Marvelous Milestones!

The Milestone? Matt graduated from college on December! It's hard to believe I'm now the mother of a college graduate! B.A. in English Communications and a 2nd major in French from Ft.. Lewis College

Matt and his sister Sarah

Matt and his girlfriend Alicia

Bad picture, but you have to love the snow capped mortar boards!

A Bicycle Love Story

So way back in the 80's when I was in grad school I lived in the the tiny town of Oxford, OH. I met my kids father there, and when we met I was shocked and and apalled that he didn't have a bike, as Oxford was the perfect place for biking, both as recreation and just for getting around town. So I cajoled him into a buying a bike so we could ride together. He went uptown to "The Bike Center" and bought a nice red Nishiki, a nicer bike than the one I rode in the color I always wanted my bike to be. I still have never had a red bike... **sniff**

Fast forward to 'now'. I live way out west in Utah. I am divorced. My ex never really was as interested in biking as I am, so he left his bikes behind when he left. My 23 year old son however, is into bikes, and bike building and repairing, so he recognized that the old bike of dads was actually a nice, quality old bike. So last spring he pulled it out of the crawlspace and hauled it back to Durango, CO where he attended college.

This weekend when I was in Durango for his graduation he asked me to take his dads bike back home, since it's winter and his house is tiny (really tiny). As we go to wrangle the bike out of his overcrowded entry way, I ask about the 3rd bike in the pile, a gray Trek, probably from the '90's, which I did not recognize. Turns out it was his girlfriend Alicia's... then he gets excited...

"But get this mom, you know how dad's bike came from Oxford? It still has "The Bike Center" sticker. Look at Alicia's bike... it's from "The Bike Center" too... it has the exact same sticker."

So you have to be kidding me! Sure enough both bikes are labeled exactly the same. I asked where she got her bike, and it turned out she had bought it used, there in Durango. So what is the chance that two old bikes from the tiny town of Oxford, Ohio would come to live together in the same tiny house in Durango, CO? Kind of a bike "love story" of sorts! Two bikes, from a sleepy little Ohio town, travel the west to, decades later, be united 1400 miles from home in Durango, CO!

Potty Talk 2

Maybe it's a Colorado thing? Hanging out at the Durango Brewing Company, enjoying the beer and some nice live music, and of course I eventually need to go to the ladies room. I open the door next to the bar that says 'restrooms', and what do I find? Not a bathroom, but a workoom with a sign on a far room directing me back through the brewery back rooms to the bathroom... Second weird bathroom in 2 days...

Potty Talk

It's not the first time I have talked about bathrooms on my blog. Perhaps it's time for me to use the tag "potty" for my potty talk posts.(I may have to find and tag my old potty posts) Apparently I must have an odd fascination with weird or interesting bathrooms. Here's one I found yesterday at gas station mini-mart in Cortez, Colorado. Lucky for me the path was well marked so I didn't get lost! No shot of the actual potty, but be assured it was just a grimy (very!) gas station bathroom

And today while I was browsing in an antique store I found this, a portable potty seat. Perfect for your travelling potty training needs. Where was this when my kids were toddlers? OK, maybe I never wanted to carry a potty seat everywhere I went, but an interesting old find non the less!

Sedona Sojourn Day 8 - Triple Cheeseburger!

You know me and my cheeseburger summit hikes... after a week of hiking I found a few I could do, and I finished my vacation with a triple cheeseburger day! Check them out on the Summit Cheeseburger Site! Doe Mountain Brins Mesa Table Top Mesa

Sedona Sojourn Day 7 - Boynton Canyon

An intersting thing about Sedona... It is known for it's powerful energy vortexes... If you are a metaphysical type or energy worker you'll know what I mean. I can't say I am believer or non-believer.. as I do suppose there are things modern science has yet to discover, but being a "show me the data" girl I do examine these things with a weird mix of open-mindedness and skepticism. Of the four energy vortex I visited, I can't say I noticed anything special until I visited Boynton Canyon. I have no idea if it was special energy, but my experience there was amazing. Perhaps people were scared away by the 'bear warning' signs or the fact that someone marked out the mileage on sign and scrawled 3.3 miles by GPS as the distance to the end of the canyon, but I hiked to the end of the canyon in solitude. I stood there surrounded by tall cliffs in near silence, silence punctuated by the buzz of insects and the caws of crows playing high up on the canyon walls. It was peaceful, and beautiful, and I have no idea if I was feeling vortex energy, but I certainly felt the beauty of being one with nature... it was quite magical. I hiked out of the canyon with such a happy, serene heart, and as I came closer to the trailhead I heard music... Indian flute music wafting up the canyon. High on a spire sat a man with a flute. What a magical experience!!! I ran into some people near the trailhead. They said the musician comes there everyday to play, and that he decorates the trees with sandstone hearts, and also gives hearts to people he meets along the way. I hiked the spire trail to better hear the music. The music ended and a guy walked up. He extended a hand, which held a sandstone heart and said "Here is a gift from mother earth". He certainly was not the the hippy-dippy Sedona energy worker type I expected... just an ordinary looking 50ish year old man, dressed in chinos and polo shirt. We chatted a bit and I thanked him for his lovely performance. As I hiked back down the car I noticed that indeed, there were sandstone hearts decorating the trees. What an interesting, special place Boynton Canyon turned out to be!

Welcome to my Winter Wonderland!

I must interrupt my vacation travelog for a winter weather alert.

That's right, winter!!

Awoke to 4 inches of snow this morning (yes, I actually measured)! .....and it's been snowing on and off all day.

I haven't even turned the heat on yet.... But I have shoveled my drive!

Sedona Sojourn Day 6 Mund's Wagon Trail

After having such a delight evening adventure the night before, I was actually kind of tired, so rather than rushing out to hike I went out for a lovely breakfast. Then headed to a trail not far from the resort. Mund's Wagon Trail. Very shortly into the hike things got confusing. The trail merged with a wash, and became unclear. As I stood there confused about where to go, wondering if I was confused because I was so tired and dazed, another hiker walked into the wash. Whew, he was as confused as I was, but suggested maybe the trail crossed the jeep road. I decided to follow him but it didn't take long for, me to decide that must not be the way and turned around. Back in the wash I spied a cairn marking the right way, so I was off. I ran into a couple of nice women and hiked along with them. Not but a 100 yards down the trail the three of us were confused about where the trail went. As we stood contemplating the trail (or lack there of), my first hiking buddy ambled up. I greeted him, telling him I'm glad he found us and wasn't lost in the desert,and we all stood confused about where to go next.

Eventually we found the trail, and I decided that since the trail seemed so confusing, and I was tired and perhaps not thinking clearly, that perhaps I shouldn't be hiking alone and asked the guy if I could join him. He seemed happy for the company,so off we went together. His name was Rob, he had driven up from Phoenix for the day to hike and take pictures. So we hiked the 4 miles to the end of the trial and back, having nice discussions, mostly about photography along the way. Once again I was pleasantly surprised by nice people you meet while adventuring alone. Great company and conversation, I learned a lot of new photography info, plus I was motivated to forget my tiredness and do the entire 8 mile hike. Another great vacation day!!!

Sedona Sojourn Day 5

Sedona from Cathedral Rock

Not a wilderness hike today but a fun climb up to the base of the spires of Cathedral Rock.

Cathedral Rock

View from the spires

View from the spires

One fun thing about traveling alone is that you never know who you will meet along the way. Coming down from Cathedral Rock I ran into a guy. I don't remember why we started talking, but he was an energy healer from Canada. He had driven 36 hours to come see Sedona's energy vortexes, one of which is near Cathedral Rock. I can't say I'm a 'believer', but I am curious so I asked him if I could tag along. He agreed and we headed down the trail to the creek where the vortex is purported to be. I can't say I felt any magic energy, but the hike along the creek was beautiful and the conversation interesting. Across the creek is Buddha beach, where people visiting the vortex have built lots of small rock cairns offering healing prayers.

Creek by Buddha Beach

After my apres hike soak in the hot tub at the resort I headed out on my second adventure of the day... a trip to Jerome AZ, an old copper mine town perched high on the mountains about 30 miles west of Sedona. The mining days are over, and now the town is bit of an artist community. Not much was open when I arrived, but I did find a great gallery of local and had a lovely chat with the owner. Being alone really opens up the door to a lot of interesting conversations.

Jerome

Walking up the street I found a great little southwester restaurant, Quince. As I was contemplated the menu deciding whether it was where I wanted to eat, a guy with a guitar walked in... so I knew it was the place for me. I sat at the bar, joked with the bartender, ordered food and a very yummy margarita. A prickly pear fresh mint margarita, made with lime and Grand Marnier and good tequila... definitely not a 'Utah' drink. LOL The music was awesome, a fabulous guitar player, Eric Miller. Spanish/jazzy, all I can say is that I think I'm in love...(well, with his music) I sat for 2 hours and listened until he was finished, then had to by a CD...nice guy too we had a nice little chat about music and he even showed me pictures of his sisters artwork What at lovely evening, I never would have though I'd have such fun adventuring out on my own.

Quince