Back in Arizona

I'm back in Arizona, enjoying all its beauty! The weather has been wonderful (even though some people here think that it's cold!). It's so nice to be here.
We hiked at Thunderbird Park and saw this at the top of the mountain. It's a great place to hike with an awesome view. We're getting in shape for Hawaii!

At Glendale Glitters, you can play in the snow for only $2! ;) I thought that MN people might get a kick out of this.

Me and Aunt Donna getting cozy with a giant teddy bear:

A visit to Prescott: This was in Jerome, the coolest little old mining city built on a hill. I really enjoyed this artsy city and hope to get back there again some day.

Me with the Civil War guys:

I took this picture for Newman, my kitty. Of course she wouldn't understand, but I had to do it anyway. ;)

An overlook in Sedona:

This area is famous for their red rocks. Meditating:

Man contemplating life.

Lovely days.

Fall? trip to the cabin

This started out as a Fall trip to the cabin to take in all the changing colors, but as we are all too aware in Minnesota right now, the snow came a bit early this year. Luckily, I did get some pictures before the snow fell and it was beautiful both ways. Whether people around here are ready for the snow, it's hard to argue that it doesn't look nice.
Some of the leaves seem to be confused by the cold snaps we've been having and it's caused some interesting designs:






October 9th:
October 10th:

It's pretty rare that the grass is still green when the snow comes.

Cabin trip: Beginning of Fall

Fall is such a beautiful time of year! We snuck up north for a couple days when the colors were just beginning to change, which was so nice. Here are a couple pictures from our mini-trip:

Ren Fest!

We scored some free tickets to the Renaissance Festival and were so excited to check it out! We were able to go during the Wine, Chocolate and Romance weekend which for us meant tasting a bunch of wine produced in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Minnesota is producing more and more wine and vineyards are popping up everywhere. I'm not complaining! ;) Anyway, Ren Fest was a blast! It is an unbeatable place to people watch; people that work there and many visitors dress up and stay in Renaissance character throughout the fest. By the end of the day, our feet were tired and caked with dirt, our heads swimming and happy from the wine (and mead!) and the experience, and our bellies were full of pickles and nut rolls. It's definitely worth checking this place out.




Ye Olde Bath Shoppe
A pickle vendor (they were the most fun!)
Some Navy guys joined us for lunch:

Norm! We met this guy during a tasting. He rocks!
A little fortune teller:
I remember this part from when I went there as a child:
Vegetable Justice. That guy is extra mean, so you don't feel so bad throwing tomatoes at him.
He's on Island time. We will be joining him soon!



The nice lady that gave us mead:



At closing, everyone gathered together to sing to the guests as we left. It was awesome.