We've made it to 2010. Hope it's been a good year for you so far. Warning: lots of Hunter pictures ahead!!! Same drill as before - most recent pictures at the top so start at the bottom and scroll up. Captions are below the picture. Enjoy!
December 31 - Happy New Year's! 2010 - hard to believe it's 10 years since the Y2K scare. We spent New Year's Eve babysitting Hunter. We couldn't think of a better way to bring in the new year.
December 25 - Merry Christmas, everyone! Hunter's first Christmas! I think he loved the paper more than the gifts but it was such a joy to watch him. Later that morning, Mel, Clayton and Hunter went to Cranbrook to have Christmas dinner with Clayton's parents and Ted, Chris and I went to Cabri to spend Christmas with Ken, Joyce, Brian, Shelly, Murray, Teresa and the kids. Family - that's what Christmas is all about!
December 24 - A quiet moment together for Gramps and Hunter on Christmas Eve.
December 20 -Brandi and Mel went to University together and then Brandi, her husband, Trent, and daughter, Haven, moved from Coaldale to Swift Current. Mel went to visit them to introduce Hunter to Haven. Aren't they cute together?
Chris wasn't too thrilled with his Roughrider shirt (he's a Stampeders fan), but was willing to wear it as long as Hunter wore his. Being a Roughies fan, I enjoyed every minute of it. Just don't mention the 13th man; I may cry.
Poor Teresa. No one wanted to steal her gift from her, but Denille and Ted were willing to share.
Hunter had a great time. Shelly enjoyed holding a little one now that her youngest is entering his teens.
December 19 - Our early "Chinese" Christmas in Cabri where we exchange cheap gifts (often gag gifts). You can steal a gift from someone who has chosen before you if you prefer it to the one you chose which can lead to an exchange of words if the gift is a highly prized one. Kenny and Brian are plotting their strategy and hoping to be one of the last ones to pick their gift.
December 12 - From full moons in the desert to Holiday Trains in the snow. We arrived back in Lethbridge on December 6. Mel, Clayton and Hunter flew back on Dec. 3rd and Chris drove back with us which was a godsend as we drove two vehicles back. I always prefer when the CP Holiday Train comes through at night because it is lit up in holiday colours and is really a sight to see on the High Level Bridge. This time it was a snowy, blustery day and you could hardly tell it was the Holiday Train.
Of course if you're going to have a full moon weiner roast, you have to stick around to watch the moon rise over Fortuna Peak.
We never get tired of eating. That evening we enjoyed a full moon weiner roast on Fortuna with Don, Cathy, Irv, Wilma, John and Doris. No hot dogs for Hunter but he enjoyed his sweet potatoes. Dessert consisted of day-old glazed doughnuts heated over the fire. Tasted just like Krispy Kremes right out of the oven. Mmmmm good!
On our way back we saw a lonely burro in the middle of the desert. No worries about finding food - he's metal! You never know what you're going to find in the desert.
We enjoyed a picnic lunch in a wash close to Signature Hill.
December 2 - Desert run!!!! Our destination today is Signature Hill - also known as Grafitti Mesa. This was started by 3 soldiers in WWII who were bored while on guard duty and decided to collect rocks and write their names. By 1955 there were less than 100 but then the snowbirds discovered it and it now covers just under 1000 acres. This signature is obviously in memory of someone special. None of the original names remain but some date back more than 40 years. It truly is an incredible site.
December 1 - Melanie and Hunter enjoying lunch at El Paraiso in Algodones, Mexico. Algodones is a small border town about 5 miles from the western edge of Yuma. In a four square block area there are more dentists, opticians, pharmacies and liquor stores than you can count. Of course, there are also vendors trying to sell you pottery, jewllery, blankets, T-shirts, leather goods and just about anything you can imagine. The vendors are really friendly. On one trip I actually had one say to me "Hey, lady, let me be the first to rip you off today". It's a lot of fun bargaining with them and we've found a great dentist who saves us anywhere from 50 - 70% on our dental work (and my dentist at home was very impressed with my $200 root canal). The food is awesome, too. 
Just as we were leaving Tumco we looked up and there was the moon rising above the peak. 
The people cemetery - simple mounds in the earth and a few crosses are all that remain. 
Here you can see three stone pillars of a crumbling foundation. Behind it is a trail leading up a ravine, around a hill and along another wash to the dog and people cemeteries.
Located just west of Yuma on Ogilby Road in California is the Tumco Gold Mine Site and Ghost Town. Here you can find the remains of old buildings, stamping mill foundations, a large open mining pit and the three circular cyanide tanks you see above. Tumco (an acronym for The Union Mine Company) was a boom town from the 1870s to the early 1900s boasting a population of 3200 with saloons, stores, churches and dance halls. Over 200,000 ozs of gold worth $11 million were taken out of the mine.
November 30 - Clayton and Hunter - all ready to go hiking at the Tumco Gold Mine and Ghost Town!
I have no words; the picture speaks for itself! Clayton's always trying to make Ted the butt of his jokes.
November 26 - Happy American Thanksgiving! The good life - sunshine, beer and Hunter helping Uncle Chris choose the best cards for his Texas Hold 'em hand. Must be a difficult decision - such concentration on their faces.
November 25 - Look who came to visit us (and he brought along his mom, dad and uncle)! Hunter loved his new jeep! Beep, beep, honk, honk!
The Desert Glow takes place at sunset. As the sky darkened, the balloon operators would fire their burners full blast and the balloons would fill, rise and glow in the night sky. It was an incredible sight. The show ended with an amazing fireworks display.
November 21 - The next few weeks were spent going to Algodones for glasses and dental appts, El Centro for a Costco run, the Swap, suppers, happy hours and weiner roasts with friends. Today we took in the annual Desert Glow held at Desert Sun Baseball Stadium. The Desert Glow is held in conjunction with the Colorado River Crossing Hot Air Balloon Festival which runs over 3 days with balloons taking off at sunrise each morning and floating across the desert and the Colorado River.
October 31 - Happy Hallowe'en everyone! My meagre decorations only attracted 3 kids - all the more candy for Ted and me! (Like we need it!!!) We arrived in Yuma on the 18th and spent the next two weeks cleaning the yard, painting the trim on the house and catching up with friends who were trickling down from the "frozen north". The first few days were a bit unsettling as we found our house had been broken into over the summer. Very little was taken (mostly booze and suitcases to carry it in) and the insurance company had a cheque in our mail box in less than week. It was more of a hassle than anything. After replacing the doors, we beefed up the security with solar lights and better locks. Hopefully that will be enough of a deterrent to prevent future break-ins.
Cathedral Rock - another spiritual vortex
The view from the Chapel. Check out the mansion below. In the distance you can see Castle Rock.
Behind the Chapel, rock climbers were making their way to the top. Never in a million years would you get me up there.
Inside the chapel - so quiet and peaceful.
Welcome to Chapel of the Holy Cross. This Catholic church, built into the side of a 1000 foot red wall, was inspired by Marguerite Staude. It stands 250 feet high and was completed in 1956. It is one of the seven man-made wonders of Arizona and you can see why.
We didn't get to see as much of Sedona as I would have liked so Ted humoured me and we drove back to see more. New Agers believe that Sedona's rocks, cliffs and rivers radiate electromagnetic energy. Four specific locations called vortexes are believed to be special places where the spiritual energy is ideal to promote prayer, mediation and healing. These four vortexes are located at Cathedral Rock, Airport Mesa, Boynton Canyon and Bell Rock (seen above).
October 17 - Our first stop of the day was Montezuma Castle. This was home to the Southern Sinagua who lived here from about 700 to 1400 AD. The early people were farmers who lived in pithouses and grew corn, beans, squash and cotton. Around 1100 AD farmers began building this five storey, 20 room dwelling. It stands in a cliff about 100 feet above the valley. The Sinagua were also noted for their stone tools and beautiful reddish-brown pottery.
Along with strangely-shaped towers and large buttes, you will also find flat-topped mesas shimmering at sunset. One of the locals told us the best place to see the sunset was at the airport so we drove up there thinking we were privy to a well-kept secret. Well, it was a secret known to hundreds of people. We could hardly find a place to stand to watch the sun set over the mesas and rock formations known as Capitol Butte, Coffee Pot Rock, Snoopy and Chimney Rock. Despite the crowds, it was an incredible sight!
We drove right through Sedona and followed the Oak Creek Canyon Drive to the northwest. The red, orange and white cliffs were really impressive.
Sedona - Red Rock Country. Sedona is surrounded by towering red rock formations made of sandstone. It is home to over 40 gallerys, dozens of artists and writers, unique shops, gourmet restaurants and relaxing spas. This is one of the first monoliths we saw as we entered Sedona. 
View from the highway between Prescott and Jerome. The scenery was incredible as were the colours.
October 16 - The Palace Bar on Whiskey Row in Prescott, AZ. It was built in 1877 and served as a "watering hole" for patrons such as Wyatt and Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday. The original Palace burnt in the Whiskey Row fire of 1900 but the 1880s Brunswick Bar was carried to safety and was installed in the new hotel built in 1901. It is the oldest frontier bar in Arizona.
The Holsinger Meteorite, a 1406 lb. meteorite, is the largest fragment discovered in what was originally known as the Canyon Diablo crater and is known scientifically as the Barrington Crater. Meteor Crater is touted as the best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth.
A close-up of the bottom of the crater shows the mine shaft and the remants of some of the drilling equipment. In the bottom left-hand corner is an American flag and a cut-out of an American astronaut on the fence. In the 1960s, NASA astronauts trained in the crater to prepare for the Apollo missions to the moon. The Visitor Centre is home to the American Astronaut Wall of Fame.
In 1902 Daniel Barringer, a Philadelphia mining engineer, became convinced that the crater was formed by the impact of a large iron meteorite and assumed that the meteorite was buried beneath the crater. Prior to that it was believed to have been caused by a volcano. He formed the Standard Iron Company and became the owner of the two square miles containing the crater. He spent the next 27 years trying to find the huge meteorite, not realizing that it had vapourized upon impact. He drilled to a depth of 1376 feet where the rotary drill bit jammed. He thought this was caused by hitting the meteorite. The bit was permanently stuck, the drill cable broke and he was out of funds so he abandoned the project in 1929, dying just a few months later. These are the remains of a few of the buildings constructed during the mining years. The Barrington family still owns the land.
Our tour guide was great. He explained the history and geology and the impact the crater had on the area (small pun there). The bottom of the crater could hold 20 football fields and from bottom to top is the equivalent of a 60 storey building.
Approximately 50,000 years ago a huge iron-nickel meteorite struck the desert just west of Winslow with a force greater than 20 million tons of TNT. In less than a few seconds, a crater over 550 feet deep, 4000 feet across and 2.4 miles in circumference was carved into the desert floor. Over 175 million tons of limestone and sandstone were blasted out by the impact extending over a mile in every direction.
October 15 - Meteor Crater, AZ - An opening in a brick wall made a perfect frame for the Arizona desert and the mountain range to the east.
October 14 - Following in the footsteps of the Eagles' song "Take It Easy" - "Well, I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see; It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me."
