Weekend Jaunt......

Dale and Carol came for a visit and we decided to head to Las Vegas for the weekend. On the way we stopped at a little 50's style cafe in Wikieup. Dale loves our Arizona cactus!

I have been dreading ever driving to Las Vegas because I knew we had to go over the Hoover Dam and I was NOT looking forward to that. I had seen a movie once and they showed a picture of the dam and it was (and is) way up in the high! Luckily when you drive over the dam it does not seem as if you are as high up as you really are. Good thing or I might not have gotten over it! Now the problem is they are building a new bridge (see it in the picture?) that is even higher in the air!!! I'm not sure if I'll be able to manage that one if the time ever comes!

Once in Las Vegas we took in the sights. For non-gamblers there is lots to do. We rode the tram a couple of times to get from point A to point B and back again! We did a lot of walking as well. Last night we drove down to the Bellagio and watched the fountains do their amazing dance to the tune of "All That Jazz." Specacular but no camera with me so no photos! We stayed at Circus Circus and had fun watching the trapeze artists and other acts. We also spent time (and a little money) at the Midway playing the games. We had a great time. Lots of fun and great memories with super & dear friends!

One of our stops was breakfast at the Silverton outside of the strip. Right next door is The Bass Pro Store. Not sure what kind of fish this is but it was huge - probably about 3' long.

We left Dale and Carol to head northeast to their home in Colorado and we headed back to Arizona going through the Joshua Forest Parkway of Arizona. It was amazing! There were thousands of these trees but not a very good place to get a picture!

Out & About with friends from Maricopa...

Today was our first Out & About with five of us going to the Queen Creek Olive Mill. It has been on TV on Dirtiest Jobs. We also made a couple stops along the way. Here is the site for the new Gilbert Arizona temple. Work has already started to put the utilities underground.

Stopped at WalMart to see their food storage aisle. Very impressive!

Friends with me are Alice, Doyleen, Cindy, & Kathy

Restaurant at the Queen Creek Olive Mill. We had a wonderful lunch and fantastic desserts! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Hard to believe how many things can be made from olives and olive oil. I bought Lavender Rose bath & body oil. So soothing! Can hardly wait for our next adventure!

My family is the BEST.......

What can I say??? I'm the middle child.

Family reunion Dau style.

Is it possible to ride from Tumwater to Vancouver for just $2??? YES. It's $1 from Tumwater to Longview and $1 from Longview to Vancouver, WA!

My cousin Barb and husband Bill.

Larry and his mom.

#8 & #6

Mi Amigo #12

#13

Kirsten's Visit.......

Kirsten arrived at 8:30 a.m. and we headed to Benson, Arizona where the Karchner Caverns awaited us. We had a wonderful 1 1/2 hour tour. To learn more just type in Karchner Caverns on the web address or search engine. Very educational and enjoyable. The humidity was 98% and the temp was about 80 degrees in the cavern. Outside it was 10% humidity and 95 degrees! There are actually two tours but one is closed for the summer while the bats are producing their young.

Loved this unusual plant and its bloom!



The first thing you see when entering Tombstone is the Boothill Graveyard. Lots of piles of rocks to mark the graves.

Loved the story of the world's largest rose. I've wanted to see this for the last two years but never had the chance until now. The story is that the young bride was homesick for her home in Scotland and her family sent her some native plants. Among them was the Lady Banks rose start. This has grown to cover 8,700 square feet and has beautiful white blooms.

The trunk is huge - I've heard 12 feet in circumference!!! It looks like that is true!

Papa & Kirsten posing for me.

In the pool in the late afternoon for 1 1/2 hours and again at 7:40 a.m. for another 1 1/2 hours!

Old wild west comedy gunfight. Reminded me of the Apple Dumpling Gang with Tim Conway and Don Knotts!!! These guys were Waco and Percy.

Stopped by the garden on the way home. Here is our little watermelon. It is coming along quite nicely.

Kirsten and Duchess getting acquainted! I think it was love at first sight!

Gardening Arizona Style continued.......

I got to the garden about 6:45 this morning and already the sun was warm. Good thing I decided to go early - partly I decided that because I needed to be at our church building at 8 a.m to help clean. Larry had been to the garden two days ago and harvested yellow squash, zucchini, & one tomato. I ate the whole tomato by myself and it was even better than the last home-grown one that I remember! I was facing the sun when I took these pictures (sorry about the quality) because it was still a little muddy from the last flow of irrigation. That reminds me - try to get a visual of this: When Larry went to the garden he had on flip flops and the garden was even wetter than it was today. He picked the veggies and tried to only walk on the tops of the rows. Well, his foot slipped and he got his shoes muddy so he sat on the little bridge over the irrigation ditch to clean them. Guess what? Yep, one shoe started floating downstream! And at such a swift rate he knew he couldn't catch it so he jumped on his white stallion (I mean he got into his car) and sped down the lane until he was past where the shoe would be, jumped off his steed (I mean he got out of the car), raced to the ditch and saved the fair damsel!!! (I mean retrieved his shoe!!!) My hero! Oh how I wish I could have been there to catch this on video!!!

The water is not flowing today but you can see the little bridges along the way.

Todays bounty!

When I got home I noticed our cactus in the backyard had presented me with a beautiful bloom!

Camping & fishing.........

We headed back to Canyon Lake because we could camp by the water and take the boat out easily. What we forgot was that the campsites are close together, people use foul language, people like to party, & people like to listen to loud music!! Wouldn't it be nice if all campgrounds had family-friendly areas that are free from drinking, smoking, crude language, and profane lyrics to music that blasts across the lake for all to hear - whether they want to or not?

One of my favorite color combinations - green and blue.

Our little boat was adequate for Larry & I plus Duchess. She was so good in the boat. Mostly she sat across my lap and rested her head and paws on the side of the boat. She occasionally saw another dog out in a boat and had to bark her greeting.

Duchess resting up. She didn't get many naps this weekend because there was too much to see and do!

Duchess had her first in-the-lake-water-experience this weekend. She loved the water!

Our camp neighbors brought an inflatable large screen for their projection TV. Thankfully they played G-Rated movies for their kids and any others who wanted to watch.