Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Away……Away


The old blog has been a bit quiet here.  We were actually away on vacation for the last two weeks – over 5,600 hundred miles, thirteen states and way too many meals out!  If was great to get home again, but life has been completely hectic since arriving.  Plus….someone turned on the heat here.  Yikes.  We actually recorded the hottest temp in the nation with a temperature of 108* on Friday.  It is suppose to remain warm for at least another week, but we did get some nice cool temperatures on our trip. 

We visited all three of the grandkids who headed off to colleges this year – NAU in Az, University of Dallas in TX and Benedictine College in KS.  They are all settling in and enjoying college life.  We saw amazing scenery along the way.

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A canyon out of Snowflake, AZ


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Cotton growing in AZ


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Granddaughter in KS



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Amana Colonies in Iowa



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Late evening harvesting of corn.  DH got to help each day as my cousins did beans and corn from 7a.m. until past 11 each night.  They farm over 3500 acres.



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Onto the soybeans.....


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Long, hard days....



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Amish farming at a neighboring farm....a different technique for harvesting their beans.



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Meal break.



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School is dismissed.


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A new batch of pigs arrived while we were there.



Cattle too....it's a busy farm.




My grandmother's home.  A cousin now lives there.


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Carhenge in Alliance, NB


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The beautiful Stanley hotel in Estes Park, CO.



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Elk roam the town in Estes Park.


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Splashes of fall colors in the Rockies.

The scenery was so pretty along the routes that we took so I got very little stitching done along the way, but I did catch up on my Minion beanies!



It felt good to be home again and back to our busy schedules here.  Construction should be completed by tomorrow and now the cleaning will begin.  I may surface one of these days!!!!

22 comments:

  1. My goodness you really did a lot of traveling. Looks like you did and saw a ton of interesting sights. Always so good to be home.

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  2. Wow what a trip Mary! So many states...and such beautiful pictures. Thank you for the ride along with you. It sure is neat to see all of the sights without the long car ride..lol. I will look forward to seeing your projects when life gets back to normal. Congratulations on an end to the construction. I can't wait to see the "new!"

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  3. What a wonderful trip Mary... Love all the gorgeous photos. How nice hubby could help on the farm..your Grandmothers home is gorgeous..
    Hope it cooler for you now..
    Love those Minon Hats...

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  4. Amana colonies? The scenery is beautiful. What a great trip. Welcome home!

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  5. Such wonderful scenery and it sounds like lots of fun with family!

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  6. Looks like you had a wonderful trip! Love the minions!

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  7. Wonderful photos! What a great trip. I haven't seen a lot of the part of the country that you just traveled, but it's on my list for "someday."

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  8. Oh, Mary...great pictures! Love how much you travel...we haven't been away in ages. Our own fault...keep putting it off, you know...lol

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  9. Love the minion beanies......and carhenge....amazing how creative people can be! Some great photos of your trip..........I know you're glad to be home.

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  10. What a fun adventure you've been on! So many beautiful places to visit, plus see your family...perfect vacation! Those beanies are the cutest ever!

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  11. Wow, what a trip! Love the pictures you shared. We saw way more elk IN Estes Park than we did in RMNP ... they make themselves right at home in the town. ;-) We visited the Amana Colonies 20 years ago ... I don't remember what season it was except that it wasn't fall. Seeing your pictures of fall in the Amana Colonies makes me think maybe we should go back - in the fall. And I love your minion beanies.

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  12. You have a beautiful album of memories from this trip. I remember visiting the Amana Colonies many years ago, have always loved the beauty of the Iowa farmlands. Hope your construction cleanup goes quickly and you can settle back into quilting soon.

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  13. Welcome home. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Although I'm always baffled when I think of cotton growing in Arizona.

    QuiltShopGal
    www.quiltshopgal.com

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  14. You could have come on down to Ga to see me!

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  15. Wow, you did have a great time, I see. I'm sorry but it was me who pushed all that hot weather your way.....Texas needed a break...LOL

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  16. It looks like you had a nice trip. We are visiting in Georgia right now and the weather is perfect. Did you design the minion pattern? I would love to try it.

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  17. We are having a heatwave here too, but it's not nearly as hot as down there. What an incredible trip. Busy and beautiful!! Thanks so much for sharing, Mary!

    -Soma

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  18. what a GREAT trip! Welcome home.

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  19. I missed you!!!! I was wondering what you were doing. Sounds like an amazing vacation. The photos are fantastic. Love Carhenge LOL.

    Welcome home, hope you have a great weekend.

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  20. The US is so beautiful and so much to see. I love that there is such a variety of landscape. Your grandmother's home is lovely! How nice it's still a family home. Have you ever been to Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo? Similar to Carhenge. Love those minions!!! Stay cool, if you can.

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  21. Nice photos! Love those minion beanies too. I have a grandson age 6, that I think would love one I think. Where did you find the pattern?

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  22. I am now very anxious for my husband to retire so we can go on trips like this. I assume you drove the whole way to the MidWest and back? That's a lot of minion-beanie-time. The fall colors are beautiful and the pictures of the farm, so interesting. I loved reading this post, Mary. Thanks for taking us along on the ride!

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