Sedona The Beautiful!

So, I took an Amtrak train from home through Sacramento, CA to Denver, CO for my interview at Regis University. I then took a Greyhound bus from Denver, CO to Raton, NM where I caught another Amtrak train to Flagstaff, AZ. Flagstaff is a quant little town in northern Arizona that has many old buildings that house fun little shops. Our hotel, the Hotel Monte Vista, was built in 1927 and housed at least two bars which could be heard till at least 2:00 AM on a Saturday night (or morning I guess). The next morning, my mom and I took a side trip through Sedona, AZ, where there are so many beautiful red mountains towering above the road. The small little town of Sedona was full of fun shops and many tour companies, including one that offered to excort you through the rough terrain in pick Jeeps.

My mom and I walked through so many shops, talked with many of the locals, and were given advice on where to explore during our Sedona visit. Just standing in the middle of town, you are able to experience one of the greatest gifts God has given us on this beautiful Earth. The red mountains tower above the town in so many unique formations, that you can't help yourself but to just stand and stare (then turn slowly turn in circles and stare some more). There are many great resturants in the area and many resorts where you can stay and see these spectacular mountains and have the weekend to experience the town. You have opportunities to sit and enjoy another person's company over a glass of ice tea or a beer, or you can find hiking trails to get some exercise and experience the mountains in an entirely different fashion. When walking through the town of Sedona, you come across many different statues - some are bronze, some are painted, some are big, and some are small. The street art helps to solidify what the town of Sedona is: a great family vacation spot.

The area of Sedona that my mom and I choose to explore was the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is a small Catholic Chapel built into the red rock, and you are able to go into the chapel to pray or visit the gift shop downstairs where we saw so many beautiful and amazing things to buy. Many of the items you can buy are made from the red rock itself. There are many different navity scenes ranging from traditional to a Native American version, and we even found some Jewish items, including a menorah. From the Chapel, you can see many of the red mountains around you, because the Chapel is much higher than the highway that runs between and around the mountains. Plus, you have many high peaks directly above you when you're standing with your back to the Chapel. The views are amazing, and the town is fabulous. I highly recomend a visit to Sedona, AZ, and I hope that you have enjoyed the photos I have taken of our trip.

One final piece of information when you visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona is this, pay attention to the last house you pass when you get to the Chapel. If you miss it, you will get a great view of it when you stand next to this little piece of stone artwork next to the entrance of the chapel. I have a picture of the house you will see - it is HUGE! It has its own pond and gazebo in the lower portion of the yard. It has a four car garage. You can't really see from this picture, but his help has their own home on the back corner of the property. Who own's this house? It was just purchased for $25 million dollars by the actor Nic Cage. We didn't see him, but his house is large and has amazing views of Sedona.

Now that I have visited Sedona, my mom and I have laid low for a few days, but we are heading out of town tonight to get a clear view of the stars. Tomorrow, however, I must head to Tucson, AZ, where I will have my second interview in a week, and then I will finally head home to my wife and daughters. I have missed them so much, and will be thankful to return home.

Gregg

A New American Adventure

Regis University

As many of you know, Allison, our girls, and I drove round-trip to Omaha, NE, last spring, well this year, I am taking the adventure alone. Well, I have traveling buddies, but I don't have Allison and the girls with me. I rode the train to Denver, CO, for an interview at Regis University with my dad. Our train ride took about 55 hours, but we had a blast! We met people from all over the country with all sorts of occupations, and we enjoyed how beautiful our country is. If you have never taken the train through Colorado, I suggest that you do, because it is one of the most beautiful parts of the country I have ever seen.

There are several differences between riding on a train and flying in a plane, and some of them are time, you can sit just about anywhere from your seat, the cafe, the diner, and the observation car, and even though you can keep to yourself, you are close enough to other people to start many conversation with people from all over the world. We met people from almost every state in the western United States, and we met people from Europe and New Zealand. One gentleman we met was taking a complete tour of the United States on trains, and was heading back home to the Midwest. The opportunity to meet people makes the train such an adventure, but some of that adventure includes meeting some strange people too. As I stated before, you are able to keep to yourself and avoid those people you don't want to meet, but those people are rare and won't ruin your adventure. The biggest difference between a plane and a train, however, is seeing what you traverse instead of flying over it.

My time at Regis University was amazing! I loved the campus and the pharmacy program is fabulous! I believe that the interview and two page essay I had to write went very well, and I am anxious to see the results of this interview. My travels, however, are not complete, and I took a bus from Denver, CO (through Colorado Springs, CO) to Raton, NM. I then took a train from Raton, NM to Flagstaff, AZ. The scenery was again amazing, and the landscape was mostly covered in snow the entire train ride. My dad did not accompany me on this leg of the journey, he flew home from Denver while I enjoyed more of our country.

Once in Flagstaff, AZ, I walked from the train station to the Hotel Monte Vista where I met my mom. The next day we drove from Flagstaff through Sadona to her home. But, that adventure will have to wait, as do I. I have another interview to attend, but this interview is at the University of Arizona on Friday. Until my next blog, be sure to enjoy your family, love your family, and hug your family.

Gregg

Our South Dakota Neighbor

After months of neglect, I thought I would share more of our adventurous trip to and from Omaha, NE. Let me say one thing, when you're driving on I-90 and pass Wall Drug and the hundred plus miles of unique signs posted every other mile in South Dakota, there isn't anything else to see. Period! South Dakota was one of the long parts of our trip, so we decided to make the most of the monotony by meeting new people. Ok, so it wasn't planned at all, but it's something that we will never forget.

When you drive through South Dakota and see a place to stop to pee, you jump on it (ok, not literally). Gas stations happen about every hundred miles or so and bathrooms less often, so we were approaching a rest stop and going to take advantage of indoor and heated bathrooms. When we parked, it was my job to open the back of our wagon and get everybody's coat and put them on as people exited the vehicle and then close the back and run to the bathroom. When we were all done, I took the coats as people peeled them off and jumped back into the wagon, and then I opened the back of the wagon and put the coats in and jumped back into the car. I then backed the wagon out of our spot and started driving away. Did I forget something? Yep!

About 200 yards from our spot, a man started jumping up and down trying to get our attention, so we stopped. "Um, hello," I said, and he replied, "Hey partner, I think you forgot something back there." So I looked back to where we were parked and said, "Hey! The back's open." "There you go partner," he replied. I thanked him for getting our attention and picked up some stuffed that had fallen out when we stopped and closed the back. I looked back to our spot and found a cowboy waving something of ours and trying to get our attention.

I climbed backed in the wagon, put my head down, took a deep breath, and looked in the rearview mirror and started backing up. Allison didn't see the cowboy, so I had to explain why we were backing up more than 200 yards, and then we all started giggling. When we reached the cowboy, Allison rolled down her window, and this is what happened:

"Howdy! You know, I've had bad days before, just like my Washington neighbors have." At this point, Allison and I both thought the cowboy was going to tell us a story about his neighbors that used to live in or now live in or part of the year live in Washington, but no, the cowboy was talking about us. Allison and I just looked at him, waiting for the rest of the story, but there was no story coming. So, we just stared at each other, waiting for the other to start talking. Then he tried to make us feel better by saying, "Hope this will make you laugh later on, my Washington neighbors." Then he lifted the lost item - a flattening iron.

We thanked our South Dakota neighbor for returning our flattening iron, bid him a good day, and drove away. Then we all started laughing! Really, really hard! We were laughing so hard that I had to pull the car over to the side of the road. When our laughing subsided enough to drive again, we realized we were still at the rest stop, only about another 50 yards past where we first stopped to close the back of the wagon. So we started laughing again, but I drove through tear blurred eyes this time just so we could leave the rest stop. The rest of the day, we made jokes about what the heck that cowboy thought the flattening iron must have been from a portable iron for jeans to a travel grilled cheese sandwich maker. It was one of the best days of travel we had, and we still laugh and joke about it.