MOMMA Part 6: Never Let a Dead Squirrel Go To Waste

Somewhere on Route 66, it was the end of the road for one unfortunate squirrel.  Eulogizing the deceased rodent, Russ concluded that one should never let a dead squirrel go to waste.  Fortunately, we had just passed the cafe shown above.  Note:  photo of dead rodent removed so as not to offend.

Steve collects guitars, and is laughing at the ridiculous price

Ancient Cave Dwellers

9 out of 10 KOA employees prefer Steve

Not the worst place we ate at

Waitress, Williams AZ

Seemingly innocent bystanders

This is a good time to add a few photos showing the beauty of the Arizona landscape.  Probably should have focused on that during the trip. (pun intended)

Sedona, AZ

Monument Valley

Grand Canyon, Bright Angel Trail

Russ and I hiked down this trail to the point in the center of the  photo.  Steve was with us for a short distance but kept visiting with people coming up the trail, and he lost his focus.  On our way back up, two young Hasidic Jews, drawn to Russ's crazy beard, stopped, pointed at it, and insisted he must be one of them.  

Me, wearing the skullcap that Steve says makes me look stupid

As I write this installment, we are on our way Vegas, where we will relax a bit, sleep in a bed--hopefully not all in the same one--and catch an early flight tomorrow.  The next post will be the final entry of MOMMA 2011.  Kudos to Russ for the great photo of the waitress!

MOMMA Part 5: The Spirituality of Silence, or, We Never Met a Rock We Didn't Like

R Moes

Jackalope Canyon

We journeyed through Jackalope with Iana, a Visionary Spiritual Teacher from Sedona, AZ

Look Ma, No Hands...Canyon country is dangerous

Fred

The end of another day of danger, adventure, a modicum of physical exertion.

MOMMA Part 4: Do You Serve Our Kind Here?

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Allen & Elenore

Gilles, Travelling Around theWorld

Home

Monument Valley

There was a man with this horse, and for a small fee visitors could take photos of him.  He needed to take a break, so I sat in for him for 15 minutes.  I made 23 dollars.  Photo courtesy of Russ Moes.

Our off road vehicle

MOMMA Part 3: I'm Just Looking For the Path of Least Resistance

Not much to report today, since I've lost track of days, and the symphony of generators at the rv park last night is burned into my head like that song you can't get out of your head.  As Steve put it, I should have brought more diagnostic tools.

Steve is a Crazy Driver

Something is Amiss

Lari

Above and below--people we've met along the way who haven't turned down my request to take their photo.  I know nothing about them other that what the caption says.

Jim & Marjean  Baltimore, MD

Russ Moes, Photographer

Russ and I, though carrying an arsenal of high quality imaging devices (cameras), have concluded that the iphone camera takes the best photos.  This is causes us great consternation.

Stephen Heely

Steve exploring his native american roots at the home of his ancestors.  They let him in for free after a quick blood test.

Currently holed up in Holbrook, AZ.  We were tired of campgrounds and decided to rent someplace nice.  And we have our own observatory.

MOMMA Part 2: It's Not Math, It's Arithmetic

Sedona, Arizona

Finally got around to doing some actual landscape photography.  As my friend Steve points out, this image is not centered.  He is a engineer/computer scientist, and has been trying to explain to me the difference between math and arithmetic.  Since I don't believe in math, his explanation makes little sense to me.  Anyway, this image shows Sedona in the background, taken from east of town.  Leslie from San Francisco and her stepdaughter Amy from DC showed up at the spot we were setup, and they are pictured below.  They probably don't believe in math either.  

Amy & Leslie

Steve, Sue, and Russ

We rented a Jeep from Sue in Sedona.  The Jeep's name was Sandy.

Crystal, our server at Denny's

Don Robertson

Our good buddy Don is our go to man in Arizona.  Wherever we go, if we have trouble, all we need to do is call him.  He will tell us what to do.

The Miami/Arizona Party

MaryJo, Sue, and Bob.  Our campground hosts

Steve is our official liaison with the RV Camp hosts because he speaks several languages, and has the credit card.

MOMMA Part 1 The First Liar Always Loses

The Mildly Obese Middle-age Man Adventure began yesterday and I must admit that it has already changed me.  Not just my attitude, but my appearance as well.

Prescott, AZ    Steve Heely, Craig Edwards, Russ Moes

One of my goals for this trip was to produce some high quality landscape photography, but now I'm not concerned about that.  Instead, I plan to capture the real essence of the southwest.  This blog will feature a few of the people and places I encounter.  The man in the above photo isn't really me, but a guy named Paul that may be travelling with us for a few days. I have already learned an important life lesson from him.  He took me aside and said: "the first liar always loses."  I'm not sure what that means, but I will treasure his advice until I forget it.

The Reticent Brook

This is where we camped the first night.  We were hoping for a burbling brook.

Fascinating Person #2

Mildly Obese Middle-aged Man Adventure

Tomorrow I leave for 9 day trip to the southwest.  I am going with Stephen Heely and Russell Patrick Moes.  I'm calling the trip the Mildly Obese Middle-aged Man Adventure.  MOMMA 2011 for short.  I've known Russ forever, and many years ago we travelled Europe together.  Steve will be driving us around in his shiny Roadtrek mini motorhome.  I've known Steve for awhile, and I think he'll be fun to travel with.  Hopefully, I'll be blogging from the road.

Spring Cleaning

Yesterday, we did some tidying up here on the farm.  This abandoned farmhouse was home to a large number of animals both living and dead.  I have been troubled by this structure for some time now, since there are "things" in the basement. Things that were left there by the previous tenant.  What kind of things?  I'm not really sure, but the photo below represents some of them.  I'm pretty sure one of the jars contains a human hand.  One jar in particular contains something that I am afraid to speculate about...I just try not to make eye contact with it.  

Here's something weird:  Why is the photo out of focus?  Why did the flash only illuminate a small circle in the center?  What is the significance of  "Red Rooster"?  If you think you know, do not tell me.  The point is, there is no earthly reason for this photograph to be out of focus and poorly illuminated.