Hot, hot, hot, New York!

On the evening of May 30th Dan and I were finally packed and ready to get on the Jet Blue red-eye flight to JFK airport.  We had dinner with Ashley and Ryan Osher, a delicious curried shrimp dinner Ryan cooked.  And they drove us to the airport to catch a plane to come visit New York and Ryan again.
After a night flight and a couple of hours of sleep we arrived at the airport at 6 am. It was a beautiful day and just over 70 degrees when we walked out of the airport. We were safe and sound so far, the scary part started with the taxi ride into town.  And surprise of all surprises we had a very careful and reasonable driver in this cab. 
We arrived at Ryans apartment at about 7 am and walked down the street for a lazy breakfast.  I should have started to worry when the airconditioning felt good to us already in the resteraunt, but no worries yet and a great breakfast was had by all.
We then decided to do a little touring so we wouldn't fall asleep and wreck our bio clocks and waste a whole day.

We did a little walking around town and decided to go to the Statue of Liberty.  Ryan hadn't been there yet either.  So off we headed for Battery Park.  Stood in line for about 25 minutes for the tickets and walked, and walked and walked to the end of the waiting line for the ferry.  Just over an hour, (hot, standing in the sun hour) we were packed like sardines onto a tour boat and spent 20 minutes getting to Monument Island.  What a sight it was, and beautiful monument to visit.

And oh the amount of humanity that was traveling out to see her!

Next up was a shorter ride to Ellis Island.  I texted Aunt Chris and asked her if they came through Ellis Island when they reached the US.  She said they did, "And I remember it very well.  It was an impressive sight to pass the statue and finally be able to touch American Soil."

They had a rather impressive wall of assorted trunks along the length of the main building.  I noticed that 3 of these trunks were very much like some of the ones I own.  It made me think of how it must have been to have traveled from everyone and everything you knew.  Pack all you owned into a couple of small containers, and travel to a place where you didn't know how to read, speak, use the money, or trust anyone in your travels.  Just to fulfill a hope for a better life for your family than you had before.  How brave,(crazy? determined?) would you need to be to try that with one hopeful father, one heartsick and homesick wife, and 3 little girls that barely understood what they were experiencing.  And this was at a time (1952) when there were reliable ways to send letters and pictures to keep in touch, not when it was surely the end of every contact like it was for so many earlier travelers.
With a tight throat and high emotions already we saw many pictures and read some very touching stories of other emigrants as they tried to make better lives for themselves and their families.  If any one comes even close to this part of the country I sincerely hope they all come and experience this the way I did.  I put myself in their shoes for just a moment and came away with a great appreciation for my life and circumstance as it is now.
As we left to go back to the city we were weary, hot and tired, sweaty and sunburnt, but having a very good time still.

And here is party animal Ry with a smile to prove it!
After a bite to eat we went back to the apartment where Ryan cleaned up and went out to meet friends at a pre-opening run through of a new show.  Dan cleaned up and went out to watch some of the NBA playoff game and grab a late slice of pizza.  And good old mom face planted and slept on and off for a good 12-13 hours. What a day!

Today we had a much quieter day.  We did a little sight seeing, including some interesting art installed along the L line of the subway.

How cute they were all over the stations. The little figures are about 7 or 8 inches tall and doing all sorts of fun things.  I hope I get a chance to take pictures of a few more.
This afternoon, after Ryan left for work, Dan and I rested for awhile...then we set out walking from Ryan's appartment to find a Thai resturant someone had told us was a great place to eat.  It was hot and humid and we walked and walked for almost 2 miles before we found the resturant...which ended up being only a half block from Ryan's appartment. 
We are still a little sunburnt and hot and sweaty but are all safe and sound again tonight waiting for Ryan to get off work and come back home. 
We miss you and love you all and hope you are all healthy and doing well.
da mama and da papa

Story without pictures

Here is a little catch up of the trip without pictures because the internet is sooooo slow.  Takes too long to upload pictures.
On Saturday morning we sadly left beautiful Sedona and drove out across the mountains to Snowflake,  a cute little town.  We headed there to go to the temple.  It was built nine years ago and was quite lovely.  Another little temple, but everyone was so nice and helped us get clothes together since we mistakenly thought they had rentals.
On Sunday we drove to Casa Grande where we thought we were going to go to Baccalaureate.  Instead we went to Skip and Jans house for a surprise birthday barbie for me.  Steaks, veggies, baked potatoes, and cream puffs for dessert.  Yum!
Today I ran errands with Angie and helped prepare food for a graduation party for Kylie.  Dan worked at the hotel until mid afternoon catching up on work and stake clerk work.  The party was at Skip and Jans and was real fun.  About 20 people showed up and at the very end Kylie and a couple of friends went swimming in the pool they have.
A really nice day and evening, good dinner, catching up with friends and family, what a way to spend a sunny day.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Love, love, love!
Dan and Nic

Traveling in Style

Today was a good day in Sedona.  We left our room about 9:45 and drove to Jerome to look around some more.  It is so cute and worth a visit.

After a little more than an hour we drove to Clarksdale to take the Verde Canyon Railroad trip.  It was a 4 hour total ride.  Two hours into the canyon and they moved the engine to the other end of the train, and than it pulled us back for two hours.

We had sparkling cider and a little snack buffet available on the ride.  Here are a couple of the scenes along the ride including the front and back of the train from where we were.

Here the train is going over the SOB trestle.. No it doesn't mean that! It stands for Superintendent Of Bridges, you silly peoples.

This was a lucky shot of the Verde River.  It is surprising how such a little bit of water can bring life to a whole valley.  It is not quite as much water as the canal that ran through Logan.  Only about twice the water that usually goes through Woods Creek by the cabin. 

After the train ride we drove back to Sedona and went to see The Chapel.  It is a very spiritual little place and in a most beautiful spot.  Built into the rocks it almost has to be seen to be believed how it was done.

And the views from the Chapel, how many times can amazing still be an effective to discribe anything?  The two rocks standing together are called the Nuns, and the rock formation at the left is Cathedral Rock.

On the right of this picture is bell rock, and the left in Montezuma's Castle.
We had dinner at the Cowboy Cafe again.  A fun local place with good food. and took a stroll down the street again to finish off the day.
What a good day it was. Thank you all for your texts, calls, messages, and the love I felt today from friends and family alike.  It was a great birthday and I love you all.
Ma and Pa say goodnight.

Adventure in Sedona

On Tuesday the 17th of may we rousted Ashley out of bed early so she could drive us to the Airport.  We were on our way to Phoenix, where we rented a car and drove to Sedona.  What a gorgeous drive it was.  And then we got to Sedona and found how really gorgeous the scenery could be. 
    Tuesday was a long travel day so we just went across the street to the Cowboy Cafe for dinner.  Cowboy it was, but it was good food.  Dan had a hamburger that he had to send back because it was too raw.  I had a pork loin chop with sweet potato mash, fresh steamed vegetables and a reduction of onion, apple and bacon as a finish on the meat.  You all know I love my meals and this one was good.
     Wednesday we went to check out a time share in the valley.  Interesting hour and a half.  We had lunch in a little local place and drove to Jerome.  It is a little mining town perched on a hill. Steep windy road and steep hill.  There were lots of windy little streets to walk with dozens of little shops to see.  All sorts of things, antiques, papers, books, clothes, gifts, and more.  One of my favorite stores was a giftshop that specialised in Kaleidescopes.  I spent at least an hour in there playing with their toys.  Finally Dan told me to just buy something already so we could just move on.  I found a beautiful wood teleidescope made out of black walnut and maple.  A teleidescope is a tube with a clear lens on the outside so that anything you see through it is multiplied by the mirrors inside.  Great fun to play with. On the drive home we stopped for mexican food,(ok) and ended up in our hotel early.

     Today we had breakfast at the hotel, (good!) and hit the streets for a little walking before our activity of the day.  Pink Jeep Tour.  It was so much fun.  They really are pink jeeps decked out for sight seeing and it was such a good, fun ride.  We took the Broken Arrow tour and it was hard core country four wheeling. 

Here I am on submarine rock with the tour guide, Dan.

And here was the first of the stunning views of the tour.

Dan is standing on Chicken Rock.  It was so named because the early jeep drivers would drive around the point to scare everyone in their cars.  Thank goodness they don't do that any more.

And these are the before and after shots of a 45 degree grade.  We had a quick explanation of what a controlled slide was and off we went.

This was so much fun that I can't wait until we get another chance for a ride.

We should have further tales tomorrow.

Love you all!

Goodby to Sunny California

This blog is so different to do than the one we did while we were in New York. There was so much to do every day that I needed to update every night to I could remember everything. Here, on the other hand, We do so much of the same thing every day that one blog will be plenty. In the morning when we get up the sun is shining (yes Virginia, there is sunshine somewhere every day!).

Dan sits in the sun (but not for very long) and works or studies for the morning. I get up when I feel like it and lay out until about noon or so. After getting showered and dressed we pick somewhere to have a late lunch every day. We pass this beautiful view of the golf course coming and going every day.

Some of the places we have picked to eat have been pretty bad. It's not fun to do that. But some of the last ones we have eaten in were great. We found the Old Town area of La Quinta and it had 7 different places to eat. We have had great meals since we have tried eating in these places. The first place was this one that is owned by Clint Eastwood. It is called the Hogs Breath Inn. He has one in Carmel, and this one. Some of the locals said that he comes up once in a while to check up on it and will stay for the evening and play the piano for a couple of hours. How fun would that have been?

We took one afternoon and went to the Temple in Redlands. It was small, but very unique. We really enjoyed visiting it.

Unfortunately the closest we came to seeing ol' Clint was this: Isn't this picture one from "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly? Or is it from "High Plains Drifter"? I don't remember .

Here we are taking advanatage of the last sun we will get today. It is hard to say goodby to a fun vacation. No matter where it was.

this one was great and the timing was perfect, as far as the weather was concerned. Mid to high 70's is great! In the summer it gets as hot as 120 degrees during the day. Records are even higher. NO THANKS!

Good-by palm trees and desert views. Hello Seattle and the north west weather tomorrow.

Love you all.

Ma and Pa

Leavin' on a jet plane

Here we are saying a last good bye to Vegas. Can't wait to go back!

Las Vegas wrap up

Oh how jaded we must be after only a few short visits to L.V. I realised today that I didn't even take a single picture. How unlike a Conlin is that?
We had a lazy morning and decided to go for a little walk on the blvd. Cold? I mean really COLD! Not as cold as in Colorado where Adam and Colleen and the brood is, but cold for here. It was in the low 20's early this morning and the wind was blowin'. Even on the sunny side of the street it was too cold to stay outside without warmer clothes than we had.
We hustled across the street to eat at a disapointing place for lunch, and hustled back into Ceasars' to stay warm.
This evening we walked next door to the Bellagio to see "O". It is a great show where there is a stage which would change from hard solid floor, to puddles and rain, to a pool that people were diving and jumping in from sometimes a long way up. Acrobats, dancers, trapeze artists, clowns and more were in the cast. It was very worth seeing.
Tomorrow we will be leaving sunny but cold Las Vegas. Can't wait till I can come back again. I love the shows and entertainment you can find here. Celine comes back again in March. Hmmmmmm.........maybe a trip for my BD could be the thing to do.
Miss ya all.
Ma and Pa C.