October & November Activities

Following our most excellent trip to Telluride to see fall colors, we acquired an Organ Pipe cactus from my brother Jim's yard.  Luckily Jim and Larry had the assistance of nephew Jimmy in retrieving the cactus from Jim's yard and replanting it in our yard. 

 

Does Larry look happy or what!

 

Over a long weekend, we traveled to Wichita to visit Larry's sister Linda, her husband Jeff, and Larry's mom Dorothy who had been there recovering from knee replacement surgery (and doing very well I may add).  In my focus to pack light for the long weekend trip, I found I had forgotten to bring my camera along so no good quality pictures to record the trip but must include this one we took with Larry's cell phone camera.

Upon our return to Arizona, Larry left for a business trip to Lima, Peru.  He was a keynote speaker at a conference so he celebrated turning another year older there - I missed him.  Friends and family came over when he returned and we celebrated his birthday then.

We gathered with friends in the far east valley for a pre-Thanksgiving potluck the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I do believe other parts of the country were experiencing winter weather while we enjoyed temperatures in the 70s!  I love winter in Arizona!!

 

Sue's mom, Dagny, from Iowa and Larry have their birthdays on the same day (November 13) so I had to get a picture of the both of them.  Dagny turned 90 - she looks great!  Larry is a little younger.  

We celebrated Thanksgiving at friends Mike and Sue's and were grateful we could join their family on that special day!

We've spent every Friday we've been in town this fall going to nephew Jimmy's high school football games and very much enjoyed those experiences culminating in playoffs and then the championship game the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Friends and family gathered to cheer the Sabercats (and Jimmy!) on.  They won!  We're already looking forward to next season when Jimmy will be a senior.  My has time flown - wasn't he just a little guy?

 

 

 

Interesting news on the health front.  The drug that is controlling the cancer, Temodar, can possibly cause leukemia down the line.  Therefore, since the cancer is in "control", my doctor suggested I take a rest from the drug for awhile - she referred to is as, "active monitoring of non-treatment".  So! after three years and two months, November was my first month in taking no medicine to treat the cancer!  I'll still see my doctor again in December for bloodwork and the scheduled three month scan.  The bloodwork and scan will determine whether I can take December off as well.  I'm not sure what to think...there is a certain comfort in taking a medicine that works and that old saying, if it isn't broke, don't fix it comes to mind.  I decided to go with the trust the expert factor. 

 

Oh, went to the Eagles concert with sister-in-law Liz because Larry was in Peru!  We had a great time - great concert.  Larry and I see Fleetwood Mac in December! 

October Fall Color Trip to Telluride

Upon Larry's return from his business trip to Chile, we loaded up the car and headed for southwest Colorado - destination: Telluride.  We were there July 2013 and talked about returning in the fall - we were just a year late but well worth it! 

We did a hike around this lake - just beautiful!

 Gotta love a stroll in the fall!

 



 

 

Hike to Bear Falls.

 

 

Telluride is about an 8 hour drive from Carefree.  We left on Saturday stopping in Cortez, CO, for the night.  Sunday morning we drove to Durango, Ouray and arrived Telluride mid afternoon - in time to check in at the hotel and walk downtown to a bar to watch the Broncos and Cardinals play!  The next morning we took several drives and did two hikes for a total of 7 miles.  We ended both days with a ride up on the free gondola to Telluride Village enjoying that view and seeing the moon rise over the mountains.  Tuesday we headed back home - what a great long weekend get-away.

 

We continue to very much enjoy nephew Jimmy's Friday night high school football games. 

 

We gathered at friends Allison and Brian's for dinner to celebrate Brian and Mike's birthdays.

 

 

And gosh, we've had a lot of rain!!

 

So life continues to treat me very well!  My last scan shows the drug continues to work.  Gad I'm lucky!

Havasupai Hike

This was our third trip to Havasupai.  I remember the first time we made the journey and we all asked ourselves why it had taken so long for us to go!  We'd seen the pictures in Arizona Highways!  The water, the falls, the experience is almost undescribable. 

The journey begins by getting there.  We want the 8 mile hike to the village of Supai to begin early in the morning because it can get pretty darn warm for the hike as the days moves on, which required getting closer to the the trailhead at Hualapai Hilltop.  So, with friends Dan and Diane from Rapid City with us, we traveled to Seligman, AZ, the day before the hike and stayed the night leaving the following morning for the 80 mile trip to the trailhead arriving at 9 a.m.  Our hiking group going down consisted of 17 people from ages of 20s to 60s - quite the group.  One of our group of 18 helicoptered in.  Three of us helicoptered out.

The first 1 1/2 miles of the hike (Havasupai Trail) is the most difficult due to steep switchbacks and becomes easier with a gentle slope along a wash to the village of Supai where the Havasupai people live (an American Indian tribe who have lived in the Grand Canyon area for at least the past 800 years).  There is a 24-room lodge run by the Havasupai in the village, a cafe and a small store.  Two miles further on from the village is a campground with approximately 250 campsites.  Surprise - I prefer the lodge!  Love a shower and comfortable bed after hiking!

The only way to get to the village is by foot, horseback or helicopter - no roads.  Which means anything you purchase in the village is going to be pricey because the only way it gets there is by horseback or helicopter.  Lodging is not that expensive considering...in addition to the $35 fee for entry to the reservation, the room with two double beds and a full bath is around $100/night.  Thanks Mike for making the reservations!  It was the best trip yet for me.  I wonder if that had to do with that I flew out of the canyon via helicopter! versus hiking?  I don't think entirely though because seems like this trip we spent more time hanging out at each of the falls relaxing and visiting and we had a great group of people.  Of the 18 in our group, 12 are related (siblings, their spouses and adult children) - great group!

The first picture is the view looking towards our destination from Hualapai Hilltop and the starting point of Havasupai Trail.

One of our many stops along the way....

The lodge at the village of Supai - what a setting!

We headed out on our hike to the falls the following morning.  This was our view of Navajo Falls.

This was our first view of Havasu Falls.

Another perspective of Havasu Falls.

Navajo Falls is about a mile from the village and Havasu Falls is just shy of two miles from the village.  And then there is Mooney Falls!  Oh my, I had forgotten how scary the hike down to Mooney was.  Yikes!

What a process to get to the bottom!  By the way...do believe we were some of the oldest people to have visited Mooney Falls!

 

We enjoyed our time at Mooney Falls.  Some of the fellows headed on to Beaver Falls which I  think was another two miles while the rest of us returned to Havasu Falls to spend some more time.

 

The following pictures are the guys trip to Beaver Falls.

 

 

 

The Beaver Falls hikers:  (L-R: Tom, Drew, (or was that Drew, Tom?), Mike, Craig and Dan.

Larry said the area was covered in what looked like grape vines.



 

The below pictures are of Havasu Falls where the rest of hung out while the guys visited Beaver Falls.

What a great day!  We returned to the lodge around 5 p.m.  We all woke early the next morning because the hikers wanted to be on the trail by 6:30 a.m.  We generally all hiked down together but hiking out was at everyones own pace.  Below is a picture of Larry and Dan and Diane heading out leaving me at the site where the helicopter came into the village.

I was anxious to be at the spot where people are helicoptered out to get my name on the list.  It is a first come, first serve basis - no reservations.  The Havasupai villagers have priority, then vendors for the tribe and then tourists.  There were two people (tourists) ahead of me.  Anyone who came after that, we let them know what number they were in regards to the list to fly out.  Once the tribe member who was in charge of this important list arrived at around 8 a.m., he first made sure any tribe members' names were on the list first and allowed around 15 minutes for more tribe member arrivals before he let us add our names to the list.  The helicopter arrived at 9 a.m. and the first group went out - 6 people and their packs.  I was on the second flight and it took all of 5 minutes and I LOVED every minute!  Incredible to be out that quickly.  When we landed, the couple who flew out with me, their son had already hiked out and was waiting for our helicopter.  This is a picture of my helicopter arriving and the second is a picture of the helicopter arriving on top - loved it

 

Below is a picture of Larry coming out.  He did the hike out in 3 1/2 hours - amazing how much faster he can go without me in tow!

Dan and Diane did a great job of coming out - the hike isn't that difficult coming out because it is more or less a gentle uphill through a huge wash but that last 1 1/2 miles of switchbacks - now that's another story.  And an 8 mile hike is an 8 mile hike - especially uphill!  We had chairs and coolers and shade ready for the hikers as they came out.

What a great trip!

We don't have any immediate leisure travel plans.  Larry has a trip to Chile in late September which means he'll miss the Eagles concert we have tickets for in early October.  Sister-in-law Liz is going with me. 

The Tetons, Yellowstone, 40th High School Class Reunion, and South Dakota/Minnesota Road Trip

We were home for a short week and a half and it was time to leave on vacation again!  Our destination the first night was Monticello, UT.  Lovely little town and we stayed in a charming motel which included chairs out in front of the room allowing us to enjoy the pleasant temperature.

The following morning, we headed for Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah.  A quarry was established in 1915 providing a "window into late Jurassic-period dinosaurs." 

"Many fossils are embedded in a sloping rock formation that was once a sandbar on the edge of a large river. As the river carried animal carcasses downstream, many became stuck on the sandbar, which eventually turned to rock. As a result, fossils from hundreds of creatures are concentrated in a small area. Many fossilized bones have been partially exposed but left intact in the rock where they can be easily seen. A building was constructed over the area, which is now known as "The Quarry" at the monument."  Click the link below for more information and pictures - for whatever reason, I didn't take any pictures but it was a truly neat stop on our way to Yellowstone.

http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/dinosaur.htm

Day 3 took us by Grand Teton National Park on our way to Yellowstone which is easily described in one word - spectacular!

We traveled onto Yellowstone arriving just in time to watch Old Faithful!

 

 

So, our trip to Yellowstone was very nice.  We loved the scenery, we loved the lodging - we didn't like the crowds.  Lots of people on the boardwalks and lots of cars and buses in the parking areas - it is a national park in July - did I really think we'd be the only ones there?

Nonetheless, we did enjoy our 2 1/2 days at Yellowstone and then enjoyed the drive east to Rapid City for an afternoon of golf with friends followed by a gathering involving more friends and food at friends Dan and Diane's home.

We had a short two nights in Harrison visiting Larry's mom Dorothy and then it was time to head to Chadron for my Chadron High School 40th Class Reunion - now that was fun!

The picture below is of friends who grew up across the street from me - we went to kindergarten through 8th grade together before they moved away.  Nice that they were able to participate in the reunion.  To the left is Joni and to the right is Jeanne - twins by the way!

This group below were all West Ward Elementary School classmates.

Once the reunion activities were over, Larry and I headed back to Harrison to collect Dorothy and headed onto Rapid City to deliver Larry to the airport so he could fly back home and work some more while Dorothy and I headed east. 

For awhile now, I've been wanting to travel to the Mitchell, SD, area to visit cemeteries where my mother's family members are buried.  My doctor released me from my appointment for July (the first time in three years that I haven't had a monthly doctor appointment!) allowing me to remain so Dorothy agreed to accompany me, and we would then drive on from there to eastern Minnesota to visit her 92 year-old sister.

I was successful in finding the graves of my grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents!

We then headed for eastern Minnesota to visit Aunt Dee and were lucky enough to be there at the same time as Dorothy and Dee's brother Ron and his wife Lola were visiting.

 

Aunt Dee and me!

 

I love being in pictures with Aunt Lola and her sister Sally - I feel short!  (l-r: Aunt Lola, me, Sally and mother-in-law Dorothy in front.)

After a nice visit, Dorothy and I headed west.  It was good to be back in Harrison and done traveling.  I had another week back in northwest Nebraska before Larry returned allowing me to spend more time with good friend Virginia.

Larry returned and family members started arriving in Harrison.  Graveside service was to happen for nephew Todd.

 

We were tourists by Harrison.  (l-r: me, Dorothy, niece Sophi and Larry)

And then it was time for us to return to Arizona.  I had been gone for a little over 5 weeks!  We drove to Denver and met step-father Marvin and his wife Jennie for lunch and then headed on to Moab, UT, arriving home the following day.

 

More pretty scenery before this trip came to an end.  I love Monument Valley.

 

We had a great trip, enjoyed the variety of scenery we saw, all the friends we saw and family!  Larry continues to like his job and does some travel here in Arizona and New Mexico.  I continue to do well on the health front - life is good!

 

 

Next trip:  Havasupai