Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Salt Lake City Family

Cameron and Anne and baby Gavin, getting ready for the baptism ceremony
















Sylvia and Alex, the other grandparents and good friends.























The star of the show, Gavin, at 7 months.












Beautiful scenery in and around Salt Lake City. Everything is in bloom and the hillsides are all emerald green.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Leaving Las Vegas :)

A place of excesses....this is what pays for it all.












Care for a really nutritious treat??











Sun protection - whole blocks of covered areas.


















We stayed at Main Street Station...easy access from the freeway, and of course, a "free" room.

Hoover Dam

The highway between Phoenix and Las Vegas still routes traffic down to the dam. This requires security and insufficient roads for the volume of traffic. It was worth the extra time, however, because Hoover Dam is truly an engineering marvel.




Nearly as awesome as the dam is the new bridge that is being built to route traffic away from the dam. I am sure the view from the bridge will be spectacular.








The changing water level clearly shows the differences in the rock that makes up the canyon.








The dam also forms the boundary between Arizona and Nevada. At this time of year, the time is the same as Arizona doesn't participate in Daylight Savings Time.











Last Days in Tucson

Mona had a birthday while we were in Tucson, so we all went out for a birthday dinner at a great Italian restaurant.











Treeann at Mona's birthday dinner
















Min



















Ron helped Min hold the sides to the new dog house. Min had pre-fabbed everything, and it all fit beautifully.











Mona with her two grandsons, Charlie and Jax. They sure love the water.












Charlie can swim and even do flips underwater. His little eyes are just bright red when they finally coax him out of the pool.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Nogales Mexico

Love that hand blown glass!













Mona is making sure we see all the platters before we choose.












Darn, no room to take one of these home! :)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Oasis in Tucson

Min and Mona have made an amazing garden in the desert in Tucson. They have an acre of incredible plants, most of which are in bloom. Even a century plant is putting out a big spike. An event that happens only once in the life of the plant.









In the middle of the rose garden they have a childrens playground.













Buddah guards the pool. Amazing crystals complement the gardens.















My beautiful sister, Mona.

Treeann, Kenny, Charlie and Jax

Kenny with the boys


















This baby is the image of Treeann at that age (9 mos)


















Now this is spaghetti and meatballs!











One of the two cooks....Pictures of Mona and Min and their amazing gardens coming next!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Travel Across the Southern Tier










We feel like we have been on a Disney World tour of the USA - strapped into our car for viewing all the unique scenery from every state.













The wildflowers along the freeway in East Texas are beautiful!






Overlooking El Paso on the mountain road that bypasses the city. Fierce thunder and lightning storm as we passed through West Texas.









Lupine, poppies, wild primrose, daisies, and a bunch of other wildflowers all along the road in East Texas










Back in sunshine when we got to Arizona













Miles of pecan orchards in New Mexico










Thursday, April 15, 2010

Heading Westward Ever Westward

Up early and on our way in time to see the sun rise just outside Montgomery, AL












Coming into Mobile, crossing miles of swamp and open water. One river was called "Middle River" I presume because it is in the middle of the Northbound and the Southbound lanes on I-65.




We stopped for a break as we came into Mississippi, and the rest area was also the home of the Stennis Space Center tours.










Who knew the lunar lander was this BIG?


















In Louisiana, deep in Acadia the wildflowers along the road were beautiful.








Miles of rice paddies on the back roads we took from I-10 to our scheduled stop at the Coushatta Casino/Hotel in Kinder, LA.











The grounds are beautiful. So many beautiful flowers and plants, most neatly labeled. The air is warm and balmy with a light breeze.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

April Flowers in SW Georgia

Azaleas













Wild violets













Blackberries blooming along all the fence lines.













Redbud trees - first bloomers normally. This year everything popped into bloom at once.

















Iris - mostly white and yellow ones in bloom now.















Yellow weeds cover the field where peanuts or cotton or corn will be planted soon.












Wisteria drips off trees everywhere. The stunning flowers have such a sweet smell that the air is full of it everywhere.










Dianthus - blooms all winter, but especially pretty first thing in the spring.













Creeping phlox.


















Dogwood.