On Tuesday May 4, Jim and I and our best friends, Bobby and Judy left for Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We had panned to go there in 1998 but three weeks before we were to leave I suffered a massive stroke that no one thought I would recover from. I spent the entire summer learning to walk and do all the things that we all take for granted. Since that time I have progressed to walking with a cane but we all have had medical problems that we thought would keep us from going. Bobby and Judy had traveled to California to see their daughter and had seen it at that time, but we still talked about going together. Bobby was diagnosed with cancer and after taking chemo/radiation was waiting for surgery and we just decided now was the right time.
We were gone for nine days. The Grand Canyon was awesome. Everyone should see it in their lifetime. The weather was good and we saw no accidents while we were gone.
We took the southern route traveling I-40 as we went west. We made a detour in New Mexico to visit Roswell. My husband is a big UFO fan and loves to see anything on them. It was a little disappointing that they will not even let you go near Area 51 but Judy bought him a Roswell tag for his pickup.
We would really have liked to have spent more time at the Canyon. The crowds were small and you could find good places to sit or stand and just look and reflect. We have an awesome God who can create something this beautiful. It is so peaceful and all the pictures I have seen and the ones that I took can never do it justice!
After leaving the Canyon we drove through the Navajo Nation of Arizona stopping to spend the night at a motel on the reservation. Everyone we saw (except for a few tourists) were full blooded American Indians. Even all the workers at McDonalds! We really enjoyed seeing how they lived. It is certainly different from what we had thought.
We then continued to the four corners. We wanted to stop at the monument but it was closed for repairs. I am still not sure if we went through Utah but we were so close that I know we could have spit on it!!!
Driving through the Rockies in Colorado was one of the highlights of our trip. We would think we were in a valley and then see a sign, Altitude 6352 FT. There were snow capped mountains all around. One time we came around a curve and there was a waterfall which fell 105 feet from a cliff. It was beautiful. Judy walked in the snow and Bobby made a snowball. We then went a little higher to a scenic spot and the wind was so bad I could barely stand to make pictures!
We then traveled into the lower part of Kansas, stopping at Dodge City to spend the night. We had planned to tour the Old Western Town but during the night we had a hail storm and the next morning the fog was so bad we couldn't really see anything so we decided to travel on.
We went to Wichita and then headed south. My great nephew, Brad, is the Chief of Police in Belle Plain just south of Wichita. I knew since he was my friend on Facebook he would be following where I was each night so we decided to just surprise him and we did. We were able to have lunch with him, his wife , his baby daughter, and one of their sons. The other one was at school so we missed him.
After we left Belle Plaine , we traveled on to Fort Smith, Arkansas where we spent our last night. Little did I know the surprise that was waiting for me at home!
I had been talking for some time about redoing my kitchen. When we bought this house six years ago it was a foreclosure and we had done some remodeling, painting the brown bead board yellow and the brown trim work white. This had brightened the room a lot but over the years I had gotten tired of the yellow and had picked out a Terra cotta color that I liked. I was in bad need of a new ventahood since mine make a terrible noise and didn't work. But all I had done was talk about it and never really expected to get it done any time soon. Unknown to me my daughters and my husband planned a remodel while we were gone on our trip. He would talk to them each day to see how it was going and I didn't even know it!
When we got home and I walked in the door, I felt like I was on HGTV! My kitchen was so beautiful. My daughters are so talented. Jan had changed the color slighly and the one she chose was much better than the one I had chosen. My yellow walls were terra cotta, I had white painted cabinets, new cabinet pulls, a new ventahood, new shelves on one wall, and a major cleaning. It is so beautiful. I am so lucky to have daughters who are so talented, a son-in-law who is also a handyman and a grandson who works in maintenance for a nursing home and loves to use his new knowledge to help me. They only spent $300.00 but it looks like a million dollars!! I am still amazed to think that they love me that much that they would spend that much time for me!! I love my husband and my family and I am the luckiest mother, grandmother, and great grandmother in the world! I love my family!!!!
We were gone for nine days. The Grand Canyon was awesome. Everyone should see it in their lifetime. The weather was good and we saw no accidents while we were gone.
We took the southern route traveling I-40 as we went west. We made a detour in New Mexico to visit Roswell. My husband is a big UFO fan and loves to see anything on them. It was a little disappointing that they will not even let you go near Area 51 but Judy bought him a Roswell tag for his pickup.
We would really have liked to have spent more time at the Canyon. The crowds were small and you could find good places to sit or stand and just look and reflect. We have an awesome God who can create something this beautiful. It is so peaceful and all the pictures I have seen and the ones that I took can never do it justice!
After leaving the Canyon we drove through the Navajo Nation of Arizona stopping to spend the night at a motel on the reservation. Everyone we saw (except for a few tourists) were full blooded American Indians. Even all the workers at McDonalds! We really enjoyed seeing how they lived. It is certainly different from what we had thought.
We then continued to the four corners. We wanted to stop at the monument but it was closed for repairs. I am still not sure if we went through Utah but we were so close that I know we could have spit on it!!!
Driving through the Rockies in Colorado was one of the highlights of our trip. We would think we were in a valley and then see a sign, Altitude 6352 FT. There were snow capped mountains all around. One time we came around a curve and there was a waterfall which fell 105 feet from a cliff. It was beautiful. Judy walked in the snow and Bobby made a snowball. We then went a little higher to a scenic spot and the wind was so bad I could barely stand to make pictures!
We then traveled into the lower part of Kansas, stopping at Dodge City to spend the night. We had planned to tour the Old Western Town but during the night we had a hail storm and the next morning the fog was so bad we couldn't really see anything so we decided to travel on.
We went to Wichita and then headed south. My great nephew, Brad, is the Chief of Police in Belle Plain just south of Wichita. I knew since he was my friend on Facebook he would be following where I was each night so we decided to just surprise him and we did. We were able to have lunch with him, his wife , his baby daughter, and one of their sons. The other one was at school so we missed him.
After we left Belle Plaine , we traveled on to Fort Smith, Arkansas where we spent our last night. Little did I know the surprise that was waiting for me at home!
I had been talking for some time about redoing my kitchen. When we bought this house six years ago it was a foreclosure and we had done some remodeling, painting the brown bead board yellow and the brown trim work white. This had brightened the room a lot but over the years I had gotten tired of the yellow and had picked out a Terra cotta color that I liked. I was in bad need of a new ventahood since mine make a terrible noise and didn't work. But all I had done was talk about it and never really expected to get it done any time soon. Unknown to me my daughters and my husband planned a remodel while we were gone on our trip. He would talk to them each day to see how it was going and I didn't even know it!
When we got home and I walked in the door, I felt like I was on HGTV! My kitchen was so beautiful. My daughters are so talented. Jan had changed the color slighly and the one she chose was much better than the one I had chosen. My yellow walls were terra cotta, I had white painted cabinets, new cabinet pulls, a new ventahood, new shelves on one wall, and a major cleaning. It is so beautiful. I am so lucky to have daughters who are so talented, a son-in-law who is also a handyman and a grandson who works in maintenance for a nursing home and loves to use his new knowledge to help me. They only spent $300.00 but it looks like a million dollars!! I am still amazed to think that they love me that much that they would spend that much time for me!! I love my husband and my family and I am the luckiest mother, grandmother, and great grandmother in the world! I love my family!!!!
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