Monday, August 29, 2011

Majestic Canyon Memories

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Hello, dear friends!

What a lovely weekend it’s been!  Hope things are okay for those of you on the East Coast—keeping you in my thoughts and prayers…

No projects to share with you today…just wanted to re-live a little of our summer vacation…

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(Warning:  LOTS of photos in this post!  I’ll try to be brief with the words!)

On our way to our family reunion in Northern Arizona this summer, we stayed overnight at a small motel on an Indian Reservation in Marble Canyon, part of the Navajo Nation. 

The next morning, we drove about 2 minutes to find this…

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The Navajo Bridge—what an incredible sight! 

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It will never cease to amaze me  what man and technology can do—can you imagine building this thing—two bridges—one for each direction of traffic--over this canyon???

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It’s kind of impossible to show you how far down the Colorado River was here…all my photos are really zoomed in, but it was FAR down!

 DSC04090_edited-1 {daughters Annie & Chelsea dropping rocks down into the river…they counted about 5-6 seconds before the rocks hit—you could barely hear the splash!)

DSC04086_edited-1{my husband Roger…taking it all in on the other bridge…}

Although it was on a major highway, not many cars were going by, so we were able to cross back & forth between the two bridges to catch glimpses of things below…

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Have you ever been able to get up close to those little flappy things on the freeway?  I did!

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It was hard to choose which photos I wanted to share with you today…there was just this incredible beauty every direction you would turn…

DSC04131_edited-1 {daughter Sarah capturing it all with her camera…}

DSC04123_edited-1 {stunning turquoise-blue waters of the Colorado River}

DSC04088_edited-1 {this rock formation reminded me of an ancient Babylonian temple…very old world looking…}

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{Great Uncle Richard, traveling with us, checked out a bit of old bridge-building machinery}

As we were admiring it all, we noticed 3 to 4 large birds flying around and resting on rocks on the canyon walls…vultures, I thought at first…

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But then, I saw one perched on a rock just below me with a numbered tag on it’s wing—they were condors!

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Amazing!

But my favorite sight of all that morning…turning around to see this…

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My parents, walking hand-in-hand back towards the cars…

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…perfect.

Thanks for stopping by & re-living a bit of my summer with me…

See you soon with something new.

Julie

13 comments:

  1. Hi Julie,

    Thanks for sharing your piccy's, they're very sweet. I love the "flappy" thing on the road and your parents walking hand in hand. It's possible those are "Turkey Vultures" not condors. They're pretty prevalent here in AZ. I could be wrong, but I used to work at the Phoenix Zoo, and we had some on exhibit. I always see them when we drive up north. Have a great week.

    Hugs,
    Meri

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  2. Hi, Meri!

    I've never left a comment on my own blog before!

    I work with Turkey Vultures, too--these were definitely not the same bird! Also, they were numbered, and I don't think they would number vultures, because they ARE so prevalent...so I'm pretty sure they were condors--mainly because of the numbering.

    Julie

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  3. Hi Julie,
    I've barely left the house all summer!! Not the norm for me at all, but it rained for 2 solid months here, so not really great for going to the beach. I loved seeing your pics!!!
    XO
    Cindy

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  4. What a great holiday you had Julie! I loved all the pictures. That is something Todd and I hope to see one day. We are off on our Holidays in two weeks time. Back to Cumbria and the lakes. I can't wait! It will be nice to get away and little Mitzie is coming with us this time! Love and hugs to you dear friend! xxoo

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  5. What a beautiful vacation. Thanks for sharing.
    The pictures of his parents ... beautiful!
    Bj

    Rose

    http://amigasqueengordam.blogspot.com/

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  6. Julie,
    Beautiful vacation photo's and am glad you got so many pictures to share with us :)

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  7. Oh my friend...what wonderful photos...I so want to go there..we have it on our list but have not made it so far...thank you for sharing your Summer memories.

    Happy Monday to you my dear! xoxoxx

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  8. Ahh, God's creation is truly amazing, isn't it? And the photos of your parents are so touching. Thank you for sharing, Julie.
    Hugs,

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  9. Great pictures, I just love AZ. I live in HOT THIS SUMMER Tx. LOL TFS your treasures.....Mickie M

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  10. As beautiful as
    these photos are,
    I am betting the
    real thing was even
    more glorious. And
    you will treasure
    those moments with
    your sweet family
    forever!
    xx Suzanne

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  11. Julie,
    That is amazing. I am astounded at the beauty around us, over and over again. Your parents, however, are about the most precious couple I have seen and I am enchanted that you have a great uncle!!!
    What a beautiful, loving family!
    Thank you, also, for all your support. It helps. It really does.
    Big hugs,
    Suz

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  12. Hi Julie, thanks for sharing such beautiful photos of some of your vacation... love seeing your mama and daddy walking across the bridge hand in hand!... xoxo Julie Marie

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  13. Arizona is an amazing state! Your pics captured it's beauty. We were there in March to our nephew's wedding. I'm afraid most of AZ is too hot for me in the summertime though. Mimi

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