Hiking and Quilts or Is That Quilts and Hiking?

 One of the nice things about living in the Phoenix Metro

is that we are only a 3 hour drive from

the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

We took a few days vacation with our friends 

the Hollands to combine

some hiking with visits to a few quilt stores

along the way.

 Paul and Mr. Cactus

were quite the adventurers as they trekked 

down to 

3 Mile Rest House on 

Bright Angel Trail

With endless switchbacks, the Grand Canyon

is known as "a place of extremes"

While descending the 2400 feet,

going down can be hard on the knees,

but the coming back up can be exhaustive.

Mr. Cactus was quite surprised he had service

when his phone rang

deep down in the canyon.

It was our 90 year old Aunt

calling to say she was home from the hospital :)

At least it was good news!

 While the guys hiked

Denise and I hung out at the top of the rim

visiting places like Lookout Studio

and the Lodge

 Always the quilter looking for inspiration

I noticed this Hexagon pattern

on the tile floor in the ladies restroom :)

(go ahead and laugh)

 The day before on our ride towards the Canyon

we stopped at a few quilt stores 

like Quilter's Store in Sedona

Very nice with a great selection of batiks

Southwest patterns and fabrics

and even some Modern

and Quilts on Route 66

in the small town of Williams

 Quaint with a Vintage feel

and current fabrics.

We were glad we stopped.

And to not overload the guys with too much

quilty stuff in one day

we spent the evening in Flagstaff

at the Lowell Observatory

where Pluto was discovered in 1930

on this telescope.

We've been to the Lowell several times

but this was our first visit at night.

They opened up their telescopes

for some terrific views of the Moon

I was even more thrilled to be able to see

up close

 the rings

around Saturn and 3 of it's moons.

Another Check on the Bucket List

 I'm in the Bay Area

preparing for 

Pacific International Quilt Festival

San Jose is my home town

and I came in a few days early 

to spend some time with family.

While I have been home 

I placed a check mark 

on my 

Bucket List

My brother-in Law

recently purchased a 

Harley- Davidson motorcycle

and offered me a ride.

 I've never been on a Harley before :)

It was quite fun to stroll around the 

scenic tree lined streets of Pleasanton, California.

And then we hit the freeway....

Zoooommmmm!

I think if I ever get back on a Harley,

I'll request we stick to the tree lined streets.

Oh my.

 Those things can go from

0 to 70 miles an hour in just a few seconds.

 When we got back from our ride,

my brother (who is an amazing cook)

had prepared a fabulous meal

of Caribbean food.

Jerk Chicken
Coconut Rice and Beans
Caribbean Slaw.
Yum:)
I'll keep you posted on 

the events from the 

Convention that starts on Wednesday.

Our Little Slice Of Heaven

 We think September is a wonderful time

to play in Southern California.

School has resumed and the crowds have lessened,

especially at the beach.

The weather is usually

PERFECT

 We have a family tradition of 

renting a beach house

right off the ocean

in beautiful 

Newport Beach

and spend the week

relaxing

and just being together.

 Blissful days spent building sand castles,

gathering seashells,

 swimming and boogie boarding.

This year we had almost the entire section of our beach

all to ourselves.

Hours and hours of play time

from sunrise to sunset.

  Mr. Cactus taught

the grandbabies the art of

wet sand sculptures.

 Gather up hand fulls of 

wet sand and let it 

drip 

drip 

drip

into a formation of your choice.

 Let your creativity and imagination

flow

 A forest of sand Christmas trees?

Our little 

Slice of Heaven

Cars Land

Lisa E. was right on

when she guessed we were in

Cars Land

 Disney California Adventure

 Such a cool ride!

12 Acres of fun

where you race through

desert scenes 

and Red Rock mountain ranges.

 Even though we were in California

we felt we had been 

momentarily morphed

back to Arizona.

Disney's Ornament Valley

is patterned after

Monument Valley

located along the Arizona-Utah state line.

 We are here with our 3 oldest children and grandchildren.

I'm an especially happy mama 

to have our son Scott who lives in New York

fly in for the week.

 And with only a 5 1/2 hour drive from the Phoenix Metro

our daughter Aubrey was also able to join us for a few days.

 Being with family is the best part!

  We are big Disney Fans

even during the competitive parts

Although I am a little worried they

might not let us back in :)

Can You Guess Where We Are?

 I know it's been a little silent

here at 

Cactus Needle 

during the last week.

 Can You Guess Where We Are?

 I'll give you a few clues:

That's Butte

pronounced like "Ute"

or like "Route"

as in 66

(not what you were thinking at first, was it?)

 We had to leave our home in Arizona

to see Arizona
(*we are not in Arizona)

 And we parked our car to ride in a car.

 Does this help?

 Come on!  I'm almost giving it away!

Any ideas?

I will leave you with

some sage advice :)
*last clue:
some say this is the happiest place on Earth :)

Grand Canyon South Rim

 Mr. Cactus and I just got back from a little

2-day trip to the

Grand Canyon

 Now that we live in the Phoenix Metro

it's only a 3 1/2 hour drive to get to the

South Rim

 As many of you know, the

Grand Canyon is one of the 

7 Natural Wonders of The World

It's one of those places you must see for yourself

because pictures cannot capture the 

vastness, magnitude or 

immensity of the experience.

 We wanted to do some hiking.

I voted  to start with the easy

13 Mile 

Rim Trail

that winds along the top of the canyon .

 Most of this trail is paved,

and you always have the option of 

hopping on a Shuttle bus

that will take you to the next lookout point.

We did a mixture of hiking and riding,

which made for a very pleasant morning. 

 Layers of the Grand Canyon reveal 

40 % of the Earth's history.

Trail of Time markers

are set a meter apart

along the trail,

signifying 1 million years

of Geologic history.

Our National Parks are very family oriented.

We visited with people from all over the world

who came from long distances.

We heard many languages being spoken

from French to Italian to German.

In fact, very rarely did we

hear our native language of English

as we stopped at lookout points.

 There are 6 major overlooks

along the Rim Trail.

The South end of the Grand Canyon 

sits at an elevation of

7,000 feet above sea level.

 The deep fissures were carved by the 

Colorado River below.

 The Grand Canyon chasm is 277 miles long

and up to 18 miles wide.

 The monument to John Wesley Powell

at Powell Point

made us think a little bit of 

the Mayan El Castillo at Chichen Itza in Mexico.

 Powell was the first to explore the 

Grand Canyon in 1869

 This is

Monsoon Season

in Arizona

and as we traversed the trail

huge rain clouds began forming overhead.

Lightening strikes can be very dangerous

so the park began lining up shuttle buses

and requested everyone move off the mountainside.

I didn't mind much.

We headed to the Lodge restaurant with a

spectacular overlook

 and waited out the storm.

We dined leisurely on a very nice late lunch

while a torrential downpour

blanketed the skies.

I love a summer thunderstorm :)

Once things cleared up a bit,

Mr. Cactus was looking for a more rigorous hike

and  headed down part of the

Bright Angel Trail.

His descent of more than 1,000 feet was a little 

much for me so I stayed back and 

read, 

napped 

and enjoyed the most breathtaking views.