ARIZONA!

Ten INCREDIBLE DAYS in ARIZONA! WOW! We landed in Phoenix, rented a van and drove up to Flagstaff to stay with our good friends, the KORONKIEWICZ FAMILY. THANK YOU TOM, LISA, NICHOLAS and your amazing dog, NUNZIO for opening up your home and sharing all that you have with us!

Tom and Lisa are GREAT GUIDES and luckily they both took the week off of work to show us around! We saw more of the area than I ever believed we could and ALL of it was mind-blowing! The view from their back yard alone is enough to melt away the stress of every day life. We had fires every night and watched the sun set over the mountain. Flagstaff purple, Tom calls it. And the when the stars came out...AMAZING.

We got there on Nicholas's SECOND BIRTHDAY! He is SO MUCH FUN to be around and talented in so many ways. He shared time with each of us and touched us all in his own special way. We all fell in love with that boy. I miss him already.

August is monsoon season up there, so there was plenty of moisture for our Florida skin, but it took a few days to get used to the altitude (7,000 feet). The mantra was always "drink water, drink water" and this seemed to work as we adjusted without any problems. "Eat food, eat food" was also a popular mantra...I gained 5 pounds! Mary REFUSED to get on the scale. That's vacation for ya...eat, drink and be merry...PLENTY of merry!

Every day was a new adventure. They are SO LUCKY to live in Arizona, which is truly a national treasure. We saw volcanic fields, visited American Indian ruins, hiked trails through ancient forests, swam in chilly red rock waters, drove through dizzying canyons and long desert passes. The beauty is everywhere and heightens all the senses. And ALL OF THIS is right in their back yard!

From SEDONA to the GRAND CANYON, and even an overnight trip to VEGAS, we experienced it all. It was trip that NONE OF US will ever forget...take a little trip with us and ENJOY THE PICTURES!

FUN IN FLAGSTAFF

SUNSET CRATER

WUPATKI

OAK CREEK CANYON/SEDONA

LOCKETT MEADOW

THE GRAND CANYON & THE CONDOR

TO VEGAS AND BACK

SAGUARO CACTUS

The video will be coming soon!