Thursday in Arizona

Where do I start???? 

well...here is what the outside of the condo looks like:)

since we got here @ O-dark 30

we have 2 bed rooms, 2 bath rooms, a hall, kitchen, 2 decks, fireplace and all the needed furniture to fill it up

bottom line everything but food!!  We are out in the middle of no where and no where has no store:)

So we head off to find June's Diner...all 9 tables of her:)  Was a good old time country breakfast:)

One of those places that most people know each other and talk from table to table

however, sometimes you do not want to hear what they say like...

"How 'bout this weather...we finally got some moisture last night...and now that blizzard warning tonight"

WHAT???!!! What did he say? Oh Lord really? I was not prepared for rain and now a blizzard?

Oh Lord help us:)

After about a hour drive we get to the Petrified Forest National Park.

The wind was blowing so hard...made for a few funny pictures...

The kids and I took a short hike around the Crystal Forest... we were amazed at these "rock tree's"

My favorite line from Elaine was "That is a petrified tree?  It looks like a rock."

And Tyler's was "Where's the forest?"

And they were both right!!!

Now does this look like blizzard weather???

Well the wind was blowing like a blizzard but the temp in the 60's.

We also saw the Agate Bridge... (petrified tree over a dry creek bed)

Elaine was looking for a bridge with 'a gate' and when she got down to see the tree

she said "There's not a gate here"

We drove past the Tepees in the

Painted Desert

In all we spent a good 4 hours driving and getting out for little hikes

each time looking at each other admiring God's handy work and saying

"Really... a blizzard? Tonight?"

Now these are for Tony and Lex:)

Here are 2 different trains... one had 108 cars & one had 66 cars (Elaine counted both :) and each time we see a train we think of the 2 little train lovers in our lives:)

Now the plan was to go up about 2 hours to a town called Tuba City to see some Dinosaur tracks in the rock...but with it already 2pm and the wind was blooooooooowing super hard we made a last minute change in plans and decided to go to Meteor Crater, less time driving and not sure what time Tuba City "closes".

I do not want to get caught in a blizzard:) or drive in the dark again.

Now I do not even know how to explain what we experienced for the next 2 hours.  But I will try...

1st we had fun walking around the museum.

There was a display that showed us the size of the crater in comparison  to some of the moon's crater's (this one is  tiny when put next to some of the Moon's crater's)

and Trevor told us that the moon has been hit so many times because there is no atmosphere to burn the meteors up but Earth has the atmosphere so most burn up... I love it when I learn something new  from my smart kids:) I took a bunch of pictures here are a few... (I know... shocker:)



Now outside we go....

The Wind was the hardest and loudest I have ever experienced... I thought the wind we had

at the Petrified Forest was strong...it did not compare to this wind.

Tumble weeds were blowing everywhere, everything shook, even inside you could feel the wind and hear it..

Outside in the crater (at times) you had to hang on to the railings or you might blow away.

Of Course the kids had fun:)

Here is what a 150 yard wide falling rock can do... God's power is amazing!!

Mom had a hard time staying on her "3" feet (the 2 God gave her and her cane)

She went right into the gift shop and got us all t-shirts that said...

And the more we talked about the wind the more we grew awed at God's power.

We saw His colors and creation and now we saw and heard some of His power.

We had a sand storm and tumble weed "storm" on the way back but those Fat Angles kept us on the road and safe.  We found a store (over an hour away from the condo) and got some groceries.

We still made it back before dark and the blizzard...

well so far there is no snow...just wind.... lot's of wind.

It will be a long time before I forget the feeling of the blowing power and the sounds it makes.