Nov1-Nov 8th ...A super week exploring Landscape!

Nov1.~Sunday; finished unpacking the car this am after coming home late from the Halloween party! Mixture of sadness and happiness to be back at my home away from home. Tonight; a surprise Lisa-Petty Appreciation Party was thrown by her partner, Anne, and the folks in town; even her family drove up from Phoenix. She was surprised and not sure why.. but everyone there sure knows why and presented her with a framed collection of great descriptions & quotes about who she is being for the people in her life. Amazing foods were cooked up by Anne, and others, and we celebrated the great gal that she is!!! I certainly appreciate the great landlord she is for me and the awesome connections I have made with the community here because of her genuine kind and loving spirit.

Nov 2 ~ Monday; Headed down to Safeway for my morning calls and blogging…and ended up staying here for most of the day—then headed to the gym and at *8:20 I thought ..I wonder what Karen is doing…OH GOSH~ I forgot all about Poker night!!! I dropped by after leaving the gym to see who won…Mary got cleaned out( and on the night before her vacation ..oh dear)

Nov3 ~ Tuesday...made it in time for the weights work-out class...and then to go hiking afterwards...whoa-great workout for the legs!!!...I built up a good sweat- we had a super picnic spot beside Oak Creek! The water was delicious looking and I just couldn't help myself and took off my running shoes and stepped into the cold frisky water!! REFRESHING! We came across several teams of cyclists- how they ever got over some of those rocks we climbed..??.. that’s taking biking to the edge!!!

Nov 4~ Wednesday; annoying "Controlled Burns" on the mountain to the west all week ...and of course the smoke slowly falls down over Jerome at the end of day...we have to stay inside and make sure that windows are closed tight! Hard to breathe...i don't know how the asthmatics are managing this.... There are very opposing thoughts on this issue around.

Nov5- Thursday ~ Alexia’s 4th birthday!...I wish I was there now!!

• 6am ~ wake early so I could be down at the Safeway to call Alexia for her birthday. Jennifer was babysitting her ~ Gosh! it was great to hear their voices!!! It makes my heart melt when I hear…”Oma!” and “Mama” all in one call.
• Sedona; I HAD planned to drive all the way up to Page after the call to hike in the Antelope Canyon; however, after stopping here to make a few calls…one thing led to another I needed to stay in this town today!
• Wildflower Café; over brunch I set –up a printing workshop with a cool printmaking workshop in New River called JILink Studios ( add link) I also connected with a new woman, Jodi, who emailed me after hearing about me and my blog from Janet, my sister-in-law at a wedding and suggested she join me as she just travelled down to Scottsdale and is also interested in pursuing her artistic expression
• Visitor center; to get more info on Antelope, a mountain equipment company and local hiking info. While hanging out there I heard a German couple trying to organize a stay at a hotel in the Grand Canyon so I introduced myself and assisted them with their arrangements with the Visitor center representative; they were very grateful! It also helped I saw the hotel in 2006 when Rae and I were at the canyon’s edge.
• The fellow showed me a cool path for finding the local rock bridge called Devil’s Bridge after someone said that Sedona doesn’t compare with the parks in Utah with Rock Bridges. “There’s a 1 mile road to drive up and then a short hike” Famous last words….
• Canyon Outfitters; I stop and buy myself some good hiking boots, as I noticed that my running shoes really don’t cut it on these trails; and hiking pants that transform into shorts with zippers. Oh, and on the way out I see a perfect T-shirt from Prana with a scroll design ala Katherine!
• Vultee Arch Trail road; i start to drive down this dirt road …whoa!! Not for this car…huge divots and rocks, and I find a spot to turn around …with a sigh of relief that I am not stuck on a rock. Some jeeps pass me by as I walk the one mile stretch to the hike entrance. I’m carrying my big sketch book and a couple of kind souls warn me that the hike is very steep at the top. Ok…thanks! I couldn’t figure out the warning…why…did they think I was out of shape? Duh…the sketchbook!
• Well, I get nearer the top and. yes, it’s steep alright! With water bottle in one hand and sketchbook in the other …really missing the walking stick that Sandy has been lending to me on our Tuesday hikes, I chug the water, stomp on the bottle to squish it down in size, stuff it in my pants so my right hand can hold on to the rocks while I climb higher! Behind me the rock cliffs on the other side of the canyon are starting to glow in the sunset and I am the last one up here to view the Devil’s Bridge and this is the last time I will take such a risk and go that high by myself. Some of the folks I met coming down said no problem! I find the fabulous bridge- it is breathtaking and very high and steep …but I don’t dare cross the rocky bridge..I sit and sketch one view of it in pencil & pastel. I love rocks and this one I need to come back to because I need to get back! Going down was a bit tricky with that darn sketchbook and oh my…so many cool trees and rocks to remember in my mind. I see a sign with the number for the ranger at the parking spot & type it in my cell phone before I trek back down the road to the car. I sing and whistle loudly and walk briskly with a couple of rocks in my hand. It just turned dark as got to my car driving away happy as a lark …and high as a kite…it was the most exhilarating hike I have ever been on! Yes, and f@%$#en irresponsible! I will suggest this one to our group for next week’s hike!
• Eve: prepared food for trip tomorrow; boiled some eggs and cut veggies, bagged some more of my homemade trail mix (jar is getting low: sunflower, pumpkin seeds, walnuts & almonds, raisins, dried apples and ginger)

Nov6-Friday...makin' my way to Antelope Canyon: drove up Oak Creek Canyon Road- BEAUTIFUL! Leaves changing color, stopped at a little Grocery store to pick up freshly picked organic apples, cheese & licorice for the road trip. It looks like you are driving down into a valley; however, the altitude keeps on climbing ....up to Flagstaff. Then crossed the Navajo plains (flat-flAT!) up to Page...drove through spectacular ---"GORGEOUS" mountains and geological layers of greys, reds, pinks and white soil layers.

• Page: after getting a coffee I went to one tour company and they had nothing to offer that day since they do not do tours for only one person....yes, I have come across many times where it does not pay to travel single. I went across the street to the next tour place and went on wait list for 3:30 tour.
• John Wesley Powell Museum see: http://www.powellmuseum.org/ i found out that the 9:30am tour really is the best time to go on a extended tour for photography..so I changed my tour time, rented a tripod from a shop 2 doors away and checked into ...
• Bashful Bob's Motel, as suggested by the museum because he knew that about my love of Jerome. This motel was part of an area that was housing in the past for the many Glen Canyon Dam construction workers. The town of Page began as a construction camp in 1957. Rae would not have fit into the door!! Room #148 was underneath Bob’s Motel Office, sort of like a basement apartment, old and cozy and clean with coffee maker, microwave,TV & Fridge and a 3 piece bathroom.
• The Antelope Point Marina restaurant; http://www.antelopepointlakepowell.com/ I had my 2nd Ahi Mahi Tuna Tacos on this trip ...which were delicious. I asked to sit outside by the water's edge because inside was loud music and like any restaurant...a couple of tipsy guys walked by and started talking sweet to me, picking up my camera and taking pictures..I was able to manage them but the waiter came out just at the right time and I didn't take too much time hanging out there: I asked the buggy valet to take me right to my car & I was relieved to be back at my room that night with Bashful Bob beside his trailer barbecuing his chicken and watching TV outside :-)

Nov7~ Saturday:

• woke up early this am; wrote down my crazy dreams..having more & more of those! Made myself a coffee and had the cooked apples,ginger and rice prepared at home for breakfast. There was soap, but no shampoo so I called Bob and he went to his trailer to lend me his personal shampoo…what a sweetheart. I did not bring my toothbrush,,so I made due with facecloth for now ...the Historical Museum folks were great in pointing me in the direction of this place!
• ...only cost me 35$ / night! and took some pictures of the wee Motel before leaving.
• Antelope Canyon Tour: Martin was an awesome tour guide for our group of 4. He really went into great details and historical background about this canyon, and respect needed for this canyon site. In 1997 11 hikers died in a flash flood- they were warned not to go in. Problem is when it looks good at the site, it is misleading because you really need to know what the weather is like upstream in the distance. Here is a link to what the canyon looked like from the top in a flash-flood http://photo.net/nature-photography-forum/00FmEu Martin would make some suggestions along the way, knowing how quick the lighting changes. The canyon is absolutely breathtaking: small and exquisite curves, lines and light in a very narrow channel...all the 'wave' patterns are created from water and wind. We were the 1st in the cave that morning and when we left there were a dozen other vehicles there.. Even with the crowd our space was respected by the other guides and tourists because all the shots had to be timed ...my rented tripod worked great!! The time seemed to go on forever...but the 2 hours ended and I walked out with a dead battery....fully satiated ...and at peace.
• Back in Page...drove back through the village...a lot going on as their yearly balloon festival was on; balloons taking off everywhere. I stopped at one of the many churches ( all were only locate d on this semi-circle road) and bought myself a Navajo taco--made with Navajo Fried Bread( like a fluffy taco) & loaded with beans, cheese and veggies...$5 ~ yummy!
• Horseshoe Canyon; next stop just south of Page and I hiked in over a mile-long sand trail to get to the eastern edge to view this gorgeous canyon,,,and sat down to sketch it with my conté pastels. A Navajo family sat close by and the young man was very interested in what I was up to ...he taught me Hello and Goodbye in Navajo: "Yaa'teeh!" & "Hangoo~naé!" respectively. So there i am sitting observing his sister and her mother or grandmother talking and referring to a book beside this huge boulder overseeing the canyon and writing...and I created this romantic notion that her elder was passing on tribal knowledge :-) I found out they were in fact working on Suduko puzzles !! We had a good laugh!
• Just North of Cameron; I stopped at a Navajo stand at the side of the 89 North and bought some Christmas presents from Marge who patiently explained many details about her jewellery...the different types of Turquoise and shells. She does the bead work and stone work, and her sister, Mary( all the sisters were named with 'M'), the silver smithing. There are some funky rules for them selling this work off of the reservation...I hope to see her again as I should have bought more...I kept on thinking of others I could have bought for as I drove home. She had some unique beautiful silver feathers which are representing Guardian Angels. She was a lovely older woman who had a bag of food ready to feed to the crows at the end of her workday. "They are so fat they can't really fly anymore-hah!"
• Flagstaff: At sunset I found myself passing through the large mountains around Flagstaff and there was this spectacular sunset!! and no battery juice left.....so I just soaked it up in my visual memory.
• Jerome: Caught the tail-end of the ArtWalk held on the 1st Saturday of every month. I lucked into some wine, champagne and appetizers and some gorgeous art and crafts at the Pura Vida Gallery and Gallery 527...then drove down to the Old Jerome HighSchool Studios and met Alan Bur Johnson, who creates beautiful wall pieces incorporating insect images and old sewing patterns..( he had two recent installations which brought him considerable critical acclaim. "Icarus", juried into the Arizona Biennial held at the Tucson Museum of Art, received the Erni Cabat Award and was described as "most innovative" in the resulting review. "Aerial", previously exhibited only at the AIPAD Photography Show at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, also was deemed "most innovative" (ARTINFO) and "most radical" (The New York Art World).
• When I got home I threw my stuff on the ground, grabbed the large drawing pad and I created the most inspiring piece so far on this trip...all the adventures and opening up I have done for the last month allowed me to just "whip" this glorious huge pastel together of the sunset I experienced from my right eye, keeping my left on the road...no careful outlines 1st ...just grinding the colors to paper and it was brilliant, raw and delicious!! VIVID oranges, yellow streaks ...dark purple shadows and a backdrop of turquoise over the dark brown/blue mountains.