IT'S SATURDAY

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Yep, it's Saturday and I am pooped! Right now Steve and Brice are somewhere in Zion National Park with the little ones, Wyatt and Mabrie. The rest of us (Mandy, Lily, Catherine, Stephanie and me) are resting in an air-conditioned hotel room.

Women leaving Cedarosa
From left to right:
Mandy & Lily with Mabrie below, Diana & Abby, Catherine & Meeko, Cindy, Stephanie, Mom (Helen) & Reno the stud, and Linda.

The Richards get one last shot at Cedarosa.

Thursday was a big day for us as we packed up our things at the ranch and got ready to move west and eventually back to the Northwest.

The Three Amigos at the ranch.

Steve had to pick up the car from Albuquerque first and then we traveled I-40 towards Flagstaff, Arizona. Along the way is one of my favorite places, Meteor Crater. It's just 5 miles off the highway and a must-see.

It may look like a big hole in the

ground, but it's a unique hole

formed by the impact of a meteorite.

Long ago a huge iron-nickel meteorite estimated to have been about 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons, struck the plain of northern Arizona with an explosive force greater than twenty million tons of TNT. As a result of the impact, the crater was formed with the floor 700 feet deep; it is now approximately 550. The crater is over 4,000 feet across and 2.4 miles in circumference.

Mitchell loves to hang with the little ladies! Here he is with Lily at the Crater.>

Lily, Mabrie and Wyatt pose after hiking to the bottom of the Crater.

Gotcha! (as Wyatt says) they're posing in front of a mural of the bottom of the crater.

We spent time gawking at the crater and mugging for pictures before scurrying to the car as a lightning storm rolled through. Then we made our way to Flagstaff, AZ, for the night.

Friday was even a bigger day as the entire gang took off from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.

The Washington Maldonados

Mom and Steve

Wyatt and Mabrie up a tree at the Canyon.

The Richards on the rim.

The Washington Maldonados, the Richards, Mom (Helen), Linda, and the Three Amigos (Alfredo, Danny & Mitchell) headed together to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and it was there that we parted ways with our college-bound son. Mitchell took off with his grandmother, et. al. towards Laughlin, Nevada, while the rest of our family drove off with the Richards to Page, AZ, and the Glenn Canyon Dam.

Behind the dam is the beautiful Lake Powell.

Twenty years ago while attending Northern

Arizona University I took an 8-hour tour of Glenn Canyon Dam and this day was so happy to share this place with those I love.