Stone and wood

Had a day this week to go on a rock trip to Ashfork with Paul.  We did it budget style and camped out over by Williams.  It wasn't cold, but the wind was swishing through the treetops all night long.  We got our load and also were able to find some more rubber mulch for Moss and Christie at the Wal Mart in Flagstaff.  There was an old building at the quarry that has flagstone shingles...heavy duty.  We stopped at Cameron at the trading post and had an authentic Navajo Taco for lunch on the way home.  It was very tasty.  We didn't get into Halloween much...had four trick-or-treaters stop by.  Saturday afternoon we went out the old turkey farm road to a burn area and collected a pick up load of firewood and then came home and cut and stacked it.  That's our weeks highlights. 

Whiterocks, etc.

We decided a long hike might not be a good idea if we didn't want to get rained on, so we just took a short walk up to Whiterocks in Snow Canyon.  We knew the rain would have packed the sand for easier walking.  We haven't been up there for a very long time.  It turned out to be very pretty with water trickling down from pool to pool. After that we took a drive up to Pine Valley just to see what was happening with the weather up there and saw some really colorful leaves and ferns.  We did Chinese for lunch and also used up the rest of our movie pass to see Secretariat.  I highly recommend both.  It was a restful, enjoyable Saturday.  Sunday we took dinner over to Grandma Kurtz since she has a hard time driving with her broken ankle and couldn't come to our house.  After that we got to go over and help celebrate Tasia's #6.  Too bad I forgot my camera for that one.  Happy Birthday Tasia!

UEA 2010

We weren't sure we wanted to leave town after Moss got hurt, but after making sure he got through surgery well on Thursday evening and checking him out on Friday morning, we took off.  Our destinations included Canyonlands (the Needles District), Arches, a picturesque drive in Colorado and Dead Horse Point State Park.  We managed to get everything in and still make it home to wish Koen a happy birthday on Monday night.  We camped out for two of the nights and spent one night in a motel in Monticello so we could clean up and attend church there Sunday morning.  It was a great meeting with a really nice missionary report.  We had a hard time finding a camp spot the first night, but finally found one just outside Canyonlands.  It was just a BLM area, with no fee, but was really crowded.  It was a good spot though, other than too many people.  We had good food and a good sleep.  The next day we hiked to Druid Arch which is an amazing, huge arch.  We loved it.  We spent the rest of the day seeing other sights in that area of the park and then headed to Monticello for the night.

Next morning we took a scenic drive up in the nearby mountains seeing lots of deer, turkeys and beautiful leaves before church.  After church we took off stopping to make our lunch in a park in Delores, Colorado and did a beautiful drive up to Ouray and then back down to a nice camp spot below the La Sal Mountains where we made dinner to the tune of coyotes howling and had a restful night waking to a light rain that conveniently stopped in time for us to make breakfast and get on our way to Arches. (Notice the little Ophir Post Office - it's the one from the ruined oil pan/day before Juge's birth fame.  The old boiler isn't there anymore.  The road has been changed some and it must have been a casualty of that change.)

We hiked to the North and South Window Arches and then to Delicate Arch.  Such amazing rock formations everywhere!  We had seen the rest of the park on another visit.  After lunch in Moab we went over to Dead Horse point and took in the sights there.  Just as we were leaving a rainstorm came in...perfect timing.  We drove on home enjoying the scenery all the way and stopped off in Toquerville to wish Koen a happy birthday.

Genghis was very glad to see us and has needed lots of lovin' to make up for his lonely time at home without us.  We have decided to make UEA trips to beautiful places an annual tradition.

Lazy week end

Didn't do a whole lot this week end.  Friday night we walked down to get a movie and discovered it was another of the Friday night Gallery Walks they have every so often down town.  We really like going to them.  They start at the St. George Art Museum (you get in for free) and then continue on down Main St. with every gallery open from 6-9 pm.  It's such a feast for the eyes.  (The next one is on November 12th.)  You may be out of time, but if you haven't seen the Willie Holdman "Summoning the Spirit of the Southwestern Lands" photo exhibit on the top floor and the Botanical Illustrations: From Penstemons to Pines downstairs at the St. George Art Museum, hurry up.  This exhibit only goes through the 16th.  I don't know what's next (the little room at the end of the upper floor is also very interesting - Forgotten Places.)  That made for a fun, free evening.  Today we took a walk on the Red Hill, did some shopping, lawn mowing, etc. in the morning and in the afternoon went out to see if we could find some Yucca blossoms for hiking sticks that Paul wants to make.  We drove out behind Bloomington Hills to an area that overlooks the Gorge.  Found a few Yucca blossoms, saw a couple of mountain goats and got a flat tire.  There are some really sharp rocks out there - be warned.  Now Paul is working on some paintings.  He's getting back into painting which is good. It's something he loves and is a very stress relieving activity for him.  I got all that chicken we bought this morning bagged and frozen.  We are loving this cooler weather.  We are planning to have some good adventures next week end over the fall recess from school. 

Autumn Leaves and a quilting cat

Family home evening was a trip to see the leaves and a picnic with Paul and his mom.  It was a beautiful evening...just wish it would have lasted longer.  Things at school are good.  Bus duty is interesting and some kids are a challenge.  While Paul was at Priesthood I put on a quilt to make for our stake's humanitarian project and Genghis was right there to help me out with it.  It was a pretty relaxed week at this abode.