Spring Break

We are having a truly awesome Spring Break! I wish I could post pictures, but Sam took the camera with her to her dad's before I could download the pics. Oops! The only huge bummer about this trip was that Mike was working the whole time and could not go with us.

We took off to cooler country...but not that much cooler! It was 70 degrees in Flagstaff while we were there. Oh well, at least it does not get over 100 there. We spent time exploring the countryside and visited the Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon in Northern Arizona.

Sunset Crater Volcano - This was really neat, especially since we just read the book and saw the movie for Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. Of course, the movie is NOTHING like the book. In the book, they describe the lava fields and entering the dormant volcano. We could totally picture what it was like since we could see it in real life. Very cool! If you ever get a chance, don't forget to take an hour out of your way to see it! We did not hike too much, but there is a 1/2 mile hike further up to see more. Oh, and they don't allow dogs on the hiking trails! :-( It was sad to lock Maggie up in the car.

Walnut Canyon - We have seen the turn-off for Walnut Canyon several times and never taken the time to go. It is right off I-40 and closer than I thought. Marly was not up to taking the 240 stairs down to see the actual cliff dwellings, but we'll attempt it another time when she is feeling better. There is a short Rim Trail that allows you to see the caves from the opposite rim. I wish I had known more about this because we would have brought binoculars. We'll remember to bring them next time! Again, a very cool place to stop and see. Dogs are not allowed there either.

We are so lucky that Marly has a Golden Access Pass that was given to her when we went to the Grand Canyon a few years ago. She was restricted to a walker at the time and we inquired about handicap services. The next thing we know, they are handing us this free life-time pass for her to get into ANY National Park for free. It is for her and up to 4 people. So, needless to say, we take advantage of owning this pass.

Google Earth

Wow! Google Earth is the coolest thing! I could zoom in directly on our house. It seems that the image for that area was nearly 2 years old. We still had our Suzuki Grand Vitara parked in the driveway and several other things have changed in the area with new streets, more houses, etc. In general I was really, really impressed.

We have decided that this great freebie will be extremely useful in all of our geography studies. We can even use it to pick camping sites. ;-)

So, I do have to say, that at this point in time I do not think that we will be able to see real-time photos of people sunbathing in their backyard. Could that be in the future? Maybe...