A Week in Sedona, Arizona

On June 28, Norman, Janine, and I headed for Arizona to spend a week in a condo there. We stopped at Zion National Park Friday afternoon; Janine and I hiked/walked a mile and back to the river which was the beginning of the Narrows. It was a long walk, but it was pretty. We then stayed in Hurrican, UT for the night. Saturday we arrived at the condo about 3:30 pm. The condo was very, very nice and we each had our own separate sleeping area which was very nice. Sedona is in the middle of red rock mountains and the scenery was beautiful. Sunday we went to uptown Sedona and walked up and the the street looking at the many shops and places to eat. Tuesday we went to the Grand Canyon. It was definitely different than 30 years ago. The only way to see the canyon was via shuttle buses that made stops all along the canyon. It was convenient, but sometimes we had to wait 10 or 15 minutes for the next bus to come along. The canyon was a little hazy and the sky was overcast so it wasn't ideal for taking pictures. We had a nice time anyway. Wednesday we were supposed to go on a train ride up a little canyon southwest of Sedona. When we got to the station, we found that the train trip had been canceled. The day before while we were at Grand Canyon, there was a terrific rain storm which washed boulders down onto the train track. We were very disappointed that we didn't get to ride the train. Since we had the afternoon free, we went to Montezuma's Castle National Monument. It is the site of an ancient Indian cliff dwelling. The trail was flat and there were places to stop and sit so Norman could also enjoy the monument. Thursday we decided to take the scenic route and drive to Mesa, Tempe, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Norman and I both used to live in that area, so we wanted to see what it was like now. We stopped at the Salt River to watch all the people tubing down the river. There was a bus that people loaded up with their inner tubes and it drove them up the river to the starting point. They could go down the river as often as they wanted for $14 a day. It would have been way too much work for me - hauling the inner tubes to and from the river. When we got to Mesa, the town was practically deserted; same with Tempe and Scottsdale. Norman and I had never seen the streets so void of automobiles. We even had a hard time finding a restaurant open to have dinner. Finally we found the Salt Cellar; Norman and I had lobster and Janine had filet minon. Very nice. Finally about 6:30 when we headed to Phoenix to go back the Sedona, all the people came out of the woodwork. There was a fireworks display scheduled that evening so everyone was coming to watch. Friday we went back to town and did some more window shopping in Sedona. On our way home Saturday we went through Nevada and stopped at Hoover Dam. It was totally amazing what they have done there. They have built a new bridge which spans the canyon. For those who were in shape, they could climb up the stairs and walk along the bridge to view the dam and the canyon below. It would have been spectacular, but we looked up at it from the top of the dam. We spent the night in Mesquite, NV and then arrived at Janine's about 3:30 p.m. Norman headed on home to Idaho, but I stayed with Janine and her family to celebrate Heather's 30th birthday. Lisa had made her a birthday cake, which turn out very nice. It was a great week.

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American Queen Riverboat Cruise

On June 1st I headed to Memphis, TN, to begin an eight-day riverboat cruise. My friend Joe came along, too. In Memphis we went to Graceland just because you can't go to Memphis and not see where Elvis lived. It was very impressive to see how his fans still send flowers and gifts to put on his grave. We visited other towns along the river toward New Orleans. Most were small, but still had wonderful museums, mansions, and plantations to visit. I felt right at home because I always thought I was born in the wrong time period. I loved seeing the way people lived back then. We stayed in New Orleans a couple days after the cruise. I got to see the Superdome from the 32nd floor of the Hyatt hotel. We then went to the Garden District and walked around seeing all the fine houses. One of them belonged to Archie Manning (Peyton and Eli's father). We then checked in to the hotel, Le Pavillon, which was very grand. It had a rooftop deck and we could see all over the city. We went to the French Quarter and walked around looking at all the lovely homes decorated with grill work and covered with plants and flowers. It was a wonderful trip and I was sad to have it end.

Cruise to Belize

February 2-7, I went on the Liberty of the Seas to Belize and Cozumel. The ship was the biggest one I have been on yet. It was a long walk from the show to dinner. I had a lot of fun watching people try to surf the Flowrider. Belize was okay, but it was a long bumpy ride to the ruins. The ship had to drop anchor about 2 miles off shore because of the coral reef, so it took a while on the tender. Since I have been to Cozumel before, I went back to the beach on Pasion Island. It was a nice relaxing day.

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