Sedona and Zion National Park

Thursday morning we got up, had our breakfast in the hotel, and then headed toward Hoover Dam.  It’s not far from Henderson, NV.  We got there about 9:30 a.m. and were surprised that even that early there were quite a few people.  Saw lots of different state license plates (we're keeping track to see if we can see all 50) and lots of people from different countries on bus tours.  It appears there are bus tours specifically for different people groups.  Some had people who were all speaking Spanish.  Others, were all Asian people.  It is very interesting to observe all the different people groups.  Here is a photo Doug took at Hoover Dam.

From there we headed southeast, destination Sedona, AZ.  Sedona is one of our favorite spots because it is so different from Newberg and because of the beautiful redrock formations all throughout the valley of Sedona.  We stayed 2 nights at a rental in someone’s home.  It was delightful and our hosts were great people.  We had lots of room; a living room, space for a desk/eating, separate bathroom, and bedroom.  We also had space outdoors for relaxing.  Our hostess suggested a nice hike for us, which we did first thing Friday morning.  Here is Doug as we started on the hike. 

The   hike ended at a place called Redrock Crossing.  As you can see from this photos, we were able to sit on the rocks and cool our feet off in Oak Creek.

Next, we headed to a little shopping area in Sedona called Tlaquepacque.  It is built to resemble an authentic Mexican plaza/courtyards.

 We had a delightful lunch of spinach salad with bacon balsamic dressing and ate outside.  I did some shopping while Doug took a nap in the car.  Last time I was in Sedona I saw these wind sculptures and fell in love with them.  I’ve seen them other places, too, but this time I just sat near the gallery and just watched the gentle breeze flutter all the sculptures.  This is one of my favorites.

 In the afternoon we took a trolley ride through Sedona and Oak Creek Village.  It was quite interesting.  We learned a little bit about the history of Sedona and saw some things we hadn’t seen in our previous 2 visits. 

Before heading home, we stopped at the chapel of the hills, which is located about ¼ mile from where we stayed.  This chapel was built as a place for people to stop and worship the God who created all the beauty that surrounds the place.  It is very special  with a wonderful atmosphere.  Doug and I stopped to pray for a bit.  A nice couple from Belgium took our photo just outside the chapel.

Here is a look at the chapel from down below.

 We’ve had some really nice weather, although it has been a little on the hot side.  Most days the temperatures are above 90 degrees, but it is a dry heat.   So, by evening we are pretty wiped out.  Last night we decided to purchase our dinner from the grocery store.  We had coconut shrimp and green salad followed by cookies and caramel, cookie ice cream.  Not bad for cooking it ourselves. 

We’ve had a wonderful time in Sedona, but all good things must come to an end.  

Saturday morning we got up early and headed north.  The drive took us from Sedona through Flagstaff, up to Zion National Park and then down to St. George, UT.  We saw such a diversity of landscape.  Wow!  The whole earth is full of God's glory.  We had originally planned to travel to Moah, UT and see Arches and Canyonlands, but last night, looking for accommodations in the area, we discovered pretty much nothing was available unless we were willing to pay well over $200/night.  So, we decided on our different route.

The first place we stopped was the Navajo Bridge crossing the Colorado River.  This is really the beginning of the Grand Canyon.  We decided not to go to the Grand Canyon this trip since we've seen a couple times before.  The Navajos have a couple selling booths near this bridge, so we bought something for one of our grandsons.

Stopped for lunch at 8,000 foot level and then proceeded on to Zion National Park.

Zion is my favorite national park so far.  It has such grandeur and yet, inside the park, it is quite peaceful.  Unlike Yosemite, Zion only allows people into the valley on shuttles.  This leaves the valley uncluttered and much more enjoyable to explore.  Doug and I rented two bicycles, rode the shuttle up to the far end of the valley, then rode mostly downhill to exit.  It was probably a 45 minute bike ride and so enjoyable.  A few photos:

What a great day!  Arrived in St. George, UT around 7:30 p.m. and found a very nice Best Western in which to spend the night.

Tomorrow?  Who knows.

HOT, HOT!

Today was an interesting day for a couple of reasons.  Like we said yesterday we came from Yosemite and today we went through Death Valley.  Lots of elevation difference.

This lake was at 9,956 feet and the temperature was in the high 50's-low 60's.

Here at sea level it was 100 when we stopped.

A few miles further on at Furnace Creek and 190 feet below sea level you can see what it was.  Quite a change in less than 24 hours.

We were not really sure what way we were going to travel to Sedona from Bishop.  But Death Valley was really right on the way and I wanted to show Dianna where I had ridden motorcycles a few years ago.  So we detoured through the park knowing it would be hot.  It was as you can see and it continued to be hot the entire day.  We arrived in Henderson Nevada about 3:30 and it was right around 95 here.  So we decided to stop and get a room for the night.  We were pleasantly surprised at how nice a room Hampton Suits has for very reasonable prices. 

 We are enjoying a relaxing evening in a very comfortable room.  That is not to say our rooms before this have not been nice or comfortable.  We have had very nice accommodations and we are very grateful for that.

We were discussion just yesterday that the remainder of our trip will be mostly in arid climates.  I remember as a kid when our family would go from Chiloquin to Idaho every year I really did not enjoy the ride from Bend on.  It is a very arid and bleak landscape.  But as I have grown older I have come to appreciate that God created that along with the areas we thing are beautiful.  If we will only take time and look we can see many things in the desert that are beautiful.

These are some flowers that were growing along the road as we were descending into Death Valley.  And there were others right by these.  Even the rocks if you take time to just appreciate them have beauty.  The earth is full of His glory.  All we have to do is stop and appreciate it.

We can even appreciate some man made things if we want.  This Opera house is at a junction out in the middle of absolutely nowhere and is kind of cute.  Now mind you the other buildings around it leave something to be desired but this one was fun!

So back to the beginning of our day.  Bishop California is a neat little town out in the middle of nowhere and is a great place to spend the night.  One of the highlights of this berg is a really great bakery. 

Well, I should say Bakkery!  They are an amazing place that supposedly bakes 25,000 different things each day.  I know, I know.  I am just repeating what I read there.  They have a plethora of eats, each one guaranteed to make you determine not to eat for two days afterwards.  We came away with a loaf of bread and two really cool macaroons.   Yes, we have eaten the macaroons already!

So tomorrow morning we plan to finish our drive to Sedona Arizona.  It should take us about three hours.  There is a fire in the Oak Creek Canyon just to the north of town but I think we will be ok.  We have been there several times  before and are looking forward to spending some more time.  We have been enjoying the new car a lot.  Today for the first time we were actually able to drive on a freeway for quite a length of time and it was averaging over 40 mpg!  Every time we fill up it has always been between 32-37 mpg and that has been on some hard driving with lots of curves, stops and other things.  So we are very pleased.  Lady Di is great!

Till tomorrow remember.  The whole earth is full of Gods Glory

Doug and Dianna

Exiting Yosemite on the Tioga Road

Today was our last day in Yosemite National Park.  We left Oakhurst about 8 and drove the road up to Yosemite Valley again.  Our plan today was to drive over the Sierra Nevada Mtns. via the Tioga Road.  Tioga Road run along the north rim of Yosemite Valley.  It is a beautiful drive along high mountain terrain.  some areas we were at an elevation of almost 10,000 feet.  As some of you know, I don't do well at high elevations.  But, thankfully, today I did OK and was able to enjoy the sights we saw.

Doug reminisced a little about a trip his family took across this road when he was 13 or 14.  We stopped in a Porcupine campground because he thinks that is where they camped on their trip.  Here is a photo of the spring-fed creek at Porcupine campground. Crystal clear.

 They must have trouble with black bears in this area because they had warnings all around.  They have these metal storage boxes that campers are required to keep their food in.  A hefty fine is charged if campers don't comply.

Next, we stopped at Olmstead Point.  From Olmstead Point there is a really cool view back down into Yosemite Valley.  We walked the .2 mile trail to an overlook and got this great photo.

In case you have forgotten what we look like, here is a selfie of Doug and me in front of a weather-beaten tree at Olmstead Point.

We ate our lunch at Tenaya Lake.  As you can see this is a high-mountain lake very near the summit of the Sierra Nevadas.  Of course, we ate on the beach and then took a walk part way down the path that goes along the western shore.  Here is a photo of our view from our picnic spot.

Found this glacier-fed stream coming off the hillside and just had to take a picture.

After leaving the boundary of Yosemite Natl. Park we came across this partially frozen lake.  Kind of amazing!  

Most of the day the temperature has been a mild 65+ degrees.  As we dropped down the other side of the Sierra Nevadas we noticed the temperature climbing.  Here in Bishop it is 97.  Thank God for air conditioning!

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

Yesterday, Sunday, we went to church with our friends, Daryl and Linda.  This was pretty meaningful to us because Daryl and Linda have not always been Christians during the time we've been friends.  We had the wonderful privilege of taking communion with them.  This was really significant for both Doug and me.

After church we headed up to Oakhurst, which is a community of about 3,000, but it is the biggest community close to Yosemite.  We are staying in a B & B just outside Oakhurst.  Our hostess, Dawn, is really nice.  We stopped in around noon yesterday to drop off our bags, but she had already prepared our room so we moved in then drove up to Yosemite National Park.  It is about 50 miles from Oakhurst into Yosemite Valley, but yesterday it took us nearly 1 1/2 hours to make the drive.  It is a windy road, allowing an average speed of around 35 mph.  Of course, yesterday being the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, you can image the number of people wanting to be in the park.  We were advised it would be better to visit Glacier Point instead of attempting the valley.  As we drove up the road to Glacier Point we were told there was a 60 -90 minutes wait before being allowed to proceed.  Well, since we were already this far we decided to wait.  We spent out 90 minutes eating lunch and reading our kindles and moving the car inch by inch.  Here is a picture of the line-up.

It was about 4:30 p.m. when we were allowed to proceed and it was worth it.

On our way to Glacier Point we stopped to walk the 2.2 mile round trip trail to Taft Point.  It was a pretty easy hike and felt so good after waiting in the car for so long.  We met some really nice young men from Thailand on the trail who are studying at Northwestern in Chicago.  They were visiting Yosemite for the 3-day weekend.

Here are a couple photos of the view from Taft Point.

The next stop was Washburn Point.  This has got to be my favorite view in Yosemite.  It is breath taking when you see it in person.

We finally made it to Glacier Point.  The view there was really wonderful, too, but there were gobs and gobs of people.  Doug and I have been amazed at the number of non-English speakers we've encountered.  We've seen a lot of people from India and quite a few Asian people, as well. In fact, there is a young Chinese couple staying at the same B & B as us.  I can't imagine the guts it takes to go to a foreign country and then stay in a B & B way out in the country.  Here is a sample of the view from Glacier Point.

We arrived back at Oakhurst around 9 p.m. hoping to buy an ice cream cone from McDonalds for dinner, but they had closed their dining room before 9 and the drive through was really busy.  So, we went to Vons and found a delicious Hagen Daz rocky road ice cream, which was way better than McDonalds.  (We try to eat healthy on our vacations.)

This morning our hostess had prepared for us fresh fruit parfaits for breakfast.  They were scrumptious and filling.  We left Oakhurst at 7:30 a.m. and arrive in the park at 9.  Our first stop was lower Yosemite falls.  The trail into the falls meanders through forest and is pretty easy.  The view is breathtaking.  We hardly saw anyone on the trail, but when we got to the falls realized everyone else had taken the shorter trail.  Tons of people were there.  Here's a photo of the falls and also one of the crowds.

From the falls we walked about 3 miles to Mirror Lake.  Hardly anyone was on the trail.  It was nice to escape some of the crowds.  At one point on the trail we ended up walking through a boat load of horse doodoo.  Yuk!  Truthfully, it was difficult to avoid stepping in it.  Later we realized we had taken the horse trail instead of the people trail.  Oh well.  

Mirror Lake.  Such beauty!

Needless to say, we took the shuttle back to our car to pick up our lunch, then headed to Awhwanhee Lodge (grand lodge of Yosemite) to eat on their lawn.  Here's a photo inside the lodge.

We got back to Oakhurst around 5:30 and are spending a relaxing (and warm) evening at our B & B.  Just to let you know how warm it has been, it was 93 degrees in Yosemite Valley, around 87 when we got back to Oakhurst and is 86 right now, 9 p.m.

It is summer here!

Yesterday we left Santa Rosa with weather influenced by the coast.  Now were in Clovis, near Fresno, and it is definitely no longer coast weather.  As we entered Clovis it was 92 degrees.  But, before I get into that I want to tell you a little about Sonoma and Napa.  Both are smaller communities outside Santa Rosa.  We had heard so much about them we figured we should explore them a bit.

Here are a couple photos of Sonoma:

 Sonoma is a cute community with a western theme.  They've got a lot of history.  In fact, they have something in common with our Champoeg in it was at Sonoma that California was first recognized as a state.  We enjoyed walking around Sonoma.  They have a really nice city square where city hall (photo to the left) and the visitor center are located.

Just across the street from the square are some historic buildings where barracks were set up at the turn of the 19th century.  We also found a wonderful little Basque bakery that had some pretty good scones.







Next, we were on to Napa.  Napa is a bigger community than Sonoma and it had a lot more traffic.  We didn't enjoy it as much and didn't take time to walk around much.  We did, however, find a nice Starbucks.

The drive to Clovis took us well over 2 hours down hwy 99.  We're used to hwy 99 being a 2 lane road through the countryside.  Here it is a freeway with tons of traffic.  Maybe it was everyone trying to go somewhere for Memorial Day weekend, but we drove in traffice most of the way.

Our long-time friends Daryl and Linda Hale live in Clovis.

Daryl was Doug's best friend as a kid and served as Doug's best man in our wedding.  So, we go way back.  We spent last night and all day today enjoying our good friends.  It is such a blessing to be able to pick up relationships almost right away with old friends.  We've both been through quite a lot of the past years, so we were able to relate to each other and encourage one another.  What a blessing to have good friends!

Of course, Doug and Daryl had to reminisce about their antics as kids.  Daryl pulled out their grade school pictures.  Here is Doug as a 4th grader:

Last night we enjoyed the Clovis Farmer's Market.  It is a pretty big market taking up about 4 city blocks. They even had live music.














Today we enjoyed stopping at several fruit stands.  It really is summer here.  This picture of Doug by a corn field shows the corn is just about ready to pick.  We also saw ripe peaches, summer squash, and strawberries.

One of the many fruit stands we visited.

Tomorrow we head up to Yosemite.  I'm not sure what the internet service will be up there, but if we have some I'll post some photos of the sights.

Goodbye CA coast, Welcome Wine Country

I didn't write anything yesterday because Doug and I were really tired by the end of the day.  Hwy 1 is really a scenic highway, but it also has tons of curves.  Have you ever driven the road to Hana on Maui?  Well, Hwy 1 is pretty close and much longer.  Yesterday we drove about 135 miles and it took us 5 hours.  Of course, we stopped at a couple beaches, but most of the driving was an average of 30 mph.  So, when we reached Bodega Bay (where we thought we were going to spend the night) we turned inland and ended up in Santa Rosa.

Here is a photo from one of the beaches along Hwy 1.  Doug and I walked this beach.  It was a quiet, gorgeous morning, and we found tracks of a sea turtle.  Pretty cool.

We decided to stay two nights in Santa Rosa.  This was a good decision.  We were getting kind of tired moving from hotel to hotel each night.  Today we didn't have to pack up.  We just packed a lunch and headed out to explore the wine country.

The first stop was in Healdsburg, just north of Santa Rosa.  It is a really cute little town; definitely caters to the wine tasters, but also a community with an identity of it's own.  Here is a picture of the downtown area.

Of course we had to find a coffee shop for Doug.  They had pretty good scones, too.

In looking through the local visitor center's brochure, we found we could take walking tours of some of the local wineries.  Doug and I don't really like wine that well, so we're not interested in tasting wine.  But, as you all know, wineries are such beautiful places and it just seemed wrong to not see at least a few wineries.  The first place we visited, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, was a real surprise.  It is huge and has fantastic grounds.  Visitors have the choice of wine tasting, dining, swimming, playing bocce ball, exploring their dispalys, or just enjoying the view.  Here are some views of the winery:

Doug was drooling when we found the original Tucker car used in the movie, Tucker.

A little more exploring and we realized Francis Ford Coppola was a film director who won quite a few Oscars for movies such as the 3 Godfather movies, Tucker, Marie Antionette, etc.  Here is a photo of the desk used in the Godfather.

We sat outside, drank a glass of wine, and enjoyed the view and sunshine.  Unfortunately, I was so enthralled I forgot to take a picture of the view from the winery.

This afternoon/evening we explored downtown Santa Rosa.  They have a unique historic railroad district, which is where we ate dinner.  We explored their greenway walk and looked around downtown.  Santa Rosa is a pretty nice city.  Weather is wonderful!  We are having a wonderful time and feeling really blessed.

Santa Roas has a Charles Schultz museum and there are Peanuts statues all over downtown.  Here we are with Lucy in the historic railroad district.

Oh, almost forgot, we skyped with Nate and our grandsons last night.  What a kick.  I really appreciate Nate taking the time for us to do this.  It was so comical watching our grandsons literally crawling over Nate to get their faces right in the camera.  To occupy Seth, Nate gave him his phone.  So, Seth proceeded to take a photo of our pictures on skype.  What a character.  We miss our family, but are so thankful for skype and blogging so we can stay in touch.