Christmas

We spent Christmas with my family in South Carolina.  My mom set up quite a spread on Christmas Eve.

And we had a nice dinner with my brother, his wife, their five kids, and some of my sister-in-laws family. With fourteen of us it was bit crowded – first time the dining room had two tables in it!

Things were a little chaotic, so we didn’t get around to taking a family picture…it was fun to spend time with my family though.   It was fun to see all the kids opening their presents and just to have time to spend with them.  I never seem to take many pictures while I’m there.  I see them so rarely, that I get too focused on them and forget about getting the camera out.

New Orleans

After visiting with Jason’s mother and brother for several days in Austin, we headed over to New Orleans.  We’ve both been several times before, but not since Katrina.  French Quarter hadn’t changed much.

The famous Jackson Square.

It was our worst day, weather wise – cold & rainy, but some coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde helped.

No crowds on Bourbon Street – infact street performers were even set up.

Love all the balconies and just wandering around town – so nice without the crowds!

And, you have to have a hurricane..

We also did a walking tour of the Garden District – we learned a lot about the history.  I love those kinds of tours. 

Big Bend National Park

After a long drive, we arrived at our “luxurious” accommodations in west Texas.  We were really in the middle of no where!

It was a short drive to Big Bend National Park – my second visit, Jason’s first.

Perfect weather for hiking!

 

We hiked to “The Window”.  Erin – do you remember this one? It’s near the group camp.

That’s a big drop off – the rock was super smooth from the seasonal water flow – we were too scared to go out much further.

On our second day, we hiked in a canyon carved out by the Rio Grande.  We had wanted to canoe, but the water level was too low.

Jason took these cool pictures – you can’t tell what’s real and what’s a reflection in the water.

Here’s another shot to give you a better understanding of the above picture.

Random stops along the way

Today on our drive towards Big Bend NP, we had three stops.

First, the Meteor Crater east of Flagstaff.  This crater was caused by a meteor impact 50,000 years ago.  It’s hard to get a concept of the size in a picture, but the crater is a mile across and 700ft deep.

A few hours down the road was the Petrified Forest National Park.  The trees are 250 million years old!!

 

And then our last touristy stop for the day was the Very Large Array.  There are twenty-seven radio antennas that work together to explore far stretches of the universe.

Sedona

We had a great day exploring Sedona.  What a beautiful place!  After being in so many desert communities it was such a treat to see so much greenery.   The contrast of the red rocks and the green plants is just spectacular.  What’s strange is all the beautiful scenery right in town.  It seems like you should be in a park, but you are right in town.

Saguaro National Park

I have to confess I didn’t even know about this national park, but once I saw it on the map I had to go!  I’ve got a think for national parks.

This park is just outside Tucson…literally.  It’s got to be the only park were you can see the city from inside the park.

The park is named after these cacti…it’s amazing to see how big they can get.  Average lifespan is 150-200 years.

There are other interesting plants in the park as well.  In the last month we’ve been exposed to so many different desert habitats.

Look closely and you’ll see me standing under this damaged Saguaro

Palm Springs

As a break from “traveling” we called Palm Springs our home for a week.  We’ve been in an extended stay hotel with kitchen, so we’ve been cooking our own meals, which is a nice change after being on the road.  I’ve been doing lots of school work and Jason has been getting a lot of work done too – especially after a week of not being online during the cruise.

We really like it here.  I could definitely spend the winter here…no ocean, but it is sunny and beautiful. 

We spend some time at the pool.  Even went swimming one day!  I love seeing palm trees and mountains.

I took some afternoon walks in neighborhoods.  I’m trying to get in some activity everyday – I definitely gained weight on the cruise. Almost all the streets are lined with palm trees.

I love the desert plants in the yards.  And, I’d say 95% of the house are simple one story homes like this one.

In the local parks there is quite a bit of landscaping.  It can be easy to forget you are in the middle of the desert.  I love that plants are blooming in December.

There’s an aerial tram that goes into the mountains.  Here’s the view where you buy tickets – I thought for sure Jason would want to back out, but we went.

It was a two and half mile ride taking 10 minutes. We knew it would be colder up there (~8500ft), but we weren’t expecting snow!

And here’s the view from the top of the mountain.