Karsten's birthday celebrations and THE RESULTS ARE IN !!!!!

Our youngest grandson is no longer a baby and has transitioned to toddler.  Karsten turned one year old on August 25th and we were there to celebrate with him.  Of course one day is not enough for a first birthday celebration so we kidnapped Karsten and Kasey for a fun filled day at the zoo with just the four of us!  We don't know about the super K's but Grandma and Grandpa had a great time.  Here our a few pics of the boys at the zoo!

Grandpa has his hands full!!!!

Karsten needs some Grandma help!!!

On Saturday the whole family gathered at Kris and Amy's for Karsten's official birthday party.  We took a few pictures of the celebration.

Grandpa blowing bubbles with Karsten

Kasey "helped" Karsten open his presents, apparently Mom and Grandma needed to help also

It was a hot day so a little pool time was in order for the boys!!

Karsten needed a little help to dry off --- Dad and Grandma helped him out!!

Amy and Karsten - a perfect picture of mom and son!

Uncle David and Aunt Nikki enjoying the party

Kris working the ribs on the grill after Amy slaved all day cooking the ribs - They were really great!!!

Karsten with a face full of cake on his boat and ready to go!

Your heard it first here!!!!   Karsten George Cannode may be known as" Little Hoss" in the future.  Why you may ask?  Do you remember the TV show "Bonanza", with Dan Blocker as Hoss Cartwright.  Well Karsten's mom and dad took a picture of Karsten with a ten gallon hat and he looks just like a miniture "Hoss".  If you look at Karsten, even without the hat, he resembles the gentle giant portrayed on Bonanza.  He also has a terrific personality just like Dan Blocker. 

THE PET SCAN RESULTS !!!!!!!

We promised you an answer on George's chemo treatments - the PET scan did not find any signs of cancer!!!!!  He is in remission!!!!!  That is the results we had hoped and prayed for, for the past six months.  George has a great medical team taking care of the cancer but your prayers, thoughts and good wishes gave us the mental strength and comfort needed to fight the cancer.  We knew he would beat this because of all of the support from you, our friends and family.  Anyone who has battled cancer knows that a strong support group is essential to beating cancer.  Thank you for being there for George, your compassion and encouragement were key to his remission.  We are now ready for the next phase of this battle - to make the remission permanent!  We will meet with Dr. Bergen to discuss the follow on maintenance program.  George will be on a two year chemo maintenance program but the schedule is flexible and consist only of a 45 minute treatment at an interval to be determined by our travel schedule.  It may be once every two months or three treatments in a week at a six month interval or something in between.  We will keep you posted!  Our next mission is to travel back to Ohio.  We will be enjoying a couple rounds of golf, maybe watch a little high school football, enjoy some of the best cooking in the world, and relax with family and old friends.

Many times we have ended this blog with a plea to go out and live life to the fullest ... George's cancer fight only reinforces that plea.  We retired after his first bout with cancer eight years ago in order to enjoy life and travel.  We did not think he would develop cancer again but were thankful that we had enjoyed the new lifestyle we had chosen.  Now that he is in remission we will continue to do those things that we enjoy and will continue to look forward not backward.  That may mean traveling for the next 10 years or maybe buying another stick home and playing with our grandchildren.  We do not know what our future holds, we only know that we will have fun.   We hope you will also live your lives to the fullest and have fun!!!! 

Pat's pictures of our journey back to Colorado!!

We knew our time in Northern Arizona had to end and drive back to Colorado for the doctor's visits.  We thought the beauty of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah would be in our rear view mirrors but the drive back proved us wrong.  We would like to share a few pitures Pat took from our motor home as George drove down the road.  Here are some of the over 100 pictures we kept (out of about two hundred she actually shot) on our two day drive back to Denver.  We drove through Monument Valley, Moab and the Green River valley in Utah, and turned east on I-70 along the Colorado River and over Vail and Eisnehower passes in Colorado on our way back to Denver.  Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed the view out of our windshield.

America's Backyards are really Beautiful --- Nuff said!!

Pat  did a pretty good job considering we did not stop for her to take any of these pictures.  George laughed out loud so many times as we drove down the road.  Wish we had a picture of her hanging out of the windows of the motor home, first one the driver's side and then on the passenger side--- that picture would be a keeper! 

Hope you are enjoying life and are happy, healthy and enjoying your backyards.  We will keep you posted on George's Pet scan results next week.

Lake Powell and Glen Canyon

We left the green pine trees and relative cool weather (below 90 degrees daytime and lower 50's at night) of Flagstaff and drove the 130 miles north to Page, home of Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.  We drove through one of the Navajo Indian Reservations up Hwy 89.  Your heart goes out to those Americans living on these reservations, with no real jobs they live in abstract poverty.  We arrived in Page and found a really nice campground with cable TV hookups (of course, our site's cable hookup did not work so we had to use our satellite dish, no local coverage).  The downside to this trip was we did not plan enough time to see all the sights in this area.  We will only be here one full day and we should have planned at least three days.  However, we did get out and explore today and see the beautiful high desert scenery.  We first went to Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.

Colorado River's Horseshoe Bend below Glen Canyon Dam - We really need a better camera to take these pictures!

Horseshoe Bend is a 270 degree bend on the Colorado River and you have to hike about 3/4 of a mile from a parking area to see and appreciate the bend in the river.  If you are afraid of heights you may want someone else to take the pictures, it is a shear drop of several hundred feet to the river and there is no protection from the side of the cliffs.  George laid on his stomach over the edge to get this picture above.

We thought we should have a picture taken to prove we were here!

Glen Canyon Dam - it is massive and an engineering marvel!

The Glen Canyon dam is responsible for Lake Powell.  The story behind the dam is shrouded in history and politics.  It seems that Glen Canyon area was to designated as a National Park in the late 1930's because of its beautiful canyons, that rivaled the Grand Canyon.  Before it could be designated a national park, a little war  (WWII) came along and money and politics was turned to the war effort.  After the war it became necessary to power the new American industrial engine in the west (re: southern California) and Glen Canyon dam was to be built to help provide that power.  Of course Las Vegas, Phoenix, and southern California appreciate the ability to have air conditioning but one has to wonder what beauty we sacrificed.  On the flip side of course we also have a wonderful recreation area and a very large and beautiful lake.  It took seven years to fill up and is 186 miles from the dam to the other end of Lake Powell with almost 2000 miles of shoreline.

The mighty Colorado on the release side of Glen Canyon Dam - on its way to the Grand Canyon and beyond!

Beautify and blue Lake Powell, can you see the water line at the bottom of the island?

Lake Powell, like many of the large lakes in the west, is not full.  Notice the white area just above the blue waters of Lake Powell, that is the "high water mark".  It is about 50 feet below the high water level mark, but there is still a lot of water and it is as blue as the ocean.  We were amazed to see how many large houseboats (65 feet or longer) that were on the lake.  These are floating homes during the summer months; but we have no idea what the owners do in the winter -- dry dock and head south, leaving these half million dollar boats behind?

As we said earlier, we did not have enough time to see everything we would like to have seen in this area.  With so much to see in the United States, no one has the time to see all the "major" attractions let alone the nooks and crannies that make this country so special.  But we will try to bring to you, our friends and family,  the pictures and highlights of our backyards as we travel this great country.  We will be leaving Northern Arizona tomorrow and drive back to Colorado.  We wanted to stop at the Cliff dwellings of the Ancient Publeoian Indians but time has run out and we only have two days to drive the 500 plus miles to Denver.  With at least four mountain passes of over 11000 feet to cross we will plan on a two day drive.  The scenery will be beautiful but the drive will be challenging!

As always we hope this edition of our blog finds you all happy, healthy, and safe!  We hope you are enjoying life and are taking extra good care of yourselves and your love ones. 

Another day exploring Northern Arizona!

Again we went exploring the backyards of Northern Arizona.  We have traveled I-40 across Northern Arizona many times but never stopped to look around.  This trip has opened our eyes to the beautiful countryside and the many sights of this part of the country.  If your plans are to come and see the Grand Canyon you might want to spend a few more days to see the sights around Sedona, Flagstaff, and Williams.  Also the lands of the Navajo and Hopi Indian  Nations with their many national monuments and landscapes.  We had planned to stay about four days here but are now are on our second week.  We know we have to leave this week but we are finding more and more backyards to explore as we learn about this part of the country.  One example of our exploration around Flagstaff was the Walnut Canyon National Monument.  It was the home of the Hopi Indians about 1000 years ago and the cliff dwelling homes carved out of the side of the Walnut Canyon walls are just amazing.

Walnut Canyon - home of the ancient Hopi Indians

As we were driving down I-40 just outside of Williams, AZ we came across fields on both sides of the interstate that were seas of yellow wild mountain flowers.  As the saying goes, you need to stop and smell the flowers.  After we stopped another 3 or 4 cars stopped to also take pictures of these wild flowers also.

You have to stop and smell the Flowers

The Grand Canyon deserves more than one day and we could spend a week and not appreciate all of its beauty.  We decided to drive up this morning and take the western loop drive on the south rim.  These views were very different from the east loop in that you could actually see the Colorado river (about a mile down the canyon walls).  We thought you might enjoy these views.

Colorado river at the bottom of the Grand Canyon

That is a mile down to the Colorado River

We say good bye to the Grand Canyon once more!

As you can see it was another outstanding day with hardly a cloud to be seen.  We were going to drive up to Page, AZ and Lake Powell area but decided that side trip can wait for another time.  The trip to Lake Powell would have taken 3 hours each way and we believe there is enough to see up there to warrant another trip to northern Arizona on another date.  We have found a few more sights to see around the Flagstaff area and will explore them the next couple of days as we prepare to leave here and drive back to Colorado. 

Here is hoping this finds you happy, healthy and enjoying life to the fullest!

Chapel of the Holy Dove

Breakfast cooked over the open fire has never been better.  George got up this morning made a fire in our fire pit and cooked bacon over the open fire.   He also cut up a cantaloupe.  Pat scrambled the eggs, Donna cooked the potatoes, peppers, and onions (Bob will do French Toast tomorrow morning).  With the sun shinning and the bluest sky in Arizona the day started perfectly.  When breakfast was over we decided to take a chairlift up to the highest mountain in Arizona.  

Frying the bacon  over the fire pit.  Watch out for the grease splatter George!

On the way to the mountain, we stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Dove, which we discovered on the way back from the Grand Canyon the other day.  The Chapel of the Holy Dove sits on a parcel of land between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.  It was built by Dr. Watson Lacy, a doctor at the Grand Canyon, in 1962.  Although destroyed by fire in 1999, the chapel was rebuilt by a Northern Arizona University student with the help of townspeople and merchants from Flagstaff.  It was named the Chapel of the Holy Dove to acknowledge the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, described in Mathew 3:16 as descending "like a dove" above Jesus in commissioning His earthly ministry as God, Incarnate.  The chapel is open to all, never locked, all the material inside are free and numerous weddings are held in the chapel.

Bob and Donna entering the Chapel of the Holy Dove 

Pat just inside the door of the Chapel

The back of the Chapel

We made it to top of the mountain and to the highest toilet in Arizona.  the views were spectacular.  We saw as far as the Grand Canyon to the north and 100 miles in every direction.

Had to take this picture -- any questions?

That is a fire about 40 miles away.  It grew to about twice its size while we watched.

This must be a record... three posts in three days!  We are really enjoying our time in northern Arizona.  There is so much to see so we decided to stay until next Friday morning.  We still need to drive up to Lake Powell, see the slotted canyons, enjoy cooking over the open fires and of course sip a few beers as we watch the sunset over the horizon.  Don't know if we will post every day but as long as we have a few pictures to share with you and find new and interesting places  to visit...we may post to our blog...hope you enjoy!

  Take extra good care of yourselves.  In life we have noted ...There are people who will disappoint you, try to burden you with their attitude or problems but please remember that you are the master of your own destiny.  We hope you follow your dreams and are not deterred by anyone...remember it is your life and you are responsible to enjoy it to the fullest! 

Sedona Arizona - A beautiful backyard!

We ventured out today to Sedona, AZ which is about 50 miles south of Flagstaff but a world away.  Today was our traveling friend,  Donna's birthday and we treated her to our traditional birthday breakfast.  We drove into Flagstaff and had a wonderful breakfast at the Railroad Cafe; definitely will go back there again before we leave this area.  After breakfast we decided to drive down to Sedona, not knowing what to expect.  The drive down was just outstanding as we drove first through the pine forest and than into the canyons.  When we arrived in Sedona we could not believe the mountains that surround the town. Here our some pictures of the area around Sedona!

The hills behind the ice cream shop!

Overlooking Sedona from the south

Hills just northwest of Sedona

View from the overlook just south of Sedona

Frank Loyd Wright's Church of the Cross

Cathedral Mountain south of town

Always time for shopping or is it always time for sightseeing but shopping is a necessity!

What a great day, walking thru Sedona!  The girls loved the quaint shops and bought a few Christmas gifts for the family while George was in 7th heaven taking in the mountain scenery.  Sedona is unique because whenever you come out of any shop you are greeted with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains.  George is not a shopper so he took about 60 pictures and most of them were from out in front of various stores in town.  We drove south of town to the Church of the Cross and was amazed how it was embedded into the rock yet stood out as a beacon. 

We continue to be amazed at the sights and scenery in northern Arizona.  Tomorrow will hopefully be a day of rest but if the past is any indication of future, we will be on the road exploring the backyards of this beautiful country side.  There is talk among the four of us that we may have to spend another couple of days here, it sure would not make us mad!

 To our friends, Tom and Maryann Graue, we are glad you are back in the USA.  We read your blog and know that your Canadian adventure will provide you with a lifetime of memories.  To George and Sue Summerfield, your blog on the sailing adventure to the Canadian Gulf islands was amazing. You both have a wonderful story telling ability that let us, the reader, go along with you on your adventures.  We are jealous, in a good way!  We will continue to tag along with you through your blog entries.

As always we hope this post finds you happy, healthy and enjoying life to the fullest.   We hope our friends and family continue to follow our adventures as we travel the backyards of America.  For our part we will continue to post a few of the pictures we take and add a little commentary of our travels (it also appears that George has added his own little soapbox commentaries but we will try to curb and control that aspect of his entries).  Until the next time, enjoy life and stay healthy!

"The Big Ditch"

We arrived in Albuquerque and decided to spend a few days with our very good friends Mike and Rita.  As always they were perfect hosts and even shared their granddaughter and grandson with us for a couple of days (since they know how much we miss Kasey and Karsten).  When in Albuquerque we always try to go out to our favorite restaurants but this time Mike and Rita decided to have a cook out at their house so of course we said .... YES!  Like many of our friends around the country Mike and Rita are really special and we love to just hang out with them.  But, we are on a mission and we had to get on the road, so we all met at our favorite breakfast restaurant, Milly's for a Sunday meal before we headed down I-40 to the Arizona and the Grand Canyon.

Sunday breakfast at Milly's with Mike and Rita, Bob and Donna and Pat and George (taking the pictures of course)

The scenery on the way to Arizona is spectacular along I-40.  It is a shame that pictures do not do it justice.  But the beauty of the trip will pale in comparison to nature's gem - The Grand Canyon or as Bob calls it " a big ditch"!

A view from the motor home along I-40

We arrived at Fort Tuthill, an Air Force famcamp just outside of Flagstaff, AZ in the middle of a rain storm only to find out that our sites were to say the least unsatisfactory.  Bob and Donna's motor home was mired in mud and our site was so small the back wheels were on one side of a hill and the front tires were up the hill on the other end.  Definitely not up to the Air Force standards and not even close to anything we find acceptable.  So in the middle of the rain storm we left Fort Tuthill to find a better place to stay.  We found an excellent campground 13 miles away and can you believe it, it is a Arizona National Guard post.  It is called Pine View and it is beautiful with two camp hosts that seem to go out of their way to make you feel welcome, even in the rain!  The views from our camp site and the smell of pine trees bring nature into focus every morning.

Pat having breakfast at Pine View Campground

We have decided to stay a minimum of 5 days maybe more at Pine View simple because we can, it is beautiful and the people are so nice.  From our campground to the Grand Canyon is a little over 50 miles so after breakfast we headed north to see what can only be call the most beautiful scenery on earth, The Grand Canyon.  It is an amazing sight and a person could spend their whole lifetime here and never see it all.  It bears repeating that what man makes with all his knowledge and technology can never hold a candle to what God makes and we just call it ....  nature!

Just the two of us on the edge of the Canyon!

No picture can do the Grand Canyon justice!

Just another Wow!!!  They call it "Grand" for a reason!

We love to take pictures of our backyard and pinch ourselves every time we visit one of these awe inspiring places in the USA.  Donna, our traveling friend, said the other day, how fortunate we four are to be able travel this county, to see all these wonderful places and to make every trip better and better.  Another one of our friends once said to us as we were all sitting on top of one of the mountain peaks in the Rockies and enjoying the splendor of the views, " I wonder what the rich people are doing".  We think we can answer him now....We are admiring this great country and its beautiful backyards!!

 America really is a beautiful country, we are all rich and fortunate to be able to live here, enjoy it and taste the freedoms of being Americans!  God has truly blessed this country with some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  Whether you are on the coastal waters of Washington state, the cornfields of Ohio, or sitting on a ledge looking over the Grand Canyon, we have found that every part of this country has a beauty all of its own.  We hope you treasure your backyard views and we hope in the near future we will be able to travel to your backyard and to share with you --- your backyard!  Until then, stay happy, stay healthy and stay tuned for more adventures from our trips to America's backyards!