We took a trip down to Arizona! Mom and Clarence used their time share points to house all of us in Sedona for a week. Not everyone was able to make it but the Roths and Franks were there (in addition to us, Mom, and Clarence). It was a wonderful week! Warning: there are a million photos in this post!
We took a detour on the drive down to the Grand Canyon! And the Winsteads met us there! It was great to see them for a couple days. Thanks for making the long drive up!
The Grand Canyon is unreal. Pictures don't do it justice!
Look at this!
Luke took this panorama for me :)
The group! Don't look too closely at our faces!
Thanks for this adorable picture Seth! She wasn't fond of smiling for the camera this trip.
And then it was off to Sedona! Sedona is uniquely beautiful. Southern Utah has similar formations in places, but not the red rock! It's so cool.
Hiking Bell Rock
The girls were starting to complain of being tired until we reached the rock and started climbing! Then they became mountain goats.
View from Bell Rock
The moon came out
Riding the Verde Canyon Railroad
Waving at our shadows!
The Two Frogs- many of the rock outcroppings have been given names.
Elephant Rock- couldn't help but think of Henry! We took his stuffed elephant with us on the trip. We never got the family photo we intended too, but he was with us wherever we went!
Singing "The Wheels on the Train"
I love that there was an outdoor train car.
An ancient Native American dwelling:
We decided to take a 'quick' hike in Soldier's Pass to see the sink hole and the 7 sacred pools.
Looking at the sink hole:
The view as we hiked! We understood that the 7 sacred pools (pools of water that are deep enough to never dry up even in the hot Arizona summers) were about half a mile past the sink hole. The entire hike was supposed to be 1 mile out and back, 2 miles round trip.
Hattie was absolutely adorable on this hike. She was the self proclaimed leader and walked up front. When we came to signs she would "read" them and tell us which way to go. When there was a rock to climb over she would turn around and say "here mom, let me help you" and offer me her hand. Oh how amazing this girl is! She also said her Grandma Ethel was helping her find the way (I believe this is in reference to Moana, whose Grandma's spirit helps her on her quest). Hattie you are wonderful!
So after the sink hole, we kept hiking. And hiking. And hiking. And hiking. We passed through the red rock area and into a forest. We finally decided we must have missed it and turned around.
Sure enough, we found those darn pools on the way back. I was rather underwhelmed after having hiked twice as far as expected. Kurt carried Hattie most of the way back (which made the return trip much faster) and thankfully Roman fell asleep at the beginning and slept the entire hike! Thank goodness.
We ended up going 4 miles round trip, twice as far as expected. It was definitely an adventure!
And look who woke up once we set him in the car! Sweetheart.
One night we had dinner at the Blazin' M Ranch. It is an experience! There's a small village set up with activities, shops, and photo ops.
In jail!
Taking a break from painting!
We bought Hattie this pink cowgirl hat which she wore for the next 48 hours.
Kurt tried out the firing range.
And perhaps my favorite, Hattie roping a cow! Then we headed in for dinner. It was delicious! I think they were the best ribs I've ever eaten. SO GOOD! And there was a show with dinner! The band sang a bunch of country songs and they were pretty good! It was a fun evening!
Our final adventure of the week was to see the Palatki Ruins. They're about 900 years old. They think 40-60 people lived here for a few generations and then moved on to a new place. It's been well preserved as it's underneath an overhang so water doesn't fall on it. When it rains and when snow melts, a waterfall runs down the overhang providing water. The history major in me loved being able to see this bit of preserved culture.
The overhang. There was a bit of water dripping down while we were there.
The homes had two stories.
Chilling
Then we went to see the cave paintings! So awesome!!!
That 'H' is not actually and H, but a clan sign.
These cave paintings span hundreds of years. The painting on the bottom left is a girl- that's her cool hair-do. Kinda looks like Princess Leia hair, no?
The guy on the right is completely unique to this site- they haven't found anything comparable in the area. They believe it's a man playing the flute.
I bought Roman a swim suit for this trip and I was determined to use it! Finally, on our last day of the trip we did. Roman's first time swimming! He looked adorable in his suit!
We stopped at this restaurant on the way home and Hattie really wanted her picture with the cow. Maybe because her hair looks kind of like cow ears? Anyways, she's adorable. I love that she's holding hands with the cow.
It was a wonderful trip! Thank you Mom and Clarence for making it possible! We rarely take family trips anywhere other than Iona- it was great to have a new adventure! We love Arizona!
