April Tour

I failed to blog about my tour in April that was with my most favorite school group. I had the same school last year, and these girls were fantastic. They did there home country of England proud. Our tour started in NYC, then DC, where the cherry blossoms were in bloom and gorgeous and ended with a drive up to NYC and a stop in Philly.

The teachers and me acting like fools in front of the White House. Obama is waving from the top floor, second window from the right.

I really liked this photo. I took it from the Lee Mansion, which is in the Arlington National Cemetery. You can see the Washington Monument and the Capitol in the distance.

Travel Option

I got to thinking, I've told you about my flying adventures, but I have never told you how may get in on the action. If you're in the area (Grand Junction and Rifle) and want to take flying lessons, you can check out the Colorado Flight Center (CFC). The CFC organized our breakfast fly out last weekend and it's the company where John earned his pilot's license.

However, if you are currently a pilot, you may be interested in taking a flight tour. Parkwest Air Tours is for you. You take your plane, along with your new-found friends, and travel the United States by air. The company offers tours to Alaska, the Southwest, Rockies and the "American Outback." Once you've arrived at these locations, you have time to explore and wonderful accommodations.

It looks like a lot of fun! Happy travels!

Hot Time

Thought I would share that this is the oddest spring for me. I'm used to many more rainy days than sunny in good ole KC. But in Grand Junction, we're setting records. It was 92 degrees yesterday and it's supposed to be just as hot today. I haven't seen rain it seems in ages, but they are calling for rain this week. And a lady at church put it best saying that it rains mud here. It doesn't rain enough to get the dirt completely out of the air, but just enough to make the dirt stick to your car. It's all new and different! And I do enjoy having sunshine.

Come Fly with Me

John and I flew away this morning to the air strip at the Gateway Canyons Resort. It was a beautiful day here. I know the Midwest is getting rained out, but the sun just won't stop here. I guess that's what I get for moving to the desert.

Anyway we flew there with some amazing aerial views ... but first, me posing at the airport. I know you're thinking that I should be an airplane model. It's a thought.

This is an aerial of the Colorado National Monument outside Grand Junction.

Here's the approach. At this moment John's talking to the planes already in the air and on the ground getting ready to land. The airstrip is the dirt strip at the right of the photo.

This is where we landed ... and took off. And, yes, Mom, I'm okay. John did a fantastic job. Once we were on the ground and walking to the resort for breakfast, we had to dodge cow pies. So I guess the cattle roamed to the air strip.

This is the plane that arrived shortly after us and the other planes that came into Gateway.

John flying the plane through the canyons.

The final approach into Grand Junction.

If only ...

If only I had this car ... on the other hand, I doubt it has cruise control or cup holders....

John and I went down to Gateway Canyons Resort last weekend to the car show. We drove down looked at everything, had a picnic and drove back. It was a really nice day. Tomorrow we're FLYING down to Gateway with the Colorado Flight Center's "fly out" breakfast. We're landing on a dirt runway ... Stay tuned ...

Home Sweet Home

A couple of my loyal fans have asked me to post a few pictures of Grand Junction and the our humble abode. I have to say Grand Junction is much different than Missouri. You can see that much of the green is man made.

The front of the house and our tiny little patch of grass. The rest of the yard in the front and back is rock. Perfect! John uses a push mower with no motor for our yard and it takes all of 15 minutes to do the yard work with the weed eating!

The back yard with the nice patio area.

The view looking directly out our back door. This is looking east toward the Grand Mesa and the lovely shed the neighbors built. :)

Looking north from the backyard you can see part of the Bookcliffs, which are quite spectacular. I'm sure I'll post more pix of the them later.

Our container garden! John and I picked up some pepper and tomato plants yesterday and we are trying our hand at keeping these things alive. We'll see ...