PHOENIX

We just got back from a trip down to Phoenix. It was a spur of the moment thing because we got plane tickets for $99. Woo hoo! It was one of the best Christmas present we could have asked for. Thank you Sun Country!

Phoenix State Capitol

Desert Botanical Garden

TUSCON

One of the oldest towns in the US, a 2 hour drive from Phoenix. We had lunch in Phoenix in the oldest Mexican restaurants in the country, El Charro.

Courthouse in downtown Tuscon

Mission San Xavier del Bac

This lovely chapel is referred to as the white Dove of the Desert. It certainly lives up to it's name.

SEDONA

Red rock country Sedona makes for a gorgeous stop on the way to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix. It's a destination in itself of course, but we managed to make a couple of whistle stops here early in the morning.

Red Rock Country

Chapel of the Holy Cross

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is lodged between the red rocks. It's beautiful and provides a great birds eye view of the town of Sedona.

GRAND CANYON

We drove up to the Grand Canyon from Phoenix and our good weather luck ran out. The canyon hid behind a thick layer of fog which refused to lift until after sun down. We'll have to make another trip down here on a different season.

On the way back, we were caught in a snow blizzard. It was like being home in Minnesnowta, except much worse. Not what we expected from our winter retreat in Arizona!

GRAND MARIAS - MINNESOTA

It's our favorite little town in Minnesota right on Lake Superior. We made our annual pilgrimage there over fall to see the fall colors.

Sunset over Lake Superior

OMAHA, NEBRASKA

We popped into Omaha, Nebraska earlier this spring. I wish I could say we ran into Warren Buffet. That would be a great story. We also visited Westroads Mall. This was before the tragic shooting.

Downtown Omaha

ALASKA - SKAGWAY

Ma and I went on a cruise to Alaska to check out the glaciers. We got some great weather and no rain. Which is unusual because some of the coastal towns like Juneau and Ketchikan have about 6 dry days in a year!

Jewell Gardens in Skagway

ALASKA - JUNEAU

A hint of Alaska's Russian roots in a gift shop. I was in Matryoshka heaven! I can’t wait to go to Saint Petersburg and Moscow to get my fill.

ALASKA - GLACIER BAY

Ah, what a sight. This is a shot of the Marjorie Glacier taken from the balcony on the ship. It's amazing how close we got to the glacier.

SIOUX FALLS and MITCHELL

My mom came down from India over summer. We took a road trip over to South Dakota to the black hills area. It's about a 10 hours drive from Saint Paul and we made it without any speeding tickets. Can't complain about that!

Sioux Falls Park in Sioux Falls

Corn Palance in Mitchell

We found out later that Linda and her family lived in Mitchell at some point while she was growing up. Apparenly, they went to the Corn Palance all the time!

BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK

These dramatic rock formations took me by completely surprise. I hadn't heard of the Badlands before and they are unlike anything I've ever seen. They are bizarre wind eroded rock formations that go on for mils. It was a hot summer day and coupled with the warning signs for rattlesnakes, I chickened out from taking the time to explore them as much as I should have.

MOUNT RUSHMORE

It was well worth the drive! The evening cremony was quite touching actually.

ATLANTA

Atlanta is apparently one of America’s fastest growing melting pot cities. It certainly seemed lively on the warm summer weekend that we were down there.

Downtown Atlanta

Live Entertainment outside the World of Coke>

The Coke Factory or the World of Coke was Matt’s favorite, because you can drink Coke from all over the world. We tried the infamous Beverly, the quinine aperitif from Italy. My new favorite Coke product is Bitter Lime, a lemony soda sold in the UK. I wish they had a diet version of it available here.

SAVANNAH

The Hostess City of the South in Georgia. Home to the famous Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I think it’s one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to!

A special highlight of our Savannah stay was having a meal at Paul Dean's restaurant - The Lady and Sons. Pretty good stuff, but we're not picky. It was the first celebrity restaurant we've ever been to. Hopefully not the last.

CHARLESTON

The Holy City in South Carolina - Heritage Mansions in Rainbow Row – These houses are big!!! And we struggle to keep our apartment clean.

ASHEVILLE

Biltmore Estate in North Carolina is America’s largest home. We did the house tour and it was very grand, and also kind of spooky. It had some 50 bathrooms and a 75 fireplaces and probably a 100 ghosts.

Next door to America's grandest mansion, is America's fanciest McDonalds. Replete with fireplace and carperting serving McBurgers with McSmiles. Seriously, I'm watching too much Grey's Anatomy. No prizes for guessing there we had our "nice" meal...