Trip of a Lifetime

Last week was JJ's 60th birthday and we needed to do something very special. I gave him his choice of the trip he wanted to make and he chose to visit our favorite spot in Arizona, Green Valley. We always enjoy seeing the cactus, thriving in the warm (thankfully it didn't get above the mid 90's and was frequently in the 60's-80's), frequenting our favorite thrift store haunts, and just relaxing in my "villa". In some ways it was an "ordinary" pleasure for us....

new thrifted chair on left...it's a wonderful weathered wood...and cost $2.00

Seasonal views of the local flora

We had some very special treats on this trip. On the way down, we stopped the first evening at Jacob Lake and drove in to see the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. See my post below for more photos.

On the way home, we drove through Monument Valley (a surprising treat in No. Arizona/So. Utah) to Moab and spent the night. We had a wonderful dinner of antipasto salad and cheese bread at Pasta Jays, walked around the lovely down town area where we saw unique t-shirts made with the local red dirt. In the morning, we headed out to Arches National Park where we spent hours driving and walking around to see sites like these.

Check our my Flickr collection for all the photos from our incredible trip. It inspired us to discuss the notion of taking a long trip cross country visiting the many National Parks we haven't seen.