Ruidoso, NM

We spent last week in Ruidoso, NM.  Ruidoso is a skiing village with lots of little shops.  The weather in Ruidoso was excellent average temperature last week was 82 degrees.  There were a lot of storms late week which gave Linda & I a chance to see some neat lighting and storms.  We drove around Ruidoso countryside looking at all the beautiful scenery.  On Thursday night we went back to White Sands National Monument to watch a sunset.  The sunset was amazing.  It was storming to the East with lighting and watching the sunset to the West.  On Friday we went to Carlsbad, NM to the Carlsbad Caverns National Monument.  It was neat to ride an elevator down to the cavern close to 800 feet deep.  It sure was a lot bigger than the caverns we saw in AZ but not as colorful.  Linda was at the caverns thirty years she recalled that back then you had to walk down to the cavern but got to ride the elevator up.  After visiting the cavern we drove to Fredericksburg, TX to spend the night.  On Saturday morning we drove to my sister Eunice's home in Cedar Park, TX.  We got to have lunch with Eunice and her husband Tom and their son Thom and his wife Karen.  We had lunch at the Oasis on Lake Travis.  Lake Travis is very low because of the drought but still very beautiful.  The Oasis is a neat place with a large dining area and a lot of neat shops.  It was good to see my family and visit with them.  About 4:30PM we left Eunice's heading to our next timeshare in Canyon Lake, TX.  It was a two hour drive through Texas Hill Country.  At times it reminded us driving on a two lane road in West Virgina. 

Hope everyone has a great week.

Photo Album

White Sands National Monument

This has been a busy week.  We arrived in Tucson on Sunday evening.  On Monday we went to the Biosphere2.  Biosphere2 has about 6,500 sealed glass windows built on 3 acres.  There are 5 Ecosystems under glass. They are Ocean with coral reefs, mangrove wetlands, tropical rain forest, Savannah grassland and fog desert.  If you remember back in the early 90's a team of scientists lived in the Biosphere2 for 2years.  They had to stop the experiment because they were not getting enough calories in their diet.  On Tuesday we went Kartchner Cavern State Park.  Kartchner Caverns is a limestone  cave.  This "live" cave was discovered in 1974 by Tenen & Tufts and they didn't tell the land owners about it till 1978 after they  explored and mapped it.  It was kept secret until 1988 when it became a State Park.  Extraordinary precautions have been taken during it's development to conserve the cave's near pristine condition.  On Wednesday morning we went to The Pima Air & Space Museum.  They have a collection of over 250 aircraft covering 150 acres.  A lot of WWII Veterans were on hand eager to help you and tell their story.  Visiting the Museum was like stepping back in time.  Later on Wednesday we went to Tombstone, AZ and visited the town and, of course, Boot Hill Graveyard.  It was funny to walk through the graveyard and read grave markers.  They sure had a sense of humor.  On the way back to Tucson we had to go through a Border Patrol check point.  No matter what they say in the media those guys are doing their job.  We drove on to Las Cruces late on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday we celebrated Linda's birthday by eating at a Japanese Steak House. The chef was quite entertaining.  Friday morning we left Las Cruces heading to Ruidoso, NM.  We stopped at The White Sand National Monument.  The driving tour of the park covered about 15 miles.  It was so unusual to see so many white sand dunes.  They were so beautiful.  At times when we were driving on the sand it looked like a snow covered country scene.  Kids were even sledding on it just like snow. The townhouse we are staying in has two bedrooms and a loft and is complete with a garage. It could accommodate a family of eight.  Much more space than we need.  The complex is beautiful and has a par 3 golf course and our patio door is at the 5th hole.  We are spending the week reading, relaxing and seeing the sights of Ruidoso.  The following week we head to Texas.  I am excited about going to Texas because I will get to visit my sister Eunice and her family.  Hope everyone has a great week.  Below is a link to some pictures we took this week.
White Sand National Monument

Hot Air Balloon Ride

We spent this week in Scottsdale, AZ at the Scottsdale Villa Mirage.  The temperature here was very hot averaging 105 degrees.  We spent a lot of time by the pool.  On Tuesday we got to ride in a Hot Air Balloon.  We had to get up at 3:30AM on Tuesday.  The van picked us up at 5:00AM and drove us to the launch site.  We got to watch the process of airing up the balloon.  The basket is actually laying on it's side when they start filling the balloon.  When it is almost full they start righting the basket.  Captain Mark & Kim talked to us about what would happen as we lift off and showed us how to position ourselves when we land.  Every thing was going great until an hour in to the flight when one of the passengers was overcome by heat and passed out.  Captain Mark had to make an emergency landing in the desert.  We landed in bushes and cactus.  It was a rough landing.  We had to wait till the chase truck caught up to us to give the two ladies a ride back.  Then we went back up and the flight continued for another hour.  The highest we got was 3500 feet.  Most of the flight was between 1,500 to 2,000 feet.  The ride was pretty comfortable, so quiet and peaceful except when they fired the propane into the balloon. Then it was noisy and got really hot for a few seconds at a time.  There were two strips of Lomax to help shield us from the heat. We were served a champagne gourmet brunch at the landing spot in the Sonoran Desert and presented with our Ballooning certificates. It was quite an adventure and we feel blessed to have been able to do it.  So we can scratch it off our bucket list.  Rest of the week was spent relaxing around the pool and condo.  We are heading to Tucson on Sunday for a few days, then off to New Mexico.  Hope every one has a great week. 

Hot Air Balloon Album

The Grand Canyon National Park

This has been a great week. It all started on Sunday at The Grand Canyon Skywalk.  The Skywalk is located in Grand Canyon West.  The Skywalk is owned and operated by The Hualapai Nation.  When you buy your ticket for the Skywalk you also have to buy a permit to be allowed on their property.  The road up to The Skywalk was something else.  14 miles of graded, gravel, dusty and washboard type road.  Linda was ready to turn around after the first mile, but that didn't happen.  The view out on The Skywalk was something else.  It is something to look down at your feet and see the Canyon floor some 4,000 feet below.  The view was amazing and worth the trouble to get there.  On Monday we drove around Sedona taking in all the sights and shops.  I think Sedona is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.  On Tuesday we rode The Grand Canyon Railway train up to the Grand Canyon.  It was a two and half hour ride up and two hour ride back.  Beautiful scenery and wildlife all the way.  We were only allowed three hours or so at the Canyon, which was not nearly enough.  The first sight of the Grand Canyon was quite breath taking to say the least.  On Wednesday we went to the Petrified Forest National Park.  First we saw the Painted Desert which was really very beautiful then we drove through the Petrified Forest.  Linda really liked the Petrified Forest.  It was amazing to see all that petrified wood. The colors in the wood were so veried and bright. The whole Park was a thirty five mile trip from start to finish.  We decided to take Thursday off and do laundry and just relax.  On Friday we drove up and spent the whole day back at The Grand Canyon.  It really is a lot to take in and so beautiful.  Not crazy about parking the car and hoping on and off buses to see all the points of interests.  It was a long day and we were very tired by the time we got back to Sedona.  Today I drove some more around Sedona seeing more of the beauty of this area. This is our favorite place so far.  Also got the car washed.  We spent the afternoon at the pool just relaxing.  Tomorrow we head to Scottsdale for a week at another RCI resort.  Temperature in Scottsdale next week will be around 110 or higher. This should be fun.  Hope every one has a great week.


Our Photo Albums

Zion National Park and Lake Havasu City, AZ

Another great week out West.  On Monday and Tuesday we hung around the motel relaxing by the pool and doing laundry. We also drove some of the local roads around Cedar City which produced to very nice scenery.  We found Cedar Breaks National Monument  which is about 20 miles from Cedar City.   On Wednesday we went back to Zion National Park.  It was amazing to see how much different it looked driving the opposite direction then when we first saw it.  After viewing all these parks I don't see how anybody could not believe in Creation. God is so Awesome!  On Thursday we traveled to Lake Havvasu City, AZ.  We actually had to drive 30 miles into California to get there.  Not much to do in Lake Havasu City but see The London Bridge and eat.  I do think there are more boat dealerships than car dealerships in Lake Havasu.  I think everybody in town owns a boat.  We drove to Kingman, AZ today.  We had a late lunch at The Redneck's Southern Pit BBQ, great food.  We also visited the Route 66 Museum.  Tomorrow we are going to The Grand Canyon Skywalk. I am so excited to walk out on it.  We will be spending next week in Sedona, AZ at a RCI Timeshare.  Should be another great week.  Have a great week friends.

Our Photo Album

A-Z National Parks

Well this has been an A-Z National Parks week.  We started the week out last Saturday at the Arches National Park in Moab, UT.  My favorite Arch was the Delicate Arch, last photo.  When I went to look at it I started walking on the trail to the Arch. I thought it was a short distance, wrong.  A mile and half later uphill over 480 ft. I found the Arch.  It truly was beautiful, a creation from God.  When  I got back I had several blisters on my toes from wearing casual shoes with no socks.  I was dying of thirst because I didn't take any water. Short trip I thought.  To say the least that was the end of my hiking.  Next we went to Canyonlands National Park also in Moab area.  We also saw Dead Horse Point, a State Park in that area.  Our next stop was Torrey, UT right in the middle of nowhere.  At Torrey we saw Capitol Reef National Park, a park known for it's petroglyphs.  While in Torrey my phone went dead but turned out to be a bad battery, so the phone is okay now.  I also went to a Wednesday Bible Study at a small Baptist Church in Torrey.  Then on Friday we went to Bryce Canyon National Park and Red Canyon which is part of Dixie National Forest.  We spent Friday evening in Hatch, UT.  On Saturday went to Zion National Park.  After leaving Zion we drove to St. George, UT to get my phone fixed.  Now we are spending the next four days in Cedar City, UT.  We plan to visit Zion again on Tuesday, taking Sunday and Monday off.  We need to do laundry, clean car and just relax. Hope to see some fireworks on  the 4th.  All in all it has been a good week.  It has been so cool to see God's magnificent creations.  Have a great week everyone.

Link to our albums

Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Hoover Dam

Week number three has been great, we have seen a lot.  We started the week out in Salt Lake City arriving on Saturday.  We went to Temple Square first thing late Saturday afternoon, it is a lot to take in.  On Sunday morning we went to the Tabernacle to see the live broadcast of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, it was amazing to hear them.   They are so good.  After the choir broadcast we went to Park City for Silly Sunday event.  They close of portions of the main street, on one end they have a farmers market on the other end they have live music and plenty of vendors selling their wares.   They also have tons of food.  It was interesting but very cold and rainy.   There was an outlet mall close by.  On Monday I went went to Temple Square by myself, I spent about five hours touring all the attractions that they had.  They tried real hard to convert us, but when brought out The Book Mormon I told them they were outside of God's Word and I did not believe anything in it was from God.  They were very polite and did not get upset, they thanked us for visiting and wished us well.  Tuesday was a shopping day then we went to The Great Salt Lake, that was pretty cool.  Wednesday we took off for Las Vegas, we stayed at The Four Queens Hotel and Casino.   I guess you could say we went from Faith City to Sin City.   The difference truly was day and night.  It was kind of fun to see so many kind of different kinds of people from all walks of life.  The Queens was located in the downtown district on Fremont Street.  They have what they call the Fremont Street Experience and it was an experience.  It was refreshing to see a group of Christian Men handing out tracts, talk about taking it to the sinners, I thanked them for their Ministry and prayed for them later that night.  On Friday we went to Boulder City to see the Hoover Dam Museum and then on to the Hoover Dam.  It sure is big and can only imagine how difficult it was to build.  We spent Friday night in Cedar City, UT and arrived here in Moab, UT around 4pm.  We are going to The Arches National Park this evening to see it.  Have a great week everyone.

Steamboat Springs, CO

This week was so much better than last week.  We left Estes Park early last Saturday morning and drove straight to the summit and took one more look at God's beauty then started the decent.  We stopped at every pull out and loved everything we saw especially The Continental Divide, the snow was till quite deep there.  We spent a few hours in Grand Lake Village at the base of the Rockies.  We made it to Steamboat Springs around 3pm, the resort we stayed at was Thunder Mountain.  Went to Anchor Way Baptist Church on Sunday and spent most of the week just relaxing and driving around the town.  I also found the Anytime Fitness Gym and went there each morning.  One day we thought we would check out the Hot Springs, big mistake.  It was about 7 miles from town but the last 2 miles were gravel with a lot of ruts and Linda was not happy.  The road was way to rough for a car, The Hot Springs was in a rustic setting, so we turned around and went back to the condo.  Friday was the start of a big Mustang Rally, there must have been 600 Mustangs and most were newer models.  When we left this morning they were  lined up on the main drag.  We made it to Salt Lake City around 2:30PM.  We have already checked out Temple Square, wow it is very beautiful.  We are going to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Sunday morning at 9:30AM. 

Summit Estes Park

It has been a week of mixed emotions, when we arrived at Colorado Springs on Wednesday the transmission on the Chrysler went out.  We decided it was better to by a car than repair it.  So on Wednesday evening we bought a 2010 Ford Fusion, didn't get the car till Thursday about 1pm.  Now the good part starts, Thursday afternoon we rode the Cog Train up to Pikes Peak.  It really was a great sight, God's splendor at it's best.  This morning we drove to Denver to tour the US Mint but just our luck it was not open today, but we did hit the gift shop there.  We decide to head to Estes Park instead of staying in Denver.  We got  a room first thing then went to Estes Park. Just driving though the park is so inspiring, to see God's creation.  The photo is was  taken at the summit and what a sight it is, it is 12,000 feet elevation, talk about taking your breath away.  We got back to our room around 7pm, we will do more of the park on Saturday before heading to Steamboat Springs later in the day.  It has been a tough few days but God has got us through it and showed us His beautiful creation along the way.

June 7, 2011

A picture of The Gateway Arch.

June 7, 2010

We started the day at The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO, spent about 2 hours at the Arch.  It really is amazing, the view from the top is awesome.  After doing the Arch we headed West to Kansas City to have a late lunch at Gates Barb.B.Q., it was so good, Linda only ate half of hers but not me.  Then we drove to Salina, KS arriving about 7pm.  Tomorrow we will driving to Colorado Springs CO, might do Pike's Peak if we get there in time.  Have a great day everyone

June 6, 2011

We actually left on time today at 6am.  We are now settled in at a Holiday Inn in St. Louis MO.  When we get up on Tuesday morning we are going to visit the Gateway Arch then off to Kansas City for some ribs and steak.  We hope to spend the night Salina, KS.

June 5, 2011

We are almost packed, still finding last minute things to put in suit cases.  We plan to leave at 6am on Monday, we would like to make it close to St. Louis, MO so we can see The Gateway Arch on Tuesday morning.  I am so excited to see all the great things that God  has created, this is going to be a great journey. 

May 28, 2011

Getting ready for our big trip out West.  We will be leaving on June 6th with our first major stop at Pike's Peak.  Hopefully I will be able to upload pictures of our trip to this blog, all I have to do now is figure out how to do that.