Since my friend Jan lives there now she was game to take her car and go on a little trip with me to Sedona, the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert.
In Sedona you can hardly believe your eyes as you gaze at the stunning rock formations.
The Petrified Forest is known for its large deposits of petrified wood containing fossils, especially fallen trees that lived about 225 million years ago.
I loved the Painted Desert also, kind of a moonscape but with a lot more color.
The people in the park that arranged the towing were wonderful and very helpful but the small town was unbelievably redneck. We hardly saw any people, they seemed to live in rundown houses with broken window blinds but what was really interesting was the sign in the door as you entered one of the shops.
It was all part of the adventure and we saw some beautiful country.
After that jaunt I rented a car for a week and took off by myself to go to Tucson where I have friends. My next destination was Tombstone, and a trip back into the Old West. Stagecoaches roll down the main street and except for the tourists flooding the town you could almost believe you are back in the Old West.
There are colorful bars with great signs –
And this one which was actually in my hotel room (I love the ‘gun oil’)
From there I went to visit the Kartchner Caverns which are a magnificent sight. Discovered by two young cavers when, at the bottom of a sinkhole, they found a narrow crack leading into the hillside. After several hours of crawling on their stomachs, they entered a pristine cavern of remarkable minerals and formations in a massive limestone cave.
Just watching the video of how long they were underground in a tunnel that at times was no bigger than their body and where they would have to dig out a space to continue moving forward gave you claustrophobia just watching it.
I also visited some of the local sites around Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale and enjoyed the weekly hikes with the walking club at the Park where I was living.
One night I went on a desert walk during the full moon led by a Park Ranger where we followed a trail for a couple of hours near the base of Superstition Mountain with no light except from the moon and heard stories of the native people who once lived there.
I toured the home of world famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright,
And went to a Phoenix Suns’ NBA basketball game
...and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather.
I came home at the end of January and in March I went with a friend to Fairbanks and then on to the Chena Hot Springs Resort to see the Northern Lights. They were spectacular this past winter due to the very active solar flares.
It was amazing to be at the top of the mountain and have them flashing all around you. We went up the mountain about 9:30 at night by caterpillar. There were yurts where you could duck in and get warm, have some soup or hot chocolate and visit with the other people before going out to stand in the snow again for more spectacular sights.
The Hot Springs were fun and even though you had to run through the snow to get there (about 50 feet) once you were in them it was wonderful to be so hot when you were surrounded by snow banks.
There was also an Ice Museum with beautiful ice carvings that were dramatically lit with colored lights.
They have a couple of ‘bedrooms’ where people can actually sleep overnight on an bed made of ice with caribou throws to keep warm but we were told that if you do that they also provide a room in the lodge because most people think it is a great idea but few last through the night in the Ice Museum.
We watched the ice carver carving martini glasses made of ice from which you can have an appletini at the ice bar.
We watched the ice carver carving martini glasses made of ice from which you can have an appletini at the ice bar.
We went dog sledding one day which was really fun and it makes you very aware of being only 100 miles from the Arctic Circle
It was a wonderful summer in Seattle with no rain from July through to October. I went to visit my mom in April, July and October and she is doing pretty well for being 94 years old. My brother takes very good care of her and the Assisted Living facility where she lives is very nice with lots of activities to keep her busy. She is still in the senior choir and loves to sing.
It has been fun to see more of my niece Krista and her family also. She has a son Caden who is five and I went to watch him play hockey which was really great. It reminded me of the many times we stood outside freezing in the snow to watch my brother play hockey when he was little. At least now it is an indoor rink. When I got there I couldn’t tell which one was Caden because of all the gear they now wear and with the helmets you can’t tell the kids apart. When my brother Jeff played (the second photo about the same age) I remember him having magazines for shin pads.
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Krista also has twins, Anna and Brooke who are three and so much fun to watch.
It is so nice for my mom to be where all her family is living. This photo is from last Christmas and the kids have grown a lot over the year.
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Robert’s team won the city championship for baseball so that was also fun to watch – I get as much kick out of the dads who coach as the kids.
I continue to enjoy my Zumba Dance Classes three times a week and this summer we did a ‘Flash Mob’ at the Westlake Plaza downtown. It was so much fun and people from the crowd that were gathered to watch ended up dancing along with us to try it out.
So I hope you enjoy the photos that go along with my reminiscences of the past year. Have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends and all the best for the New Year….2013 Can you believe it!!
