In the last travelog, I rambled on about my hike across the Grand Canyon, but neglected to tell you about the rest of our trip south. We started out spending a night in Nephi
at Gary’s cousin’s house. We’ve been trying to do that for 2 years,
but truck problems interceded. This time we succeeded and Gary finally
got to play the golf course there. We spent a couple days at the Richfield Elks, where we always park right next to the golf course. Then it was on to Kanab, We’ve always wanted to tour the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary about 5 miles north of Kanab, Utah,
on hiway 89. We pass it each Spring and Fall as we travel north and
south, but have never taken time to stop. This time since we were only
driving from Richfield to Kanab, we called and reserved a spot on one of
their tours. Best Friends is the largest sanctuary for abused and
neglected animals in the country. On any given day about 2,000 dogs,
cats, and other companion animals
receive special care at this 3,000
acre sanctuary in Angel Canyon, Utah. The animals come from shelters
and rescue groups all over the country. Most of the animals are soon
adopted into new homes, but for those too emotionally scarred by abuse,
traumatized by injuries, or suffering from serious illnesses, Best
Friends will be a true home and haven for the rest of their lives.
Besides dogs & cats, there are horses, feathered friends, bunnies,
pot bellied pigs, and other animal friends as well. You can learn more
about them at www.bestfriends.org.
The tour lasted about 90
minutes and gave us a good look at their extensive operation. You may
have seen the series “Dog Town,” on the National Geographic Channel.
It’s filmed at Best Friends. They took a lot of Katrina animals in
there. One of the dog compounds we drove past housed what are called
the “Victory Dogs.” They are the dogs from Michael Vicks, the Atlanta
football player guilty of running a dog fighting ring. Only staff work
with these dogs at this time, as they are in the process of being
resocialized and learning what it means to be a dog. They’re hopeful
most will be able to be adopted eventually, but it’s a slow process,
when dogs are traumatized so severely as those were.
We stayed at
an RV park in Kanab, which gave us a chance to dump and fill with water
before our 10 days of dry camping at the Grand Canyon. Of course,
Gary played golf. We also found several geocaches on our way south.
Since we’ve arrived back in Casa Grande, Gary had a couple of weeks off
and was able to golf at several of the local courses.
I started
back to work at Kokopelli Quilts right away, but only working 2 days a
week. I’d helped with the move, but hadn’t worked in the new store yet.
It’s really nice to have so much room for the fabric and more room for
classes and open sewing as well. Sandy, the shop owner, had put a
poster up on our shed, welcoming us back and was even there with hugs
when we arrived. It’s always nice to get back to our Arizona home and
be welcomed back by our SKP, quilting, and golfing families down
here.
About 3 weeks after we got back here, I had the good
fortune of going to the International Quilt market in Houston Texas,
with the shop owner. Although very overwhelming, I learned a lot and
really enjoyed the classes, workshops, and exhibits. Unfortunately for
Sandy, she was still wearing a boot and using a knee walker, following
incomplete bone healing from bunion surgery. It made the long days even
longer, as it was very tiring and difficult for her to push herself
around in the carpeted showroom and hallways. We came back with lots
of new ideas, patterns, and fabric to try out. We also met quilters
from all over the world and especially enjoyed the company of four women
we met from New Zealand. We wound up spending quite a bit of time with
them, including a nice dinner our last night there. We saw Marie
Osmond promoting her line of fabric, asseccories, & a sewing machine
by Janome. Eleanor Burns was on our plane into Houston and I got to
talk with her several times, including taking a class with her. She’s
just as nice as she seems on TV and a real hoot. Yes, we all tossed our
fabric scraps over our shoulders, just like she does on TV!
Gary
and I took a day in mid-October and drove the Apache Trail. Part of
this is a 22 mile dirt road that does past Canyon and Apache Lakes, on
its way from Apache Junction to Roosevelt Lake. We also visited the
cliff dwellings at Tonto National Monument. The dirt road was really
something, one lane in many parts, but not one way, so you had to work
with the motorists going the other direction. It was also very steep in
sections, with steep drop offs on the side. It was all gorgeous desert
country, with the river cutting a green swath through it. We had lunch
sitting on the saddles at the Tortilla Flat bar, where several movies
have been filmed. Of course, we also found several geocaches along the
way.
Here in Casa Grande, Gary is playing pool both at the
clubhouse and Senior Center, and has now joined a league in town. We
saw an awesome performance by the US Army Show Band one evening in the
park in town. They did everything from Big Band, to Country, to
Patriotic songs. We also went to a dinner dance at the local Senior
Center. They have a brand new dance floor, that was really nice to
dance on. We missed being able to go dancing this summer, so it was
nice to get back to it again. My quilt classes have resumed and quilt
guild starts this week too. I’m working on several projects at once,
as I have time.
My phone quit charging and Gary was due for
an upgrade on his phone. We used it to replace my phone. While we were
at it, we switched the numbers so Gary’s phone is now the 801-455-2101
number and mine is the 307-679-8818 number. You can always leave a
message at either phone. A reminder that we no longer have Pocketmail,
so this is our only e-mail address, kgsdancing@yahoo.com.
Our winter address is still 3241 S. Montgomery Road, Casa Grande, AZ
85293. Other than when we hope to go to Quartzsite for a couple weeks
in January, we’ll be here until at least the 1st of April. If possible,
please send any mail directly to us here, as it avoids us having to pay
the mail forwarder to send it on to us. We’ll let you know when it
changes back to Wyoming for the summer.
I think that brings you
all up to date on our busy winter lives. We’ve having fun! Can you
tell? What are you all doing? Dancing away in sunny
Arizona.................................
Hugs, Katy, Gary, Rusty, and Spicy
