Sedona continued

We drove to route 179 to check out Bell Rock and Chapel of the Holy Cross. First stop was Bell Rock, I didn’t much care to stop there, I have no interest in the vortex (if there is such a thing), but we figured we were there, why not? Well, I don’t know if was the road construction or what, but we didn’t find where to go. There was one parking lot that looked like it offered trails, but the entrance was not Trans Am friendly. We gave up and headed toward the Chapel of the Holy Cross.



The Chapel of the Holy Cross was designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright student, Marguerite Brunswig Staude, it was built in 1956 and rises 200 feet from the ground between two large red rock formations.



No services are held here, but it’s intended to provide an ideal setting for spiritual reflection and prayer.




The surrounding views and formations are spectacular!






These flowers had a sign, “Please don’t pick us we’re smiling at God”.




After the chapel, it was around 3 o’clock, we figured it was best to started heading to Flagstaff so we could be home at a decent hour.

The drive from Sedona to Flagstaff is slow-going, but beautiful. The whole way you wind up the mountainside climbing in elevation. We were going about our business enjoying the views, weather and sunshine... then we saw...



Yeah, that’s snow! We couldn’t believe it. We were cruising with the T-tops off and a few feet away there was snow. We pulled over to take pictures and touch the snow.






As we climbed higher and higher it got to be very snowy. We stopped at a rest stop and took more photos. There was a Native American craft fair going on, we picked up a present for Frank’s mom since her birthday was the day before.



As far as we could tell Oak Creek originates here



Shortly after leaving the rest area we saw a sign to watch for Elk. Sure enough we saw a herd. After that, though, there were no more interesting sightings. We took I-40 to Vegas, it’s one boring drive and the roads are in terrible condition. Here’s the sunset about 20 miles from the Hoover Dam


We made it home a little after 7:30. It was a long, but fun-filled day. All in all, it was a great trip, too!

Spring Training and on to Sedona

Sunday:

We got a late start so we didn’t do anything prior to the game. Shane’s friend, Wes, was attending the game with us, we left when he arrived. The game was at Peoria Sports Complex about 15 minutes away. It wasn’t too crowded, we were hungry we all decided on the Italian sausage and brat booth. They said the brats weren’t too tasty, but my sausage was good. We took our seats, which were along the third base line in the second row.

Spring Training is a really neat experience it’s much more intimate than a regular game. The players are right there in front of you. We had conversations with Jeff Cox the new third base coach – he’s quite the character; a real good guy.

Here’s Ozzie (the coach) waving as he went by



Stretching and practice before the game



Ozuna signing autographs



Dye signing autographs


Contreas pitching



We lost the game, they were real sloppy… hence spring training… but we saw Contreas get a base hit. It was fun watching for foul balls, and just enjoying baseball.

After the game, we packed up all our stuff, offered our thanks to Shane, and headed to Sedona. I think it was around 4:30 when we got on the road. The drive was nice, we were in awe when we got into Oak Creek at sunset. The rock formations are spectacular; they got us psyched for the next day. We checked in our room at Kokopelli Suites. It was decent, the Jacuzzi was too small for two, the bed is two twin craftmatic adjustable beds. We had fun toying around with those, at least until Frank’s got stuck. Then we only played with my side.



Once we got situated we set out for dinner, we ended up at an Italian restaurant down the street, I think it was named Troja. Frank had veal parmesan and I had chicken cannelloni, both were good. We had tiramisu for dessert. That was yummy, as well.

We crashed not long after we got back to the hotel.

Monday:

We loaded up the car and decided to have breakfast at L'Auberge Restaurant on Oak Creek supposedly, one of the best places to dine in town. We were seated on the sun porch overlooking Oak Creek. Frank had an omelet, with sausage and toast. I had banana nut pancakes with walnut butter. Both were very good, but not worth $38.

From L’Auberge we went to Red Rock State Park.



When we paid admission into the park they failed to mention that many trails were closed because all but one bridge was washed out from floods that Oak Creek had experience this winter (lots of snow in the mountains).

While there, we were able to hike a portion of Kisva trail and Eagle’s Nest Trail (3 orange and 4 blue) if you click here

Along the Kisva trail...



Oak Creek



Washed out bridge



Eagle’s Nest trail meanders around the top of this mountain



Along the Eagle’s Nest trail



That’s Oak Creek and Kisva trail at the bottom left (dead looking trees)



Whew! We made it to the top.



I handled the trail really well, all my treadmill workouts are good for something. Frank was a bit winded when we made it to the top. He sat while I captured the beautiful view.





We were up there...


We made our way back to the visitor’s center and decided to see other sights since so many trails were closed.

more to come...

Phoenix road trip: Well, Surprise...

We hit the road on Friday afternoon. I hadn’t been by the Hoover dam in a while, I couldn’t believe the height of the bypass bridge. It will be very nice when it is finally complete.





The drive to Phoenix is gorgeous. It was neat seeing the Saguaro cacti and driving through the Joshua Tree Forest. Many wildflowers were in bloom, too. Weather was nice; we drove with the T-tops off the whole way. We made good time and got into Surprise, where Frank’s friend Shane lives, about 7 o’clock. We unloaded the car, and then headed to Fuddruckers for dinner. It was tasty as always, afterwards we went back to Shane’s house. We got settled, drank some beer and played PS3. They got a good laugh at my terrible gaming skills. I fell asleep on the couch and later moved to the guestroom. Frank and Shane played on.

Saturday:

We had breakfast at Brenda’s Kitchen, a little mom & pop place with good food and great prices. Shortly after we got back to Shane’s, his friend, Scott arrived. We piled into Scott’s truck and set out for our day filled with off-roading and shooting.

Prepping the fire-arms and loading the clips



Me shooting a 9mm Glock



Me shooting a Ruger .45



Video of Frank shooting a clay with a magnum shot gun shell



We had a great time shooting, it was my first time handling anything beside a rifle. I was nervous at first, but by the end I relaxed and actually started to manage nice groupings.

We didn’t do much off-roading because Scott was driving his new truck; needless to say he wasn’t very ballsy.

We returned to Shane’s, Scott went home and I showered while the guys played PS3. We grabbed dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was my first time there, it was pretty tasty. I liked that their “hot” is actually hot.

After dinner we went to Speedworld to race the Trans Am. When we first pulled in a car spun outside of the track. We later found out a Neon raced a Trans Am, the Neon used the first turn out, he took it too fast and side swiped the Trans Am and crashed through the barricade. Frank ran a couple races while Shane and I watched on. He won one and lost another to a supped up Mustang.

Video of the winning race



As Frank made his way back, the owner of a TA (the one the Neon hit) asked Frank if he had a donut. Frank helped the guy out, it took a while, but Shane and I kept occupied watching other races. When Frank finished, I ran two races with him. Both of which he won. We ran one more, and then we went back to Shane’s. We drank beer, shot the shit and watched videos on YouTube. I crashed around 2am, but they continued to play PS3 for a couple more hours.

One down... One to go...

Our Laughlin condo sold! We closed today and it'll record on Monday. We moved our stuff out on Wednesday. It wasn't an easy feat, especially since our first attempt was made on Tuesday.

We rented a trailer and we head down in the Jimmy. We got as far as Henderson (Wagon Wheel Rd.), when I thought I saw dust blowing in the back seat, after a double take I realized it's smoke not dust. Frank pulls over, we get out and notice that the carpet is on fire!

Frank rips the carpet out with a tire iron. We try to determine where it originated from, we think it's the passenger side muffler. As we're pouring water on the floor board and muffler NDOT pulls up. He gives it a look and he thinks oil had leaked on to the mufflers on it started to burn from the heat of the exhaust. Frank mentions that we're on our way to Laughlin and asks if he thinks we'll make it. NDOT says sure I'd try. I'll give you water; douse it if it catches fire. He gives us like 8 bottles of water and we continue on (against my better judgement).

We get outside of Henderson where the turn off for 93/95 is and I tell Frank, I'm going to check on it before we get too far. I throw water on the floor board and it sizzles and smokes like it's ready to fry eggs. We sat and let it cool down. I told Frank I didn't want to try to go any further, even if we got to Laughlin, the truck wasn't going to make it back. Frank called his buddy Shane to see what he thought the issue was, they narrowed it down to the catalytic converter. Shane said, we could go on if Frank poked a hole in it. He tried with the tire iron, but didn't get it. He didn't want to force it and make the repairs even more costly than they'd already be. Then, finally, Frank agreed to turn back.

Every so often, I poured water on the floor board to cool the smolder. It got really really hot so we stopped for dinner at the District at Green Valley Ranch. We tried Lucille's BBQ.

We started with biscuits and apple butter. Mmmm... they were the best biscuits I ever tasted. We ordered the spinach and artichoke cheese dip for our appetizer. It was delicious, too. We both had to restrain ourselves from licking the bowl clean. Next up was our entrees, BBQ tri-tip sandwich with sweet potatoes for me, and Frank had full slab of ribs with sweet corn and baked beans. Lucille's sauces were great, my sandwich was tasty, Frank ribs were the only weak link of the meal. They were decent, but not as good as those served up at Ellis Island (And these were near 3x the cost). Service was great, too. All in all, it was an enjoyable meal. We'll return, but we'll skip the ribs next time.

Luckily, the truck didn't blow up while we ate. It had time to cool, so we headed toward home. I kept an eye on it the whole way, dousing it with water when it got too hot. Fortunately, we made it home safe.

We borrowed my mom's blazer to try again Wednesday, and luckily, our second attempt was a success. We unpacked, yesterday, and set up all the new furniture in our Las Vegas condo. We reduced the condo's asking price when we accepted the Laughlin offer so we're hopeful that it'll sell soon.

Good times!

I had a fun-filled time while the family was in town, of course with family (especially mine), drama is a given. And we sure had our fair share, but that’s a story for another day. I got to say I simply adore my nephew. Yep, that's him above. He thought my french doors were the greatest thing ever (Ahh, the things that amuse kids). You can see more of him here. Nicky is Mr. Independent, a complete clown, and he certainly keeps you on your toes. It was nice to have quality time with Mike and Amy, too.

Since Frank had such fun off-roading in Phoenix, he sought after a new toy, he ended up buying an ’85 GMC Jimmy. It is lifted to the point I can barely get into it, but the beast should provide us with many off-road adventures. It’s been in the shop since we bought it, but we’re looking forward to taking it out when it is in tip-top shape.

We got an offer on our Laughlin condo; we’re in final negotiations and we’re hopeful that the deal will close March 15, 2008. It’ll be wonderful when we’re completely done with that chapter in our lives. We’re anxious to move forward and get into a house.

Last weekend, I went to Fremont Street to take photos and enjoy the warm temperatures before a cold front came through. It’s too bad the sky didn’t provide a better back drop and I never realized how many obstructions the properties have, it really makes it challenging to capture a clear shot.

Fremont Street Photo Tour

This weekend we’re going to Peoria, AZ to catch a White Sox spring training game. We’ll be staying a couple nights with Frank’s friend. Plans are in the works for a day of off-roading, shooting guns, followed by a night of racing (the Trans Am) at the racetrack. Sunday we’ll attend the game and then head out to Sedona for the night. We’ll see the sights on Monday and then return home. It should be a fun trip.

San Diego: Point Loma

As we were leaving Ocean Beach, we caught a sign for Point Loma so we decided to go ahead and see as much as we could before dusk. Before hitting the park, we stopped at Fort Rosecrans Cemetery to pay our respects to our fallen military and their families.









Then we continued on to the Cabrillo National Monument, which commemorates the day in 1542, when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European, set foot on what is now the West Coast of the US.



Mexico in the distance



Point Loma Light House





From the light house looking back on San Diego





A cruise ship leaving port



We got kicked out of the park at closing so we headed over to Sunset Cliffs to watch the sunset







Afterwards we headed to downtown San Diego, we decided to park at Horton Plaza and catch a movie. We were too tired to walk around and we needed to pass time and work up a hunger. We got tickets to see Jumper, we walked around the mall to kill time until the show started.

We got seated inside the theater, evidently there’s no such thing as personal space at these theaters. I had my feet resting in between the seats in front of me and this guy picked there of all places, in a half empty theater, to sit. Then, right before the previews began another guy came and sat right next to me despite the entire row being open. During the commercials before the previews (does it bother anyone else that they do this? It irks me $20 for a movie and advertising is still crammed down our throats!) the screen froze, we waited 30 minutes, but gave up and requested a refund.

We were still beat so we didn’t want to do much of anything so we decided to head over to Los Panchos for dinner. Yes, the same place as the day before. We started with chips and salsa. We each had two Cadillac Margaritas, yum! Frank had a chicken burrito and I had the best carne asada burrito I’ve ever consumed. We finished up the meal with fried ice cream. Muy delicioso!

We went back to the hotel. I had been super cold all day. My face was sunburned from earlier in the day and from the day before, so the cool breezes felt especially chilly to me. I hopped under the covers to warm up and I was asleep in seconds.

We got up fairly early, we showered, packed and we were on the road by 9am. We stopped in Baker at the Mad Greek for lunch, we each had a gyro. We continued on the drive back home was a breeze. We had a great time, and we really enjoy San Diego, but we were happy to home.