We had a fantastic week long adventure in Arizona and New Mexico with our friends, Joan and Tim. Joan is the speech therapist at my school, and her husband Tim is the art teacher at the high school. We go way back to 1978 when I arrived at St. Michael-Albertville a year after they did!. We have enjoyed many trips to their cabin up north, and now hit the road to the south.Here is our condo - not much to look at, what? Just kidding - we had a beautiful place in the White Mountains with tall Ponderosa pines all around us. This picture was taken on the way to the Petrified Forest on Sunday, March 22. We had to take a road trip to get to any destination worth seeing (and taking pictures of).
The day was incredibly windy - gusts to 70 mph. In fact, we broke the car door on the rental car when the wind blew the door right out of Tim's hand. Once we got it closed, we couldn't open it any more. It was the front passenger side, and it was a real chore for six foot tall Tim to climb over the steering wheel to get in after every photo op! (Did I mention the Tim is an incredible photographer? He teaches a class and does weddings, graduation pictures, and prom stuff, too!)
Some people call this area of Arizona the Badlands, just like in North Dakota!
On the way back to our condo, we saw the sunset through all the sand blowing. It was something else!
The next morning I took this picture through the trees right off our deck. It was a little chilly to sit out there for breakfast. We didn't pick a hot spot for our spring break, but it sure was beautiful!
On Monday we drove to Flagstaff to trade in the car, and stopped at the Riordan Mansion for a tour. It was built for two brothers in the early 1900's who ran a lumbering business - and they connected two houses that were mirror images of each other for their families. There was the original, gorgeous grand piano and the tour guide asked if anyone played. Of course, I offered Paul's services and he wowed the crowd!
We drove south from Flagstaff down the Oak Creek Canyon to see the Red Rocks of Sedona. Eveyone said we should drive up to the airport (on the top of a mesa overlooking the town) to see the sunset, so we did. There were probably 50-75 other people with the same idea, all with camera in hand. It was well worth it!
We stayed overnight in Sedona, and got up the next morning to visit a few rock formations recommended by our waitress from the night before. Below you see Cathedral Rock. The path goes all the way up, but we only had time to hike partway because we had a list of other places to go. We'll just have to come back, I guess.
Bell Rock was the next stop, and again, we just hiked partway for some cool pictures.
We drove about 20 miles south of Sedona to see Montezuma's Castle, a pueblo built in the 12th-13th century. The Sinagua Indians had to carry all their building supplies on their backs up ladders 46 feet above the level of the creek! One of the guides we talked to said he gets to spend one hour a year actually up in the dwelling.
Next stop - the Grand Canyon, AFTER a detour to the Flagstaff Hospital for Tim to get a stitch in his tongue! He bit it while eating a burger and it wouldn't stop bleeding because of some medication he is on. Ouch! We got to the canyon in time for more sunset pictures. Words and pictures CANNOT describe the amazing grandeur of God's creation.
We got up at 5:15 to go on a sunrise tour from our resort. It was an incredible 17 degrees above zero! Did I mention we didn't chose a hot spot to go on spring break? But it was well worth it! Our tour took us to six or seven great vistas, and our guide had great stories to tell.
The colors at sunrise are so different from sunset. I'm glad we got up to see it.
This is the Hopi House, one of the early tourist buildings built by the railroad back in the early 1900s when the Grand Canyon became a vacation destination. It still is - 6-7 MILLION people come every year. Luckily, we were there in the off season, and it was still pelnty busy. This building is a Native American Arts and Crafts store now.
The same architect, Mary Coulter, designed this tower at the east end of the South Rim Drive. We stopped there on our way out. It is called the Watchtower and is a recreation of prehistoric towers built by the ancient peoples of the canyon.
A well known Hopi artist, Fred Kabotie, painted the inside of the tower walls and ceiling with characters from legends.
On Thursday, the plan was to go golfing. However, it was VERY windy again, so we took another roadtrip to see a local ski area, and Apache Forst, and ended up going down the Salt River Canyon to see Roosevelt Lake and Dam. We noticed some dark clouds over the hills to the east, but only commented on them because they made such beautiful pictures.
Every see cactus growing in water?
I love the colors in the one!
When we got back to Pinetop, our home in the mountains, there was 4-6 inches of snow! Did I mention how HOT it was on our spring break away from COLD Minnesota?
On Friday we drove to Albuquerque to stay over night because our flight back to Minnesota left pretty early on Saturday. It was a 5 hour drive from Pinetop. We had heard from many friends that we had to go see Santa Fe, so we hopped in the car to drive about an hour north on I25. There were some very old churches, missions and chapels to see, a town square that dates back to the Spanish conquistadores, and a WONDERFUL Mexican restaurant!
Above is the oldest church in New Mexico, and below is a shot from inside St. Francis Basilica.
I almost hopped on the train at the Santa Fe station to recreate my childhood trip to California in 1957! This station was right across the parking lot from our restaurant. The sofapillas were marvelous - I think I'd go back just for another taste.
Albuquerque is known for their Hot Air Balloon Festival every October. Some of the ballooners were out at 8:30 on a Saturday morning as we were taking off to head home. It was a bit hazy, but I can imagine the sky full of hundreds of balloons against a clear blue backdrop. You can see forever.
Well, that's it. Hopefully, you read all the way to the end. This is just a sample of the pictures I took - multiply this by about 20! We had a wonderful time, and want to go back again someday ... maybe retirement??? Who knows!
First they give you instructions and demonstrate how to make each package the right weight and combination of ingredients.
Then we picked out jobs. Some are warehouse workers who replenish the ingredients when the packers run out of product.
Some stick instruction stickers on the plastic bags that hold enough food for six meals. We got to taste the food - it reminds me of a chicken rice casserole, with no chicken! It's really not bad, and a great improvement on grass, rocks, and dirt that some children eat around the world.
We packed enough food to feed over 7,000 children. I wonder where they will send it this time?
You've got to be kidding me - move these rocks?
Oh ... RAKE the rocks that the snow plow pushed into the grass back into the parking lot. Hopefully by next summer that will be an obsolete task. Raising $20,000 to pay for tarring the lot is a bit of a challenge.
Of course, there are plenty of weeds in the gardens to dig out as well as hostas and things to plant.
Everyone pitched in, from four year olds to senior citizens!
Okay, Anna mostly watched, but she was a big encouragement.
A popular choice in jobs for the older boys was cutting dead wood for the fire pit, and manning the fire to get rid of dead branches.
The little guys would have preferred making s'mores.
We had a fantastic week long adventure in Arizona and New Mexico with our friends, Joan and Tim. Joan is the speech therapist at my school, and her husband Tim is the art teacher at the high school. We go way back to 1978 when I arrived at St. Michael-Albertville a year after they did!. We have enjoyed many trips to their cabin up north, and now hit the road to the south.
Here's the whole group - it looks lots bigger once you are inside!
Back at 
Who can slurp up a marshmallow on a string the fastest?
...and my personal favorite ... Chubby Bunny! Who can stuff the most marshmallows in their mouth and still be able to say "chubby bunny?" Emery gets the crown this year with 13 of the large marshmallows - however, he couldn't manage the all important phrase, so the 
