Wild West

I realized lately that I have very few "Western" pictures up on the blog. We do live out here in Arizona and not many of our few readers do, so I'll indulge a little. We have been playing host to lots of friends and family this spring, and have visited the Grand Canyon twice, so we do have some interesting, current shots of the terrain out here, although I'm a little lax on the Sonoran Desert photos with the Saguaro cacti. I'll have to work on that one.

This is a view of Mt. Humphreys in Flagstaff, while at Sunset Crater, just Northeast. (Ignore my friend's date stamp on the first couple of photos; this was really taken a couple of weeks ago.)

Between Sunset Crater and Grand Canyon are many old ruins of pueblos and lookout towers that blend right into the surrounding earth.

This is one of the few ruins visitors are allowed inside. The girls were especially enthralled with the very small doorways, designed to protect against the elements and invaders.

While some of the rooms were barely defined by walls anymore, others still had windows and doorways intact. All the roofs, made from huge timbers dragged from the forested areas near Flagstaff, had obviously disintegrated over time.

An exciting find; a "wizzud," as Katie called him.

The terrain on the way to the South Rim is high desert. These pine trees are only found close to Flagstaff, as the land is quickly reduced to shrubs and grasses poking up through the rocky soil.

No picture can do the Grand Canyon justice, though that never stops me from trying. The changing light of day and changing seasons always bring new views.

If you haven't seen it, you really must make the trip. It's not one of the seven wonders of the world for nothing! What a glimpse at God the Creator!

The air is so clean up there, and the temperatures cooler. In fact, I recently learned that the northern Arizona plateau is the second highest in elevation in the world, with only Nepal beating it out for first place. The drive up I-17 from Phoenix definitely keeps those ears a-poppin.

The Colorado River snaking its way along the bottom of the Canyon.

The girls enjoy exploring the different landscapes in our great state.

As a special treat, the elk were out at the end of our last day at the Canyon. They are so used to human presence that they barely looked up from their grazing spot six feet off a paved pull-out on the main drag as all the tourists (ourselves included) piled out of the cars and snapped away with our cameras.

So, now you can see a few of the reasons we love it here, and we'd love to share it with you. Give us a two-week notice and pop on out to explore God's great earth. We'd love to be your tour guides!