Henri and Gigi
Our first guests were our friends Henri and Gigi. They were great company and up for anything. Even with a bit of bad weather they still relaxed and enjoyed themselves. Gigi was tenacious with a jigsaw puzzle we brought with us.
But it wasn't all indoor activities. They spent some time in Flagstaff and we had a few good hikes including this one on Soldier's Pass, one of our favorites. Plus they treated us to dinner at our favorite family Mexican Restaurant, Casa Bonita in the Basha's strip mall.
Gigi works as a geologist so she was fascinated with the landscape and we took advantage of her knowledge. She and Judy stopped in some shops in Jerome and picked up some samples of copper. It was good to have someone assure us that the stones were legit.
Bob and Evie
After Henri and Gigi left, we welcomed our friends from Walpole, Bob and Evie Saunders. They jumped right into things by making two large pans of lasagna. We ate one over a couple of days and we are still saving the other one. It was great. The Pear Martinis on the deck weren't bad either.
They were really interested in seeing the Grand Canyon, so that was on their itinerary. But when they saw a brochure for Antelope Canyon in Page, they remembered that one of their daughters had raved about it. So, we heard them leave before 6am and didn't see them again til 8pm when they walked in the door with a pizza. They had managed to cram in a tour of Upper Antelope Canyon and the Grand Canyon in one day. Quite a trip but shows it can be done.
Bob took about 800 pictures (is that a record?). They were in awe of the scenery. There was some snow on the ground when they arrived so we took some photos with snow on the red rocks. Beautiful.
We took Bob and Evie to our favorite spot for a picnic and passed by the remains of a steer that we have been watching for a couple of years. Judy and Evie picked through the bones until Judy found a nice leg bone to bring home.
We continued up the trail for our lunch sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the colorful landscape.
The morning they were leaving, I took Bob on one last Jeep ride to the Broken Arrow trail. I've blogged on this one before so I won't belabor things. Suffice it to say that when we returned to the house, Bob excused himself to change his underwear.
Then they were off for a visit to the Sonoran Desert Museum and the San Xavier del Bac Mission in Tucson. They had a great time and so did we.
Dottie Folino
Next, our friend and neighbor, Dottie Folino, joined us. Dottie was very accommodating as she shared some of the guest facilities with my niece, Kaleigh, and her roommate from UNC, Mia (more on them in another post). She walks a lot with friends at home, so we got her right out on a nice trail called Marg's Draw. It starts as Schnebly Hill and passes beneath such formations as Snoopy Rock. A great way to start the week.
Dottie really enjoyed the Indian Rock Art at Hunanki ruins
and loved the "moderate" off road experience on the way back to civilization.
She capped off the week by taking us all out to dinner at Judy's favorite restaurant.
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