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Zion National Park
We're trying to win a Raley's Bel Air contest to read the magazine in unusual places!!!! Stay posted. After we left St. George, Utah, 5/31 we went through Zion National Park which is my favorite park in the world and then stopped in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. I had not been there in 10 years and it was still beautiful although I cannot believe I slept on those dunes 20 years ago under the stars with no tent---with all the snakes and critters. We ate in Kanab, Utah and crossed the Arizona State Line. It was 83 degrees at 3:06 p.m.. We passed Lone Rock and Lake Powell and all the gorgeous rock formations and Navajo Reservations and then the lightning and rain hit for a little while. We stopped in Cameron, AZ and then went in to the Grand Canyon, meandering through and enjoying the views and lookouts and then went on to Sedona (we even saw Javelina roaming the desert with their babies) to the Enchantment Resort and Mii Amo spa----number one spa in the US and beautiful beyond words. We swam at night in the beautiful pool and it was luxurious and amazing!
We were so excited to stay at such a gorgeous place and savored every second.
The next day the
kiddo went to Camp Coyote, the children's program where she got to hike to the ruins and cliffs and rock formations while I enjoyed the incomparable spa. After lunch we took a Jeep off road desert tour led by an amazing Sioux Indian who is a decendent of Crazy Horse. We learned so much and he made us laugh so hard our cheeks ached. It was the best off road tour I have ever taken and I have taken lots. It was like doing the Rubicon but in the desert. He showed us all sorts of intersting stuff to see and taste in the desert. He told us we had to try the historic and famous Cowboy Club in town where he has ridden his horse right up to the bar.
Later in Sedona we played miniature golf at a beautiful riverside resort and had prime rib quesadillas. That night we did go into town for me to do some wine tasting and then we went to the Cowboy Club and had buffalo, snake, and cactus---dipped in prickly pear cactus sauce---all delicious! Then we watched a most amazing desert sunset from way up high above the entire town of
Sedona. Later we swam at night again, sad to know it was our last night at the Enchantment Resort---the most upscale and gorgeous resort in Sedona.
The next day we drove through Phoenix which is always best in my rear view mirror (can you tell I cannot stand Phoenix)...and through Tempe (101 degrees) and we arrived in Tucson about 3:30 p.m. and we went to the Tucson Children's Museum which was great for a small museum. The we went swimming at the Hilton El Conquistador Tennis and Golf Resort where we stayed. The water slide was awesome. We ate an amazing dinner at Jax Kitchen---fabulous scallops, gourmet shrimp tacos, flatiron steak, homemade from scratch pasta, etc. Restaurant reviews are so fun! Then we swam some more.
The next day we left the Hilton and drove through the Saguaro Nat'l Park and to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum which was unique and fabulous w/ its 2 miles of outdoor desert paths of exhibits of reptiles, hummingbirds, aviaries, roadrunners, prairie dogs, etc. The we went to the Old Tucson Studios where hundreds of movies and westerns have been made. We took a stage coach ride and the driver was a famous
stunt man who has trained the horses and movie stars for decades. We saw tons of outfits and props from Little House on the Prairie and Gunsmoke and Three Amigos and it was so cool.
Later that day we drove through Las Cruces, NM and the kid bought two more Webkinz at Cracker Barrel number two for us on this trip----yum!
We crossed into Texas at 7:05 p.m.---love those 80 mph speed limits!!! We crossed the Rio Grande and Contintental Divide and could see Mexico many times and had to go through Border Patrol near El Paso. We got some great direction hints from the nicest Texas state trooper and headed a different route to Marathon, TX to check into our gorgeous historic hotel and resort The Gage Hotel in Marathon, TX.
The next morning we took a wonderful morning swim at the Gage Hotel pool---so exquisite with the Santa Fe style architecture and gorgeous cowboy theme decor and wrought iron and Spanish style courtyards and mission style buildings. We toured the magnificent gardens and then we left. We stopped in Sonora for snacks and gas and finally got to San Antonio in the mid afternoon and
Coral Pink Sand Dunes, UT
I've always loved these dunes since I camped there 20 years ago. then to Seguin, TX where we enjoyed a wonderful lakeside waterski show at Lake Mc Queeney where our hosts joined us for a wonderful dockside dinner. The waterskiers did tricks and barefoot skiing. That night we got settled in our gorgeous lake house at Lake Placid and our hosts had beautiful media welcome baskets waiting for us filled w/ lavish and thoughtful gifts and they even stocked our fridge w/ wonderful gifts, foods, and chocolates. We watched TRUE WOMEN our favorite western movie so we could get warmed up for our Seguin TRUE WOMEN tour today!
Today, June 5 we did the historic TRUE WOMEN tour in Seguin which was positively fabulous---it was so cool to see the places from the movie and book and the history was so wonderful and captivating and gripping and moving! It all happened here! American History alive like that is so spectacular! We even went to the oldest protestant church in Texas and rang the historic bell----then we went to Chiro Java for a great lunch---a coffee shop and restaurant w/ a chiropractor inside....we later toured the Seguin Heritage Museum and then we toured Pape's Pecan House and they have the world's largest
nutcracker collection which takes up rooms and rooms and rooms and their pecan treats and delicacies were amazing and the Texas Bluebell ice cream was awesome! We stopped by a mansion in town where my friend had left a special gift for us----she lives in San Antonio and was on a cruise but left us a TRUE WOMEN t- shirt there at the mansion! Then we had mother-daughter massages at a spa and had a Tex Mex dinner. Finally we went boating on Lake Placid and I saw FINALLY my first fireflies---been hoping for that for years. I canoed awhile on the lake at sunset (so peaceful) and then we went night swimming from our own private dock from our lake house. We had to watch TRUE WOMEN again tonight to see the wonderful places we went today on our tour. Seguin is a very special place w/ amazing people and history.
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