is a number of columns standing in an enclosure with different plaques on them. Some are Medal of Honor citations, some are letters written home from the soldiers, some are remembrances, and some are castings developed from drawings. Beyond the columns is an enclosure where the wall is lined with names starting with WWI. While there we talked with a couple who come there often. We met them because of their 2 beautiful german shephards. Found out they were rescue dogs, they were so sweet. As were their owners.
It was time to move on - we had shopping to do!! On to Scottsboro, AL and the Unclaimed Baggage Outlet. We spent a couple of hours there and spent money. I don't know if we spent too much or not, Don is in charge of figuring that out. Looked for a bluetooth, but couldn't find one for my phone, oh well. Guess what I bought- three guesses. Anyone who knows me won't need 3 guesses. Books! People leave lots of books behind and UBO sells them for $1, $2, or $3 - hardbacks are a little more, but I didn't get any of those. I bought $17 worth. We had made reservations at Gadsden, AL, but it meant driving into a head wind so we decided to stay in Ft. Payne. For those who are fans, Ft. Payne is the home of the Alabama Fan Museum. That's Alabama the band. No we didn't go there, so no souvenirs, sorry. Anyway, while checking in at the motel, talked with the desk clerk. She has property in Sevierville, TN. Small world. 25 years ago when she bought she thought she would retire there, but it has gotten too crowded and she is staying in Ft. Payne.
After a good night's sleep we headed back to Knoxville. Bittersweet. We will be glad to be in our waterbed again, to see Apryl and to have the dogs back. But we would like to have traveled much more. We pray there will be more times though. For now we have plans and are looking forward to implementing them. Again, thanks for everyone's kind words. It has been fun writing. Love and God Bless, Don and Pat
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Where was I?
March 4, 2007
Oh, yeah, we had just spent the night in the caboose. The next morning there was a cold wind blowing. We headed out about 8:15 to find the veterans memorial in Lubbock. Luckily it was easier to find than the one in Las Cruces. Again a beautiful park. They have put up a nice memorial. They sold bricks to build it with and seemed to have great success with that. There were bricks with names from WWI thru Iraq; and room for more. On the other side of the park was a statue and memorial to an astronaut, William C. McCool, who was killed when the shuttle Columbiat blew up over TX in 2003. When Don sends the photo you will see what a heart warming depiction it is with the astronaut and a small boy holding a toy airplane. Due to the fact we were pretty cold, we spent time there but didn't waste any!
From there we went to the Silent Wings Museum. There is a "gooney bird"(some sort of airplane) on static display and Don wanted to get out and take photos. Reluctantly, since I had just thawed out, I got out of the car also (i may have whined just a little). As you may deduce, the Silent Wings Museum honors the glider crews from WWII. The "gooney bird" was the towplane for the gliders. I personally knew nothing about the glider support during the war, so I found it really fascinating. They have a wonderful display of the different theatres and types of support they gave. They were used in Europe and in the Pacific, mainly Burma. We found out that one of the glider pilots comes on Thurs & Sat. and gives tours. Sadly we were there on Friday.We did not make it to the Buddy Holly museum. Mostly because it is downtown and we were there on a normal workday and didn't feel like dealing with the traffic. Are we spoiled or what? So, onward we go headed for the South.
We passed thru Shreveport, LA. We called Pamela when we were about 1-1/2 hrs. out, but got her voice mail. I guess she was at work because she did not call back. Sorry to have missed her, but it was sort of last minute. For those who don't know, Pamela is our niece in the USAF stationed there. LA was a state we just crossed. Not much there but swamp. At least around the interstate. So, across the Mighty Mississippi to Vicksburg. Immediate stop at the visitor's center to orient ourselves. Let me tell you that I am glad I did not have to cross that big river on the old bridge! Don of course, was disappointed that it is no longer open. (sometimes he just loves to see me come close to a heart attack). We went to the Vicksburg Military Park, where they commenorate the Siege ofVicksburg in 1863. The drive starts on the Union side of the park, so we got several photos there. As usual, time began to run out (the park was closing) so we sort of hurried thru the Confederate side. We did get a good photo of the TN memorial though. We also got some photos of IL regiments because the Emersons fought with IL. I don't have my records with me, but I don't think any of them made it to Vicksburg. We hope to go back to the park someday and have time to really look at the rest of it. Meantime, I may try to get a map of the siege so I'll know what I looked at.' We have continued to be blessed with lovely weather and are so thankful.Thanks everyone for your continued support of our attempts to put in writing some of the wonderful things we have seen and done. Next trip, we will try and bore you again! Much love to all,God Bless, Don and Pat
Oh, yeah, we had just spent the night in the caboose. The next morning there was a cold wind blowing. We headed out about 8:15 to find the veterans memorial in Lubbock. Luckily it was easier to find than the one in Las Cruces. Again a beautiful park. They have put up a nice memorial. They sold bricks to build it with and seemed to have great success with that. There were bricks with names from WWI thru Iraq; and room for more. On the other side of the park was a statue and memorial to an astronaut, William C. McCool, who was killed when the shuttle Columbiat blew up over TX in 2003. When Don sends the photo you will see what a heart warming depiction it is with the astronaut and a small boy holding a toy airplane. Due to the fact we were pretty cold, we spent time there but didn't waste any!
From there we went to the Silent Wings Museum. There is a "gooney bird"(some sort of airplane) on static display and Don wanted to get out and take photos. Reluctantly, since I had just thawed out, I got out of the car also (i may have whined just a little). As you may deduce, the Silent Wings Museum honors the glider crews from WWII. The "gooney bird" was the towplane for the gliders. I personally knew nothing about the glider support during the war, so I found it really fascinating. They have a wonderful display of the different theatres and types of support they gave. They were used in Europe and in the Pacific, mainly Burma. We found out that one of the glider pilots comes on Thurs & Sat. and gives tours. Sadly we were there on Friday.We did not make it to the Buddy Holly museum. Mostly because it is downtown and we were there on a normal workday and didn't feel like dealing with the traffic. Are we spoiled or what? So, onward we go headed for the South.
We passed thru Shreveport, LA. We called Pamela when we were about 1-1/2 hrs. out, but got her voice mail. I guess she was at work because she did not call back. Sorry to have missed her, but it was sort of last minute. For those who don't know, Pamela is our niece in the USAF stationed there. LA was a state we just crossed. Not much there but swamp. At least around the interstate. So, across the Mighty Mississippi to Vicksburg. Immediate stop at the visitor's center to orient ourselves. Let me tell you that I am glad I did not have to cross that big river on the old bridge! Don of course, was disappointed that it is no longer open. (sometimes he just loves to see me come close to a heart attack). We went to the Vicksburg Military Park, where they commenorate the Siege ofVicksburg in 1863. The drive starts on the Union side of the park, so we got several photos there. As usual, time began to run out (the park was closing) so we sort of hurried thru the Confederate side. We did get a good photo of the TN memorial though. We also got some photos of IL regiments because the Emersons fought with IL. I don't have my records with me, but I don't think any of them made it to Vicksburg. We hope to go back to the park someday and have time to really look at the rest of it. Meantime, I may try to get a map of the siege so I'll know what I looked at.' We have continued to be blessed with lovely weather and are so thankful.Thanks everyone for your continued support of our attempts to put in writing some of the wonderful things we have seen and done. Next trip, we will try and bore you again! Much love to all,God Bless, Don and Pat
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Many Thanks
March 3, 2007
to all of you who have let us know you are enjoying the updates. I will slowly parcel out the photo compliments to Don so he will not get too excited. Last night we were without internet acess. I know, I know, you just can't imagine Don living thru that many hours and not curling into the fetal position. He made it just fine. Now time to catch-up. Tuesday was pretty much a travel day. We left Williams AZ early and it was 31 F. Since we were traveling Southeast, it gradually got warmer so that when we got to Las Cruces NM it was 71 F. Guess which I liked better! The scenery remained outstanding and we took lots of photos.
We arrived in Las Cruces just before sunset. After pretty much covering the town, we found Veterans Park. They have the only memorial to the Bataan Death March (the Hike, as the soldiers called it) in the US. They have done an amazing job. It is a beautiful park where people can walk their dogs or play with their children, yet still find a quiet place for just thinking. The walk up to the statue is filled with footprints of as many survivors as could be there to do it. The rememberance walk tells so much about what happened to the military during that time. There is also a wall with NM veterans from every US war. Just don't think of NM when you think of the US Civil War, do you? Me either.
The park ws absolutely pristine. I mean there was no litter, no spray paint on any of the structures, Just so very clean. We were both impressed. We did like Las Cruces, it is a very pretty town.
Wednesday saw us leaving in high winds headed for Lubbock TX. I mean high winds, mercy. Lucky for us it was pushing us so we got great gas milage! Before leaving NM, we stopped at the White Sands National Monument. Luckily the wind had died some or there would have been a white-out. Once you got in among the dunes, it was almost hard to realize it wasn't snow. They use a snowplow to keep the roads clear of drifting sand. Does that mean we should call it a sandplow? We have a couple of photos standing in front of the dunes for scale so you can see just how tall they are. They do a sunset walk thru the dunes most days. Too bad we couldn't be there, because it has got to be awe-inspiring. Leaving White Sands, we started across the Sacramento Mts. Guess what? Snow and cold again. I mean there are ski lodges and plenty of snow for skiing. It was beautiful since we did not have to get out in the cold!
We arrived in Lubbock around 5pm and had no trouble finding the B&B where we were staying in the Caboose. Just not that many houses around with a caboose in the back yard! It is right across from the campus of Texas Tech U. That is a lovely campus. The caboose was fun. One thing about the high winds was that it occasionally rocked the caboose. Sorta like being on a real train. We slept good. Breakfast the next morning was yummy. One of the other guests was at the table with us and was a fascinating person. He was in from the Netherlands interviewing for a professorship at TTU. (He is American working in the Netherlands right now). Maybe I will get a chance at some future time to tell you about our conversation (Consider this a warning). Another warning! I have more to say but it will have to wait, I am tired.
Have a wonderful time. Love to all.God Bless, Don & Pat
to all of you who have let us know you are enjoying the updates. I will slowly parcel out the photo compliments to Don so he will not get too excited. Last night we were without internet acess. I know, I know, you just can't imagine Don living thru that many hours and not curling into the fetal position. He made it just fine. Now time to catch-up. Tuesday was pretty much a travel day. We left Williams AZ early and it was 31 F. Since we were traveling Southeast, it gradually got warmer so that when we got to Las Cruces NM it was 71 F. Guess which I liked better! The scenery remained outstanding and we took lots of photos.
We arrived in Las Cruces just before sunset. After pretty much covering the town, we found Veterans Park. They have the only memorial to the Bataan Death March (the Hike, as the soldiers called it) in the US. They have done an amazing job. It is a beautiful park where people can walk their dogs or play with their children, yet still find a quiet place for just thinking. The walk up to the statue is filled with footprints of as many survivors as could be there to do it. The rememberance walk tells so much about what happened to the military during that time. There is also a wall with NM veterans from every US war. Just don't think of NM when you think of the US Civil War, do you? Me either.
The park ws absolutely pristine. I mean there was no litter, no spray paint on any of the structures, Just so very clean. We were both impressed. We did like Las Cruces, it is a very pretty town.
Wednesday saw us leaving in high winds headed for Lubbock TX. I mean high winds, mercy. Lucky for us it was pushing us so we got great gas milage! Before leaving NM, we stopped at the White Sands National Monument. Luckily the wind had died some or there would have been a white-out. Once you got in among the dunes, it was almost hard to realize it wasn't snow. They use a snowplow to keep the roads clear of drifting sand. Does that mean we should call it a sandplow? We have a couple of photos standing in front of the dunes for scale so you can see just how tall they are. They do a sunset walk thru the dunes most days. Too bad we couldn't be there, because it has got to be awe-inspiring. Leaving White Sands, we started across the Sacramento Mts. Guess what? Snow and cold again. I mean there are ski lodges and plenty of snow for skiing. It was beautiful since we did not have to get out in the cold!
We arrived in Lubbock around 5pm and had no trouble finding the B&B where we were staying in the Caboose. Just not that many houses around with a caboose in the back yard! It is right across from the campus of Texas Tech U. That is a lovely campus. The caboose was fun. One thing about the high winds was that it occasionally rocked the caboose. Sorta like being on a real train. We slept good. Breakfast the next morning was yummy. One of the other guests was at the table with us and was a fascinating person. He was in from the Netherlands interviewing for a professorship at TTU. (He is American working in the Netherlands right now). Maybe I will get a chance at some future time to tell you about our conversation (Consider this a warning). Another warning! I have more to say but it will have to wait, I am tired.
Have a wonderful time. Love to all.God Bless, Don & Pat
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Train Day
March 1, 2007
dawned clear and cold. We have been so blessed with the weather on thistrip and we are so grateful.We went to the depot about 8:30 so we could see the "Wild WestShootout". First we had our photo taken next to the old steam engine. Too bad they couldn't be running that one. As we were walking over tothe "Wild West Town", Don spotted a steam tractor and I took his pic next to it. As I was taking the pic, the "Marshall" came by and said "old machine, old man." Whoop! Of course, I said "young wife". He said"I was thinking daughter". Is he not a wonderful, discerning, truthful man? And handsome too. Somehow I don't think Don was as impressed with him as I was. Over at wild west town, we moseyed (catch that wild west talk?) around talking to the actors and petting the horses, even the grumpy one. All of the actors were there in costume mingling with the crowd and getting their pictures taken with various women. During the "shoot-out", they picked a young man from the audience to blame the dirty deed on. He was a college kid wearing shorts and carrying a backpack. The marshall said he certaining did not see a threat from a guy wearing his undershorts and carrying a purse! What a hoot. But maybe you had to be there. It was fun partly because the actors seemed to be having such fun. Finally we got into the nice warm railcar for the 2 hr trip to the rim. We sat next to a young couple from Boston and their 9 yo son - Bob,Peggy and Owen. Of course it was Owen's first trip on a train and he was excited - unlike us oh so cool adults. (believe that?). After the trip thru varied and lovely landscape we arrived at Grand Canyon Village. Let me tell you the area has changed dramatically in 18 years.Probably because of the advent of the tourist train. We hopped a bus and went to lunch. Good thing because I was close to being the grumpy one. During the lunch break we also had time to frequent the gift shop- imagine that!
As we toured the rim our guide had a steady patter and answered lots of questions. But she told us up front that both the North and South(where we were) Rims of the Canyon are in Arizona. Many people don't seem to realize that. She even had someone ask if the North Rim was in Mexico! Duh, Mexico is South, a lo-o-ong way. We made 3 or 4 stops at overlooks for photo ops. As anyone knows Don made the most of those ops. I think he took 135 photos. I didn't do so bad myself.. I tried to take different views than he did. At one ofthe overlooks, Peggy offered to take our pic. Well, she dropped my camera. Don grabbed the battery before it could go over the cliff. She was mortified and could not apologize enough. The camera was fine. Later, when she was apologizing once again, Bob said she was going to worry about it the rest of the trip. Next overlook, I took some great photos and showed her that the camera was fine. She was prepared to offer me her camera. Yes, we finally did get our photo made. The trip back on the train was much quieter. Most of us were fairly tired. Don and I went directly to supper and back to the motel. It had been a really great day and again, the weather could not have been more perfect. By the time we got to the Canyon, it was about 55 degrees and we didn't even need the heavy coats we were lugging around.I n answer to those who asked about my legs. They are fine and have forgiven me for mistreating them.
Love to all,God Bless,Don and Pat
dawned clear and cold. We have been so blessed with the weather on thistrip and we are so grateful.We went to the depot about 8:30 so we could see the "Wild WestShootout". First we had our photo taken next to the old steam engine. Too bad they couldn't be running that one. As we were walking over tothe "Wild West Town", Don spotted a steam tractor and I took his pic next to it. As I was taking the pic, the "Marshall" came by and said "old machine, old man." Whoop! Of course, I said "young wife". He said"I was thinking daughter". Is he not a wonderful, discerning, truthful man? And handsome too. Somehow I don't think Don was as impressed with him as I was. Over at wild west town, we moseyed (catch that wild west talk?) around talking to the actors and petting the horses, even the grumpy one. All of the actors were there in costume mingling with the crowd and getting their pictures taken with various women. During the "shoot-out", they picked a young man from the audience to blame the dirty deed on. He was a college kid wearing shorts and carrying a backpack. The marshall said he certaining did not see a threat from a guy wearing his undershorts and carrying a purse! What a hoot. But maybe you had to be there. It was fun partly because the actors seemed to be having such fun. Finally we got into the nice warm railcar for the 2 hr trip to the rim. We sat next to a young couple from Boston and their 9 yo son - Bob,Peggy and Owen. Of course it was Owen's first trip on a train and he was excited - unlike us oh so cool adults. (believe that?). After the trip thru varied and lovely landscape we arrived at Grand Canyon Village. Let me tell you the area has changed dramatically in 18 years.Probably because of the advent of the tourist train. We hopped a bus and went to lunch. Good thing because I was close to being the grumpy one. During the lunch break we also had time to frequent the gift shop- imagine that!
As we toured the rim our guide had a steady patter and answered lots of questions. But she told us up front that both the North and South(where we were) Rims of the Canyon are in Arizona. Many people don't seem to realize that. She even had someone ask if the North Rim was in Mexico! Duh, Mexico is South, a lo-o-ong way. We made 3 or 4 stops at overlooks for photo ops. As anyone knows Don made the most of those ops. I think he took 135 photos. I didn't do so bad myself.. I tried to take different views than he did. At one ofthe overlooks, Peggy offered to take our pic. Well, she dropped my camera. Don grabbed the battery before it could go over the cliff. She was mortified and could not apologize enough. The camera was fine. Later, when she was apologizing once again, Bob said she was going to worry about it the rest of the trip. Next overlook, I took some great photos and showed her that the camera was fine. She was prepared to offer me her camera. Yes, we finally did get our photo made. The trip back on the train was much quieter. Most of us were fairly tired. Don and I went directly to supper and back to the motel. It had been a really great day and again, the weather could not have been more perfect. By the time we got to the Canyon, it was about 55 degrees and we didn't even need the heavy coats we were lugging around.I n answer to those who asked about my legs. They are fine and have forgiven me for mistreating them.
Love to all,God Bless,Don and Pat
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Still Beautiful Weather
February 28, 2007
but now is cold here in Williams AZ. We left Las Vegas Saturday morning and were on the road again. Mostly seeing more great scenery. Most of it is just indescribable, but if you have been in this area you know.
Around Kingman AZ we decided to take off the interstate onto Rte 66. We stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns. Yeah! an elevator to take us down! Of course there was still lots of walking up and down in the cave. This cave has been a tourist attraction since 1927. Originally they lowered you down in a bucket with an oil lantern and you could look around as much as you can see by that lantern. Not happening with me! And they charged 25 cents for you to trust them and the rope. It is a "dry cavern" meaning there is no water and so is no longer active in making new stalagtites or stalagmites or crystals. It is so dry they found a mummified bobcat who had fallen in many years ago and broken it's hip. Also the very well preserved skeleton of a giant sloth presumably from the ice age. The guide had quite a patter, some not quite believable. Who remembers the Cuban missile crisis aand Bay of Pigs? Some of you can surely remember studying about it! Well, during that crisis, the cave was designated a shelter and the gov't loaded them up with supplies to keep 2000 people alive for 2 weeks. It is all still there, including the 3 rolls of toilet paper. Think there would have been fights over those? We sure are spoiled. Anyway my mind flashed back to college and everyone standing around the teletype as the news was coming in about the crisis. (If you need to know what a teletype is, just ask).
We continued into Williams, found our hotel and just rested. This hotel does not have coffee pots in the room, so we went to Family Dollar and bought one, just to be able to have hot water and make hot chocolate or oatmeal.
This morning we attended church services. There were 15 at services. What wonderful, friendly, loving people. Had a really good Bible study. The first people we met are in the process of moving to Mt. Home AR. and their children live in Henderson and White House, TN. Then the really exciting part of the day - are you ready for this? Are you sure you can handle it? We went to the laundromat and did our laundry! Whoo-ho. Tomorrow is train day and we are so looking forward to it.
Love to all-- God Bless,Don and Pat
but now is cold here in Williams AZ. We left Las Vegas Saturday morning and were on the road again. Mostly seeing more great scenery. Most of it is just indescribable, but if you have been in this area you know.
Around Kingman AZ we decided to take off the interstate onto Rte 66. We stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns. Yeah! an elevator to take us down! Of course there was still lots of walking up and down in the cave. This cave has been a tourist attraction since 1927. Originally they lowered you down in a bucket with an oil lantern and you could look around as much as you can see by that lantern. Not happening with me! And they charged 25 cents for you to trust them and the rope. It is a "dry cavern" meaning there is no water and so is no longer active in making new stalagtites or stalagmites or crystals. It is so dry they found a mummified bobcat who had fallen in many years ago and broken it's hip. Also the very well preserved skeleton of a giant sloth presumably from the ice age. The guide had quite a patter, some not quite believable. Who remembers the Cuban missile crisis aand Bay of Pigs? Some of you can surely remember studying about it! Well, during that crisis, the cave was designated a shelter and the gov't loaded them up with supplies to keep 2000 people alive for 2 weeks. It is all still there, including the 3 rolls of toilet paper. Think there would have been fights over those? We sure are spoiled. Anyway my mind flashed back to college and everyone standing around the teletype as the news was coming in about the crisis. (If you need to know what a teletype is, just ask).
We continued into Williams, found our hotel and just rested. This hotel does not have coffee pots in the room, so we went to Family Dollar and bought one, just to be able to have hot water and make hot chocolate or oatmeal.
This morning we attended church services. There were 15 at services. What wonderful, friendly, loving people. Had a really good Bible study. The first people we met are in the process of moving to Mt. Home AR. and their children live in Henderson and White House, TN. Then the really exciting part of the day - are you ready for this? Are you sure you can handle it? We went to the laundromat and did our laundry! Whoo-ho. Tomorrow is train day and we are so looking forward to it.
Love to all-- God Bless,Don and Pat
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Did you hear the screams?
February 24, 2007
When I got up (tried to) Thursday morning, my legs were not at all happy with me. They were screaming "You hike us up 90 miles to a volcano and then climb 910 steps and expect us to work the next day? Dreamer!" I will have to say that I was very sore. So if you were thinking I was in pretty good shape, the joke is on you. But I would not have missed Wednesday' experience.
So here we are in Las Vegas. It has changed a whole bunch since we drove thru here 18 years ago! And that is understating it! We got here early afternoon, so we went walking down "the strip". My legs and feet were not screaming after that 2 hours, they were whimpering. Again it was worth it. Good thing hotels don't run out of hot water, because I guarantee I stood in that shower for a while!
The buildings here are amazing. And the landscaping is indescribable! Don has taken a ton of photos. Unfortunately we have picked the windest days of the year to be here, so few of the outdoor shows are being done. No volcano, no pirate fight, no dancing waters. Such is life. It is stil pretty amazing..
Today we bought a bus pass. Still did a fair bit of walking, but it sure was nice to catch a bus whenever we felt like it. There is just so much going on here, it is hard to describe and definitely hard to get around to doing very much of it. We really enjoyed the Flamingo wild bird habitat. It is really beautiful and such a variety of tropical birds,wow. Beautiful waterfalls and scenery. Then we were at the conservatory at the Bellagio. Mercy! They have these huge statutes of oriental children ane all the clothing is made of flowers. We got pictures of an employee "dressing" one of them. Since it is the year of the pig, they have this really big pig whose ears and snout move. Got Don's photo next to that one. And the mirrored horse in the lobby is really sparkling. Tonite we did take the bus to Fremont Street in old Las Vegas. A very interesting experience.> Guess that is about it, if I think of more you will hear about it (just don't tell me you hit delete without even reading it).
Tomorrow afternoon we head for Williams AZ and our Grand Canyon adventure.
Thanks for being such good friends and family.
We love you. God Bless,
Don and Pat
When I got up (tried to) Thursday morning, my legs were not at all happy with me. They were screaming "You hike us up 90 miles to a volcano and then climb 910 steps and expect us to work the next day? Dreamer!" I will have to say that I was very sore. So if you were thinking I was in pretty good shape, the joke is on you. But I would not have missed Wednesday' experience.
So here we are in Las Vegas. It has changed a whole bunch since we drove thru here 18 years ago! And that is understating it! We got here early afternoon, so we went walking down "the strip". My legs and feet were not screaming after that 2 hours, they were whimpering. Again it was worth it. Good thing hotels don't run out of hot water, because I guarantee I stood in that shower for a while!
The buildings here are amazing. And the landscaping is indescribable! Don has taken a ton of photos. Unfortunately we have picked the windest days of the year to be here, so few of the outdoor shows are being done. No volcano, no pirate fight, no dancing waters. Such is life. It is stil pretty amazing..
Today we bought a bus pass. Still did a fair bit of walking, but it sure was nice to catch a bus whenever we felt like it. There is just so much going on here, it is hard to describe and definitely hard to get around to doing very much of it. We really enjoyed the Flamingo wild bird habitat. It is really beautiful and such a variety of tropical birds,wow. Beautiful waterfalls and scenery. Then we were at the conservatory at the Bellagio. Mercy! They have these huge statutes of oriental children ane all the clothing is made of flowers. We got pictures of an employee "dressing" one of them. Since it is the year of the pig, they have this really big pig whose ears and snout move. Got Don's photo next to that one. And the mirrored horse in the lobby is really sparkling. Tonite we did take the bus to Fremont Street in old Las Vegas. A very interesting experience.> Guess that is about it, if I think of more you will hear about it (just don't tell me you hit delete without even reading it).
Tomorrow afternoon we head for Williams AZ and our Grand Canyon adventure.
Thanks for being such good friends and family.
We love you. God Bless,
Don and Pat
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Raise your hands
February 22, 2007
if you remember studying about volcanos and lava beds in New Mexico. OK, hands down. Now who knew about the Banderas Volcano and Ice Cave? Well, if you didn't raise your hand, you know now.
We had an absolutely beautiful day, again! So far on this trip we have> been blessed with blue skies. The only clouds we saw were made by airplanes. We had a nice night in Santa Rosa NM. We got there in time to go to the Route 66 Auto museum. It was really interesting. Don's tongue was hanging out a lot, but he was keeping the drool under control. Some of those cars have been beautifully restored. Don will most likely be sending photos. One of them is especially for you, Michelle!
This morning was a cool start, but it quickly warmed up - depending on your definition of warm. Carole and Carla will agree the 56 F. is warm. We drove to the volcano and ice cave thru lava fields. It is really amazing. This is a National Conservation Area. However they do allow people to go caving in the lava tubes. We decided we would pass on that - for the rest of our lives! There was a good deal of snow along the way. We did climb the 1/2 mile to the cinder cone of the volcano. It is a pretty easy walk - except for the fact we were 8000 ft above sea level.>(That is higher than Denver) Breathing got a little labored. After coming down from the cinder cone (I stopped to make a snow angel) we went to the ice cave. The path there is really, really easy until you come to the 78 stairs. We managed going down just fine, but on the climb back up they had quickly added 100 stairs. (remember we are still at 8000 ft). The ice cave is pretty astounding. The ice is at least 20 feet thick and the temp is 31 F. year round. Until 1946 the ice was mined from around the walls because it is crystal clear.
From there we headed for Flagstaff AZ. Then we decided on a little detour - called the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. We arrived at the park about 4pm, so had some wonderful light for pictures. That was about 1-1/2 hr trip. So well worth it. Some of you know that when we> were at the Painted Desert in 1988 we met a couple from Dandridge, TN. Well, this time didn't see any Tennesseans. By the time we finally left that little stop, we realized we had not eaten in some time. By that time the peanut butter we had with us just did not sound like enough dinner. We stopped at the Butterfield Stage Company Restaurant in Holbrook, AZ. It is a themed restaurant based on the actual Butterfield Stage Co. that ran thru there in the mid 1800's. Good food too.
So here we are in our comfy little room in Flagstaff wishing you could be here too. Everyone have a great week and God Bless
Don and Pat
ps Photos to follow
if you remember studying about volcanos and lava beds in New Mexico. OK, hands down. Now who knew about the Banderas Volcano and Ice Cave? Well, if you didn't raise your hand, you know now.
We had an absolutely beautiful day, again! So far on this trip we have> been blessed with blue skies. The only clouds we saw were made by airplanes. We had a nice night in Santa Rosa NM. We got there in time to go to the Route 66 Auto museum. It was really interesting. Don's tongue was hanging out a lot, but he was keeping the drool under control. Some of those cars have been beautifully restored. Don will most likely be sending photos. One of them is especially for you, Michelle!
This morning was a cool start, but it quickly warmed up - depending on your definition of warm. Carole and Carla will agree the 56 F. is warm. We drove to the volcano and ice cave thru lava fields. It is really amazing. This is a National Conservation Area. However they do allow people to go caving in the lava tubes. We decided we would pass on that - for the rest of our lives! There was a good deal of snow along the way. We did climb the 1/2 mile to the cinder cone of the volcano. It is a pretty easy walk - except for the fact we were 8000 ft above sea level.>(That is higher than Denver) Breathing got a little labored. After coming down from the cinder cone (I stopped to make a snow angel) we went to the ice cave. The path there is really, really easy until you come to the 78 stairs. We managed going down just fine, but on the climb back up they had quickly added 100 stairs. (remember we are still at 8000 ft). The ice cave is pretty astounding. The ice is at least 20 feet thick and the temp is 31 F. year round. Until 1946 the ice was mined from around the walls because it is crystal clear.
From there we headed for Flagstaff AZ. Then we decided on a little detour - called the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. We arrived at the park about 4pm, so had some wonderful light for pictures. That was about 1-1/2 hr trip. So well worth it. Some of you know that when we> were at the Painted Desert in 1988 we met a couple from Dandridge, TN. Well, this time didn't see any Tennesseans. By the time we finally left that little stop, we realized we had not eaten in some time. By that time the peanut butter we had with us just did not sound like enough dinner. We stopped at the Butterfield Stage Company Restaurant in Holbrook, AZ. It is a themed restaurant based on the actual Butterfield Stage Co. that ran thru there in the mid 1800's. Good food too.
So here we are in our comfy little room in Flagstaff wishing you could be here too. Everyone have a great week and God Bless
Don and Pat
ps Photos to follow
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