My Special Winter Getaway

Last week I left Beth alone with the store and took a vacation with my 88 year old father to Arizona. The beautiful desert lands of the state had been a favourite vacation destination for my mother and dad. Mom had said that if she ever had the opportunity, she would like to go back to Sedona in Arizona as she found it the most beautiful scenery and atmosphere in the area. Unfortunately, my mother never had the chance to return, but I had the privilege of going on a "memory trip" with my dad.

We stayed in a resort on the outskirts of the town of Sedona. It is in an area known as "Red Rock Country" due to the magnificent red mountains that you can see in every direction. The rock formations have been "dyed" with iron oxide and the majority of stores, buildings and homes are covered in red stucco and display a distinctive "adobe" architecture.

We spent our days seeing the tourist sights of the area and then my dear dad would head off to bed early in the evening, leaving me the luxury of a few hours of knitting time every night.

We drove north through snow in Flagstaff, AZ (a ski resort area) to the Grand Canyon - and yes the white stuff is snow! The elevation is so high that snow is a common occurrence in the winter months. I had always thought of Arizona as a hot desert area and was given quite a surprising climate education.

Pictures can't do justice to the breathtaking scenery at each lookout of the Grand Canyon. It is truly a natural wonder of the world.

Another excursion to the northeast of Sedona brought us to the famous "Painted Desert" and "Petrified Forests". This time the soil has been "painted" with other naturally occuring chemicals to display layers ranging from greens, blue and purples to reds and oranges - a rainbow in both the mountains and minerals within the petrified logs. The chemist in me (pre-yarn store days) had a perfectly wonderful time.

I am aware that this has not seemed like my usual knitting blog entry. It is proof that I can actually be found without knitting needles in my hands (occasionally). You'll need to wait for my next entry to see that this trip did include plenty of yarn and knitting adventures - no surprise there!

Karen