Just before we let Texas I got to go to Raleigh for Easter and all the kids and grands were there. This was amazing! It is always great when we can get most everyone together at the same time.
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Chef Dan cooking the lamb
I am not sure where this kid got all her cuteness! Must have been from her Grandma!! Just kidding Roni & Dan.
What a pumpkin head! I made another of these hats to give away to another cute little pumpkin!!
Isnt this what everyone does on Easter!!! There is something wrong with our family!
We left on the 1st of April and made it to Las Cruces where our daughter Charley, son in law Steve and granddaughter Ana met us for a few days' fun. We went out to White Sands National Park for a walk in the White. Even though it is amazing, it is just a little boring. I know I have said this before, but it is amazing that our daughters & their families can fly/drive out to visit us wherever we are. Somewhere along the way we also saw the most amazing rainbow. The biggest ever. The picture will not do it justice, but it was like the northern lights of the desert.
A cowgirl in the making.
How can this be comfortable!!
Cutest bunny ever!!
Thank you to Rosemary and Doug for hosting us in Las Cruces & thank you Rosemary for going out Disc golfing in the dessert with Dick so I didn't have too!!
On to the road we go. After leaving Las Cruces we headed to the BLM land and spent 3 days wondering around in the peace and quiet. Whenever we go to these areas, we are completely amazed at the solitude. We walk around and look for rattle snakes but have found none. Mostly I find more rocks to weigh down the trailer and lower our gas milage. There are many beautiful flowers and distant beauty.
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We will never be any good at selfies but this is us all happy in our solitude!!
There are ghosts in the dessert haunting us!
The sunsets in the desert are as good as the ocean sunsets!
My collection of rocks from this day! Do not think for a moment that this is all I will collect from this trip. I will post the rock art when I figure out what I want to do with all of them at a future date.
I am not sure, but I think this snow is far enough from me!!
We headed toward Phoenix to visit with Dicks Aunt Karen and Cousin Neil. We spent a week in a hoity toity resort where we could swim and have running water and electricity. Living without is not as bad as I make it sound. We had lots of water on the BLM land and our generator allowed us to continue our binge-watching shows. We really have figured out how not to rough it but look like we are.
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This cactus is whipping me the bird!! If ever you get to the cactus area, you must stand next to these giants. So many and so huge!!
We were awfully thirsty and hungry after surviving the dessert, so a brewery was in order. These Jalapeño fritters were amazing with their honey glaze. The perfect match with this stout!!
The landscape in the southwest is just so amazingly beautiful! We have flown a bunch but driving is truly the way to see this country and all its beauty. So many layers of rock and so many colors!
We stopped in the Navajo Nation and spent 2 nights. Checked out one of their money making little roadside attractions. The little Colorado River overlook/shopping area. Support the Nation and stop for there is unseen beauty you cannot see from the road.
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Another attempt at selfie!! Sorry!
We headed over to the south rim of the Grand Canyon to see it from a different view we had not visited the last time we were here. It was just as amazing as we remember. You really can just sit there and stare at the hole and never get bored. We didn't see any California condors like we saw last time but it was still cool. As always Dick has to stand at the very edge and scare the shit out of me. Looking out at this vastness and depth makes me tippy and I would certainly fall off the edge if I did this. Pictures will never do any of this park justice. Just go!
Driving through the narrow rocks is crazy. This doesn't look bad but again the picture looks different than the real thing.
We are at Sand Hollow State Park in Utah for 3 days. What a neat park. It is a newer Utah state park and has become quite popular. Lots of dessert buggies and the lake is crystal clear. Some crazy rock formations that the younger generation jumps from into the water then climb back up and do it again. Guess what??? We are not the younger generation and did not do it. Aside from that, when they did and surfaced, they were screaming and swimming to the shore as fast as they could because it was cold as f@*$. We did however make the trek to the lake in our suits to swim and got knee deep before we couldn't feel our feet. We were comfortably numb!
Lots of one-man flying things out one day in the evening when calm. It was pretty cool to see them all buzzing by.
We went to Zion and were kind of bummed with the parking/driving situation. Contributed to the park beatification fund (a.k.a. entrance fee) to drive in circles to find a non-existent parking spot. So, we did a short driving tour. If you don't have a spot to park you cannot get on the shuttle that travel the roads into the park where no private vehicles can go so you are limited to what you can see. There was a vertical road we climbed to see some beautiful rock formations, but we had to turn around because we didn't pay the extra fee of $15 to go through the one lane tunnel to Brice NP. We were on the cusp up not fitting and didn't want to take the chance of scraping up the truck. We were going to wake up the next day early to go back and get a parking spot and get on the bus but by the time we woke up we knew it would probably be too late to get a parking spot. What we did see what quite beautiful. Just know when you go you better be an early riser.
These are the jumping rocks below. They look pretty small in the picture but would be the death of me for sure. Dick was going to push me off but took a picture instead!! Thank goodness because I know you would all miss this blog if I really died!!
Ended our Zion location adventures at a disc golf course with black ducks. Heading to Vegas area to stay in the desert near The Valley of Fire next so Dick can play in some disc golf tournaments. Hopefully he can get in one or the other. I guess you will find out next blog!
As always, ignore the spelling, grammar and snarkiness in my writings, and enjoy the view!!
