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Heeeeyyyyyyy, look who it is:
It’s everyone’s favorite octogenarian – soon to be nonagenarian – Expert Dottie!
I recently visited her in Sedona, Arizona to see her new digs. Nice views, eh? We took an early morning walk, and it was breathtaking.
Once the sun popped up, the views became even more stunning.
Of course, the company was even better than the views.
I neglected to take selfies with her – we got sidetracked. For those of you wondering, Dottie’s doing awesome. It’s hard to believe she’ll be 90 in a couple of weeks, or that a year ago around this time she was preparing for heart surgery.
She’s once again charming everyone around her and making tons of new friends. As is her usual M.O.
We did a couple of laps, then sped off for breakfast and a busy day.
If anyone would like to send Dottie birthday wishes, I will happily pass them along to her. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to hear from you.
Hey, look who I found! It’s Expert Dottie! She’s an expert in life!
She’s doing great, and was an absolute delight to see! Beautiful views and wonderful company.
Hello everyone! I hope all is well with you. This week I’m going to be picking up my blogging game a bit, as there is much to discuss – namely, firsts in the garden.
It’s hard for me to believe that while people in other parts of the country are still grappling with snow and sleet, here in Phoenix my vegetable garden is thriving. I’ll be harvesting when most of you are just beginning to plant. Crazy!
Before I get to my garden firsts (first flower, first tomatoes, first lemon), I thought I’d share some photos from a few weeks ago, when Expert Lewis and his wife Siri graced us with their presence, and prompted an experts reunion of sorts. (For new readers, for years I hosted an Ask the Experts panel every Friday on this blog – Lewis and Dottie were two of my esteemed experts, they are experts in life.)
Lewis and Siri were in the state for an American Red Cross conference, and decided to swing by Sedona to meet up with Dottie and myself. A good time was had by all!
(Dottie, Lewis, Siri)
(Dottie, Lewis, Myself)
Sedona sure is a beautiful place:
…another photo with Dottie:
She is safe and sound at her home in Sedona. Free at last, and on the mend. Finally feeling like herself again, pre-heart surgery.
For those of you who have never visited Arizona, Sedona is a special spot about an hour and a half north of Phoenix. Here’s a glimpse of what it looks like:
It’s stunning. Definitely worth the detour if you come to the state to visit the Grand Canyon.
Yay for Dottie going home!
Yes, this is primarily a gardening and houseplant blog, but I like to mix it up. So today I’m going to take you along on my recent journey to Arizona to see none other than our beloved Expert Dottie! She is awesome!
I don’t know how many of you have been to Sedona, but it’s one of the prettiest I’ve ever been. I was alternating between my regular camera and my phone camera, so bear with me. (I’ve been busy since I got back, so I didn’t have time to alter the photos in Picasa – I’m presenting them exactly as the cameras took them, just so you know.)
Dottie and her wonderful daughter Cindy took us on a tour of the area. They were great hosts, of course.
Gorgeous!
Oh, did I mention that Expert Andy also met us? That’s him in the middle. My friend Amy made the journey with me, and all three of us in the photo below went to high school together in Indiana:
It was great to be together again.
This is the view from the Sedona airport:
And the views from the chapel in the rocks:
Beautiful!
How lucky am I to have been with two Experts at once? (Sorry about the washed out photo – we were in the shade.)
And the three amigos:
The following images are from a morning hike we took. I love how colorful the mountains were, and how diverse the landscape:
If you’ve never been to Sedona, it really is a magical place. The locals have a saying that “God created the Grand Canyon but lives in Sedona.”
Speaking of, Amy and I decided that we couldn’t leave the state without swinging by the Grand Canyon (the state of Arizona opened the National Park despite the government shutdown). The South Rim is only about an hour north of Flagstaff, so how could we resist? Neither of us had ever been before, but I’m guessing lots of you readers have. I’ll try not to overload you with too many photos.
I loved all the shadows from the clouds.
It was a whirlwind trip, but soooooo worth it. Very impressive, Mother Nature, very impressive indeed.
We had one more stop to make before heading back to Albuquerque. Dottie’s daughter Cindy recommended that we go see the volcano to the east of Flagstaff, so we did.
On the way into the park, we got a great view of Flagstaff and the San Francisco Mountains:
Unfortunately, the volcano’s park was closed due to the shutdown. 😦
But the park ranger let us to drive through and see the sights – we just weren’t allowed to stop at any of the pulloff areas or the overlooks. So all the photos we took were from the car.
What’s left of the volcano:
That’s Flagstaff in the distance:
LAVA FLOW!!!!!!
That was so cool to see!
More lava on the other side of the road:
Despite the limitations, we were really glad we stopped at that park. It was very cool to see the lava and the surrounding area.
Arizona may be a weird political place, but its natural beauty is outstanding. It was a very good mini vacation.
It was so great to see Dottie and Andy – I could really feel the Arizona love. Thank you again to Dottie and Cindy for your hospitality and generosity. Thanks Andy for driving over to meet us. Thank you Arizona for relaxing me.
I’ll be back tomorrow with an all-new Ask the Experts panel and a new puzzler. You still have time to guess the current puzzler, in which I asked if this plant was real or fake:
It’s a tricky one – so you’ve been warned. If you want to venture a guess, leave it in the comments section or on my facebook wall.
I hope to see you back here tomorrow.
