My Lovely Bride asked me to post a photo of Your Faithful Correspondent, sort of a “Proof of Life” exercise. So here I am on my backpack trip near Flagstaff… I could live here!
On our last day in Flag, we went on a mountain bike ride on the Arizona Trail north of where we had previously camped. Suzanne had hiked this section from her campsite and said it was beautiful, so we rode from a Forest Service road nearby. It was spectacular. There is nothing quite like riding through aspen groves on singletrack paths. And there were no bears sighted!
On to Sedona, one of our favorite places in the world. And yes, I could live here, too!
The red sandstone cliffs and rocks of Sedona are even more spectacular up close and in person, but I think you get the idea…
We had a fabulous dinner at Mariposa with our friends Jerry and Karen Facciani from Las Vegas.
Our RV campground was right along Oak Creek. We jokingly call this “a hateful place”…
Jeff and Lynn Hollahan drove up from Scottsdale and joined us for the day, and we went on a hike to West Fork, Oak Creek Canyon. Beautiful! (And the canyon is nice, too…)
The canyon walls go straight up for about a thousand feet; you do not want a big rock to fall down on you here!
On that trail, MLB found a knothole in an Arizona sycamore trunk that made a nice picture frame… “No, Suzanne, we cannot bring it home with us!”
A mountain bike ride on the Bell Rock Pathway was required before departing Sedona; even though we are “mature riders”, according to a guy in a bike shop, we had a blast zooming up and down the trail here.
Sedona was not all play; Suzanne had an event here, but her hair needed a trim, so our new friend Phoebe Miller flew in with Anne Wernimont from Denver to give her a “do” at our campground…
Phoebe is a “Stylist to The Stars”, in a manner of speaking, and Suzanne and I were both thrilled to have her perform her magic on us! (Yes, I also got a cut… soooo coool!)
From Sedona, we headed east to Meteor Crater, a spectacular hole in the ground where a big meteor had struck about 50,000 years ago. That’s even older than My Good Friend Bob Blythe, back in The Villages. (Hi, Bob!) There is a great visitor center here, but the hiking trails were closed due to Covid… really???? Are the rocks contagious???
On a bike ride near El Prado, New Mexico, we happened across this nice specimen of Aphonapelma Vorhiesi (Grand Canyon black tarantula). I wanted to bring it home and keep it in a covered bowl, but I was overruled…
We spent several days in Taos, NM, where I received two very beneficial healing treatments for my lower back pain from Linda Carr, an expert in holistic healing and pain relief. Linda relieved a lot of my pain, and I would recommend her highly! (You can see that Nellie loves her, too!)
We also had a chance to hike along the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos. Here you see the bridge of the same name, 650 feet above the Rio Grande, and the second highest on the US highway system.
Suzanne enjoyed walking this labyrinth located right along the Rio Grande Gorge trail….
A short trip to Taos Ski Valley gave us a chance for some alpine hiking along the beautiful Columbine Trail at 9,300 feet… lots of aspens beginning to change colors here!
Finally, this sign was on a restroom in the ski valley. I am too old to even understand (much less care) what it’s trying to say…
8 Comments
MOM/Gina
I find myself reading this, and wishing to "like" under the pictures. So fb oriented I guess. Love reading your blog.
Kathryn
What a wonderful life you have, lucky you.
617tallman
Adventurous guy that Captain Ty. A star in the sky a feeling in the heart to steer by. Intrepid.
Dave
Thanks for sharing! I'm envious and wish I could ride those trails with you. Safe travels. (PS thanks for leaving the tarantula in its home….we have enough bugs here. haha)
Brad
Great pics and weather! I, too, enjoy those areas and could live there. The restroom sign is confusing but the sign of the times I guess. Brad
SjoDryandParched
As we own a sign and graphics company..I will need to save this for my collection. I will even point out that someone forgot to proof the spelling. We don’t know what it means either.
Roxanne
I've been known to liberate a men's room from its gender binary when the women's room was occupied.
Thanks for pics of Flag and Sedona (and Taos!). Some of my favorite stomping grounds, when I still stomp.
617tallman
Adventurous guy that Captain Ty. A star in the sky a feeling in the heart to steer by. Intrepid.