Provo

 Tis the season for red and green - who remembers tinsel?  I remember spending a lot of time putting tinsel on our trees and then taking them off again to reuse the next year.

Linking to Fridays My Town Shoot Out

 Lights on the windows of the Provo Mall.

I don't care if that bearded man is going to give me a treat, I want down.

Linking to Weekend Reflections 

This pathway reminded me of the "follow the yellow brick road" except it is a dark marble in the hospital path with lights reflecting from above. They keep those floors polished!

Misty Clouds

It amazes me that less than 10 minutes after I took this photo of a low lying cloud over our mountains that it dissipated and was totally gone. Got to get those shots when you see them for they do not last long.

Lights on Temple Square

Last weekend we drove into the city with hundreds of others to view the lighting of Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Remind me to never go again on the opening weekend!

I have not been for umpteen years but it was really lovely even being so crowded and it had not turned frigid cold yet.

Linking to my favorites:

Friday's Fences
Weekend Reflections 
Sunday Shadow Shot2

 Looking down at inside waterfall and decorated trees at City Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 Across the street from Temple Square are fountains at City Center.  They make wonderful reflections.

 At least two of my photos of the lights on Temple Square turned out really good for me.  They are my first attempt at night shots.

Shadows in the fountain.

Looking Down at the Pacific Ocean

These photos were taken south of Monterey just off highway 1, next to a ledge.  Linking to Travel with Intent.

Salt Lake City

LDS Church History Museum across from Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.

Connecting to Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Toddle on over, they have some great shadow shots.

Long Beach

Linking to the following fun blogs:
My Town Shoot Out
Weekend Reflections
Oh, the Places I've Been
Friday's Fences
Random 5 Friday

From a visitors perspective 

and a great reflection of the Queen Mary.

Sunset over the Pacific

Christmas Tree in front of fence.

1. It's funny how my mind travels backward and my memories

float all around me thinking of the Mexican Riviera cruise from last November.  Thinking about the people I met and thought we would keep in touch but we didn't.

2. Chef Eddy made a quick and easy Beef Bourguignon using thinly slice roast beef simmered in a sauce. A Balsamic vinegar was boiled down until all that was left was a sweet wine which was then added to the sauce; each item was cooked separately - carrots, potatoes, caramelized onion and then combined when served with the beef - scrumptious!

3. Dance on the Water Cruise in 2014 is going to Slovenia, Croatia and the Adriatic Coast - oh, how I'd love to join them! I cruised with them one July going up the St. Lawrence River from Montreal to Quebec, to Prince Edward Island, to

Nova Scotia and down the Atlantic coast to Maine and New York.

4. Turned off the outside water, brought in the patio set, changed the furnace filter - guess I am ready for winter.  It snowed again today and is predicted to bluster tonight.

5. Been watching a fascinating series of a British program called Murdock Mysteries.  It is filmed in Canada with the era being the 1890s showing the development of electricity switching from DC to AC, with the common mode of transportation being a bicycle or a buggy.

Memories of Sedona, Arizona

Driving for hours through at least three torrential rain storms, I was getting driver weary and just wanted to get to Sedona. I finally found the right road from Flagstaff to Sedona Canyon. I would have been just as well off by taking the freeway toward Phoenix but how was I to know that two roads from the freeway both go into Sedona. The road on the southern end is much faster but not nearly as scenic.

I took the highway which drops down into a winding narrow canyon. Being one of the most spectacular trails that I have ever seen, not only was there not enough places to pull over to take photos, but I was literally also too tired to stop.

I wish I had stopped to take photos but since I didn't, it gives me a wonderful excuse to go again.

These are the last photos that I took while in Sedona.

After my helicopter ride that evening, a rain storm blew in but didn't stay long.

Linking to Travel Photo Monday.

Buggy Days

Retro vehicle in Sedona

Transportation during 1895 - can't you just see a couple of horses hitched up to this old buggy which is in remarkable condition. I think it may have gotten a new paint job.

Linking: Friday's My Town Shootout
Friday's Fences
Weekend Reflections
Random 5 Friday

Reflections on top the car of the cliffs.

Friday's fences - the last of the summer rose and reflections.

Random Five Friday

1. It has rained for the last three days - very unusual for our arid country.

2. A genealogy fever has taken over of late - four cousins have contacted me this last month - all from different lines of my tree. There are my Edwards line from Wales, my Nicholas line still in Maine and my Zagorski and Staranowicz lines from Janowek, and Sztabin, Poland.

3. I found more photos for my last family history book on my father's side (Polish cousins). I said that this book was finished at least four times but since then, I added at least 30 new photos and more text. I had to buy a bigger flash drive to hold my book.

4. Our Daughters' of the Utah Pioneers camp started the new season this month.  I was part of a skit which turned out to be pretty funny and fun about Mr. Penrose's cabin being moved about four times before it found a final resting place in Farmington, Utah and became one of the many DUP Museums.

5. Babysitting my grandchildren tonight - hope it all goes well. Four can keep you hopping. 

Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon

Bridal Veil Falls cascades down 607 feet from the top to the floor of the canyon.

 Some parts of our mountains are starting to orange and red even before fall starts.

The Provo River below the falls has trout fishing year round and is very accessible because the highway between Provo and Heber, Utah is kept open year round.

Years ago there was a souvenir shop and a tram which took you to a ridge on the right side of the falls where a restaurant with octagonal windows rested.

The owners had had this shop since before 1960 and in one day, it was all wiped out from a rock slide. There are a few remnants of wood remaining but they never opened it again.

Linking up with:
Travel Photo Monday
Mandarin Orange Monday

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Zion

Links:  Friday's Fences
Random 5 Friday
Oh, the Places I've Been
Orange you Glad Its Friday
Weekend Reflections
Travel Photo Monday
Mandarin Orange Monday

 Yard fencing decorated to celebrate July and summer. Notice the flags in the window and a small reflection in that window?

 East end of Zion's National Park

When you see a red hot road, you are in Zion National Park in southern Utah.

I tried for years to get pictures of this area of Utah but my camera never captures the brilliant colors. My digital camera comes close.

I did not go into what they call "the narrows" but I have been there in the past. A small stream of water in what we westerners would call "a creek" runs through the narrows.  Normally, it is safe but during thunderstorms, the area is off limits because of flash floods. There is no place to get away from the water as the rock walls go straight up on both sides about the length of a football field. The narrows heads north and you can walk through it which takes hours.

1. My neighbor is a "dyed in the wool" fisherman. He brought me a foot long rainbow trout two days ago. I absolutely love fresh trout which always makes me think about my grandpa who fished all day for his vacation and brought home a bag of trout from Cassia Creek in Idaho. Grandma always fixed us trout for breakfast - yum!

2. It has been a bit lonely this week because the pools are closed. The outdoor pool closed for the summer even though it is still 94 to 95 degrees F here. The pool always closes at the start of school because the caretakers who run the pool are school teachers. The indoor pool closes for one week each year in August. It would have been the perfect time for a trip to Poland.

3. I enjoyed water aerobics four days a week this summer and the camaraderie of my pool friends so I miss that this week.

4. I am going to lunch today with my double cousin (surnames of Allen and Nicholas). We've been emailing for a month now and exchanging information which I hunted down years ago. It has drawn me right back into genealogy searching.

5. I made my first Quiche and it was not bad. Not as good as the one I had in Monterey, CA from the exquisite French Bakery but next time I think I will use creme for a richer taste.  Anyone make quiche?

Kaibab National Forest

Both sides of the road assaulted my eyes with blackened left overs from the fire that ran for as far as I could see.  Shocking to see up close. Lightening strikes set off a blaze that spread quickly over 103 acres.

North Rim - Grand Canyon Lodge

Two cabins of many near the lodge. Cabins are built close together.

Kachina doll inside the lodge. There was a grand ballroom on the left side of the lodge and I could see in my mind, back when the lodge was first built, people in fancy regalia dancing to live music.  Now, of course, they have rows of chairs set up for movies or lectures.

Food was more expensive than what I wanted to pay for lunch so I headed back to Jacob Lake for lunch. There used to be a lake there but through the years it has just dried up. Now there are cabins to rent, a motel, a cafe and a large souvenir shop. They had thunder eggs (geodes) from Utah. Get your own hammer and see what color lies beneath the geode - in the jewelry world, they call them druzy.

Met two young men from Switzerland sitting on stools at the cafe. They flew into New York, rented a car and were slammin down the highways of America. They drove down the eastern coast to Florida (which was steaming hot), across the lower states such as Texas and had come up into Arizona to see the Grand Canyon. Next they were heading for Vegas and California after driving through Zion National Park in Utah. Ending their trip in Seattle, another flight back to New York and onward to Switzerland.

A nice comment came when I asked, "do you find Americans friendly"?

 "Yes, very friendly" he said, "more so than Europeans."

Links: Travel Photo Discovery

Reflections - Sedona Toad

Linking to: Weekend reflections

Bountiful Summerfest 2013

Links: Friday My Town Shoot out
Friday's Fences
Random 5 Friday
Oh, the Places I've Been

Front yard and lovely white plastic fencing

Bountiful Rec Center with a ship slide for the kids beyond the fence.

Soap suds to play with (these two are mine)

Art work on canvas (these two are mine)

Dance Troupe from Taiwan 

Dancers from Chili

Can you image dancing with wool hats, long sleeves and wool sox in 95 degree weather?

Bubble machine

Can you see the bubbles?

1. Each August Summerfest is held at the Bountiful Park and dancers from all over the world come to dance for us.  This year Taiwan, Chili, Netherlands and Trinidad came with multiple dances and costume changes. 

2. It was as much fun for my grandkids as us because they had lots of bubbles, suds, games, lawn bowling, painting and it was all free.

3. I even saw a couple of my granddaughters trying to move like some of the dancers.  Let's see now, just raise that back leg and bend it like so.....

4. We split a Navajo taco, a Tongan chicken and rice dish and Italian ice. Later my daughter tried deep fried Oreos (uck) and a battered deep fried Twinkie.  Yes, folks the Twinkie is back again.

5. Every time we come, we see that recreational center with the amazing swimming pool and say, "I'd like to go there some day." But we forget until the next year.

This fella said it was okay to take his photo in the tub.

Sedona,AZ Tidbits

Oink critters of Sedona City, AZ.

 Inside the chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona.  It is a very small chapel.

I never knew that cactus could be green and lavender.

A lovely sculpture in downtown Sedona.

Linking: Travel Photo Discovery
Take a peek, there are gorgeous photos there.