Trip to Arizona

 We had this trip planned for 2020 but, of course, Covid 

messed that up too.  Anyway, we got to go this year

We stop in La Grande, OR the first night on the

way to Filer, ID.  It was cool but we had a 

rainbow!!

Then leaving Idaho we head down thru Nevada

A recent snowfall made for a pretty drive

We stayed in Ely, NV and had snow overnight

The roads were warm enough that the snow just 

blew off them or melted

The further south the warm it got thankfully

Lake Mead

Camping in Boulder City, NV

Warm enough for shorts and no coats

We visited San Xavier del Bac Mission in Tucson

Mostly closed because of you know what!!

The freeway overpasses in Arizona were pretty

We took a day and drove down to Tombstone

Lots of cacti there

Prickly Pear

Boot Hill

Ocotillo Cactus

Tombstone was a silver mining town 

this is one of the shafts

It goes down 500 feet

A replica of what it looked like when they were mining

 

We paid money to go in and see the largest rose bush

in the world.  It was huge

The trunk was 4 feet in diameter

This is the top of it.  It bloomed little tiny yellow

roses but was mostly done when we were there

The OK Corral which they told us wasn't really in 

that location...it was really on the block behind

Tombstone's Courthouse

The first church in Tombstone was this

Catholic Church...now a meeting hall 

and the new church is behind me

They also had a rose bush and it was free to see

Not quite as big tho

Inside the new church

There you see Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, 

Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp

Last time we were in Tucson we visited the Western

Side of Saguaro Nat'l Park so this time we went to

the Eastern Side

The Saguaro Cactus were in bloom 

along with the Prickly Pear cactus

Barrell Cactus

Cholla Cactus

This creosote plant had tiny little 

pussy willow on it.

The troop

This Cholla Cactus was very fuzzy

Prickly Pears were in bloom all over

 

And the Petrified Forest Nat'l Park none of

us had been to before

The Painted Desert

The Painted Desert Inn is now a museum but closed

right now because of ...

Route 66 runs right thru the park

see the telephone pole running left to right

that's the location of the old road

Old Pueblo ruins

Kiva was their meeting place maybe for church

Petroglyphs were scattered around the park

The Tepees

The petrified logs were agatized in the center

Looks like a wood log but it's stone

Everywhere you looked you could see these

petrified trees scattered around the hills

agatized center

The Agate House

They climbed in thru the roof

Traveling toward home we went thru New Mexico

and into Colorado

To see Mesa Verde Nat'l Park

Far View Site with 5 villages 

a Kiva

These squares were places the women would

gather and grind food

The communities reservoir

No tours to Spruce House anymore

The road to Cliff Palace was being worked on so 

no tours to Cliff Palace either

It was still impressive to see from afar

Step House was open for a self guided tour

and wildlife

And into Utah

getting back into the cooler weather

Here you go Pete Henry

Your own mountain

not this one but at the same stop

Our camping buddies in Torrey, UT

After visiting Walt's brother, Vic and Cecil in Moab 

we went on to Capitol Reef Nat'l Park

Walt and I have been there before but it seems like 

there is always more to see at each park we revisit

like Gooseneck Overlook

and Sunset Point

Capitol Gorge 

out to the Tanks

and natural bridge

and then a hike to Hickman Bridge

And on to Filer where Mel, Gary, 

Marci and Bruce thru a celebration for our

50th Anniversary

in Mel's backyard

Thanks You Guys!!

I took the flower home

Back to La Grande, OR

with different wildlife.  There must have been

25 babies along the lake

Great Trip!!

Lander and cousins

Amy, Cade and Claire came up for their

Spring Break to see their new nephew/cousin

Lander was very comfortable with Cade

Seemed to like him

and then it was outside time

Claire gave Ellie some pointers on Lacrosse

While they were here we celebrated 

Claire's 14th Birthday only 10 days early

Amy and kids had to go home.

Cade only got one week off for Spring Break

but Claire and Amy had another whole week to enjoy

We went to Ellie and Pete's for Easter.

Ellie had a Lacrosse scrimmage on Saturday so we were

going to join the two but only two people could go to the 

scrimmage.  Chris and I got to go. Yahoo!!

Then the kiddos dyed eggs that night.

Easter pic of the family.  Pretty much how Lander looks

most of the time

Except when he's smiling at the bears or

his brother

and sister.

They grow too fast!!

 

Lander at 1 Month

 

We've been going over to Brooke's to help where

we can and got these pics of Lander and Pete

and Ellie

Pete on his bed of scarfs

Lander loves these stuffed animals his sister

and brother picked out for him.  Notice they

are black and white

Pete was rubbing his head on the couch and

trying to zap us.  His hair got a lot of static in it

This is how Pete does his Phonics...

under our bed

So sweet!!  Lander always smiles for Ellie

Our Newest Grandson

After we put the wall up Brooke told us we

needed to stay.  She did tell us to bring a 

suitcase just in case she went into labor 

and she did.  She and Chris left for the 

hospital around 7:30 that night and 

Lander Owen was born at 10:09pm.

With CoVid the kids couldn't go to the hospital

so the first they got to see their brother was

when he came home.

Ellie was pretty happy with him.

Pete on the other hand didn't want to hold 

him...probably because we wanted him to

The cats were so curious.  They wanted to get

as close as they could. Their eyes were 

dilated til they were black

Ellie still liked him the next day

Pete actually held him but I didn't have my

camera handy it happened so fast and was so short

They are going to be very helpful to Mom and Dad

They are going to be great friends

Pete did some of his school on our bed

 Eyes open so wide on day 3

Such a cutie!!

We came home on day 4.  Chris took the next 

two weeks off and was more than capable of

keeping Pete on task during school,

cooked dinners, and made sure Brooke had a

great lunch too!!   What a guy.  We are still on

standby just in case they need some reinforcements