Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A Hole in the Rock

I'm back home again, until Oct. 13th when I will be back dog sitting ( in Upstate SC) for my sister's dog who has a terminal illness...so sad to see how the once lively and strong dog is now in a state of dementia. He has Chushings Disease and there is no cure. He needs almost around the clock care and I don't know how much longer he will be with us, he could remain in this state for as long as 3 yrs the vet said..or it could accelerate and he could go at any time. Personally I hope my sis doesn't make him endure much more, but he has been in her life for 13 years... so hard to make those decisions. I have been in her shoes a few times myself and its never easy...If he hangs in there I will be making a trip there in Nov, and Dec. too to help them out. Some of the cool art I saw when traveling out west was Le'Junque! I love this stuff...check this out-- A spot along hwy 191 heading North to Moab Utah we found this Hole in the Rock. Its one man's legacy to fame and he was an artist. His home was actually inside that big rock..and his name was Albert Christensen. Unfortunately he passed away and is buried on this site... along with his wife.


   

The shop is built right in the rock!! 


                                                                         HI SIS, this  rocks!!


  This is some of his handiwork---




 and this too....

   



 I like this one... see the golfer in the background...made entirely of golf irons!

   



 and of course some of it was beyond Holy! This is NOT man made but Nature Made-- Wilson's Arch near Blanding Utah. Just a stop on the roadside!

   






 Just one of the surprises awaiting travelers!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Postcards from Dixxe!

HOWDY THERE! I was home for one day and then off to dog sit upstate SC for my other sis...so Im writing from there. My sis's dog is quite old and he is not feeling too good so it's a pretty intense regiment of pills and such...but he is resting comfy right now so I am taking some time to update my blog! OH I had such a wonderful trip out west and even tho I was there for a bit longer than 2 weeks it wasnt enough! We took a fantastic road trip once I arrived in Colorado where big sis lives-we took the rental car and put 1800 miles on it! IN A huge circle--and although we didnt follow the entire Grand Circle most of the attractions we did see are in that vicinity. We traveled through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world in my opinion. I simply cant get enough of Canyon Country in Utah--so much magic there in those rocks of many colors. I took so many photos...omg and Im so happy to have those images to keep my memories fresh of what I saw and what I did. Of course Colorado is not half bad either! Check out this magnificent fall color the Aspen trees shared with me before I had to leave! This photo was taken in the area of Greg Mace Peak, not far from Aspen Colorado.




 ANd this was taken inside a slot canyon near Page AriZona-- if you are even in the area I highly suggest taking a tour with Chief Tsosie and his Navajo Guides!..Fantastic spot. The curves and the striations in the rock are fantastic!

   


 you have to see this for yourself!! and you have to see this guy--I dont know what his official name is but he is super fantastic to look at!

   



 And this was a highlight...not just seeing this fantastic arch, but the boat ride thru the Glen Canyon and over Lake Powell to get to this arch--The Rainbow Bridge Natl. Monument--so worth the price--a must see and do!

   

1/2 boat ride to the Rainbow Bridge, so much fun.  They weave in and around the rocks to you us there and sometimes we zoom over open water..





 I know you guys are gonna be sick n tired of me and my trip photos...but I hope You love the landscape as Much as I do!.. And here are a few of the birds I saw--I didnt get a shot of the Pygmy nuthatch a new life bird for me!..but here is the western blue bird, the mountain blue bird, and the western meadowlark

    








I hope to share more of these adventures. 




Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Update 2- Lake Powell and Rainbows

HI Friends, Please forgive me for not visiting your blogs...I can't begin to tell you how busy I've been...we had a FAB trip to Canyon Country...and Navajo Land OMG I love it there... beautiful!


Navajo National Monument 



 Well we returned from our roadtrip on Saturday and on Sunday we unpacked, did laundry..and Monday I painted the front of sis's bungalow...it looks super..but OUCH old muscles not wanting to do that reaching, and stretching...so a bit stiff! I recovered just fine tho 


Sis and Jake, she wants us to try out Metal Dectecting...hmmm (Bungalow front where the staining too place) 
and so today I installed a new faucet in her bathroom....like I said before Im sort of very handy--got that from my Dad-- and it works great and its very "hip and modern". 




Does anyone say that these days?? Probably not-- OMG I took so many photos...there is no way to sort them in such a short time..but one good thing sis does have high speed..unfortunately she is still using Windows ME, and Internet Exp. 6.0 so all sorts of bugs..lol BUT I did manage to dump all my photos in my Flickr... 

(BUT Flickr ate my photos in 2020) RECOVERED what I could

 So when I left you last I was about to embark on a trip on Lake Powell...and IT was fantastic...We took the 1/2 trip to the Rainbow Bridge...I would highly recommend that trip if you cant rent a house boat and spend a week as so many do...here are a few shots of my fun on Lake Powell and the Rainbow Bridge...




They rent house boats by the week...Pretty sweet if you can afford it...at the time of this posting it was about $700 give or take.  If you love red rocks against blue water this is the thing to do..



See what Mean!


Here is what you get...

Im digging the water slide,,,

You can cruise right by sights like this one...


And you can anchor, near shore and go exploring 




Or you can ride here get off the boat and go plundering...This is where our half day boat ride took us...


sis disembarks


First look at the rainbow. 


Rainbow Bridge 

Then a storm was brewing so the captain loaded us up for a thrilling ride back..




 We found this guy on the cliff on the drive down to the parking area to board our Boat, I made the reservations a week ahead of time...



  I will blog more about this fab trip in a future post ...

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Trip So Far!

Hello blog friends..this is a fast blog to update on my vacation progress...IM Having A Blast!So far I arrived in Colorado and my sis and I are currently in Page, AZ, just over the Glen Canyon Dam..


Also in this area of  Arizona is the Horse Shoe Bend of the Colorado River. 

I think they have since then put up a guard rail too bad, cause this is one heck of an overlook. 



 Before that we spent time in Bryce Canyon...







                                                                   Sharing my lunch..,,


 Monday we toured Best Friends Animal Rescue in Kanab Utah,


Kanab Utah.,

   
They have more than just dogs n cats




there's a well done pet cemetery,,,sadly I guess many animals don't survive. 

 had a wonderful experience there we took the guided tour...

Yesterday.we went on a Navajo Guided tour of Antelope Canyon,

                                                                        Blaine Yazzie
 







                                            Sis and I 


 Today we will take a 1/2 boat tour of Lake Powell...

   





 and then we head to Monument Valley and then to Canyon DeChelly--and Anasazi ruins...SO much beauty..So...Plenty of sights to see yet..This trip has been amazing so far...the weather is perfect!! We have enjoyed the pools at various motels where we are stopping...Tonight my laptop is on wifi and working great..tomorrow and we are here for 2 days so Hooray for that!! I will not be able to visit you my friends until we settle down a wee bit more..I miss reading all your blogs and hope all of you are
 doing well!!