Of Fall Beauty and Flooding

I was so happy to see I didn't totally miss out on the autumn beauty

and the chance to walk in crunchy leaves.

Natalie, Landon, Koen and Evy stayed over for a few days.

Between baking large cinnamon buns and playing board games,

 we managed to fit in a wiener roast

before the rains came again.

Tehya also came for dinner one night and 

immediately ran barefoot out on the street

when she saw the rainbow.

These past few days it's been raining so much -

this is the scene we woke up to this morning.

We are on a hill, overlooking the Sumas Prairie -

which looks like a lake right now.

It would be beautiful if it weren't so devastating.

Currently all four highways coming to Vancouver are closed -

cutting us off from the rest of our country.

Right at our doorstep, the highway and all side roads 

are closed to the next town.

Many farmers have to evacuate and

hope their livestock gets rescued.

Other farmers have no way of getting their milk shipped

and no way of getting feed for their animals.

As we listen to the sound of helicopters overhead,

we wait and watch 

as this once in a lifetime experience unfolds before our eyes.

And I've been thinking of that rainbow.

The promise. 

 

California and the Way Home

We spent the rest of our time in Palm Desert, southern California.

It's one of our favorite places to relax

and there's something akin to feeling at home here ...

we get groceries at Ralph's, unpack our suitcases.

and pretty well settle into a routine.

This is El Paseo Drive, a beautiful street lined with shops and restaurants.

We enjoyed patio seating on both sides of the street. 

One night we met up with (my front porch) Judy and Elmer with their friends.

The townhouse we've rented over the years, is on a golf course

which we walked through on our morning walks.

It was closed due to over-seeding at this time.

There are also tennis and pickle ball courts, which we made use of. 

One of my highlights was to browse through stores such Target and Hobby Lobby again.

We celebrated our 46th Wedding Anniversary

and  asked someone on the street to take our photo.

This one is a little clearer, but I like the first one.

Few photos, but good memories abound!

Our journey home began early morning.

We passed the wind farm on the San Gorgonio Pass 

in the San  Bernadino Mountains. 

It has over 4000 windmills and provides enough electricity to power Palm Springs 

and the entire Coachella Valley. 

The strip of highway known as the Grapevine for it's

curves and incline. 

We also passed through many orchards.

We stayed the night in Southern Oregon and continued on the next day,

gorgeous fall colors replacing palm tress. 

The beautiful city of Seattle.

And the beautiful Canada / US border.

We got home in time to hand out candy.

And I'll end with this one ...

the firefighter and his fire. 

It's good to be home again. 

 

The Grand Canyon

After a lightning storm during the night,

the sun was out in the morning and we got our first look.

After always having heard how awesome and grand it is,

I saw it, and realized that you cannot capture it in a photo.

The canyon is 277 miles long, about 10 - 13 miles across

and a mile deep, measuring straight down to the Colorado River. 

Layers upon layers of colored rock.

Again, we decided that going down a ways would be more

interesting than just walking the view points on the perimeter.

I'll just let you follow ...

Watch the puddles from last night's storm. 

We came upon the first look out about a mile down.

At one point we tuned into Spotify to listen to one of our favorite songs

by Brian Doerksen, Creation Calls

A moment in the Grand Canyon I don't want to forget. 

After sometime it was time to turn around and look up.

It felt like a backwards hike, 

but somehow I was more energized than expected.

He made it with a big smile.

It is humbling to see such greatness,

to feel the hush and to see the way one can be inspired. 

The Grand Canyon State

 

We left Kanab the next day and crossed another state line.

The clouds and the on/off drizzle did not take away from the beauty of the Lake Powell area in northern Arizona. 

Lake Powell was created by damming the flow of the Colorado River,

flooding, what was once a majestic travel route by the river runners.

The Glen Canyon Dam was built in 1963.

It is the second tallest dam in the United States.

We crossed the bridge spanning the canyon, 

one of the highest bridges in the world when it was completed in 1959.

Leaving the area, we came to a tourist stop called Horseshoe Bend.

It looked very unassuming from the highway, we almost didn't bother stopping.

But the short walk was worth it!

It is almost indescribeable! 

But unlike other canyons it is one that you can actually capture in one shot - 

if not the initial awe at seeing such a unique formation.

We were glad we didn’t miss it! 

We drove into Grand Canyon National Park in a rain storm

and ended our day with Mexican dinner and

a gorgeous sunset.