Globe Day Trip

My Dad has had an inclining to go to Globe for the longest time. He hadn't been there since 1944, when he rode a bus from Chicago to LA and he remembered stopping in Globe. It hasn't changed that much since 1944. It's like a town frozen in time. But we had a fun little drive up and back and stopped at the train depot, which was built in 1919. You can ride the train from Globe to the copper mine and even stops at the Casino and comes back all in 1 1/2 hours round trip. My Dad's father worked for the Pacific Electric in Calif. so he has a great fondness for trains. He enjoyed talking to the Conductor who wanted to know if he fought in WWII. He shook his hand and said "thank you for saving the world." My dad said nobody had ever put it in that perspective before.
But we saw only a few poppies along the rode which was the main purpose of the drive. We'll try it in a couple weeks from now. But I think the wildflowers will be spectacular because of all the rain we've had. We just need a few warm days to bring them out. The weather today was a sunny 69 degrees in Globe with a sprinkling of leftover snow on the hillsides from our last storm.
The water was running in the creek along the roadside and we stopped to take a picture of a fisherman fishing in the pond, you can barely make him out amongst the trees at the bottom of the canyon. The train conductor had fun blasting us out with his train whistle as you can see in the video.

Flagstaff Dec 27, 2008

We went up for a day of Fun in the sun in Flagstaff. The weather was 19 degrees, but we were peeling off clothes it felt so warm. The snow was incredible from a weeks worth of snow. The Quizmo's roof collapsed from the weight of the snow. We also saw the biggest Elk I've ever seen in my life completely stuck in the snow up to his shoulders. Not able to move he was trapped by the side of the freeway coming out of Flagstaff. Police were protecting it from onlookers and hopefully it got out safely and quickly. I also saw 4 wild turkeys walking in the woods which was something I have never seen before. The traffic was unbearable but it didn't matter because it was so fun to just be in the snow looking at the beauty all around. Kenzie brought Moriah along to go sledding. They left their cute snow beanies up on the hill and went back up to find them only to have them gone. As we were walking back to the car I saw the beanies in a car as they were slowly driving by. I tapped on the window and politely said that was the girls beanies. The guy in the back denied it but we were adamant and they consented into giving it back to us. We said our "thank yous" and couldn't believe we got them back. Kenzie said they were her serendipity hats. It was a lucky day because we barely got back to the car just in time to not get a parking ticket that would have been $150.00. We agreed it was fun but Flagstaff is just a little hard getting in and out of and we would much prefer to go the extra miles to Sunrise.

Hollywood or weird

This is WEIRD because after our Thanksgiving dinner we drove over to Calif. and got to Grammas at about 9 p.m. That was one big jam packed day. Our plan was to go to Universal Studios the next day, but we got a late start and decided to just drive to Hollywood and see the sights. First off we had to go see if we could find Rob and Big's house. It was up in the Hollywood hills about 5 minutes from Universal Studios. Rob and Big is a reality t.v. show that is kind of WEIRD but I liked it because he had a miniature horse and a bull dog at his house. The show isn't on anymore and the house is up for sale. But we still had fun finding it. Then we ate at Tommy's Burger and the memories of our teenage years came flooding back. That was one of the first dates Rick took me on when we were dating. It's a different kind of hamburger that they smother with chili. (Sounds Weird) Then we joined the masses walking up and down Hollywood Blvd. Saw Hollywood High School where all the famous movie star teens went to school. Steve Horvath even went there.
We saw lots of WEIRD characters walking around in costumes. Then we went back to Grammas and ate out with our good friends Shawn and Jane. The next day Rick went Motorcyle riding up in the mountains with Shawn and Kenzie and I went shopping at the Santa Anita Mall and saw "Twilight". We finished it off by enjoying a nice roaring fire at Gramma's place. We always enjoy going over to see the folks.

They made It!

6 weeks ago my brother(pictured in the front) and his friend started out cross county on their bicycles from Kansas to San Fransisco. I didn't think it was possible since my brother, 63 yrs. old was recovering from a broken hand and hadn't ridden much except in the gym on a stationery bike. Well they made it and are dipping their wheels in the pacific ocean with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.... 2,000 miles later!
Cheers to the "Gray Beards" as they were affectionately called. You can read about their adventure on Neil and Beckys blog on my site.
Way to Go.... We enjoyed your journey.

No Room at the Inn

Rick, Jon (our son) and his wife Ivette and I spent the weekend down in Douglas Arizona for the Cochise Bicycle Classic. We got down there a little late around 9 p.m. only to find our hotel had already given away our room and the hotel was totally full. We had just driven through a hail storm in Bisbee I thought our windshield was going to crack it was coming down so hard. Luckily we were driving our Nissan Titan Truck that has four wheel drive. The wheels were starting to loose traction from the ice forming on the road. Imagine we just came from 100 plus degree weather and now we are slipping on ice. We were all tired and worn out and a little scared. Now we had no place to sleep. Douglas is not a real big town, only a mile from the mexican boarder. I didn't want to be out in the cold. Rick had heard that all the rooms in town were full because of the bike race. But we took a chance and headed to the only other hotel in town. The Gadsden Hotel, which is posted as being the Last of the Grand Hotels. Built in 1907 it looked it. But we gave it a chance and Rick must have looked forlorn and they let us stay in a room that was already reserved but the man hadn't shown up yet. It also only had one queen size bed, but Rick snatched it up out of desperation. We unloaded all the bikes and headed to Wall Mart to buy a blow up mattress and blankets for Jon and Ivette. It turned out they had the more comfortable sleeping arrangement. We were all thankful for anything at this point. The hotel is known for being haunted, especially in room 333, but we luckily got room 242. The only spooky thing that happened in our room was a huge grasshopper landed on Ricks back as soon as we entered the room. But there is a log where people enter supernatural weird experiences that happen to them while staying at the hotel. Past guests include Eleanor Roosevelt, Lee Marvin, Shelly Winters,...... Wow!! It is even told that Pancho Villa road his horse up the Italian Marble Staircase. There is an authentic Tiffany stained - glass mural which extends 42 feet across one wall of the massive mezzanine. Each pillar is decorated in 14K gold leaf - worth $20,000 back in 1929. Many movies have been filmed in this old hotel, one "The life and times of Judge Roy Bean". I loved it and had a very peaceful sleep, ghosts and all. Rick and Jon battled the wind the whole 98 mile course that took them through the old mining town of Bisbee and around some beautiful mountains and prairies. The old west still exists, only on bicycles instead of horses. A few of our bike club "Brumby's" came down to get in shape for the Tour De Tucson, which is coming up in November. Rick and Jon are thinking about doing that. Ivette and I had a fun time chasing after our husbands in the truck and catering to their every whim, which was usually just a water bottle here or a banana there. But they were very appreciative of our efforts and we felt we were needed. But it was a great sacrifice on my part since I missed getting to see my new little grandson who was born the day we left....10/10/08.

Stadium of Fire (What a BLAST)

Well who new we got 3 of the coveted Miley Cyrus /Blue Man Group "Stadium of Fire" tickets at BYU stadium that in the end people were paying thousands of dollars for. My ticket was well worth the $45.00. That started the ball rolling and I guess we had another road trip in the making. Kenzie and I flew up standby thanks to Michaels employment with US Airways. We visited the State Capitol of Utah (newly renovated) and stopped in at the beautiful Red Butte Gardens above the UofU. Lagoon amusement park was so much fun and met up with our good friends the Horne's from our ward. My brother Buck and his son Will treated us to a wild ride at Park City Olympic training site, with a 50 mile an hour zip line and an Alpine slide ride. They had worked at the World Cup earlier in the year and got $300.00 worth of vouchers. We sure got our fill of alpine fun.
The Stadium of Fire is truly a ball of fire. Smoke and sparks flying everywhere. The show was spectacular and very patriotic. It was a treat to have my first roommate at BYU (Karen Jackson) along with us.
(Just like old times).

Arizona Wildflowers

I took my parents out for a drive to see the wildflowers about 15 min. from our house. This was end of March of '08. Wildflowers everywhere.