L.E.N.S. Photo Challenge

Home is where you start from hosts a weekly photo challenge. 

This weeks theme is "the view from here".

My entry is this shot from the Wapatki National Monument near Flagstaff AZ.

I took this picture from inside the pueblo so this would have been the view from their window!

We had so many great pictures from our Arizona trip that it was hard to pick just one!

If you want to see the other entries or join in visit Jenn at http://www.homeiswhereyoustartfrom.com/

Postcard Friendship Friday #66

I don't know what it is about them, but I've always loved map postcards! I picked this one up on our vacation last year. We went to Phoenix, Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon so its kind of nice to have all of our destinations on one card.

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.


Don't forget...there's still time to enter my giveaway. Click here for more info!

Postcard Friendship Friday #56

I hope you've enjoyed the postcard journey of our vacation! Our last stop was the Grand Canyon. We took the train up to the canyon. It was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed it.


No matter how beautiful the postcard, nothing compares to seeing the Grand Canyon in person!



The train is located on Route 66 in Williams, AZ. When we got off the train we ate dinner at a little Route 66 diner called Twisters.

Thanks for joining me on my vacation! :) I actually have more postcards than I've posted, but I'll save them for another time.

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted by Beth at http://www.thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

Postcard Friendship Friday #55

To continue on with our vacation in the Flagstaff area...

These postcards are from the Lowell Observatory. This is where Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. We went here because Claire is really into outer space. She loved it! We took a tour during the day and went back that night for planet viewing. We saw Venus and Saturn. Saturn was really cool. You could see the rings around it very well.

This postcard shows Lowell viewing through the Alvan Clark Refracting Telescope. They actually had his old wooden chair he always sat in still there to see.

This is actually a painting that is in the Lowell Observatory Rotunda Library.

This card shows the Clark Telescope Dome which houses the Alvan Clark Telescope. We didn't get to view out of this telescope while we were there because it was too windy.

To find out more about Lowell Observatory: www.lowell.edu

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted by Beth at www.thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com

Postcard Friendship Friday #54

To continue our travels in Arizona...

We rented a cabin in Flagstaff so we did a lot of things around there. Flagstaff is a wonderful town with lots of great stuff to do! Here are 2 of our favorites.

Sunset Crater National Monument...

We actually hiked up the lenox crater trail to the top of a cinder cone and had the most spectacular view! If you'd like to read that story or see more pictures go here: www.aimeesland.blogspot.com/2010/05/arizona-vacation-part-2.html

Right near Sunset Crater is Wupatki National Monument...

These pueblos were build hundreds of years ago. They have been preserved very well. The kids really enjoyed exploring them. If you are ever in the Flagstaff area I highly recommend both of these National Monuments!

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted by: www.thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com

Postcard Friendship Friday #53

Our next stop on or Arizona vacation was Flagstaff. We rented a cabin here. We loved it! The cabin was great. The weather was great, and there are lots of cool places to visit around Flagstaff. We just might have to make a trip back here again!


The San Francisco Peaks are beautiful mountains that you can see from anywhere in Flagstaff. They are snow capped most of the year. Very Beautiful. Everytime we were driving somewhere we just could not keep our eyes off of them!


More postcards from the great places we visited in Flagstaff next week!

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

To see all the postcards I've posted or read more about our vacation you can go here:
http://aimeesland.blogspot.com/search/label/Arizona%20vacation

Postcard Friendship Friday #52

After Phoenix, the next stop on our vacation was Montezuma Castle National Monument. It was amazing to see what the people of so long ago could build with little to no technology.

To learn more about it you can visit this site: http://www.nps.gov/moca/planyourvisit/directions.htm


There was a Navajo family selling Navajo fry bread on the little road that lead to Montezuma's castle. We stopped and got some...It was soooo good!!!!

Then, we got back on the road to Sedona. It was beautiful...just beautiful!

Tune in next week for postcards from Flagstaff!

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted by Beth at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy

Postcard Friendship Friday #51

Ok. I'm going to take you on a postcard tour of our vacation. I started last week with out layover in New Mexico. Our first real stop was Phoenix.



It was hard to find a "phoenix" postcard. I found mostly just Arizona ones there. I did happen upon this one though. Its of downtown Phoenix which is where we were. The back of it says that Phoenix is the largest capital city in the U.S. I didn't know that. It's population is greater than any other state capital.

So, there you go, our first real postcard stop on our Arizona Vacation. Stay tuned...our next stop was Sedona. :)

PFF is hosted by: The Best Hearts Are Crunchy

Arizona Vacation (Part 3)

Ok. This is my last vacation post. :)

We didn't do much on Sunday. We went to church in Flagstaff. We show up and no one is there! There's a banner that says they are having Pentecost mass at a local amphitheater. Remember how windy I told you it was? Well, the wind was about 50 mph this day! (Temp was about 50 too!) And we were at mass in an amphitheater. Of course, we didn't know about this ahead of time so we weren't dressed warm enough. It was a nice service and I would have really enjoyed it if it hadn't been so darn cold and windy!!

We actually went out that afternoon and bought warmer clothes for the Grand Canyon the next day. We also hung out at the cabin...that was what the kids wanted to do-just hang out at the cabin and explore the "woods". (And, of course, make some more s'mores!)

On Monday we got up early and drove to Williams. There we took the Grand Canyon Railway up to the Grand Canyon. It was fun and nice to just sit back and relax on the train. They started with a little shoot out western show before we boarded and also had entertainment on the train.





The Grand Canyon is amazing! I'd seen pictures, but they just don't capture the sheer vastness of it. It goes on as far as the eye can see. We ended up with nice weather while we were there...and no wind! Glad we had the warmer clothes though because it started out really cold that morning.







The squirrels there are extremely friendly. They want people food! Its against the law to feed them, but this one found an old bun or something on the ground. As long as it was eating it was happy and you could pet it. Claire got the biggest kick out of that!



We were only there for 3 hrs. and then we had to get back on the train. The train ride back was more fun than the one up there...

We encountered train robbers along the way!





But never fear...the sheriff was on board!



When we got off the train we ate dinner at a little route 66 diner/ice cream shop. We let the kids have whatever they wanted. They both got double dips. I still can't believe Claire ate that whole thing!





That night we told Claire we had to go home the next day. She was sad. She wanted to live at the cabin!



Even though we didn't go through Sedona on the way back to phoenix the drive was still pretty. I just loved all those saguaros!



So, that's the exciting adventures of our family vacation! We all had a really good time. I was worried that the kids might not like it because it didn't involve a Disney Theme park, but they loved it! We might even have to go back again we had so much fun!

Arizona Vacation (Part 2)

To continue my vacation story...

Our Cabin was in Flagstaff. It was a great cabin. We each had our own sleeping area and 2 bathrooms! Flagstaff was very nice and had lots of stuff to do.

On Saturday we went to the Lowell Observatory. Claire is very into outer space so she enjoyed this a lot. We bought a combo ticket and went back at night for planet viewing. We saw Venus and Saturn. Saturn was pretty cool. You could see the rings and even some of its moons.




After visiting Lowell in the morning we headed out to Sunset Crater National Monument. We had a picnic in the car because it was so windy! Flagstaff was having some kind of unusual wind while we were there. We had a great view of the lava fields from the car though...



When we finished with lunch we got out to look around. The first trail we saw was the lenox crater trail. Chris read the sign. It said it was a strenuous hike. 300 ft. Only hike it if you have proper footware, etc. My first thought is "strenuous?, no thank you!" Then Claire took off running and said "let's go". I look at Chris and say, "its only 300 ft. strenuous or not I can do 300 ft!" Well, let me tell you something I learned half way up the mountain...it was not 300 ft. long. It was a 300 ft. rise in elevation! We were already at 7000 ft! And did I mention the entire mountain we were climbing was covered in loose cinders? It was like hiking up a steep mountain of gravel! And Claire ran the whole way! I had to stop a few times because I just couldn't catch my breath. Back in college I had "exertion induced athsma" which meant I'd get winded easily when exerting myself. I hadn't been bothered by it for years. I thought I'd outgrown it or something. Well, that day, on that mountain, it came back!

Claire, of course, made it to the top first. We were yelling at her to come back. We didn't know if there was a drop off or anything. She wouldn't come. She just stood there taking pictures. When we made it to her we saw what she was taking pictures of. The view was amazing. I stood there and realized God was my favorite artist of all time! It was a breathtaking (literally) view of the San Francisco Peaks.




Now, it was just an incredible sight. The pictures don't do it justice. But remember I told you it was windy that day? Yes, well, up on this mountain the cold wind was blowing about 70 mph. I swear to you...I am not exaggerating. Claire had to hold on to someone to keep from blowing away!



But we all made it and we were all so glad we did. I think this was Nathan's favorite part of the whole trip. Notice the ground. All of that black is cinders and lava. It is very loose and crumbly!




Getting down was easier than getting up, but presented a new challenge...walk too fast and you will SLIDE down the mountain! Nathan and I did this for many, many yards. Just as I was yelling to him, "I don't think I can stop!" he wiped out! He said it was the only way he could stop. As I ran/slid past him he said, "I'm ok." I yelled back, "good, because I can't stop to help you!" Finally the slope evened out a little and I was able to stop running/sliding at full speed.

If you want to know more about Sunset Crater go here:
http://www.nps.gov/sucr/index.htm

This is what the website says about the hike we took:
The Lenox Crater Trail provides an opportunity to climb a cinder cone. This steep trail is 1-mile (1.6km) round trip and requires about 30 minutes up and 15 minutes down!

Since we were still so high in elevation, it took me a while to really catch my breath after we got down. It was so worth it though! Chris and Claire both had new pairs of tennis shoes. They sure didn't look new when we came off that mountain! The cinders we were hiking on were black and dusty...so were are shoes when we were finished!



After that we drove through to Wupatki National Monument to visit some pueblo ruins. The kids really enjoyed this...especially when they could go inside one.




Found a gopher snake on the ruins...




A view from inside one of the rooms...






When we got back that night we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. The kids LOVED that!!



Claire was a little scared of the fire, but she didn't let that stop her from having a yummy, warm, gooey dessert!



I guess I'll have to post a part 3 later. I haven't even gotten to the grand canyon yet!

Arizona Vacation (Part 1)

We just had a wonderful vacation in Arizona. We flew into Phoenix and spent one night.

We explored downtown. We went to see the State Capitol building. The kids thought it was cool that we saw protestors there. They'd been hearing about them in the news.







We also went to the St. Mary's Bascillica. Its the oldest Catholic church in Phoenix. It was just beautiful!



We went to see a Diamondbacks game. It was a lot of fun...Chase field was really nice and it has a roof so the A/C felt really good in that 100 degree phoenix heat! We also got to see Lincecum pitch. That was cool...we didn't even realize we'd see him until we got there.





A funny story about the game... I had looked for weeks for discounts for tickets, but I never found any. I was planning to buy tickets at the box office for $15 each when we got there. (Actually, they were $16 each on game day.) We had a little streak of good luck. First of all, we got really close parking for only $5. When we were walking out of the lot the price went up to $10. On the back of the $10 sign was $15. I guess it goes up as you get closer to game time. Well, that was lucky for us! We talked to some scalpers. (It's legal in AZ) But they didn't have what we wanted in tickets. As we were at the ticket window some guy came up and gave us 4 free tickets! They were bleacher seats, but I didn't care if they were free! We actually had a really good view. Usually when we travel we have streaks of bad luck. It was nice to have a little good luck for a change!

The next day we drove to our cabin in Flagstaff. It sure was nice to get into cooler temperatures!!

We drove up through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. Both are just absolutely beautiful!

We stopped at Montezuma's Castle National Monument on the way to Sedona...






Red Rocks of Sedona:



Oak Creek Canyon. It was really cool and windy by the time we got up here. It felt really good!



Our Cabin...



The kids just LOVED staying in the cabin! They each had their own room/sleeping area in the loft. And they had the greatest time exploring the "woods" that surrounded it.

We did lots of stuff around Flagstaff and visited the grand canyon. I will have to post about those in a different post though. I don't have enough time right now.