Tuesday, February 1 – It’s a big day for Marilynn today – She has a birthday!! We will go shopping for that special gift when I get back home. I hope your day is absolutely wonderful.Look at those big blue eyes!!
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It is a really special day today- Bryton and Gage turn 2 years old!! What little blessings these cuties are. I hope you have a wonderful time in Billings on your special day and get royally spoiled by your mom and dad. I love you!!
Tuesday, February 1 – No pretty picture today. It started snowing just a little while ago, proving that Walter is not a weatherman. They were calling for snow since yesterday and he said they were wrong. Well, guess who was right and here is the proof. This is right out our front window looking toward Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock. Walter is supposed to be heading to Cottonwood today to the gunshop. It is supposed to get down to 17 degrees at night on Wednesday and be in the 40s in the day. Brrr. I know I am getting soft when it comes to cold weather. Been working on pictures and being lazy. For some reason, my pictures all got renamed and the file says it was taken with a Nikon. Hmm.
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Sunday, January 30 – Forgot these that Walter took. This was the path we took to and from the visitor center to see Meteor Crater. That’s me at the back.
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Monday, January 31 – Last day of the month and I am going to get on my soap box for a minute. As we were driving into Page Wednesday, I noticed three smoke stacks right behind town. I guess I didn’t give it a thought about what those stacks were. The big dam on Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam, looks to me to be supplying lots of hydroelectric power. What in the world is a coal fire generator doing there? As you can see it puffs out plenty of polluting smoke 24 hours a day. I don’t know where they haul the coal in from. Our guide for the Antelope Slot Canyon told me that they put the plant in in 1971 (I think), but put new technology in a couple of years ago. This is what our beautiful skyline east of Great Falls would look like if they had put that coal fire generator in that was purposed.Sure, it is fun to photograph, but I don’t really want to know what that smoke is doing to the people and land around Page. I sure wouldn’t want to be breathing it or have my children or grandchildren or friends breathing it either.
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Sunday, January 30 - There was certainly a huge bang heard when this meteor hit earth near Winslow, AZ. Walter has wanted to go here for years and has done quite a bit of reading about it. We stopped on our way to Page, as it wasn’t that far out of the way. It was quite spectacular. The first view is what we saw as we drove on the gravel to get there. That hill is actually the crater. It is huge and was very hard to photograph in it’s entirety. We took the guided tour which was very good. That is our guide by the biggest piece they have found. The visitor center is fabulous. They even had a Subway to eat at. The whole place is leased from a huge ranch and they have a 199 year lease with renewal rights. How about that “picture window” they included right in the brick wall?
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Here is what the entrance to the lower canyon looks like when the guide shows you how to get in. The entrance is right there in front of him. You can either slide in off that rock or you can walk, one foot in front of the other. The 2nd photo shows a group going in. We didn’t have anyone to photograph going in, so I had to borrow this shot. I was so afraid at the time that it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other; didn’t even think of taking a picture of Walter descending down that crack. The guide takes you through if you want or if you look like you are there and have a big camera they put a photo pass around you neck, show you that hole to crawl in and let you just go. They do come and shout in the top when it is time to close and come on out.
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Saturday, January 29 – We returned from our trip to Page last night and I am bushed today. My knee is very sore; probably from climbing down in the slot canyon and climbing around on ruins. We actually went to this slot canyon; lower Antelope Canyon, second. But this is the only memory card I have downloaded so far, so this is what is going to go up. These are from the little G11. I switched to my 5d and 40d with tripod when I actually got down in the canyon. This was probably the bravest I have ever been. The upper canyon, in the morning, was a piece of cake where you just walked in. This one was unguided and we crawled through a crack in the canyon floor to go down 150 feet to the most glorious place I have ever been. I will go through the rest of my pictures today and share more in the coming days. I am so terrified of heights that I still don’t know how I did it. That combined with claustrophobia makes me really wonder what I was thinking. This three pictures were just on the way down. As you can see, Walter was busy urging me to, “come on down, it isn’t so bad.” Lots more to come!!
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Friday, January 28 – We are off to Antelope Slot Canyon this morning. Shep and Jade will be boarded at Bark N Purr while we are gone. I toured the place when we first got here and it seems okay. Shep already acts like he knows. He says, Dhhh!! What do you think those suitcases mean? We have the coolest peep hole in our front door. It is a gigantic magnifying glass. You can stand way back and see who is at the door. I thought for sure I could get a good picture, but this is it. That is Walter and Shep out by our pickup.
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Thursday, January 28 – It seems that we have seen an awful lot of trails in the last two weeks. These are all from Boynton Canyon that we hiked on my birthday. A gorgeous hike into the wilderness and very well maintained trails. Shep seems to have enjoyed going along.He sure looks like he is anxious to get off and going here, doesn’t he. Walter snapped that shot and I thought it was good to use here. He has had more exercise and truck rides in the last couple of weeks than he had in is entire life before. We are off to Antelope Slot Canyon and Horseshoe Bend at Lake Powell on Wednesday. I have been wanting to go here for what seems like forever. I am ahead here on my blog posting, so it says we are already there. Guess I need to hold off posting for a couple of days.
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