June took us to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for our annual visit. However, there was a change in the itinerary. Instead of the guys hiking from the South Rim to the North Rim, they elected this year to travel with us by car! directly to the North Rim and then did a hike there. Brother Jim, sister-in-law Liz and nephew Jimmy (along with Liz's sister and her husband and their granddaughter) joined us for the trip this year.
The guys decided they think arriving at the North Rim via vehicle is just dandy!
Wanted to include a picture of the Western cabins at the North Rim - I just love staying here!
Great trip as always to the Grand Canyon. What a blessing to live so near.
We left the following weekend to visit Larry's brother Wayne and niece Sophi who live just a tad outside of Portland, Oregon. Larry's mom Dorothy and sister Linda and great-niece Dawson were already there. Once again, was great to escape the Phoenix summer heat while at the same time enjoying time with family!
Sophi and Dawson braved the ocean!
And then it was time to leave the coast. We returned to Wayne's home for another enjoyable evening before we all headed out to our respective homes the next day.
Business called Larry to Colorado in early July for a quarterly meeting and wives were invited along! We added some vacation time to the front of the trip and drove the first night to Cortez, CO. The following day, July 4th!, we were able to miss a parade in Cortez, Durango, Silverton and Ouray but sure enjoyed the scenery and the Colorado mountain temperatures! Our second night was in Crested Butte (wow!).
We then traveled to Aspen where we visited the Maroon Bells. I'll borrow from Wikipedia for an explanation of this destination:
You have to arrive before 9 a.m. for access to the location otherwise you'll have to take a bus. We were there by 7:35 a.m. allowing for access without a lot of other people.
There is an easy hiking trail dotted with all sorts of wild flowers while taking you along the lake and along the river flowing into the lake.
We also met up with brother Jim and his family in Aspen. They had all been vacationing in the area but were headed back Arizona way the following day.
Avon, near Vail, was our next destination - the reason we were in Colorado at all - a Freeport meeting. It was a pleasure catching up with people we've lived near before (Chile expat neighbors). Below is Tracey (left) and Tammy - two of my expat neighbors in Calama.
Stepfather Marvin and his wife Jennie drove over from Denver and spent a day with me - we visited so much I forgot to get a picture - bummer.
One of the dinners was held at Beano's Cabin high in the mountains - can I carry on enough about the weather, fresh air and scenery?
It was time to start heading back to Arizona but not before visiting Telluride.
Yes, the Colorado weather was wonderful seeings as Phoenix was experiencing triple digit temperatures during this time and the scenery was spectacular but I couldn't help appreciating Arizona scenery as well upon our return to Arizona. This picture is near Kayenta.
And I must include another Arizona sunset picture ... truly beautiful. Life is good!
I've changed medications again. We discovered in June that the Sutent I had been taking since early May wasn't working so I've moved onto a medication called Temodar. It turns out that Temodar is one of the medications that the molecular analysis (of the tumor removed during surgery in June 2011) indicates this cancer will respond to. I take the medication for five days and am off for four weeks. I return to see my doctor on the 16th for a follow-up visit with a plan to start my second round of the med on the 28th. This schedule allows me to fly on the 17th to Nebraska to attend nephew Joel and future wife Lauren's wedding on the 20th. Larry isn't able to join me for this trip - work commitments.
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