On Friday, May 15, Tom and I dropped Preston off at Wags and Whiskers Pet Resort. He will be a resident there for eight nights. For my 74th birthday, Tom and I are off to a vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Enjoy, Preston!
The first night, we stayed in Moab, Utah, at the Adventure Inn & Motel. It is a rustic motel that had a section of renovated rooms --- where we stayed. Tom and I walked to a nearby restaurant, The Broken Oar. They had and evening special prime rib. We shared one large dinner portion. Yummy!
The next day, Tom and I drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was a 450 mile drive. But, we enjoyed a scenic road through Utah.
We arrived in the Wyoming capital city. On our way to see some of Cheyenne, we secured a geocache find --- my first in Wyoming! It was fun earning the Wyoming State badge!
It was fun seeing the Wyoming State Capitol building.
Tom and I had Mexican food for dinner at Tres Amigos. The dinner was good and the margaritas were delicious. Our hotel was a Best Western named Hotel Cheyenne. We were able to obtain a 10% dinner discount through the hotel.
Sunday morning, our drive to Spearfish Canyon Lodge was 270 miles. For lunch, we stopped at a funky dining establishment --- the Buckhorn Bar and Grill. The bar attendant and server was very friendly. She made me an awesome Bloody Mary.
Tom admired the collection of hunting trophies.
We arrived at our final destination around 4:00 p.m. My brother Peter and his wife Terry stayed at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge on a Tauck tour. They raved about it. I must admit that the location was beautiful. We were fortunate to have a three-night reservation in the large Bridal Veil Suite.
We had cocktails and a cheese and summer sausage tray in the Roughlock Falls bar.
Monday morning, we woke up to SNOW!!!
In fact, it snowed lightly all day in Spearfish Canyon. Tom and I enjoyed the fireplace in our suite. We even played some cribbage.
There are two outdoor hot tubs down the hall from our room. I indulged!
When I dropped Preston off at Wags and Whiskers Pet Resort, I asked that they assess Preston --- to see if he is a candidate for their doggy daycare camp. He passed! I knew that he would. So, Preston was able to mingle and play with other dogs during his stay..
Tuesday May 19 is my 74th birthday. Today, Tom and I will drive to Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. The sky is blue. There is still some snow on the ground.
The drive in the canyon to the city of Spearfish is very picturesque.
We stopped for a photo opportunity at Bridal Veil Falls.
Once in Spearfish, we jumped on Interstate 80 and drove west. I asked Tom to take my photo at the Welcome to Wyoming sign.
We got to the entrance of Devils Tower National Monument just after noon.
When I was last in this part of the country, Richard and I went to the Mount Rushmore National Park and Custer State Park. But, we missed Devils Tower. So, getting to this national monument was on my bucket list. In fact, I learned that Devils Tower National Monument was the very FIRST national monument --- established in 1906. It did not disappoint!
After enjoying Devils Tower, we had lunch at a cafe just outside the gate. As we reentered South Dakota, I asked Tom to pose near the Welcome to South Dakota sign.
Before heading back to Spearfish Canyon Lodge, Tom and I stopped in Spearfish to geocache. I wanted to earn a South Dakota State Badge. The cache I found was called "Got Ditched?"
We got to Spearfish Canyon Lodge around 4:00 p.m. As it was such a beautiful day, I wanted to drive up Roughlock Falls Road and look at the falls there. We parked the car and walked along a nice pathway.
We saw several falls along the path.
That evening, we had dinner at the restaurant across from the lodge, Latchstring Restaurant. We had lunch there the day before. Tom told them that it was my birthday. So after we completed our dinner entrees, the server brought a complimentary brownie and ice cream dessert with a candle. Very nice!
Wednesday morning was our check-out day at Spearfish Canyon Lodge. I thought that it would be fun having a photo of Tom and me on the balcony of our suite. I set-up my phone to take a time-delayed photo.
Our next stop on this road trip is Denver, Colorado. I saw that outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, is a Missile
Alert Facility. It is called Quebec 01. I asked Tom if we could stop and take a tour. Tom had toured one of these in South Dakota, but I have never been to one. Quebec 01 housed the launch controls for the nuclear missile Peacekeeper.
During the Cold War --- between 1964 and 2005 --- Air Force personnel were assigned to nuclear deterrence with advanced weapons. We toured the control panel pod 50 feet below ground. I am so glad that we took the time to visit this facility!
We arrived at our Denver Holiday Inn Express in time for dinner. The hotel highly recommended Mickeys Top Sirloin. This restaurant was a short distance away. Tom and I had a nice dinner there.
The next morning, Tom and I were blown away by the expansive breakfast area at the motel. I was even able to secure a "Takeaway" bag with some breakfast items to eat later. I knew that our Silverton hotel did not serve a complimentary breakfast.
A highlight of today was our drive to Silverton, Colorado. We were going to take the Million Dollar Highway --- a 25 mile scenic drive on Highway 550 --- from Ouray to Silverton.
We arrived in Silverton at about 5:30 p.m. Our lodging was the Bent Elbow Hotel. There, we had a the Bordello Balcony Suite.
All of the rooms in this hotel were upstairs. No elevator --- a long staircase. Tom and I only took up to the room what was essential. 😊😊😊
The views from our suite were very nice.
The last time I was in Silverton was September, 2016. My sister Wendy and I took the Durango to Silverton train. This was my first overnight. While Tom and I were getting ready to have dinner, I noticed that there was a geocache across the street at the Old Town Square. Of course, I needed to find and log the cache. Yes!
Dinner was in the El Bandito Mexican Restaurant downstairs from our room.
The next morning, I saw that there was another cache container fairly near the hotel. On our way out of town, we grabbed this cache find near the Old Hundred Gold Mine car.
The drive from Silverton to our home in Williams is 400 miles. But, we gain an hour. At about 1:00 p.m., I called Wags and Whiskers Pet Resort. Tom and I decided to pick up Preston on our way home. Originally, I was going to have to pick him up the next morning. This early pick up saved me a trip to and from Flagstaff Saturday.
I received a birthday thank-you email from my friend Oksana from Switzerland. She shares the same birth date as me. Her daughter, Bianka, had her eighteen birthday in Paris. Oxy sent me a photo of the two of them and the Eiffel Tower.
The Williams High School graduation was Friday, May 22. My nail technician and Tom's barber is Alie Rico. Alie's son, Brandon, graduated that Friday evening.
Sunday, May 24, was the Indianapolis 500 Race. Tom always likes to see the start of the race and the finish of the race. I enjoyed watching bits and pieces of the race with him.
At 1:00 p.m., I played pickleball with Roland, Suzanne, Kelly, and Sivert. It was the first time that I have played with Sivert in quite awhile.
Monday, May 25, was Memorial Day. Tom and I went to the 11:00 a.m. service at the Williams Cemetery. It was a rainy ceremony honoring those who have served our nation and who have fallen.
Tuesday morning, I played pickleball with Martha, Roland, and Ray. Ray and his wife gave two-week notice to the Circle Pines KOA. The owner of the KOA is not giving them manpower support to manage the children's program. So, after four summers there, they are leaving. I really enjoyed Ray and will miss him.
In the afternoon, I took Preston for a walk in town. The red caboose is parked once again on the tracks of the Grand Canyon Railway.
My friend Oland died in December of last year. I received an email invitation to attend his Celebration of Life in Ohio on September 26. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it.
Wednesday, May 27, I had lunch at Obregon City Tacos with the Highland Meadows Ladies.
There is a Williams resident who has been geocaching for 2 1/2 years. His call name is CanyonDen. I recently saw that he has been actively hiding cache containers in and around the Williams area. His cache's contain a lot of swag --- fun items like stickers, painted rocks, magnets, colorful jewelry, postcards of local areas, etc. Tom, Preston, and I found two of his caches up Perkinsville Road.
When I first started geocaching in 2003, the containers were usually ammunition boxes. So, the caches were filled with swag. The cache finder would often exchange swag --- "take one" and "leave one." That is when I purchased my plastic smiley coin purses.
On Saturday, May 30, Tom, Preston, and I went to look for more of CanyonDen's caches. One of the caches was in the forest near our home. Tom eyed it first!
We found another cache up Airport Road. It was called "I've been working on the railroad."
And, there was another nearby cache found "Leaving on a jet plane."
That evening, I made another Hello Fresh dinner.
Sunday was the last day in May. The Canyon Coaster operators had another "Month of May" charity promotion for the Williams High School. Locals ride the coaster for only $5.00. Of course, I had to cash in 😊😊😊 !!!
In the afternoon, there was pickleball play with me, Jeana, Roland, Craig, and Dan from Lake Havasu City.
Monday, June 1, was an afternoon of finding more of cache containers of CanyonDen's. As of this day, he has hidden 24 caches. The first cache find of the day was "Red Red Wine." It was located by the Forest Ranger District Office at the end of 6th Street.
I found another cache in the forest past West Sheridan Street.
For the final cache find of the day, I took Preston with me. It was a hot afternoon, but Preston and I found "Welcome to the Jungle."
Tuesday morning, we had eight pickleball players. Awesome! So that everyone was photographed, I took one photo of seven of us: Martha, Roland, Suzanne, Jordana, Craig, Ray, and Hayden.
Hayden took the second photo with me included.
Tom had an afternoon appointment with Dr. Brendan Girschek at Barnet Delaney Perkins Eye Center. Dr. Girschek is a retina specialist. He looked at the photos of Tom's retina and highly recommended a fifteen minute procedure called vitrectomy with membrane peeling. Tom's procedure is scheduled for June 18.
Tom and I got back to Williams at about 3:30 p.m. I knew that CanyonDen had placed a new cache in the forest between Williams and Bill Williams Trail Head. I thought that maybe I had a chance to be the "first to find" this cache. Tom drove me to the end of Sheridan Street. I then had four tenths of a mile to walk to the cache. Wouldn't you know... Take a Hike! found the cache container 9 minutes before me!!! Darn! Since the cache was named Mr. Red White and Blue, I left a blue smiley coin purse in the cache container.
Grand Canyon Railway has a diesel engine that has been painted to honor the 250th birthday of our nation. It is very exciting!
Wednesday, I had lunch with the Highland Meadows ladies at Gateway Sandwich Company.
Jerry from Appliance Service Today came to our house to look at the dryer that no longer heats. Unfortunately, the control board is shot and LG no longer has this part available. Our dryer is over 15 years old.
Jerry told me that one option was to find a third party that might have the required part. Otherwise, a new dryer was needed. My therapy was to go out to the backyard and pose with my blooming Peonies.
Later in the afternoon, I took Preston into the woods near our City of Williams. We just went 1/2 mile along a trail and returned back.
Thursday, I had an appointment in Sedona to see Dr. Jeremiah Whetman. Dr Whetman is a periodontist. My dentist, Dr. Benjamin Stark, referred me. Dr. Stark is concerned that some of my front bottom teeth do not have enough gum to hold the teeth in place. Before my early afternoon appointment, I took a selfie of me with some of the famous red rocks of Sedona.
Dr. Whetman was only concerned with one tooth. He put another tooth in a "watch" mode. My surgery is scheduled for September 8 in Dr. Whetman's Cottonwood office.
That evening, I check CanyonDen's profile on Geocaching.com. His cache #26 was published!!! I decided to go look for it Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. Maybe I can finally have a "First to Find" under my belt! Fortunately, the new cache is only a few minutes from my home. It took me THREE visits to finally find the cache container. I even brought Tom out to help me. CanyonDen had this cache hidden in the ground between three flat rocks. But, I did earn my FTF!!!
Friday and Saturday, June 5-6, are the dates of the 11th Annual Historic Route 66 Car Show. Because this is the 100th year of Historic Route 66 (1926 -2026), this car show has the biggest number of entries ever --- 600 vehicles.
