Zion National Park

We loved Zion National Park. It is a great place to hike with phenominal scenery. On the way out of the park we saw a herd of long-horn sheep, a rare treat.

Colorado River

On the drive to the North Rim you travel through the Navaho Indian Reservation. (Actually the Reservation covers a third of the state.) There is a historic bridge that crosses the Colorado River, the only one for hundreds of miles, the original is now a pedestrian bridge. We recommend you stop at the information center at the bridge. Its a good photo spot.

Close to the bridge is the site of Lee's Ferry; it is now part of the Glen Canyon National Park and was the primary place where prospective settlers crossed the river in route to the Arizona Strip.

Grand Canyon: North Rim

The North Rim is a long drive, but worth it. The crowds are much smaller. There seems to be more variety of formations. Expect to drive more; there are no shuttles and the overlooks are miles apart. Notice the smoke. It was still awe inspiring. We only got a couple of hours there.

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona is a beautiful place. These scenes are from the south side of town. The north was closed due to the fires. The town is a tourist center; think Gatlinberg of the West without any highrises, streams of water, or chair-lifts. (The literature suggests there is a river nearby with great fishing; You couldn't prove it by me.)

Where there is Smoke

We returned last evening from a working vacation in Arizona. We spent Thursday through Sunday morning in Sedona where Cheryl was a guest lecturer for the "Pastor Theologians" program of the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton Theological Seminary (what a mouth-full). It was at a Hiton conference center (very nice! Presbyterians know how to retreat; Like Jesus they went to the wilderness mountains.)
While we were there, there was a major forest-fire north of town in the Oak Creek Canyon where all the great sites are. We could see the fires at night.

On Sunday we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (six hour drive). We wanted to avoid the crowds at the South Rim. We stayed in a cabin at Jacobs' Lake (see below; the spacious cabin was a duplex). We drove to the rim to see sunset. Unfortunately, there was a very major fire on the north rim. The air was full of smoke. We believe we were the last people out of the park that night. It was closed off and hundreds of people were standed inside for a couple of days.

On Monday we drove to Zion National Park in Utah (two hours one way). It was wonderful. We will return some day. But there was a fire there as well. When we returned to Jacob's Lake for the night the smoke was so thick we could hardly sleep with the windows closed.

On Wednesday were returned to Pheonix via the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.


We had the front half.


A full view of our room.

Karisa is Off

I took this photo at the Nashville airport when I dropped Karisa off for her trip to India. She first went to Denver for a week of orientation. She is now in Mumbai (Bombay). She seems well and happy working with the Dalit (Untouchables). I'll post her email address later.

Return of the Living

OK, we are alive and well. It has been a busy spring and I just have not had time to post. So I'll try to catch up but without concern for proper sequence.

Alethea's Childhood rediscovered on an April visit. Actually, she was making sure Camdyn was not overrun by bigger children.