Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Oh how good it is to be home! Our pilot had a lead foot or there was a great tail wind as we got home 1/2 hour sooner than scheduled. We arrived home at 8:30 a.m., got Lexie and went to bed! I didn't get up till 5:00 when David woke me. We'd been up since Friday at 6:30 a.m. We neither one are good at sleeping on a plane sitting up and we took the Red Eye out of Phoenix at 11:30. Probably won't do that again.

Thurs. night found us in a lovely Holiday Inn Express in Phoenix. The intense heat of AZ kept us from going on a couple of excursions we had originally planned so Friday, we stayed in Phoenix and went to the zoo for just a couple of hours. We took a tram ride and saw the animals that were out in their habitats, spent some time petting sting rays, cooled off in the gift shop then headed to Old Town Scottsdale Fifth Avenue tourist shops. When we'd run out of energy, we headed back to the Jacobs' home to rest. Doe fixed us a lovely supper. Gotta hand it to my cousins, they found wives that can cook! Thanks again ladies. Around 8:00 p.m. we headed back to the airport and thanks to our GPS, we went right to the place we needed to find to return our rental car. Car rental was a new experience for us. Glad to report it is no big deal.

We are thankful for all the prayers for our safety. I know people fly all the time but I just can't take it for granted that a plane goes up and down safely like it is no big deal. I'll be putting pictures up on Facebook sometime soon. Thanks for going with us.

There's no place like home.

What a day!

After David plunged our toilet at Day's Inn, we packed up & went to Denny's for a delicious all American breakfast. Our first stop was an impressive journey through the Saguaro National Park. Wish I knew how to post pics from my phone. Sorry. We saw some gigundus cactus in our 8 mile loop drive. Stop # 2 was Biosphere 2. Google it! It was in Tucsan, AZ. Got back to town and had supper at Banderas with my cousins. Took a ride up Camelback Mnt. To see the lights in the Valley. So pretty. We will see them again tomorrow night as we fly out at 11:30 p.m.
Tomorrow could be a LONG day.

Can you spell HOT!

We knew it would be hot here but we hit the hottest week of summer. Tuesday we had lunch with my first cousin, Rick. He showed us his office building. Then we went to the house and the guys enjoyed the pool. I went with Doe to get her new iphone. Scott and Shelly and their 4 children came for supper. Such a beautiful family. Ryan, 3 stayed all night. We all played store with him buying out the store every time.

Wed. Today we went to Xavier Mission Del Bac, built in the 1600s. We need to do some research on it to fully understand it but it was interesting. Looking for cooler options, we went to Colossal Cave. Of all things, the man who owned the cave let people break, hammer or shoot off the stallagmites (sp) duh. The park around the cave was beautiful. Major cool cactus. But, we were both melting and we went to find a motel and rest up for supper. Now we are in for the evening.

Hope you are all having a good summer.

Visiting relatives

We were so happy to see our dear friends David & Maxine Foil, my sister-in-law's parents and her sister, Caroline. We had a great visit and enjoyed supper at the Red Devil. The waitresses sang happy birthday to some one and they sang, happy birthday from "the devil"! Had never heard that version before!!! Caroline showed us her home and said she wanted a "Granny Jacobs" ranch country home. She has it.
Tuesday we drove to Sedona and went to Oak Creek Canyon and hiked the west fork for an hour & 1/2 :-)
It was so beautiful. It is red rock area and mountainous. We spent the evening with cousins Mike and Bev. They have a lovely home and 3 goats, some ducks and chickens. We shared memories of our childhood and got to know Bev. What a great two days. Tomorrow we are off to see another cousin :-)

I fought the canyon & the canyon won, AGAIN!

David choose the title. Find the humor in it with us. His training paid off though as his legs held up just fine. He went four miles down and was within 1/2 mile of his goal, Indian Gardens BUT, the heat was just too intense & he knew it was time to go back to the top. His thought on the way up was this was strenuous on steroids!
I had gone 25 miles away to the Desert Tower to enjoy the canyon from that perspective. But, I had no cell phone signal and felt the need to be back by 12:30. I got back to the same store I was in last year and my phone rang again with a similar message. Time to pick him up. I am so proud of David and his accomplishment. It's fun to have goals and he did his best.
Thanks for following his trek with me!

On the road again

We are driving to the Grand Canyon! Such a lovely day. It is only 93! That is a cold snap from 110! We are enjoying the Sirrus radio in our Camry rental car. Of course we are listening to the 60s station. We are 80 miles from the Canyon. We hope to eat at the Bright Angel Lodge for supper. Then we'll take a walk down the trail into the Canyon so I can say I hiked it too, just not as far! ttfn

I miss my laptop!

I type much faster than I text so you won't be getting near all our news which might be a blessing.
We shopped, we swam, we went to the old part of town to the Freemont st. experience. look it up on internet. Today we had to go to Las Vegas airport to Hertz and sign me up as a driver. We failed to do so when we got the car in Phoenix. Too tied to think. bye for now

Tired feet, full tummies, good times!

We got to Las Vegas Tuesday at 5:45 AZ time. We felt it was 8:45. We ate at David's favorite, Nathan's hot dogs! By the time we did all that and walked all over finding it, it was 8:23 and our bodies thot 11:23, You get the pucture! Enuf whining. We had breakfast at The American restaurant, surprise! We got out and walked a few miles looking at the sights. One fun fact is the Hard Rock 40th anniversary touring memorabilia semi was in town for four hours and we were the first ones in the door! Beatles, Aerosmith, Elvis, Buddy Holly & Justin Bieber's skafeboard. duh Saw too many ores to bore you with now. We ate lunch in the Cheesecake factory! Sooooo Hooted Wewent to see a Beatles tribute bbcand. They were very good. Supper was after the show at Planet Hollywood. We got to see the dancing fountain at the Ballagio. There is a conservatory at there Ballagio and the flowers were magnificent. There was a section of the ceiling filled with different colors of glass flowers made of glass like Mark Matthews made for the Village chandelier. Fabulous and I do have pictures. So much to see and so little time me to rest up for another day of adventure.

We're not in Kansas anymore!

We went to Detroit on Monday afternoon and ate supper at Texas Roadhouse. Yum. Got up at 4:30 this a.m., Tuesday. I am almost too tired to type. It is 8:49 & that its almost midnight. We had a great flight Got a Toyota Camry and drove to Las Vegas. Stopped a couple times along the way.. 104 heat here very nice at 6:00. Time to sleep

Packing

I came home from my manicure this a.m. and David had started gathering his clothes to pack. It's official now! We are both a little nervous about flying as it's been 25 years or so that we've flown. But on with the packing...

Here we go again...

I'm practicing on my blogging skills as it's just about time to make our return engagement to THE CANYON. If you recall, David "fought the Canyon and the Canyon won" last year. This winter found him training in our basement on the treadmill. Once the monsoons stopped here in Ohio, he has been running the steps of our high school stadium bleachers with his 12 lbs. pack and walking miles around the track. I think he will get much further this year on his canyon hike and that means more "shopping time" for me! lol We are going to start down the trail the late afternoon before he hikes the next day so I can say I hiked in the Grand Canyon as well. Nobody has to know how far I go!!!

David even bought some new t-shirts so Zac won't have to be embarrassed of his Dad's old t-shirts!!! Hey, it was a classic State Champs shirt!

We will also be spending some time in Las Vegas and after the hike, we hope to visit family in Arizona. Please pray that those wildfires get put out. We feel for those in harms way.

Happy Trails to you, until we meet again.
Aliese and David

Homeward Bound

We'll see you soon hometown! We are off to Moweaqua, David's hometown to see Larry Jordan, classmate of David's on Wednesday. We are hoping to see about 1/2 of David's graduating class that day. Should be a great time of stories, music and laughter. We'll get to see David's sister, Patty, my Mom, Dad, brother David, Michelle, Heather and Alisha and lots of friends from the area.

Encore!!!!!

Well, we started out today from Tulsa, OK and lo and behold, we just decided it was a little too far for Aliese to ride that far!!!!!!!!! Three days of driving for hours and hours were too much and we came to the conclusion we could stop in her hometown and spend the night with her folks for free. Bonus was visiting with the parentals and sloppy Joes and FRESH SWEET CORN. AMAZING delicious flavor. Thanks Mom and Dad. Sweet dessert was our niece Alisha came down after work for a visit as well. (Heather, we'll see you next week!!!)
Extra Bonus was the fact that my brother David and his wife Michelle were driving to see our brother Paul and his wife Paula in Arkansas and Paul mentioned to us that we'd be seeing each other on the road!!! SO, David's called us and we talked back and forth and met up in St. Robert, MO and had a great visit before we went our separate ways. What a great day.
Friday will be a great 6 1/2 hour trip home and makes for a much more relaxed day.
See you soon!

One more Day!

We are in Tulsa, OK tonight and it was a very long day. The high light was when we won Millionaire on my iTouch!!!! It's only the 3rd time since we got it a year ago. We did have a wonderful supper tonight at Outback Steakhouse. Thanks for joining us. Ohio, here we come.
Over and out and and thank the Lord for safety. We saw another wreck today and backed up traffic for miles. Bless their hearts and I pray for those involved and also those held up. So hard.
xoxox Aliese

From Las Vegas to Grants, NM

Hello friends and family!
We had a long day of driving yesterday but we broke it up in the afternoon with a drive through the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. Our question is if you aren't allowed to take any wood out of the forest, how did the gift shop at the south entrance get access to all the little pieces they sell and the huge pieces for thousands of dollars??? Just wondering!
Old Route 66 in on our way and we stopped and took a picture of it too. Check facebook.
It was take train pictures day as we saw several but we were usually driving. Gibson will be thrilled. Maisie and Ella will like the dinosaur pictures too.
We hope all is well with you. Thanks for praying for us. We have many miles to go before we get home.

All you need is LOVE

After we spent almost a full day walking around, taking pictures, buying stuff for the grandkids, taking more pictures, being awed by the beauty of the restaurants, architecture and hotels and such here, we went to see LOVE, Sirque du Soleil, The Beatles at the suggestion of Peggy and Todd Lightner and absolutely were amazed, thrilled and awed at the talent not only in the music but the strength, creativity and talent of the performers. It was non stop movement choreographed to perfection and all we can say is thanks to them for suggesting. it. What a great way to top off an already very full and fun vacation.
We are hoping for a very calm, stress free and uneventful drive home from here. We don't have any planned stops as we feel we've been very fortunate to have had the opportunities we've have taken. Thanks for going on this journey with us. I'll post pics later on tomorrow so you probably won't have to look for them till Wednesday. We are 3 hours different from you all in Ohio! How weird. Keep praying till we meet again...

We didn't take the whole Dam tour...

There was a two hour wait so we went on the shorter tour and were amazed at the engineering genious and amount of concrete and the years it took to make the Hoover Dam. Amazing. Now, they are building a new bridge and people will no longer be able to drive over Hoover Dam as we did today. It should be ready for use in November of this year. It is incredible to see how they have put it together.
We are here in Las Vegas and plan to come home on Tuesday. We walked around most of the evening in our hotel and the MGM Grand. There is a 9 million dollar Lion exhibit at the Grand. Quite incredible. Live lions in pure air, pure water and they don't hear the noise of the hotel as it is sound proof. They are relaxed and there were two handlers in there with them petting and loving them. Unique to be sure.
Time to sign off for now. Thanks again for praying for David yesterday. Pray for healing now as his legs are very sore. If he walks a while, they loosen up but it takes getting through some pain before that happens. Thanks! Till next time...

I fought the Canyon and the Canyon won!

The day started out picture perfect, sunny and hot, just the way I like it. I was 3 hours into my hike of the Canyon, close to 3 1/2 to 4 miles down the trail. Much to my dismay, my knees, calves and ankles, mainly my right leg but left some too, began to fail me. I had two choices, spend $3,000 (so I was told) to be helicoptered out of the Canyon or sit down, rest and see it I could walk uphill as I knew I could not take another step downhill. (Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be...)♫
Fortunately for Aliese (she still has money for Vegas) I was able to muster the strength to climb up and out. Funny how all that work last winter on the treadmill with the the incline saved me but I failed to train my muscles for the downhill part of the trip. Bottom line: no regrets, awesome Canyon, just probably won't do it again. See facebook for my pics.

The big day is finally here

He sure hopes he hasn't underestimated the Canyon and overestimated himself. That is his statement before headed out. He has a perfect day if this morning was any indication. Not a cloud in the sky. After watching it rain yesterday and feeling how cold it can be, he's hoping for a dry day and maybe a little cloud for shade later on. David told me he hopes he isn't on the 5:00 news: Man helicoptered out of Canyon... I know he can do it. The chance of a lifetime. Too bad he didn't think of taking a pic of me with my Mastercard in hand. Nobody up here to tell me no!!!! Gift shops here I come. I've gotta quit this blog and putting pics on facebook as I'm burning daylight and the shops have been open since 8:00 a.m.!!!!!!!!!!!! I actually spent a little over an hour walking the rim and finding it exhilarating to be almost alone in a place so vast and magnificent. There were a few runners and photobugs about but it was very peaceful and I thought of Del's favorite song, Majesty, Worship His Majesty! I had myself a little songfest. I can't imagine how David is going to feel when he comes up and tells me all he's seen. Ohhh Aaah!

Monument Valley

Pictures are up on facebook finally. Thanks to all who enjoy them and have gone on this journey with us. I told David he was going to do the blog tonight but I took so long doing the pictures he went to bed! He does have to drive tomorrow. He likes to. We left Durango, Co this a.m. and it was pleasing-ly cool. Love the higher elevation. We went to Kayenta to pick up my phone at our hotel. Yes....I left it at home. That's another story. Our darling daughter ran it to the post office on Monday and now I'm reconnected. I don't know David's phone real well and it's just good to have mine. Besides, we needed it for David to call me once he gets out of the Grand Canyon for me to come pick him up. Oh he is so excited about his hike. DO PRAY he enjoys it and LIVES to tell :-) He's asleep so I can write what I want.
We went through Monument Valley after lunch this afternoon as far as my stomach could handle. The roads were atrocious and we were 1/2 afraid of what it might do to our vehicle. If we'd have gone on a jeep ride tour, I know I'd have tossed my cookies, seriously. I don't even think Dramamine would have helped. We took lots of pics and have the internet to see the ones we missed up close. The weather was 90 + and not humid but I dripped sweat just getting out to look at some Indian jewelry. I got a couple things from one of the Indians that were making them (surprise, not from China) and asked her what her name was. She said Pam. I was so disappointed. I was hoping for some cool Indian name like "One who strings bead" or Maiden of the desert. David was along to interpret so it would have been fun. Oh well.
We drove 20 miles back to Kayenta, took a dip in the pool. I about made myself sick treading water and swimming about for 20 minutes in the wind and sun. BUT, never fear mother, once I had my good supper, grilled chicken salad, I was revived and we are now ready for another day.
Until tomorrow. Happy Trails to YOU.