"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!