We made a circle tour to the Grand Canyon one day via Flagstaff, Cameron, Little Colorado River Gorge, Grand Canyon and back through Snowbowl to Flagstaff. No matter how often we see the Grand Canyon we are always thrilled/inspired/awed by the scen
Our second hike was the Boynton Trail, very scenic through tall trees and towering red rocks.
Our third hike was up Doe Mountain. It was up to the top and then a walk around the perimeter with fantastic views to the valley.
We spent a week in Sedona with friends—hiking and seeing the sights. Our first hike was around the airport which is on the top of a small mountain. By hiking around it we were able to get a 360 degree view of the Sedona area.
In October on our way to Arizona we travelled through Colorado. It was the perfect time of year – blue skies, snow-capped mountains, and yellow aspen trees. We spent a night in Johnstown (north of Denver) and the next day drove through Rocky Mountain Park on Trail Ridge Road. We spent our second night in Leadville at 10,000 feet. From there we drove through Cottonwood Pass and on to Montrose and Cortez. What a variety of geography, vegetation, and climate in those 4 days – from northeast Colorado to southwest Colorado.
Lucy has interrupted the flow of this blog! Jessica gave birth to our first grandchild – 2 1/2 weeks early. Of course she is the most beautiful baby we have seen in a long time.
Vital statistics:
Tiya Sumihe from Papua, Indonesia joined our family the end of August. She is here as an exchange volunteer (IVEP) with Mennonite Central Committee. She will live with us for six months and work at Great Lakes MCC. Soon after she arrived we celebrated her birthday. We also took a hike at Chain of Lakes State Park.
Later we spent a weekend in Chicago, visiting Grant Park, Millennium Park, Navy Pier, Lincoln Zoo and spending some time with Michelle.
Back home in Zwolle Ron had a good time riding Pieter’s specialty bikes. We also rode regular bikes along the canals.
Pieter and Gerdien have an old flat-bottom barge which they have renovated. We spent four days on the boat, travelling through the canals from Zwolle to Friesland. We tied up each evening and walked around. Our last day on the water was windy and we were able to put up the huge sail. At the end of our trip, daughter Martine and family visited.
On our way home from Senegal we spent a week with our good friends (Pieter and Gerdien Kamstra) in Zwolle, Holland. During our first days there we travelled to Arnhem to visit with their son Menno and his family. On our way we visited a World War II cemetery.
Welcome to our new blog. We hope you will continue to follow and enjoy our adventures as we “waltz” into retirement.
On the right are links to our previous blogs.
We begin our blog with a number of “kami berdua” photos. “Kami berdua” is an Indonesian phrase which we like that means “the two of us.” These photos represent many of the activities we have done together — especially in the last 5 years. There are a few earlier photos that remind us of our biking trips.
One further explanation: the first photo was taken at the Museum of Science and Industry on our high school senior trip to Chicago in 1963. We returned to that same spot on the brink of our retirement in 2009.
Click on any photo to enlarge it.
