ROAD TRIP STOPS: TUCUMCARI, FLAGSTAFF, SEDONA

 We just returned from our Grand Canyon hike, but it was much more than that!  We drove this time and spent some time in other places as well.  

Tucumcari is known for its Route 66 old main street full of old motel signs.  Sadly, most are decaying.  I got a kick out of seeing them, though, and also laughed when we saw the high school gym that said "welcome to the snake pit" (their mascot is the Rattlesnake). We ate at Del's and had ice cream at Sonic.  It was decent.  

My husband's only request:  get a burger at Laguna Burger 66 Pit Stop outside Albuquerque!

Flagstaff is the largest city near the Grand Canyon and we spent several nights here, enjoying some hikes and good food.  My DH worked remotely during the day so I worked on my projects as well.  We hiked in Thorpe park near our VRBO, and also drove to a trail called Fat Man's Loop which I really liked.  We tried a downtown coffee shop and looked in some of the stores.  Josephine's was within walking distance of our stay and it was the best meal we had in Flagstaff. I wanted to go to a place called Chocolita but 2 days in a row it was closed, so maybe next time!

Sedona was our visit after the Grand Canyon hike.  I had planned our activities there, and 3 other couples joined us.  We were glad to get to go there for two reasons:  1) It was warmer!  2) Good food! The Grand Canyon area is not known for its food. We stayed in a beautiful, quiet, neighborhood B&B,  Alma de Sedona, in west Sedona, a bit away from touristy Uptown.  We had two really good meals, at the Golden Goose Grill and Javelina Cantina.  We stretched our sore legs on the Thunder Mountain trail near our stay, and shopped at Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village.  A crazy but scenic outing was the Pink Jeep tour.  It was very bumpy but everyone assured me they were okay.  Sunday morning after our breakfast at the B&B, we worshipped together on the patio before we all headed home.

It was another great trip for us - the Grand Canyon hike, being with our dear friends, and all the little stops before and after!  We really enjoy road trips - car time, snacks, listening to audio books together, and like a recent commercial said, a feeling of escaping!  Road trips give you extended time with your spouse and a little more sense of how big the world is.

RIM2RIM GRAND CANYON HIKE #3...

 We recently completed another Rim2Rim hike at the Grand Canyon - this time with another couple we've been friends with for almost 40 years!  Let me clarify, any hike where you go from the rim of the canyon down to the bottom and cross the Colorado River and back up to the rim qualifies as a Rim2Rim hike IN MY BOOK.  But, according to purists (which I have recently learned) a Rim2Rim hike across the Grand Canyon is strictly a north rim to south rim hike.  According to them, we technically did a Rim2River hike. Who really cares?  It's one challenging all-day hike!

I didn't sleep well the night before the hike, and at 2 a.m. while praying and thinking, it occurred to me that this hike was like Christmas morning to me!   The anticipation of things I knew and also a little bit of the unknown had me giddy.  All the preparations, the planning, the training we had done to be ready was about to be tested.

We hiked down from the south rim, starting at 5:20 a.m., taking South Kaibab trail down to the river, took a little side trip to Phantom Ranch, then back across the river and up the Bright Angel trail (also south side).  It was a total of 20.2 miles, and it took us about 13 hours.  We went down in the dark and came back up shortly after sunset, about 6:45 p.m. 

We enjoyed all the gifts of the canyon - the sunrise, the layers upon layers of colored rock, the textures, the varying desert plants.  Wildlife included deer, bighorn sheep, lizards, and even a condor!  The lushness of Indian Gardens is always a favorite area to hike through.  We did a little side trip to Phantom Ranch - the historic campground for over 100 years!  We ate our lunches there with other enthusiastic hikers, and bought the lemonade to drink.  Such an energetic atmosphere.  The way up Bright Angel trail proved long and arduous for me, and as the last 2 times, the last hour was especially hard.  I actually vomited on the trail.  Not sure if it was the electrolyte gummies I had been eating or just pure exhaustion at that point.  But after that I felt better, and we made it to the rim within 30 minutes!  Pure joy in that moment!  And sharing it with our friends was really a pleasure.  

One thing I have to say is all the training paid off (twice we climbed Mt. Scott and twice around Lake Hefner at home) even if I did have a moment of sickness.  I was not very sore at all the next day!  

Once again, the Grand Canyon lived up to its name.  

BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN ARKANSAS...

 My Mother had a big birthday recently, and my sister and I started taking her on little road trips every 5 years, so it was time for another!  Mom had hinted a few times about a gardener on public television, P. Allen Smith, who has a farm/home tour in Arkansas somewhere...so I researched and found out more about it several months ago.  So that became our destination!

We stopped in Fort Smith for lunch and a tour of Miss Laura's house.

Miss Laura's is the only bordello on the National Register of Historic places.  It's got an interesting history and is filled with beautiful period furniture.  It also serves as an Arkansas visitor center. We drove on to West Little Rock where we stayed in a VRBO.  

The next day we headed out into the hills past Pinnacle Mountain to Moss Mountain Farm, P. Allen's home.  Mom was so excited!  We were greeted with this amazing old post oak tree by his home.  Turns out he selected that spot to build the home because of that tree.

The home is only about 20 years old, but made to look old.  We toured inside and also the gardens outside.  All of it was very beautiful and interesting!

After touring the home and gardens, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch!

P. Allen came in after lunch and did a Q & A about roses!

The next day we went to do some things in Little Rock - the Esse purse museum was so interesting!  It had a lot more than purses. It was all about fashion through the decades.  My mother felt like she had taken a walk down memory lane!  Nearby we ate lunch and enjoyed some of the gift shops.

The Old Mill is in a lush park near downtown.  It's claim to fame is that a scene from the movie "Gone With The  Wind" was filmed here back in the 1930's.  

We went to the Bernice Garden on Sunday to see the Farmer's Market and the sculptures.  It was a nice way to end our weekend!  

It's always fun to do a little road trip with family!  

RECREATING A FAVORITE SALAD FROM ISRAEL...

 At the end of our Israel trip, we had a couple of days in Tel Aviv and got to spend a couple of hours at the Carmel Market!  It was amazing!  I had researched good restaurants nearby and found Schlomo & Doron, a high rated place for hummus, so we went there.  It was literally a hole-in-the-wall, but we could tell it would be good from the people already eating and the line that formed right after we ordered.  We didn't know what to get besides the hummus trio, so we ordered a market salad.  Turned out we liked the salad better than the hummus!  I took a picture and tried to recreate it here at home.  Here's my recipe!  

Isn't it pretty!