Catching Us Some Awesome National Parks!

Wednesday, 5/28/14

With much thanks to Bravo Chevrolet in Las Cruces, NM, and their awesome team, we finally got back on the road on May 20, after our truck had been in the shop for 12 days.  Every one of those guys took great care of us and knows what customer service is all about:  Rey, the service advisor assigned to us, came personally to pick us up at the truck stop where we broke down and made sure we were always kept informed; Albert, their diesel mechanic and transmission specialist, took the truck apart and piece by piece put our big ol' Humpty Dumpty back together again; Mauro, the shop foreman, personally stayed to help Albert the last day until 6:30 p.m. so they could finish things up and get us back on the road as promised; and Mike, the service manager, was honest and straightforward with us from the beginning. He has built a great team there.  We feel like we couldn't have broken down in a better place.  :)

From Las Cruces we drove a straight shot into Phoenix and stayed a couple of days with Max's brother and sister-in-law.  As always we had a great visit, a relaxing time, and partook of way too much good food.

Then it was on to Williams, AZ, and the Grand Canyon.  Some of you may have heard of the wildfire (still) burning at Oak Creek Canyon / Slide Rock, AZ.  We saw the smoke from it for much of our drive north from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon.  This picture was taken west of Flagstaff.  Driving through it was a bit unnerving.







This picture was actually taken as we left the Grand Canyon that evening but it shows how far that smoke cloud extended across the horizon.  (There above the inspection sticker and on across to the center of the windshield.)









The smoke seemed to channel right up through the Grand Canyon that day.  The air was thick with it and the smell was a bit overpowering.



















We still enjoyed it and knew that we would have the next day to hopefully get some better views.  On our way out of the park we saw several elk--made our day!

Still in velvet and a bit scraggly.  Shedding his winter coat, I suppose.

And this big mama decided to cross the road
unexpectedly right in front of us.  They have no fear.

The next day we did a guided bus tour along the south rim and over to the east entrance to the park and saw the Desert View Watchtower  Bob, our tour guide, kept us entertained with stories as well as showed us some great sites.  He said he couldn't prove it...but he was pretty sure...that in order to graduate from high school in Japan, you had to come visit the Grand Canyon.  He couldn't prove it, but he was pretty sure.  :)

The views were spectacular.  No smoke.  Just pure God-provided beauty.

Bob guaranteed us we would see a mountain lion on the tour. 
Here it was.  That Bob was a funny man.

The Desert View Watchtower, a replica
of the watchtowers of the Pueblo Indians, is four stories tall.

We climbed to the top of the Watchtower, and the views were spectacular. 
You can see the Colorado River on the left side of this photo.

We spent some time at the Watchtower, ate a bite of lunch, and headed back to the Visitor's Center on the south rim.  We had been watching these rain showers move in while we were at the Watchtower, and they caught up with us on the way back.  A bit of rain and even a bit of icy drizzle on the bus windshield.  Bob said that was pretty common for this time of year--you never know what you're gonna get.  What a great second day at the Grand Canyon!



 
 
 
 


From there, it was time to head to Bryce Canyon, Utah.  The wildfires were still burning at Slide Rock as we drove back through Flagstaff, but as we got further north the skies cleared and it was a beautiful day.  I'm learning to love all these beautiful red cliffs, blue blue sky and stark white clouds. 









Highway 89A in northern Arizona is beautiful, with the Cliff Dwellings...

And the Vermillion Cliffs.  And look at the size of these rocks!

Before you get to Bryce Canyon, you run up on two of these arches across the road.  We had read they were 13'6", which is plenty tall enough for our Turtle, but we were told that was in the middle.  We weren't too sure what the slope on the sides was so we were a bit worried about going through them.  We intended to stay in the middle--but what happens if you meet someone??  We could tell from Google Earth that they were both on a curve, too.  Just more to worry about.  (I tell you--our truck fiasco kind of stole some of our feeling of invincibility.  Maybe that's a bit of a good thing, but it also keeps my stomach more in knots than it used to be!) 

As it turned out, we got through them with no problem.  We even met a car going through the second one so we had to stay in our lane.  I held my breath.  I'm sure that helped. 

Finally we arrived!




 

The Grand Canyon is awe-inspiring.  I think Bryce is just absolutely stunning.  They are both canyons, but they look entirely different.  

 

Bryce is known for these spires, or hoodoos as they are more properly called.  To some they look like church steeples, Gothic spires, castles, animals, or even people.  The legend of the ancient Paiute Indians, who inhabited the area hundreds of years ago, claims the hoodoos are ancient "Legend People" who were turned to stone as punishment for bad deeds. 

 

On the drive to the southern end of the canyon you see a bit of this.
Controlled burn?  Nature just taking care of its own?  Or man?

This cute little guy appeared to be on his way back to his nest
with some brand new building materials.

We saw ravens at both Grand Canyon and Bryce.  They are big suckers!



Another day we took a drive down Scenic Byway 12, "a destination unto itself."

Part of it runs across the very crest of the mountain.
I can't begin to tell you just how much my sense of
invincibility eluded me at this moment.

And with 14% grades, we were very glad we didn't have the Turtle with us.
Max read federal highways can only go up to a 6% grade
(which can get pretty exciting sometimes), but
obviously state highways are a different ballgame.

And then last but not least at Bryce, we just had to do an ATV ride.  What fun that was!  ATV's are not actually allowed in the bottom of Bryce.  The company we used took us down into the neighboring Casto Canyon.  It was three hours of bouncing, dirt-eating, bone jarring, fabulously scenic fun!



To the top of the mountain!
 

Until next time....take care!

Max and Paula

S'mores, Bonfires, New Babies, Easter and Other Stuff

Since I last posted, we've spent our time between Brownwood and Lubbock, and between family and friends and taking care of business.  Most of it was fun stuff.  Some of it was just stuff that had to be done, but glad to get it done.

On February 28th, we were treated to a brand new great niece, Avery Hope.

Uncle Max, Big Sister Lynlee, Aunt Paula and baby Avery

What a sweet smile!

Tommy, the sweetest great nephew ever, invited us over to Nini and Pop's (Ranita and Terry) for s'mores around the campfire one evening. 




Sunny (great niece) is geared up and ready to roast
her some marshmallows.

I was trying to help Sunny roast a marshmallow.  It was taking a little while but she was being very patient.  As I tried to see well enough in the light of campfire to see if it was "just right", I heard her ask, "Is it ready?"  When I didn't respond right away, she said, "Yes or no?  Yes or no?"  You wonder where she hears THAT from!

Terry kept the fire going nicely for us.  At one point he was putting more wood on the fire when suddenly Sunny stood up, leaned toward him, and shouted, "You're freaking me out!" Not sure if she was afraid he was going to burn himself or us, but that coming from a little 2-year-old is pretty cute. 



Terry, Buddie, Tommy, Max, Sunny

Nini pointing out a plane, or a satellite...or maybe a UFO.
Sunny instructed all of us to get out our "'noculars" so we could
see it better.  Make a circle of your fingers, put them up to your
eyes, and look through your noculars.
Yep, we all did it, too. 

Karen, telling the story of "Gertrude, My Pet Goat."
If you knew our mom, you may at some time have been
treated to her rendition of the story.  We all
remember her telling that story, and it's one of those
things that no matter how many times we heard her tell it,
we laughed and laughed and laughed. 
Not only was the story funny,
but even more than that, it was so 
outside her box to do such a thing.  It just amazed us
and kept us forever laughing.

The end of March we went to Lubbock for about three weeks to take care of doctor appointments, taxes, house stuff, etc., as well as to spend time with family and friends.  It went by fast!  We got a lot accomplished, and we had a great time.

Then back to Brownwood--

Pulling into our spot there at Karen and Greg's, we got a little too close to a fence post.  Oops.  Kissing between posts and Gypsy Turtles does not come out well.

But....we were able to get a body shop guy to come out to us, and he got us fixed up. 

One day Karen and I took the three oldest kids to the Abilene Zoo.  That was a hoot of a day.  And such an interesting endeavor.  Request for first potty break happened before we even got to Brownwood.  We stopped at a convenience store, and Karen and I did rock / paper / scissors to determine who would take the two inside that needed to go and who would stay in the truck with the one who didn't.  I lost.  But before I barely got the two inside to the bathroom, here she came with the other one because that one didn't want to be left out.  Karen told me before we started the trip that bathroom breaks were going to be a frequent and interesting part of the trip.  She wasn't lying. 

The second potty break happened on the side of the road.  I'll just let you use your imagination.

First (official after potty) stop was McDonald's.  They had a blast.  I think they would have been tickled pink just to have made that the day's activity



 





Notice Sunny without her socks.  The posted rules said children
must wear socks.  I tried to explain that to her.  She quickly
pointed out another little girl who did not have socks on.  I again
tried reasoning.  You can see who won.
Karen thought that was funny.

 



 

Easter was family lunch at Karen and Greg's followed by Easter egg coloring and then a traditional hunt.  Yes, you heard right.  Easter egg coloring.  With a 5-year-old, 2-year-old and 1-year-old.  Stripped littlest ones down to their undies, pulled out a lot of paper towels for mopping up the messes and had a blast!

 

 

 

Then Easter eggs (and toys and raisins and other less sugary fun stuff), here we come!

 

 





Tommy and Stephanie

Jesse, Avery, Tommy, Sunny, Lynlee

Sunny

Every time I see Tommy, he greets me with an enthusiastic "Hello, Paula!"
and a big smile.  He never meets a stranger, and he's such an
inquisitive and smart little boy.  He may be outnumbered
by all these pretty little girls, but they all adore him and
call him Bubba.  Couldn't ask for a better little guy
for them to look up to.





The Easter Bunny brought confetti eggs!

Lynlee says, "Mama, I do it!"

Greg and Ruger

Karen

Brother Terry, digging through the Easter bootie when the kids' backs
are turned, looking for his favorites.

Ron and Buddie

The next week, Karen and I got to attend one of Tommy's t-ball practices. 

Tommy plays catcher and pitcher.

Of course where Bubba goes, so goes Sister.  This is her sweet look.

And this is her Pitcher-Psych-Out-the-Batter look.
It would sure work on me.

Run Tommy run!

Greg and Karen's sheep herd had more babies during the month of April than any month previously.  Those little things are pretty darn cute and keep us entertained. 

Daisy the Donkey and Thomason and Llama - Protectors of the Herd

Yellow-headed blackbirds





Karen, you know those things spit, right?



Karen's picture of home.  I loved it.

This is why country kids learn how to drive at a young age.

Jessica's picture.  Another reason to love the country life.

We headed out on our big summer adventure on Tuesday, May 6.  We got as far as Las Cruces, NM., on Wednesday, May 7.  Truck breakdown.  Big time.  But I'll save that story for another day.  Right now the important thing is we are both safe, we're in a sweet little RV park with people who have been super helpful at every turn, the Chevy dealership here is working hard to get us fixed up, and we are blessed. 

Until next time...take care!

Max and Paula