Little warm in Phoenix

Phoenix - 100 degrees yesterday, 99 today but to be 108 on Sunday.  We are out of here tomorrow!

Kay Lord (Kuehnhackl) was one of my best friends when I was a senior and she a junior in Callaway, NE high school in 1960-61.  We lost touch after I graduated and went to Omaha.  Found each other on the internet back around 2000 and have kept in touch since.  She is living in Cave Creek, just north of Phoenix in a guest house at her daughter & son-in-law (and 6 year old grandson)'s place.  She has had quite a bit of health problems over the years, including this last year.  She lost her husband a couple years ago and is enjoying the winters especially since she had lived most of her married life in Bettendorf, IA.

After visiting her we drove around a bit of Phoenix.  Wikipedia notes the metropolitan area has something just under 4 million people.  Too many people for us.  And it is a bit warm, though it is not humid.  This afternoon the TV listed the humidity at 14%.  That is a little different than the 80% humidity common in Clarinda, IA this time of year.


 We ate supper at a Panda Express and came back to the trailer.  Today we drove over a hundred miles and never left the Phoenix area.  We stopped by the RV Park in Apache Junction where Bev and Dave Sutter spend their winters.  Then we drove through the park where Jerry Junck has lived and called square dances for years in Messa. 

Then we drove to the Arizona State Capitol.  The original capitol is now a museum and the business of government is carried on in near buildings.

 Spent over an hour going through the rooms set us with a lot of history about the Arizona Territory and then it becoming a State in 1912.  They celebrated their centennial last year.

        This is going out the front entrance.

They had quite a lot of Memorial Display in front.

 They had stones with one of the Constitution Amendments on each of them.

Must say, was much more impressed with the State Capitol of Arizona than I was with the New Mexico Capitol.

 After we ate a late lunch Phyllis found a nail place to have some work done and I wondered over to Barnes and Noble.  I noted this heading in one of the History areas.  I thought maybe it was news from the last day or so of History, but guess it was just new books about older history.






We are heading west to Quartzite, AZ tomorrow then drop down to I 8 and head on to San Diego and spend some time.  Will visit with Kent and Karen Miles and maybe get to see 2nd cousins Tom Miles and his new wife, and Rick Miles.  Haven't contacted them,but maybe will get together some time.

Filled up with Diesel at $3.50 a gallon this afternoon.  We had paid $4.09 in Tuba City couple days ago.  Here the diesel is actually cheaper than gasoline!
Later, Lynn

In Phoenix!

Photos at Sedona
Lake Powell Boat Cruise

We just arrived in Phoenix.  Above are two sites to my Picasa photos.  Click if you want to watch.
More Later, Lynn

Sedona, Arizona

Enjoyed last couple days here in Sedona.  Temps have been in 50's at night and 70's in daytime.


We took 8:00 am 3-hour back country tour.





We walked on large smooth rock area.



Stepping right along, but watching the edge

We saw many blooming Agave

Phyllis taking photo out front of jeep as we are just starting to go down steep place.  The jeep in next picture is in nearly the same position as we were when the picture at left was taken.

Looking back up trail of very steep, long trail



Looking forward on same trail as previous picture




Lunch in Sedona after the Jeep ride.


















Pink Jeep Tours  Click that link to see their website.  
In the afternoon we rested a bit and then went for a drive to Jerome, AZ.  It is about 20 miles southwest of Sedona.  Of course, lots of climbing and downhill runs between.

Stories from Jerome Times    Jerome Chamber of Commerce   Click on either of these links for interesting stories about the town.  It is claimed to be the most vertical town in the US.

This morning we are going to hitch up and head to a park in north Phoenix.  Will spend a few days there and then head on west towards San Diego to spend a few days with Kent and Karen Miles.

Lynn

Photos

Page, Arizona

Some albums of recent activity Antelope Canyon and Colorado River raft float
yesterday.

This past week Visit with Talbots in Paragonah, IA

We visited briefly with Mardi Biederman and her husband Brad in Cedar City, UT.  We had visited with her middle son, Tim Miles, just a week ago.  She was flying out the next day to attend a graduation at Snowflake, Arizona and be with Tim and his family.





Another Album of photos is Pipe Springs National Monument - Arizona  

And, one about the tour we took around and inside Glen Canyon Dam.  Glen Canyon Dam tour

Till next time - Lynn

Page, Arizona

We returned to Page, AZ on Friday after spending time in Utah at our Salt Lake City neighbors (43 years ago) during the week.

 Yesterday we went on Antelope Canyon Tours (with about 100 other people in our group, plus several other groups) to the Slot Canyon.  Lots of color and unusual shapes that have been washed and blown out of the sandy Navajo Sandstone over millions of years.

Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack; and Lower Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew.
The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means "the place where water runs through rocks."

 

Brad, our guide/boatman for the 3.5 hour trip.

      We landed at one point and walked back up the short way to where Petroglyphs  were cut into the rock walls many years ago.

One of the few places where water had come in from the side to the Colorado River many years ago.

In the quiet, away from all the other boats, Brad played some quiet guitar and then also some singing.  He invited us to a Marina Restaurant that night where he would be entertaining.  He has been guiding rafts on the Colorado, both in the Glen Canyon area and the Grand Canyon, for 27 years.

The wooden boat at right is one that Brad is going to use today to paddle down the Colorado.  We went down about 9 or 10 mile, running the motor only enough to steer with, stopping frequently while Brad pointed out things along the way and the history of the Colorado River exploration.


Earlier in the week, after we had left the Burger King parking lot in Kayenta, AZ we came to Page and then headed on up to Paragonah, Utah to spend three nights and days with our neighbors in 1969 in Salt Lake City, Utah who had moved to Paragonah in 1975.  I have several photos, but Blogger refuses to upload any more right now.  I have uploaded several albums to Picasa but can't now connect to get the addresses.  Will later.


We also spent one afternoon with Brad and Mardi Biederman (Mardi used to be married to my cousin Brian Miles) and had a real good visit over lunch and also at their home in Cedar City, Utah.  Again, will put up some photos when this Blogger will let me.

We are headed out to a boat ride on the Glen Canyon Reservoir for several hours.

The variance in elevation is fascinating.  We were at something around 5800 feet at Paragonah and then as we went through Hurricane, Utah southeast of Cedar City we were at 3200 feet.  We had to climb back up over 4800 again to reach Page. 

Will head south to Sadona and then Phoenix leaving here Monday.
Lynn

On Navajo Reservation in Arizona

Click above for our weather.  We have been in Kayenta, AZ since last Wednesday.  Blew a hose on Turbo on the Ford diesel about 20 miles out of Kayenta and limped on in here.  Unhooked trailer behind Burger King where many semi trucks and RV's spend nights, and went to recommended local Navaho mechanic.  He spotted the leak (I hadn't figured out what was causing the black smoke pouring out of the exhaust, the really bad fuel milage, and the fact that couldn't pull the trailer (in real strong winds) over 30 mph.  Got lined up with a local NAPA dealer to have it sent from Phoenix -- promised it would be on the way Thursday and  here via FEDEX on Friday.  Didn't show.............gal at NAPA called and first was told she hadn't ordered it, then they found the order, but said their "picker" had failed to pick it from the stock and put it on Fedex.  Since it was Friday they would ship it then, but won't get here until Monday at 4:30 pm.

So, we are laying back.  We did drive (without trailer) up Monument Valley and spend time looking at all the spots where many Western Movies have been shot since the 1930's.   It straddles the Utah/Arizona border.  We also had spent time (before the "pop" of the turbo line) at Four Corners, visiting with the Pueblo/Navajo vendors.  Phyllis did get some more stuff.

I will try to get the photos together on Picasa and put them on the Web and tie them in to here soon.

Later, Lynn

Aztec, NM -- 36 days into trip

Aztec, NM 77 degrees overcast.  We spent today doing laundry (Phyllis) cleaning car windows and doing some waxing (Lynn), updating camera at Target (Lynn) picking up medication at Walgreen (Phyllis) picking up some things at Walmart and eating a late lunch of Ice Cream at 3:15 pm.

Last evening we had supper out with Nancy Fulk McKinnon (from Clarinda) who lives here now. 

We had spent the whole day driving the 85 miles to Chaco Canyon.  The last 16 miles were dirt/rock and except for about the first mile or so off pavement the rest looked like this at left.  Anything over 5 miles an hour rattled everything in the truck and us, so it took about an hour and 20 minutes to cover those 16 miles both going in and out of the park.

Pengy did tip over a couple times on this road.





Once we got to the park it had 9 miles of paving around to many Chaco ruins.

The site for this is at
Chaco Culture National Historical Park

I have put my photos on Picasa at Chaco photos   As you can see in the photos, we did a couple walks on our own, and then spent about an hour and a half with a Ranger on a very interesting tour.  Of course we had some idiots who had to talk to each other at the edge of the group while she was giving information and then they would invariably come up and ask a few questions she had just answered.  Damned fools!

Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon was a major center of culture for the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. Chacoans quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances, assembling fifteen major complexes which remained the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century. Evidence of archaeoastronomy at Chaco has been proposed, with the "Sun Dagger" petroglyph at Fajada Butte a popular example. Many Chacoan buildings may have been aligned to capture the solar and lunar cycles requiring generations of astronomical observations and centuries of skillfully coordinated construction. Climate change is thought to have led to the emigration of Chacoans and the eventual abandonment of the canyon, beginning with a fifty-year drought commencing in 1130.

Chaco Canyon lies within the San Juan Basin, atop the vast Colorado Plateau, surrounded by the Chuska Mountains in the west, the San Juan Mountains to the north, and the San Pedro Mountains in the east. Ancient Chacoans drew upon dense forests of oak, piñon, ponderosa pine, and juniper to obtain timber and other resources. The canyon itself, located within lowlands circumscribed by dune fields, ridges, and mountains, is aligned along a roughly northwest-to-southeast axis and is rimmed by flat massifs known as mesas. Large gaps between the southwestern cliff faces—side canyons known as rincons—were critical in funneling rain-bearing storms into the canyon and boosting local precipitation levels. The principal Chacoan complexes, such as Pueblo Bonito, Nuevo Alto, and Kin Kletso, have elevations of 6,200 to 6,440 feet (1,890 to 1,960 m).


The alluvial canyon floor slopes downward to the northeast at a gentle grade of 30 feet (9.1 m) per mile (6 meters per kilometer); it is bisected by the Chaco Wash, an arroyo that rarely bears water. The canyon's main aquifers were too deep to be of use to ancient Chacoans: only several smaller and shallower sources supported the small springs that sustained them. Aside from occasional storm runoff coursing through arroyos, substantial surface water—springs, pools, wells—is virtually non-existent.
 


We had left Grants, NM, and driven west to Gallup and then north to Ship Rock, NM and back east to Farmington and Aztec on Sunday.  Lots of varied scenery.

We have crossed the Continental Divide in Colorado many times and you are always climbing steeply to it and then descending just as steeply.  Not so were we went across between Grants and Gallup.  For many miles it seemed you were on a nearly flat place and just gradually climbed.  The little bump where the stores and signs were hardly stood out as height.

 This is Ship Rock.  Guess it is to look like sail of a ship.

      A good sized pile of rock standing by itself, between Gallup and Ship Rock.








Tomorrow morning we will finish viewing the Aztec Ruins here just about 5 blocks north of our RV Park and then hitch up and head to the Four Corners Region and on into Arizona across the Glen Canyon Dam at Page, AZ and then on up to Paragonah, UT where we will spend some time with Bob and Marlese Talbot.  They were our neighbors in Salt Lake City from June of 1967 to January of 1970 when we lived there.  Will be nice to visit with them.

Diesel in this area is at $3.68 while Gas is priced at $3.65.

Lynn