Our morning at Quintero Golf Resort

Today was our first round of golf since being in Arizona.  We had booked this round at a course called Quintero which used to be a private club.  After an hour drive, we arrived around 5:45 a.m.  Our tee time was set for 6:19 so we had a bit of time to warm up before.  We were the 2nd group to tee off.

This is such a beautiful course and in great condition.  We saw so many bunnies. I would say at least 20 of them during our round.

As well, we saw the Road Runner several times (one it had a lizard in it's mouth) so we assumed that it might be feeding it's young.

Ralph and I both really enjoyed this course.  We finished our round by 9:30 which gave us the rest of the day to explore the Phoenix and Scottsdale area.

We spent some time in "Old Town" which is in Scottsdale and I was able to find a nice pair of "cowboy boots".  What fun I had trying on the different styles.  There were short ones, tall ones, high heals, low heals, fancy stitches, red, black, grey and blue ones.  So many choices.  I am so thankful that Ralph was with me to help me choose. 

We are currently staying at a resort called The Wigwam.  This is a beautiful resort with many things to keep everyone happy,  There are a few pools available to use and we have a golf course
attached to the resort as well.  We plan to play a round on the course as well.  We enjoyed dinner here out on the patio tonight.

All in all we had a fun day.  I will admit that today it finally caught up with me and I was having a hard time staying awake.  While we were driving I suggested to Ralph that we start singing or I was going to fall asleep.  I fell asleep in the middle of singing a hymn and woke up to Ralph laughing at me.  Today it's going to be a bit earlier as we still  have a few busy days ahead of us. 

Adventures in Zion

Today we headed into Utah and spent the day in Zion National Park and Springdale.  It was a beautiful day and the sights were incredible.  The drive to Zion is about 2.5 hours from Page and it was a scenic and breathtaking view all the way.  We took our time while driving through the park and just soaked up the scenery.  We tried to take it easy because it was going to be a long day for us  We met our Photography instructor (Kate) and one other person (Neils) at 10:15 pm.  Neiils was from Groningen and was in Las Vegas for business.  We got along very well together.  It was a small group which made it really fun and informative.  We had an amazing time and learned so much.  Ralph and I can't wait to get back out and try it some more.  The drive back to Page went fine.  We finished around 1:30 and arrived back at 4:00 a.m.  It was a long day but well worth it!

Lower Antelope Canyon

Today we went on the first tour of Lower Antelope Canyon.  We had an awesome tourguide.  Tana was so helpful to us.  It was a small group (5 of us) and we had the canyon to ourselves for the first 45 minutes which was awesome. She helped us a lot and gave pointers on where to shoot, how to set up our cameras to get optimum colour and the later by holding back the crowds.  This is a very narrow Canyon and in some places only 1 person can stand and the space between the walls is measure in inches (not feet).  The colours were amazing.  Ralph and I are so happy with the results of our pictures.  We're going to have a hard time choosing which ones to develop.

Sunset at Horseshoe Bend

We were so taken with Horseshoe Bend that we decided to go back and explore the area more and then enjoy the sunset.  We arrived around 5:30 and hiked around until we found the perfect spot for our pictures.   Like true Canadians we had our coffee with us and enjoyed it while relaxing on the rocks. Did I mention that the temperature was 102F.  We had water with us well.    We were there for about 3 hours.  It's so nice.  We met so many people.  The sunset was nice with a little colour in the sky.   It wasn't startling red like the ones we have seen at home but it was still pretty.

Upper Antelope Canyon

Today we went to Upper Antelope Canyon.  This was a dream come true for me.  I have never been in such a beautiful place.  Ralph and I took over 1,000 pictures here and it's hard to choose which ones to post. 

The Canyon itself was really busy but being on a Photography tour helps keep the crowds at bay as they hold people back while we are taking our pictures which was quite nice.  As well, we got extra time which allowed us to plan and set up the shot.  I was so excited once we got there.  I will admit that I got pretty stressed in the beginning as everything was so fast paced, but once I settled down I enjoyed the craziness going on around us.

A scenic outlook

This morning while we were eating breakfast, we learned of a scenic outlook that wasn't too far from where we were staying.  We drove there to do some exploring.    It was really beautiful here. We had a perfect view of the Glen Canyon Dam.  This is the 2nd largest Dam in America.  By this point in time it was getting pretty hot outside so we stayed inside for the rest of the day.  

Horseshoe Bend

I woke up a few minutes before our alarm went off at 4:15 am.  I was surprised to see light in the sky and promptly woke Ralph up.  It was time to go.  Ralph believes that he is married to a crazy woman but he humored me and got up.  The Horseshoe Bend is only about 15 minutes away from where we are staying.  The sun was up before we got there but it was rising behind us so it didn't negatively affect our pictures.  Horseshoe Bend is part of the Grand Canyon where the Colorado River turns in the shape of a Horseshoe and runs back the same way again.  It is very awe inspiring to see.  We stayed for an hour taking photographs and enjoying the beautiful view.  We hope to come back again and take pictures when the sun goes down.