More Arizona Fun

We visited the tank display near Yuma Proving Grounds.  Here is our friend, Irela from Canada enjoying the briskly breezy day!

 

We took a day trip to see

the Imperial Dam and ate lunch in a little park by a best dam site.

  Irela, Ruth and me watching the men sitting on the couch!

And here they are, Steve, and Glen (who goes with Irela) and Tom (who goes with Ruth)...such fun to spend time with our dear Canadian friends!  Tom and Ruth brought to me such delicacies as Tim Horton's decaf coffee, Canadian flour and A&W Diet root beer!

Arizona- The Little Chapel near Yuma

Here is our friend, Tom, about 6 foot 4 in the doorway of a little chapel near Yuma. You can see how tiny it is inside.  There was room for about 10 to sit comfortably in the single pew on each side.

Here is a great pic to show you how tiny it is!  Tom walks toward  Glen and Irela's truck.

Enjoy our year in pics!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Merry Christmas everyone. Our Christmas greetings for you....humming, I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Grand Delight!

Now, I'm thinkin' this is one awesome picture!  Yippee!  Thanks to some dear friends who gave me their old camera when mine broke, I am now back in the picture taking business! Reed looks out the window at morning!  "The sun is up!" he says!

 

It is so much fun watching Tye and the kids play.  He loves them and they love him as this picture shows. 

 

Spaghetti at Grandma's!  Yum!

 

It is so fun to slurp up spaghetti and then giggle!

 

Reed does some Kung Fu Panda moves after filling his tummy with spaghetti. 

 

Jaden lays next to Tye.

 

Now he gets a kiss from her.

 

Tye and Jaden explore down by the creek.  I have a bird's-eye view of them from the RV.

Deer in the Meadow

We had 10 deer in the meadow this afternoon.  8 does and 2 bucks.  They were "frolicking" in the meadow! 

 

This forked-horned buck came right up outside the window!

 

And then he just kept coming closer!

Finally, he took off across the yard heading for the apple tree and the rest of his herd.

Death Valley Views

Death Valley in the late afternoon sun...after the stormy morning.

 

Yes, that is snow on the top of the mountains!!!

 

The colors are so vibrant after a storm....and such contrast between Death Valley floor and the top of the mountains thousands of miles high!

 

The afternoon sun shines through the clouds and lights up the mountain tops.

 

On our way home we visited the Boron Museum.  One of the greatest things we saw was the 20 mule team complete with harnesses and wagons.  Of course the mules were not real!  But they were complete with bells on the lead mules and one horse at the back of the mule teams.

 

I know...it looks a bit unimpressive!  But here is The Wolf...our home away from our home on wheels!  Our wheels are still turning with The Wolf in tow.  I can legally drive it...if Steve will let me get behind the wheel!

China Ranch Date Farm

This is one of our favorite places and a trip to Death Valley is never complete without taking a drive to get a date shake! 

 

The girls enjoy the surroundings while Corky and Ed digest their date shake.

 

Here's a better view with their smiling faces!

 

This year even the date trees near the gift shop were "dressed."

 

The dates are covered each year to keep the birds from eating them.  We love to drive through the date grove and see the different materials used to cover the huge clumps of dates.

 

This bunch  of dates was dressed in men's pajamas!  I laughed so hard when I saw this.  Don't ya just love the dates coming out of the sleeves?

 

Just a lovely day at China Ranch....

Death Valley 2008

We were able to go to Death Valley for 10 days.  This year accompanying us were two 11 year olds from our church and long time friends!  In fact, they were some of Duke's babies that he raised.  Now, they helped to train Tye!  We certainly enjoyed having them.  Here, they had made birthday cards with poems for our dear friend, Corky, who celebrated her 92nd birthday at Death Valley. We had a great birthday celebration for Corky complete with carrot cake!  It was great seeing our RV buddies again.  It rained 3 days out of the 10 days were were there..and had 71 mph winds one morning as a storm approached. 

 

Tye certainly enjoyed his first trip to Death Valley!  Unfortunately, my knee kept me from walking as I had planned!

 

The girls helped for two hours on the composite artist's picture.  It auctioned for $125.   They also competed in the gold panning where the sweet one there on the right won first place!!

 

I had a special treat as my favorite cowboy artist, Dave Stamey, was one of the performers this year at Death Valley.  Don't ever miss a chance to see him!

 

Over 70 riders made the 120 mile 6 day ride from Ridgecrest to Death Valley.  Wednesday was their longest ride....32 miles. 

Sierra Nevada Mountains and The Point

Elevation 8500 feet is Buck Rock Lookout.  This is about a mile above where we camp at the Point...oh yes, a mile, and a trail and 172 stairs!

It's up all the way...lol...and these are the "not so steep" stairs!

 

But the view from there is stupendous on a clear day!

The lookout volunteers even take care of the hummingbirds....carrying up their food from the bottom and sharing the view with them!

Wow!  I actually got in a picture!  Thanks Pennie for taking this one of me and the high back country of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

 

Wildlife alert!  Here is a marmot sitting on a big rock just downhill from the lookout.

 

  All hands to the fire pit as it takes three of us to get out Pennie's delicious Dutch oven pizza!

 

Ah, what a way to begin the day...remembering His mercies are new and fresh for us each morning!  Great is His steadfast love!  Great IS His faithfulness...morning by morning new mercies I see.   All that I needeth His hand has provided...Great is His faithfulness, mercy and love!   My favorite time and my favorite place... I was the only one up to see this gorgeous sunrise, 

Our wonderful stay at The Point was highlighted by viewing God's amazing creation of the universe through Dr. John's and Beth's telescope.  What a special thing to see...star clusters, galaxies, double stars, star globules!

The trees were so happy this year as it has rained in the back country here several times.  I simply love looking at the branches of the Douglas Fir trees...So beautiful!

This was our "maiden" voyage in our "new to us" old RV.  We are calling it The Wolf...you know...Peter(r) and The Wolf!