Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Wow time has flown by. We have been here almost 3 months and it is time to update everyone. I had lots of pictures to share with you but when I went to load them they were gone and I am unable to find them (lost in cyberspace). We had a dust storm blow through in October that covered 1/2 of the Superstition Mountain. I took some great pictures and poof all gone. I took lots of pictures of the Christmas lights that we had seen but lost all of them also. Thank goodness for our friend Ken he took pictures also and let me have some to share with everyone.

When we returned to AZ. Buffy went to the doctor and he was not happy. The cancer had grown since we left in May. The doctor in Ohio put her on a oral chemo and it did not work. The doctor here started her back on chemo. Last week she had a CT scan and we will get the results in a couple of weeks. They gave her a B-12 shot and it gave her lots of energy. The doctor is pleased with the results and said the chemo is working knocking the cancer down

I have been working the front gate Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 6pm till midnight. I have also been working at the flee market Friday, Saturday & Sunday. My co worker Mike is on the right. There are 4 rows of shops at the flee market and each row is 1/4 mile long it takes a while to see everything.





I am playing golf on Wednesday, playing bad but never the less playing. We have been setting heat records this year with tempeatures going into the 80's. and Christmas day it looks like 75 and sunny.

The other night our friend Ken, Buffy and myself went out looking at Christmas lights. We went to see the zoo lights at the Phoenix Zoo they have more then 3.5 million lights some are dancing to Christmas music. They have over 600 animal light sculptures. I need to say thank you to Ken for giving me the pictures that he took so everyone can enjoy what we seen.




After the Zoo we went to Scottsdale to see a house we seen on the news the house danced to music. Here is a link to their web sight click on it to view the videos.

http://rubinochristmas.com/default.aspx


We then headed to the annual Mesa Temple Garden Christmas Lights display it conveys peace and goodwill of the season with a unique and spectacular exhibit of hundreds of thousands of lights that serve as a backdrop for the sounds of the holidays. In 2010 the display is entitled The Birth of Christ in Lights and Music.





Sunday night was a full moon so a few of us from the park went on a night time walk in the desert and to the base of the Superstition Mountain's. The light from the moon made it easy to see it was like walking on a cloudy day. I wanted to go back to take pictures the next night but it became cloudy and the moon was not visible. I am going to wait till next month when we have another full moon.

Love and best wishes
Paul & Buffy

The Last Leg

It started to get cold near Glacier National Park and only 300 miles south it was 75 - 80 so south we went.
We stopped in Provo Utah and met up with Pete & Regina who we met last year in Portland OR. at the Elks National Convention. We had a great dinner with them and hashed out most of the Elks problems hehehehe.



Buffy and I took a great ride on a scenic drive through the mountains just outside of Provo Utah.




We came across Timpanogos Caves. After checking it out we found out that to see the caves was not easy. They let you start up to the caves 1 & 1/2 hrs. before your tour began. You clime 1,092 ft in 1 & 1/2 miles. It took me 55 minutes to make the climb but was well worth the trip. The trail was only 4ft wide with no edging. The whole trip up, through the cave and back down took 3 & 1/2 Hrs.






The cave is 45 degrees all year round. It is a living cave and you are not allowed to touch anything.




We left that area and headed to Jacob Lake AZ and met up with our friends Ken & Mike. Ken was coming from Michigan and Mike was on the west coast all summer. We were all heading back to Apache Junction for our work camping assignments. We spent the next day at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The north rim is not as crowded as the south rim and we were 1000 ft. higher in elevation.












This next picture is a panoramic view. I am not sure how it comes out if you double click on it.



We all left and headed to Page AZ. Buffy and I were there 2 years ago. I went with Mike & Ken to the Antelope Slot Canyon. The canyons are on Navajo land and they were our tour guides. You are unable to see the slot canyons without going with them. If ever you get to the Page AZ area this is a must see.






Here is a picture of the pickups that took us about 1 mile or so to the canyons. You hop in the back and hold on tight. They drive in soft bumpy sand and they only know how to drive fast.



From Page AZ Ken, Buffy, and myself headed down the road to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and the Wupatki National Monument. We set up the rigs and took off to see the area.
We started out in Sunset Crater and seen the lava fields.





We went a little further and found the ruins. They said the ruins are 800 years old.





The next ruins we saw were said to be around 100 rooms.





We headed back to the rigs for dinner and a couple of cocktails. We sat outside in the campground and had to put on a sweatshirt when the sun went down. We were around 7000 feet in elevation and it was getting cold. The darker it got the more the stars started to show and soon we were able to see the Milky Way with the naked eye. It is not often that you get to see that, how cool.
We headed out the next day for Apache Junction We stopped along the way and had the rig washed at a truck stop.
We are now parked for the winter but boy is it HOT. The last 3 days it has been over 105 so we are moving slow or not at all. It was a wonderful trip and both Buffy and myself had a great time. Oh yea I think I am a certifide Geezer. Now I have my Senior National Parks pass and I started social security this month.


Love to all
Paul & Buffy