Planes, Trains, and Automobiles... and feet.: Rising from the ashes

After San Diego we traveled to Phoenix to see and stay with our great friends Mark and Joanna (and their childrens too!). We had an excellent time with them and got to see a bunch of Arizona. We went to their church on Sunday and then got a tour of downtown, and around Scottsdale.

On Monday, we took a day trip to the Grand Canyon. On the way we stopped at Sedona and saw some gorgeous red rock formations and took a short hike/climb onto one of the rocks. Then we went up through Flagstaff and had lunch at a cool microbrewery called the Lumberyard. Then it was north again to head to the Grand Canyon. All I can say about the Grand Canyon is "wow!" It is such an amazing sight. We walked up and down the south rim of the canyon for two and a half miles and still barely scratched the surface of the amazing views and features the Grand Canyon had to offer. The canyon is just about a mile from the south rim to the Colorado River which runs through the canyon and can be up to 18 miles across in some places. Then on the way home, we got to experience the sunset which was one of the best I've ever seen. There were so many different colors, bright pink, deep purple, blaze orange, every view of it was stunning.

Tuesday, Joanna took dad and me around the place where she is doing some volunteering and we stopped by the historic capitol building, then had lunch with Mark at his office. That night, they had a big indian food feast and had a huge group of people over to share the meal. It's always wonderful to see Mark and Joanna using their gift of hospitality.

Wednesday we left for New Mexico and stopped in Tucson and saw the Norman's, another family who used to live in Crozet who is now in AZ. It was fun to see them and catch up.