Verde Canyon Railroad

Brent loves trains, so what better than a 4 hour train ride through the Verde Canyon. 

We had seats in the first class car and began our trip with a champagne toast and some snacks.  Ahh, this is the life!

 

We have a choice between relaxing in the car or heading out to the canopied viewing car.  It's a beautiful day and we get some beautiful shots of the canyon. 

 

Our car is towrd the back of the train so as we go around a long curve and over the trestle bridge, we have a great view of the front of the train with its two engines.

 I think the scenery speaks for itself.

After 2 hours we reach the end of the line.  The engines detach and come alongside on their way to our end of the train.  They'll reattach and pull us back to our original start point.  Yes, it's a 4 hour tour, and as I suspected, it's 2 hours too long.  This was definitely worth doing, but once you've seen it, you've seen it, and once was enough.

But no matter what I thoughtm Brent totally enjoyed the entire trip.  He was thrilled when he saw a bald eagle on the trip back.

 

Next stop:  Jerome.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

 

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic chapel built into the mesas of Sedona.  The chapel took 18 months to build and was completed in 1956.  The Chapel is one of the main tourist attractions in Sedona and is the site of one of the vorticesfor which Sedona is known.

 

This home below the Chapel was quite a sight.  I couldn't believe how huge this place was.  It certainly was one of the few homes in the desert that had such a huge green lawn.  I wonder who lives here.

 Behind me you can see Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock which we hiked around this morning.  Quite a sight.  Can you imagine the people in the home above waking up to this view every day?  Lucky folks!

Courthouse Butte - Bell Rock Loop

On our first day in Sedona we opt to do the 4.25 mile Courthouse Butte/Bell Rock Loop hike.  It's a beautiful, nearly 100 degree day but it doesn't seem that hot.  Slathered up with PF50 sunscreen and plenty of water, we set off on the very easy trail.  The first two pictures are of Courthouse Butte from different positions.  It took quite awhile to get all the way around it.

 

 

 This third pictue is Bell Rock.  By the time we get here, I have to admit I'm getrting pretty hot and tired.  But the view is just so darn worth it!

Ok, I admit it.  I have a cactus fascination.  This is the prickly pear cactus and the red knobs are actually the fruit of the cactus.  They make all sorts of stuff out of the fruit like candy and jams.  I had a sea bass dish that was served with a prickly pear sauce.  Yummy!

This would be the so-called cross roads, or cross trail as the case may be.  This was a fantastic hike, and now it's time to head back to the hotel for a little pool time.

After the cool dip, a little nap, and little spiffin' up and we were off to what was probably the classiest place to dine, Renee at Tlaquepaque (pronounced tlackypacky) www.rene-sedona.com/.  This place is on the Wine Spectator list so you an just imagine what fantastic wines were available.  Brent had antelope while I settled for the more mundane, yet perfectly cooked scallops.  I was saving room for dessert -flambed cherries jubilee served over french vanilla ice cream. MMMmmmmm.   I haven't had that since I was a kid. It was wonderful.

Pertinent Quote

A good quote is one that stands the test of time. Perhaps someone should share this quote with our president and a good many of our politicians.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

- A. Lincoln

Magic Behind Disney's Steam Trains

Since I'm on a roll with Christmas gifts, one of Bent's Christmas presents was one of the tours at the Magic Kingdom, the Magic Behind the Steam Trains.  I knew Brent would really enjoy this, and he truly did.

 We arrived at the Magic Kingdom about 30 minutes beforre the park opened.  Our engineer tour guide met us and we began the tour in the Main Street station.

 The day at the Magic Kingdom always starts with the arrival of the train with Mickey, Minnie, and a bunch of other characters and singers.  We were lucky to be on hand when Mickey got off the train and was walking down the ramp toward Main Street.

 We boarded the train and travelled back to what used to be the Toontown Station.  This station has been closed as they are expanding Fantasyland.  Where the water tank is we began to back down the track.

 There is a "roundhouse" hidden away back behind the trees.  This train is only used for the opening of the park in the morning.

 The Roy O. Disney train was brought out and before it was put into service, we had a tour of the engine.

 We were taken up in small groups and I got the hot seat.

 On January 5, the park was still decorated for Christmas as evidenced by the wreath on the train.

 Brent really enjoyed this tour which makes me a happy camper.

Ski Bunny

This was Gwen's second year in the Mountain Explorer program at Ski Roundtop.  Gwen absolutely loves this program where she skiis 4 Saturdays in a row with the same instructor and same group of kids who are all at the same level.  Sometimes though Gwen just likes to go ski with her Grandpa. 

On this beautiful day, I came down armed with my trusty new camera to take some photos of them enjoying this glorious day together.  They had already made several runs by the time I arrived.

 A smiling kid riding the lift for another run. She looks over to make sure I'm watching.

 Grandpa follows behind.  Yes, Gwen leads because as she puts it, "Grandpa goes too slow!" 

 Grandpa is always close, protecting her from crazy kamikaze's who come flying out of control down the slope.

 Gwen doesn't use poles yet, but she likes to use one of Grandpa's to help propel her through the lift line.

 Gwen loves to hit some of the features on the slope and assures me that she caught some air on this trip over the jump.

 Gwen was anxious to show me that she could make it down Minute Man.

  Sheisvery proud of the fact that not only can she do Minute Man, but she can do Lower "Exbidition" (hahaha) as well. I'm really proud of her, she's really coming along.

 This pooped kid is going to sleep great tonight!

My big goal was to be able to ski with Gwen this year.  Unfortunately, the unwise decision to do some yoga poses on my knees in December created some knee problems that it took me two months to recover from.  I am bound and determined to ski with Gwen even if I only get to do it once.  Next year, Gwennie.  Get ready!

Horse Crazy Girl

Kylie's big Christmas gift was some riding lessons.  She has been taking them for a little while and we thought we'd contribute to the cause.  Kylie really loves horses and we were excited to go see her ride.  It was a very cold February morning when we arrived at the stables.  Thankfully, the instructor decided to conduct the lesson in the large indoor ring.

 Kylie was really happy to see us here this morning.  She told her little friend that she had, "people coming to see me ride!"  Cracked me up.

 I don't know all the appropriate terms since I'm not a horse woman, but I'll do my best.  Kylie brushed her horse and picked any debris out of the hooves before helping to saddle her horse.

 Kylie walks her horse outside and mounts her horse.

 Kylie rides by herself across the road to the indoor ring.

 I have not done much riding, and I am so impressed that Kylie is doing great.  This horse follows her lead pretty well without Kylie getting frustrated.

 Posting.  Kylie didn't hesitate and followed the commands of her instructor easily.

 One happy little girl!

 Kylie was a little afraid to hold her hands out and just use her thighs to control the horse.  Well, she's only 5 after all!

 I'm impressed that she immediately starts to brush her horse and take care of blanketing him.  She seems to have no problem taking responsibility for taking care of him at all.

We were really tickled to see Kylie use her Christmas gift.  My Aunt Pat was quite a horse woman and I'll bet she's looking down on Kylie with glee knowing that finally there's another horse crazy girl in the family!