HAVASUPI -PHOTOS

RESTING!!
CADE AND RYAN GOING DOWN THE SWITCHBACKS.
CADE AND JASE IN THE MORNING OF OUR HIKE.
CADE, RYAN, JASE AND BRANDON HANGING OUT IN THE PARKING LOT!!
LOOKING DOWN INTO THE CANYON.
THIS IS OUR GOOD FRIEND KERRI SMITH AND HIS SON TYLER.
HERE WE ARE AT THE TOP OF THE GRAND CANYON IN THE PARKING LOT. IT'S AMILE AND A HALF TO THE BOTTOM.

Family Vacation 2009 Days 8 & 9

We got up early Saturday morning to leave Snowbird and it was really cold. Brandon and I started taking the rest of our stuff to load it in the Truck and it was really cloudy outside. We got all of the stuff loaded into the truck and went back upstairs to get Mom and Dad and by the time we got down to the truck it was raining. I put on my hood to my jacket to walk up to the truck to get it and it started to hail. By the time I drove the truck to the loading zone it started to snow. Snow in August? Yes, Snow in August. The car showed it was 36 degrees. By the time we got down the mountain it was just raining.

This is a photo outside our Sliding Glass door on Friday evening. It rained some.

After we had breakfast we drove to Todd's house and said good bye to them. We then drove south to Bryce Canyon in southern Utah. It was really fun. I need to transfer the pictures I took and add them to this blog.

This is the first picture I took when we got to Bryce Canyon.

After we went to a couple of outlooks to the canyon, we drove to Kanab Utah and stayed at a Best Western hotel. When we got to Kanab we ate dinner at McDonald's.

Sunday, we got up about 8:00am and got dressed and left the hotel about 9:30am and drove to Colorado City, AZ. This is a town that Warren Jepps was lived in. Most of the homes are not finished. It was really weird driving through it. There was no one outside, but we did see a young boy riding his bike and a young girl leaning up against a car and a couple of men driving cars. This town is in the middle of nowhere.

After we left there we drove to Cave Creek Arizona. We stopped in Flagstaff and ate at Jack in ethe Box. Mom has not been able to eat there in a week because Utah doesn't have any except in St. George. While we were there, there was a lot of smoke from a fire and we didn't know where it was. While driving south on Interstate 17 we saw where the smoke was coming from. It was a fire just Cocino national forest.

This is a picture of the fire near Flagstaff.

Brandon took a lot of pictures of this fire, but this is not one of them. I will post more pictures later today.

The drive to Cave Creek was uneventful. We got here about 5pm last night and after we brought everything in the condo, we went to Rubios for dinner.

Summer Vacation Flashback-Days 12 & 13

Kim's family vacation from 2001 continues with days 12 & 13. Oklahoma & New Mexico are the places we visit in this post. I do have to make a correction. In yesterdays post I said that Mike's niece Jamee & her husband Mike left to go back to California when we were at Mike's brothers house. But I was wrong. You have to remember I'm getting old so the old memory isn't what it used to be. Jamee & Mike continued on our vacation until we got to Albuquerque New Mexico. That is when they decided they wanted to go straight home.


Wednesday, July 18, 2001:

Objectives: Leave Val and Judy's house early and drive a LONG WAY to Albuquerque. This is going to be our longest drive. Once in New Mexico, we'll probably hit the sack early, but who knows for sure until it happens. I will keep you posted.

Our Experience: We left Val & Judi's house about 9am & drove to Oklahoma City where we visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial. This is the memorial for those who were killed when Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City in April 1995. It was a very reverent place. It really touched all of us. There are 9 rows of chairs. Each chair represents a person killed in the blast & on what floor they were on or visiting. There was 9 floors in the building that was blown up. There are also 5 chairs on the right side that represent the 5 people killed that were not in the building. There are 2 big walls on either side of the memorial. One has 9:01 on it to represent the last minute of innocence in America & the other has 9:03 which represents the first minute of healing. All the area between the 2 walls represents 9:02 the time of the explosion. There is a reflecting pool between the walls to help in healing. We spent about an hour at the memorial & walked past the chain link fence they still have on one side where people still put flowers, pictures & other mementos to those who were killed. After we left Oklahoma City we drove & drove & drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It took us about 11 hours of driving. We got hit by a few thunderstorms on the way but luckily we didn't see any tornadoes on our trip.

Photos:

Oklahoma City National Memorial grounds.

Jesse at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Everyone at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Jesse standing in front of the 9:03 wall.

Panoramic view of the Oklahoma City National Memorial.


Message painted by a rescue team after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Thursday, July 19, 2001:

Objectives: We'll be in Albuquerque, New Mexico all day and see what there is to do in the area. We also may drive up to Santa Fe, and see some of the historic sites up there.

Our Experience: Mike, Brandon, Jesse & Kim drove up to Santa Fe, New Mexico & took a tour of the city. We learned all about the history of Santa Fe & saw some old churches, art galleries & residential areas. It was very informative. Made it easier to walk around afterward to see what we really wanted to see. We went to Loretto Chapel which has a miraculous staircase. Back in the 1800's the chapel was built with a choir loft with no way to reach it. The sisters wanted a spiral staircase built as there wasn't room for regular stairs. All the builders & architects said it couldn't be done. So the sisters prayed. Along came a man who said he could build their spiral staircase which he did. Took 7 months & had no center support, nor braced to wall. No nails were used, only wooden pegs. When the sisters tried to pay the man, he wouldn't take any money & mysteriously disappeared. When the sisters went to the only lumber yard around to pay for the wood, they were told the wood didn't come from them. The sisters said this was a miracle.

On the way back to Albuquerque we stopped at Sandia Peak to ride the Sandia Tram to the top of the mountain. This tram is the longest tram ride in the world. We went from about 6000 feet up to almost 11,000 feet. Kim got altitude sickness. It was very beautiful up on top of the mountain. Brandon & Jesse thought this was the best.

We didn't do anything in Albuquerque. Guess we may have to come back someday. It's kind of sad that our vacation is winding down. We only have 1 more fun day & then it's back to reality. We wish we could afford to be on vacation & travel all the time.

Photos:

St. Francis cathedral in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Some buffalo sculpture.

The New Mexico state capital building.

The miraculous staircase at Loretto Chapel.

Inside of Loretto Chapel.

Jesse, Kim, and Brandon standing outside of Loretto Chapel.

Looking west towards Albuquerque from Sandia Peak.

Looking to the top of Sandia Peak.

Jesse, Brandon, Kim, and Mike on top of Sandia Peak.

Looking west over the Albuquerque valley.

The Sandia tram ride.

Looking to the east down the ski slopes from Sandia Peak.

Cliffs on the Sandia Mountains.

Coming down the mountain on the tram.
Tomorrow we will finish up with this vacation with the last 2 days. Then on Monday I will start posting about our current vacation as we leave for our trip to Cave Creek Arizona.

And Jodi should hopefully post some more of their current vacation to Snowbird. They had a little more excitement than they wanted last night. Mom had to be rushed to the hospital as they thought she was having a stroke. Turns out it wasn't a stroke & it wasn't her heart. They are not sure what happened, but Mom is now OK. Jodi said she would post more about it later. I am just thankful that Todd & Dad were able to give Mom a blessing and she is now completely OK. They will be staying an extra day in Snowbird before continuing on to Cave Creek where we will meet up with them.

And Eric's family has some bad news. They had to put their beloved dog Peluchi to sleep. Peluchi had been diagnosed with cancer a month or two ago and it finally got so bad, they had to put him down. Taylor has been the most devastated by this loss as she was the closest to Peluchi. Eric didn't dare tell her about Grandma last night as she was too upset about the dog. Luckily the news with Grandma (Mom) turned out good. And Peluchi is in a better place & is no longer in pain.

Summer Vacation Flashback-Days 10&11

Summer vacation flashback continues with days 10 & 11. Oklahoma & Arkansas.

Monday, July 16, 2001:

Objectives: Spend all day at Val and Judy's house. May go fishing, swimming, or do other things in the area.

Our Experience: We left Sue's house around 10am. Susie & 3 of her children went with us to Oklahoma to visit Val & Judi. We arrived at Vian, Oklahoma about 3pm. It was very hot & humid. We visited for a few hours & then Judi took us to Lake Tenkiller to go fishing & swimming. We all had a good time. Mike thought he took some pictures of the lake but we can't find the pictures on the memory cards. Brandon & Mike each caught little fish & threw them back.

Photos: None were taken today because we were to busy having fun swimming and fishing at the lake, and Mike couldn't find photos on his memory card.

Tuesday, July 17, 2001:

Objectives: Another full day at Val and Judy's house. We will probably do some stuff in the area, maybe visit Arkansas? Who knows, but we're sure to have a lot of fun!

Our Experience: In the morning Judi & Val saddled up a couple of their horses for the kids to ride. Sue's children: Rick, Crystal & Justice rode as well as Mike's son Jesse. It was too hot & humid for the rest of us to ride.

We went to Fort Smith, Arkansas to see the Fort Smith National Historic Site with it's old fort & gallows. We also visited a old bordello called Miss Laura's Social Club. Learned a lot of history about the area & the era of settling the west & moving the Cherokee Indians from Georgia to this area. Oklahoma was known at that time as Indian territory. We then drove to Van Buran, Arkansas & went to some antique stores. Didn't find anything interesting enough to buy.

We came back to Val & Judi's & went to the lake again to fish & swim to cool off. It was about 95 today & very humid. While at the lake Rick & Brandon found a water moccasin in the water & Rick killed it. Judi said that water moccasin's usually are in creeks or swampy areas, not in lakes. Luckily we didn't see anymore.

Photos:

Mike's brother Val aka: Uncle Meanie

Crystal riding a horse.


Judi (Val's wife) helping Justice ride a horse.

Rick on the horse.

Judi helping Jesse horseback ride.

Rick & Val

Jesse waving as he rides on the horse.

Brandon holding a walking stick insect.

Everyone at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

The fort at Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Some stain glass window at
Miss Laura's Social Club (the bordello).

Kim standing outside of Miss Laura's old bordello.

Looking towards the Arkansas River.

Looking across the Arkansas River.

Crossing the Arkansas River as we head back to Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma sign next to the freeway.
Tomorrow the vacation flashback continues with days 12 & 13 where we leave Val & Judi's & heading towards Albuquerque, NM with some stops along the way.

This is also where we parted ways with Mike's niece Sue and her kids. They went back home to Texas. And we parted ways with Mike's other niece Jamee and her husband Mike Y. They decided they had enough vacation & wanted to drive straight back home to California. They didn't want anymore sightseeing.

Our original plans were to see Mike's other son Brandan who was living with his mom in Oklahoma. But by the time we got to Oklahoma, he had decided to move back to California. So he was back home in Cali when we got to Oklahoma.

I am so glad that we went to Oklahoma to see Mike's brother Val & his wife Judi. Both passed away within a year or so of us visiting them. I think this trip was the last time we saw Val. He was truly a one of kind character. And a character he was. But we loved him even if he was Uncle Meanie.

And one last story about our visit with Sue and her family. When we visited them Mike & I were not married at the time, but were engaged. So when I introduced myself to Sue's kids, I told them my name was Kimmy & that I was their aunt to be. Meaning, that when Mike & I finally get married I would be their Aunt. Well Sue's daughter Crystal thought I was telling her to call me Aunt Tubby. So that is what Sue's kids called me. Aunt Tubby. I guess it fits though. We had a good laugh & still laugh about it today some 8 years later. Whenever we see Sue's family they call all of us the Tubby family. Cause we are all tubby.

Be sure to check out all the prior days of our vacation flashback. And Jodi has also been posting about their current vacation. So scroll down to make sure you haven't missed anything.

And be sure to check out the other family blogs posted on the right hand side. Marti's daughter Katie just started a family blog & announced that she is pregnant. And I added Becky's daughter Jessica's blog a few weeks back as well. She is currently living in South Korea. It sure has been fun getting to know everyone in our extended family a little bit better.

Kim aka: Aunt Tubby