Give me trees or give me death

We are hiking today.

We hiked yesterday.

Yes, Stuart is hiking! 

The man builds fences.

The big guy can lift a fuh-reaking ton of weight.

I swear he could lift these rocks with no problem,

 but his calves are a hot mess from the hike.

I am loving it... the hiking

not his painful calves.

That would be mean.

I feel a bit of home

in the woods.

 We walked along Oak Creek

Oak crick to us.

The weather is perfect

for a hike.

We came across the stacked rocks

at Budda Beach.

 

 

We didn't know the meaning of them.

I don't believe in psychic, new-agey stuff.

There are all kinds of psychics here.

The whole Vortex thingie.

A little too Sylvia Brown for me.

Give me Jesus.

The rest is dangerous ground

in my opinion.

Satan has powers too

and I don't want him invited in. 

 A psychic can believe in God,

but Satan believes in God too.

The bible is specific about the use

of mediums and psychics.

 

Leviticus 20:6 ESV / 92 helpful votes

“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I wBUt ill set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

Deuteronomy 18:10-13 ESV / 77 helpful votes

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God,

Leviticus 19:31 ESV / 77 helpful votes

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.

1 Chronicles 10:13-14 ESV / 54 helpful votes

So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

I hope I don't offend anyone but,

my blog ...my opinions.

I hadn't googled yet so I was a little fearful 

of getting into a bad vibe place.

I said The Lord's Prayer on entering and laid out a cross.

Call me a freak,

but it made me feel safer.

What I found on bing was

  In a number of native cultures,

including the Hopi Indians of Arizona

and many of the Eskimo Native Americans of Alaska

a stack of rocks was
seen as a symbol of a protective entity.

I had theories about it...

one was just that,

one was the balance in life etc.

I even suggested Jenga.

How fun would that be?

We ran across rocks stacked like male genetalia

and Stuart and I laughed hard.

We have a nephew who finds humor in drawing that.

I won't share the picture though.

(we love and miss you Shane)

 It is gorgeous here.

However, I am beginning to see 

that every picture I take 

looks like the last one.

Beautiful red rocks.

Beautiful scenery.

Dang, I miss my bed/pillow.

When we get home

I need Dr. Abbie 

for a good neck-crack-a-lack. 

I miss my kids.

I miss my grands.

Home is the berries.

 

What a difference a day makes.

I do declare I am okay.

I prayed.

Some of you prayed.

All of you were kind and 

encouraged me.

My sister promised to slap me 

when she sees me.

My daughter told me to 

"put on my big girl panties".

(eww I hate that word "panties").

Today, I had on my "rose colored" glasses.

 

 

We started our day with the train trip

to the Grand Canyon.

Now, I ask you...

if a train looks like a bus

and rides like a bus...

is it a bus?

Holy choo-choo, we booked the wrong trip.

We were on a bus to the Grand Canyon.

A little bus, but a bus.

Our guide was named Cody Coyote Victor.

White boy claimed it was spelled 

Kodie Kiotie Victor.

I gave him a couple of Indian names,

Annoys Me Alot

and

Runs His Mouth.

Both fit.

Supposedly, he was a rodeo announcer after

years of rodeo competing.

He taught Western history for years at a 

junior college.

He gave us way more background than 

even this blabber mouth wanted.

We first stopped at a volcano

Sunset Crater National Monument.

We were given a 15 minute allotment 

to check out the scene

following a 15 minute lesson on

 the difference between a National Monument,

a National Forest,

and  a National Park.

Google it b/c I can't remember

and I can't care to google it for you.

From there we ventured to the Indian ruins.

Pueblo ruins.

I now know pueblo means 

communal dwelling.

We were given 20 minutes there.

We may have gotten griped at b/c 

Stuart and I started to walk away from 

the Talk Master to get a picture

before he gave the time assignment.

The ruins were really fascinating.

It was so still.

 

hubba hubba

Oops I digress.

When we were back on the bus I texted 

our daughter Annie

that I had just seen Indian ruins.

She said she thought I was sick.

Indian ruins not Indian runs.

Ha ha ... Idiot. 

From there to a Trading Post for lunch.

Menus were passed back.

We needed to know what

beverage and entree' we wanted.

He told us "don't let them give you a menu.

Know what you want.

It will be faster."

We arrived and were seated.

The older guy across the table

had a menu in his hand 

I warned him,

"Oh, he is going to flip if he sees that menu."

Just then along comes Kotie the Time Nazi

and he grabbed the menu out of the guy's  hands.

He walked away and my sis-in-law said

"when I got up this morning, I was an adult"

haha

The guy across the table and his wife

were visiting AZ 

to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

They were from WI.

The man gave me my new catch phrase.

"It's the berries."

Love it.

Feel free to use it.

I will share it with you.

We had a few minutes to 

look around the Trading Post gift shop

and then

35 minutes later 

we were back on the time machine

headed to the Big Canyon.

And then smoke was coming out of the engine.

Pull over...

pour water in the engine...

creep along...

pull over and repeat...

and repeat again

Finally, we got to the first stop of the look out.

We are off schedule.

I think at this point 

Kotie had the Indian runs.

We went off to look at the site.

We had 30 minutes.

We then had to come back to the drop-off spot

  where he instructed us to 

walk over to the visitor center 

and wait for a big bus.

That bus would take us to the main visitor center

25 miles away

and then the company 

was sending another small bus

to take us home.

We walked to the visitor center 

and then he came over there

and said oops, walk back to the first spot.

Stop the madness.

We had 3 people who could hardly walk.

2 walked with canes.

Finally, we boarded the "new" big bus

and made the trip

to the main visitor center.

I took lots of pictures

from a safe distance.

I really couldn't get to the edge.

The railings are about mid-thigh.

Some people disregard the warnings and

go outside the railings.

None from our group disobeyed

but a man let his kids climb out on rocks.

I had to walk away.

Stuart took pictures but they all look the sme.

Words cannot give it description.

I tell you,

God is good.

God is such an artist.

It is amazingly huge and beautiful.

Breath-taking. 

 

We soaked in the beauty

and then loaded up in the replacement bus

for the long drive home.

The sun was set

and we were tired.

Kotie was now back at the wheel.

He called on his history as "the History Teacher".

He asked questions.

He called out True or False?

I called out in my mind...

gun squad or lynch mob?

We were all too tired to do 

History of the West,

Real or Reel?

(how Hollywood gave us fake facts.)

Some played along.

Most napped.

All in all, it was a good day.

I loved the sights.

I loved the 14 other bus mates.

All were so nice.

Everyone helped each other.

We enjoyed the marvelous sights.

I encourage you to

go see the Grand Canyon if you can.

But take the train.

I hear it's the berries.

 

me and the pack mule

We landed in Phoenix yesterday morning.

Sut's older sister and her husbsnd 

flew in from Chicago to meet us.

We got some brunch and then settled into our hotel.

Not much happening on Thanksgiving.

We hit the car show at the convention Center

where I picked out a nice Rolls Royce.

We looked around the town a bit

and ended with dinner at our hotel.

Today we had great weather.

Tee shirt weather.

We headed out with

country boy, Stuart as the driver.

 He may/may not have tried driving on the 

city train's tracks.

We started at the Botanical Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

and ended at the Phoenix zoo.

After all, it isn't vacation 

without the scent of monkey dung

in the air.

 

 

Stuart says we have walked him too much.

He said it isn't the Disney Death March

that I made him do last year...but close.

He is a doof.

I am loving having him with me 24/7.

He makes me laugh.

And he carries the camera bag.

And the water bottle,

and pays for everything.

It is a sweet deal.

 

Tomorrow we are off to 

our main destination, Sedona.

I am missing a few people though.

 They worked cattle with their dads

while their moms shopped.

If only they would have fit in a pocket...

 I would have Stuart carry them for me. 

After letting the big guy rest his "dogs" for a bit

we are off to explore more of the downtown.

And locate a pocket knife.

Homeboy thinks he needs one.

He may need to McGyver something.

Or maybe he just wants to carry one.