Mother's Day Weekend



John and Emma in their usual positions. Note the fresh flowers sent by some of my children for Mother's Day.  It was such a sweet surprise out here to have delivered fresh flowers including the vase!



I have been watching a mama bird building and sitting on 4 blue gray eggs right outside my window.  At this point I do not know what kind of bird except it is a wren size gray brown mom.  Today I decided to take pictures of the eggs and guess what I found?  I found fuzzy hatch lings.  They must be hours or minutes old!  One quick picture and I left them to their mom who will quickly come back on the nest.




We shopped in the town of Holbrook at sunset.  Across from the Market on Old Route 66 is a motel from that era.  These are stucco wigwams with door, air conditioners, etc.  It is very popular to stay overnight here.  Amazing what you find out west!



Visit to Monument Valley and beyond

After family left we worked our shifts and stayed put.  It has been very windy and cold.  Until the last few days we have been using our heat at night and have not been able to sit outside in the afternoon or evening.  The trip two days ago to the Utah border through the Navajo Reservation was windy but the days were clear and it was a beautiful drive putting almost 600 miles on the Scion.  

Cows on the reservation wander the road.  Traffic must watch the road!  We saw horses along the side of the road also.

Monument Valley is just breath taking!  We could not ride the 17 mile road because of the Scion low clearance!

The Traditional Navajo hogan is made of logs covered with clay

After the monument we traveled west to Navajo National Monument, Tuba city, down to Flagstaff stopping overnight.  Yesterday we visited Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon National Monuments.  We are about crosseyed viewing ruins in the area.  Hundreds of years ago ancestrial Plebloans lived all through this area in rock sheltered canyons along the sides of cliffs.  Ruins are everywhere!

The National Monuments

We traveled to many canyons and the lava field of Sunset Crater NM and Walnut Canyon NM.  It was amazing scenery and beautiful hikes.  This part of the country has everything from deserts badlands scenes to mountian snow capped mountains.

Navajo Monument Canyon

Sunset Crater lava fields

Black volcanic hills with the snow capped San Franscisco Peaks in the background

Family and PEFO

Long Logs Trail with our family

This is rock

We spent one day walking the trails in the park and a two days traveling the reservations next to PEFO.

Snow and Family at PEFO

We spent the rest of the week in and around Petrified Forest NP.  We visited the Navajo and Zuni Reservations and did hikes in the park.  One day it was so windy we had a sand storm (68 Mile an hour winds) and the next morning we woke up to 5 inches of snow and fog.  The girls must have brought the weather from New England!

Snow came to PEFO



This crab apple was beautiful



Lisa at the Painted Desert Inn




My tiny snowman Pam and I made



Grand Canyon with Lisa and Pam

Picnic with a view on the South Rim of the canyon

What a "GRAND" view



We had a wonderful time roaming the rim.  We did not go down to the bottom.

 Lisa and Pam, our daughters, flew from Connecticut to visit us.  We met up at Flagstaff and spent a day at Grand Canyon National Park.  The rest of the week we spent in and around Petrified Forest National Park.

One Month at PEFO

   In March we have been learning all about Petrified Forest National Park.  We have worked 4 rounds of weekly shifts.  Now it will be easier because we are not on such a high learning curve.  My back has not taken well to 9 1/2 hour days 3 days in a row, which is our work schedule.  It was four in a row! I feel like an old lady, which I am.  We became great-grandparents today with the birth of Audrey Mae weighing 7 pounds and 13 ounces so John has to sleep with a great-grandmother now!
   The PEFO staff is very young by my standards and their lives are centered on the internet.  It makes a difference.  I know they forget our ages and we are just not as savy as they are about internet or as young and healthy. It is a minor problem we will overcome.   The weather is windy but beautifully warm in the afternoons.  The high desert badlands are lovely colors and change as one drives through the park south.  The leaves are budding and birds are chipping so spring has started to come.  God has blessed us by us seeing spring in this special place as well as our addition to our family.  Happy Easter everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!


Painted Desert from the Painted Desert Inn