Equinox in the Red Rocks

You know what my favorite things about Sedona are? We live about 30 miles from one of the most beautiful places on earth, one that is visited by people from all over the world. How lucky we are, truly, to be able to enjoy its beauty at our leisure. We saw people from Japan and Boston yesterday, and probably folks from many more places. My goal was to navigate the Cathedral Rock trail from the Crescent Moon recreation area. Alas, the water from snow run off (15 inches last weekend alone) made crossing the creek ill-advised. We gladly took in the beauty that we could see–lizards, the creek, rocks (always!), a caterpillar, a crane (?), butterflies–some of which I was able to snap. (I couldn’t resist the Environmental Toilet poster, mostly because of the wonder of the (drawn) children in it!) Happy Spring!

Monkey Reads Green Eggs and Ham

OK, so this is a bit early for Dr. Seuss’ birthday (March 2), but I couldn’t resist posting these videos of Monkey reading. And of course I am biased, but his ability to get into the book here and there fills me with happiness. May all of the children in your life find joy in a book.

 

(Highlights: 1:03 on, lots of great voice acting. “Would you could you with a goat?” is at about 2:15)

 

(Highlight: Underwater voice at :47.)

Family Ice Cave Adventure

Last month Monkey and I checked out the boulders in a nearby park and found amazing ice caves. Well, amazing to us anyway. Today we improved upon the adventure by including the whole family and adding a sled. Hope you enjoy!

Livin’ Like the Upper Crust of the Ninety-Nine Percent: Jerome and Sedona

My parents very generously let us use their time share at Los Abrigados in Sedona again this year. Three days of eating lovely food in the beautiful red rocks is perfection. Since we couldn’t check in until 4 pm, we took a detour to Jerome. I highly recommend that you eat at Mile High Grill if you find yourself in Jerome. The service is outstanding and the pulled pork is out of this world. Oh, and I just realized that it is also an inn. If we ever have a chance to stay in Jerome, I’ll give it a try. We gave ourselves permission to use some of Hubby’s overtime money, and use it we did! Hubby poses with his new belt and buckle from Altai Leather (GREAT shop!), and I got a grownup purse there, too (no pics of it, though). Monkey’s highlight was probably buying a ton of candy at the Rickeldoris candy shop. My highlight was definitely being able to check out the brothel boutique House of Joy–think vintage, kitch, pin-ups, various prints, and general fabulousness.  It was open and I bought a great Russian Ballet print from 1912. (There were numerous signs requesting that you not take photographs, so I obeyed; you’d get more out of visiting in person anyway.) The view of the impending storm was an added bonus.

 

Highlights of Sedona included: mini-golf, the labyrinth, feeding the ducks, and enjoying the outdoor hot tub during a light snow. (Squirrel snapped by Monkey.) Oh, and I may have had a weepy mom moment when Monkey posed in his new (super-duper on sale from the GAP outlet) clothes, realizing that my 8-year-old son looks nearly like a teenager. Wishing you a blessed New Year!

Frozen Leaves

I didn’t have to venture past my driveway this morning for a great frozen landscape. Winter’s here for a few days anyway…

‘Humble’ has too many letters

Today my weird, restless ego reared its head and wanted me to post a picture of my abs on Facebook. I have had a bit of time for extra yoga and the new cut I saw in my belly made me smile. And Ego knew that it had to be shared with the world. But Mer wondered what the purpose would be. Sadly, all that was accomplished was a long internal debate that touched on the subjects of ego, fighting your own nature, and the deep void of attempting to boost self-esteem externally. The best resolution I could come up with was to ask Hubby to take some pictures of me doing the yoga/stretching/ballet that helps me with core, flexibility, and arch strength. They make the abs possible, and also the cat-bonding. (Fuzzy only joins in during these exercises; my morning yoga doesn’t interest him.) My form is fairly poor, but whenever I take this extra time I gain literal balance. And my mutant feet enjoy the extra attention, and the hope that their arches will stay intact for awhile longer. And the moral of this story is? (Does there have to be one?) People are complex and I love that Fuzzy “helps” me exercise. Happy Saturday.

Verde Canyon Railroad

Monkey and I were extraordinarily lucky to be invited to join some friends on a first-class adventure on the Verde Canyon Railroad this weekend. Though I don’t know the difference in price, I would recommend the first-class experience for the cider or champagne, extra seat space (especially if travelling with children), and free appetizers. (I’ll put in a picture of the route in case you’re curious.) The four-hour total trip may be too much for very young children, but our school-aged kids were having a blast. You can’t go wrong with free cookies! It also passed the motion sickness test, perhaps because we were travelling relatively slowly. I will admit that I had a few seconds of panic while passing through the tunnel on the open air car. (On the way back, I stayed in the closed, lit car.) I will also admit that I loved the music–Love Train, Peace Train, Midnight Special, The Gambler, as well as other train and/or American-themed music. (Brief rant: the owner of the train has a statement read that mentions patriotism and Manifest Destiny, concluding with God Bless America. I found it a little bit awkward to end the journey captive to his beliefs, but should I own my own rail line I could ramble about faeries and hugs to end your trip, so fair enough.)

Please enjoy shots of the Verde River, lots of beautiful rock formations, a couple of Monkey and me, and my favorite shot that he took focuses on the rail of the open-air car.