Howdy

We finished off our trip by visiting the great state of Texas. After visiting Texas in August I will never complain about the heat in Arizona. All I can say is HUMID, yuck.This is the coolest Oreo cookie cow.
1st stop was Austin, we took a 12 mile bike ride around the city. Pausing on a bridge to take a photo of us and downtown.
To cool off during our bike ride we stopped at a natural spring where the water is 65 degrees all year long. It felt so awesome.
Of course you can't visit Austin without going to see the home of the Texas Longhorns.
Next we ventured south to San Antonio. A visit to the Alamo, very cool to see.

Ahh the river walk. We walked along looking at the buildings, the trees, the bridges, it is really amazing.
Riding the river boat.
We met up with Bob, Erin and the kids for a fun filled day at Seaworld.
Watching the "Shampoo" show. Nate was convinced Shamu's name was shampoo.
Feeding the Sea lions and seals was fun, they have the cutest personalities. They flap their fins when they want your attention.
Ever see a walrus doing sit ups? It was the funniest part of the whole show.

Lots of pictures

After returning home from our trip we celebrated Jr's birthday with his family in Utah, then with my family in Arizona.I love the huge knife he is using to cut his really cute cake.

August being so hot in Arizona we decided to take a trip up north to cool off. We visited the Salmon River in Idaho.
We visited Glacier National Park in Montana



This is rush hour traffic in North Dakota

Headed into South Dakota
The Black Hills
Deadwood during the Sturgis bike rally. Never seen so many motorcycles in my life.
Mt. Rushmore

The grassy plains of Wyoming
Bridal Veil Falls Provo Canyon
I've taken 200 pictures on our trip and there isn't enough room on the blog to put them all. It has been a great trip, nice weather, beautiful scenery & relaxation.

California

We took a little trip to California & tried to do as many activities we could. We went to Knotts Berry Farm, watched the Dodgers beat the Cubs, went to Universal Studios, and Jr went to the All Star game with his Dad and brother in law. It was a fun filled few days. The weather was great, warm days and cool evenings.

4th of July

Celebrated my favorite holiday with family, friends, a parade, fireworks, burgers and shake.

Pretty cool

I stopped for a moment and watched this bird getting his breakfast. He was hanging by 1 foot while using the other one and his beak to get the seeds out. I was so focused on him and getting his picture before he flew away I didn't relize Pinnacle Peak was in the background. I was really excited when I loaded it on the computer and saw what I had taken a picture of. Some of my best pictures are accidents.

Spring is in the air

We are so lucky this year to actually be having Spring. It is almost the end of May and we haven't hit 100 yet! All the cacti are blooming and the desert looks beautiful. I think it is amazing how a prickly mean cactus can have the most beautiful blooms on them. Saguaro blooms
Barrel cactus blooms
Prickly pear cactus blooms

Cinco De Mayo

Oh ya chips and salsa

Mari thinks the green and red chips taste different then the yellow. LOCO

We had to eat mexican food on Cinco De Mayo so we went to Dos Diablo for a late lunch/early dinner. The food at Dos Diablo is so good, I had pork street tacos and JR ate 1/2 of the million dollar burrito. We had a great time, but as usual I ate way to much chips and salsa. We finished the day off with a very cold dip in the pool. The water was 65 degrees and once your body was numb it wasn't to bad.