Past

In addition to gorgeous nature, Walnut Canyon also had a number of Anasazi ruins built into the cliffs.

Sunset Crater

On our last day in Flagstaff, we went for a hike at Sunset Crater. I was not expecting a post-volcanic wasteland to be so beautiful.

Clouds

The clouds at Walnut Canyon were unusually stupendous.

Grand

As advertised, the Grand Canyon is, in fact, pretty grand.

Walnut Canyon

On Thursday, we went for a hike at Walnut Canyon. It was beautiful, but on the way back up, Rebecca and I had to stop for a lot of "picture breaks" that of course had nothing to do with the fact that we desperately needed to stop and breathe for a bit.

Workable

As this picture by Rebecca that I found on my camera illustrates, travelling has taught me that you can get a cup of whole milk almost anywhere, including, fortunately, coffee shops.

Farm

Last Monday, Evelyn, Rebecca, Mom, Dad, and I went to the Chippewa Nature Center homestead farm. As soon as we got out of the car, Evelyn was excitedly pointing towards the sheep, ready to go see the animals.

Apparently, Aunt Rebecca and Evelyn both felt a bit skeptical about this sheep grazing outside the fence.

 So excited about the pigs. (And also horrifyingly enthusiastic about chewing on the splintered, mud-spattered fence.

Evelyn takes pig-farming seriously.

Inspecting the cows with Grandpa.

Tall Ships

Last Friday we visited the Tall Ships celebration in Bay City.

Rebecca was suitably excited.

Meanwhile, I completely failed to get a picture of Evelyn in the backpack carrier.

Snacks

Evelyn enjoyed snack time with Grammie.

Back

We're back from Michigan, where Evelyn enjoyed spending time with a whole bunch of family members who think it's fun to have their faces pulled off by someone small and cute.

Skyline

In the summer of 2013, Benjamin and I had a chance to see New York while traveling to my cousin's wedding. The skyline from the Empire State Building is pretty delightful, as advertised.

Route 66

Part of our road trip to Colorado this summer was along the famed Route 66. 

It was pretty fast-paced and high-tech.

Hammock

The view from the hammock at my uncle's in Colorado this summer.

Cliff Palace

This summer, we visited Mesa Verde National Park, which has some amazing ancestral Puebloan ruins.

Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde

Silhouette

Mackinac Island sunset

Abandoned

*Taps gently on blog...* *Coughs and dies as dust billows up from its undisturbed surface.* Oh, hello there, internet, I was just looking for a picture and found this blog that I used to update regularly. Blogging looks like fun. Maybe I'll give it another go.

Hovenweep National Monument - Utah. Or this blog after years of neglect. It's hard to tell.

Luddington

We went to the lighthouse at Luddington to celebrate my birthday. Lake Michigan is wonderful!

Fossil Rim

Oh, hello there! Let's pretend I've been updating regularly, so I can show you what the husband and I have been up to recently. For our anniversary a few weeks ago, we headed down to Glen Rose for a stay in a cabin on the river. Nearby is the Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve, which has an amazing assortment of animals that you can see while driving through the park. Since it was ridiculously hot out, driving in a car with air conditioning sounded pretty good to us!

The animals get really up close and personal when they know you might feed them!

 

 The wildlife preserve has food so that you can feed the animals. Giraffes' heads are big when they come down to eat out of your hand!

This ostrich was convinced that no one should go past it. The two cars ahead of us had a hard time getting past it, and it sat down in the middle of the road as we drove up. They're surprisingly big birds that close up.

The rhinocerous were, sadly, far away.

Nostalgia

Several of my coworkers are Turkish. They've installed a teapot that makes Turkish tea in the teacher's lounge, and which is reminding me how much I'd enjoy visiting Turkey again.

Summer bonfire ephemera