Montezuma's Castle and Well

Okay, I realize it has been a little while since I posted on this blog. In my defense I do post five times a week on my book website but I guess it is time to update the blog and fill everyone in on what Colby and I have been up to for the last little while (okay, almost a year).

After our trip to CA we decided to seem some of the local sites here in AZ. Too many people go on vacations to visit other places but never see the sites around where they live. We drove up to Motezuma's Castle, which I was told by everyone and the website was a hike to the ruins. Umm...they lied....it was a level paved concrete path that round trip was less than 1/2 mile.

Unfortunately this was about as close as they let you get to the ruins. We had anticipated something a bit more challenging than than level path that took less than a 1/2 including photo time so we decided to go see Montezuma's Well. It was a great choice!

The Well is a much longer hike with a lot of stairs if you want to go down to the actual water and not just view it from the rim. The water that flows into this well is warm and fresh and over a million gallons a day flow through it. There are numerous animal trails and Native American ruins around the Well including an amazing irrigation system created by the Native Americans who farmed in the nearby Valleys.

It was a little warm while we hiked by well worth the drive and the trek!

In Honor of the 4th

I saw this and couldn't resist sharing it with everyone. Gotta love the US!

CA Final Day

Originally we had planned to spend the last morning at the beach but us Phoenicians have become wusses and the 60 degree weather was too cold for us to play in the water. (Hey, that is the coldest it gets here in the winter, I almost needed a coat :) ). Instead we went to the Maritime Museum, it was amazing! Basically, it is nine ships that you pay a small entrance fee and you get to explore all nine ships. The first was the Star of India an 1800s British Merchant ship that transported goods and people all over the world.

It was incredible to see how large the ship was and

then to imagine the number of people crammed onto

for months at a time. It gave me a greater appreciation

for what my ancestors must have gone through to

get to America from Europe, crammed into a little

room with lots of other people, sickness running

rampant, praying you don't run into any storms.

Lachelle and I did do the whole Titanic moment on the ship but I don't have a copy of the photo since I had my camera on me (I'm probably glad about that actually...now that I think about it...).

I think Colby's favorite, of course, was the Russian

submarine. Talk about living on top of each other! The

ship didn't have enough beds for all the men who lived

on it so they slept in shifts.

There were lots of great things to see and I tried to convince Lachelle to climb into the torpedo tube, this is as close as she would get. :)

They had several steamships, including this private yacht with a smoking room (Colby is holding a pipe because obviously high class individuals would smoke a pipe). It reminded me of the movie In Search of The Castaways, an old Disney favorite of mine.

After getting our fill of the Maritime Museum, we walked down the pier to the USS Midway aircraft carrier, it was HUGE; unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to tour it so we are going to have to go back to see it. We ate lunch at this great restaurant on the pier, with huge glass windows overlooking the bay. As we were eating there was a small ship with a large mat in that had a dolphin swimming along the side, every so often the dolphin would jump into the ship, the trainers would give it a treat and then it would jump back into the ocean. Our waitress told us that they used the dolphin to check for mines and bombs under the piers up and down the coast in the fight against terrorism. It was so amazing to watch the dolphin working with the trainers and to think about man and animal working together.

CA Pool Party

After back-to-back days at theme parks we were tired! After we left Sea World we decided to order pizza and relax in the hot tub, just enjoying each other's company instead of trying to find somewhere to eat. It was great! Not seen in the photo are Kim and Sharlene who sat at the other edge, just letting their feet soak and Rado who pulled up a chair and kept us company.

CA Vacation Sea World

On day three of our vacation we went to Seaworld. We went straight to the dolphin enclosure, hoping to see them feeding the dolphins and instead, the workers brought in their pet dogs to play with the dolphins. If you look closely on the left in the front there is a Border Collie that spent the whole time running back and forth in front of the glass trying to lick the dolphins. The dolphins loved it and kept tapping the glass to get the attention of the dog. It was great to see them all having such a good time.

I have always found the eels to be super creepy and have to admit I kinda freaked myself out while I was in the aquarium by myself, luckily my husband came along before my imagination took complete control.

Bentley, as you can see, had the best seat in the house for viewing everything.

Of course, no trip to Sea World is complete without watching the Shamu Killer Whale Show. Colby and I sat by ourselves because I refused to sit in the splash zone with the rest of the family. I know, I know, I am a party pooper but I just don't like getting soaked by water and walking around wet for the rest of the day (yes, the family used the argument that it was hot enough that I only would have been damp for a little while but nonetheless, not my idea of a good time). We had a great time I only got a little sunburnt when the sun finally decided to come out and play.

CA Vacation Legoland

On the first full day in CA we went to Legoland. I have to admit I was super impressed by the detail work and scale that went into the displays. You can see how large the Washington Monument is compared to my tall husband. Bentley loved the rollercoaster ride and wanted to go again and again.

There are over 2.5 million legos in the park and it is amazing the different displays. Here we were in the Castle themed portion of the park and you can see Kim's cute prego belly getting in on the action.

The park was great especially since Bentley was tall enough to go on most of the rides and they weren't too scary for him. The park also had a couple of more exciting rides for the adults that we were able to go on.

CA Vacation Day One

We were able to go to California this last week with Colby's family and we had a blast! The first day there we went to the beach and FROZE! Unfortunately, we choose a very cold week to be there. It was hard to leave the 90 degree weather in Phoenix for the 60 degree weather in California. After walking in the sand and ocean without shoes we weren't able to find a place to wash our feet so Kim and Lachelle made do with an outdoor hand washing facility by the bathroom. The crazy people at the beach were actually swimming in that overcast cold weather. I guess Colby and I have adjusted to Phoenix alot more quickly than I expected.

The photo below is an accurate photo of how the guys spent most of the trip, gathered around Colby's phone looking at something or other.