Time to revive this blog!!

Holy cow!  It's been over a year since I've posted.  So sorry to disappoint my few followers!

You may notice a few changes.  I've decided have my travel posts on the main page and have created new pages for Close To My Heart and my Red Box experience.  That way you can view just what you want when you visit (of course, I hope you will check all my pages!)

Just a quick overview of what's happened since my last posting -

We got the motorhome repaired in Utah.
Checked out a few more fantastic places in Utah.
Attended the Monaco Pre-Rally and Family Motor Coach Association convention in Gillette, Wyoming.
Purchased a new (to us) motorhome. 
Traveled to Denver, Colorado and I flew to Disney World for the Close To My Heart convention.
Returned home to Johnstown, Ohio, where we caught up on chores (flower beds, re-stained deck, etc.) and reacquainted ourselves with family and friends.  Trevor and his family flew in from Washington for a visit.  Took care of doctor appointments.
Watched Jeremy and family participate in the Mud Ninja race.
Saw our grandson, Alex, inducted in the United States Army.
Traveled to Kentucky and visited friends there.
Returned to Bellhaven Resort for our 2nd year as caretakers. 
April 1st, we left Bellhaven to travel around California for the summer.

I will pick up my blog at this point.  I may add in some posts from the past year as I go along (well, one can hope!)

Please leave a comment and follow me!

Get great products and help others, too!

This month, Close To My Heart gives you two great opportunities to help others.

Here's a way to help those in Oklahoma after those awful tornadoes!  And you will have this cute Thank You stamp set that will be terrific for cards!  Here's a better view of the stamp set and details are below.

 

Relief for Oklahoma Campaign

Close To My Heart is making a new Autumn/Winter 2013 stamp set, A True Thank You, available immediately and will donate 100% of the profits from sales of the set from May 23 through June 30 to the American Red Cross to aid the Oklahoma victims. Help us provide relief to those affected by the devastating Oklahoma tornado by purchasing A True Thank You stamp set for $2.95 (M1029) today!

*Offer valid May 23–June 30, 2013. No limit per order.

 

Here's a chance to help the USO help our soldiers and their loved ones!  (Sorry this image is a bit blurry!)

 



 

 

Let’s Get Patriotic!

June–July 2013 Constant Campaign

Celebrate military service and promote patriotism with our new patriotic stamp sets—available only from June 1 to July 31, 2013. Three dollars from each B-size My Acrylix^® Courage stamp set and $5 from each D-size My Acrylix^® Home of the Brave stamp set will be donated to the USO, the leading, most recognized military-support and services organization in the country. Show your support with your own patriotic stamp set!

Dates: Offer valid June 1–July 31, 2013.

 

 

Finally, get this cute mini banner set FREE with a qualifying order.  How cute would this be made up for a summer party!

 

Make It a Banner Day

June 2013 Constant Campaign

Receive a free My Creations^® mini banner in June! Make it a “banner” day by placing a $25 order that includes a qualifying stamp set to receive your free mini banner. The mini banner includes 10 chipboard pennants in 4 different shapes with 9 jump rings for hanging. Use the mini banner as a decoration for your parties and get-togethers this summer for many “banner” days!

Dates: Offer valid June 1–30, 2013.

 

All these offers are available on my website http://marcieronken.ctmh.com  or just click on the "Your Business Is Appreciated" button above on the left side to go directly to my website.

 

Above the shopping button, you will see how many days left until I will be in Disney World for the annual Close To My Heart Convention!  I can't wait to see the new products and participate in the wonderful Creative Sessions they have planned for us!  Not to mention re-connecting with my CTMH friends and the chance to make new friends.  While I'm having fun in Orlando, Glenn will be chilling with the cats in Loveland, CO.  Once I return, we will be on final leg of our journey home.

 

Shortly after we get home, my son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren will be flying in from Washington for a visit.  I will have ALL of my family back together for a short time.  So much excitement ahead!  I just have to focus on all that fun when we see the final repair bill for the motorhome! GULP!

 

 

 

 

Elevation, petroglyphs, ruins

What a great day we had today!  We started out with a good breakfast here at the motel.  They really provide a pretty good spread every morning.  Today it was sausage links and scrambled eggs.  Plus, there is almost always biscuits and gravy, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, toast, bagels, English muffins, and assorted beverages and coffee.

Due to poor planning on our part, we have found ourselves ready for lunch and nowhere to eat!  So we figured if we had a good breakfast, we could do without lunch if we found nothing.  We also made sure to fill up the truck since we have also found ourselves riding on fumes looking for a gas station!  Unfortunately, this has happened more than once!

Today's destination was Cedar Breaks National Monument.  It just opened last week due to the snow.

It's a smaller park, just 6 miles to drive through it, but what a gem!  I would love to visit another time in July.  They say the wildflowers are amazing here!

Our first stop was Point Supreme, which is also the Visitor Center.  It had not opened for the season yet.  As you can see from the sign, we were at 10,350 feet above sea level.  Talk about thin air!

 All these beautiful sights, we are finding we like Utah more and more.

 

Our next stop was Sunset View Overlook, a little higher.

 At Chessman Ridge, we could see some of the remaining snow in the canyon.  It was only 54 degrees when we arrived at the park.

 

At the North View Overlook, there was even more snow left.  Glenn had to get out on it!  He tried to climb the snow bank, but didn't quite make it!

 

We were now at the northern boundary of the park.  Just beyond the boundary was a gravel road that would lead us to the summit of Brian Head.  Well, almost the summit, not all of the snow had been plowed off the road and we had to turn around before we got to the top.

Marmot or Pika?

End of the road

What a view!

We continued traveling north through the ski village of Brian Head.  There were a lot of lodges and condos but it looked a bit like a ghost town today!  We saw a lot of ATV trails so I'm sure it gets busier in the summer.

 

 The descent from Brian Head to Parowan was a steep one!  I think this is one of the steepest grades we've been one.  We came down a good 5-6,000 feet in not too many miles.

 

Once we arrived in Parowan, we decided to find the petroglyphs at Parowan Gap.  But first we needed to get some water!  Between the low humidity and altitude, you dehydrate easily.  We found a Maverick gas station and they were grilling burgers and 'dogs outside the store.  There's lunch!  So after refueling and rehydrating ourselves, we were off on our next adventure for the day.

 

Parowan Gap is a 3 mile long pass that connects Parowan and Cedar Valleys.  It is a classic example of a wind-gap.  It is an unusual geological landform marking where an ancient river cut a 600 foot deep notch through the Red Hills.  But what makes it really remarkable is the 90+ panels with 1500 figures carved in the rocks.  They may be as old as 5,000 years.

This is the "Zipper Glyph".  Some researchers believe it is a solar calendar.

 

Aren't these cool?!   We wanted to turn over the fallen rocks to see if there were more underneath!  These were so fascinating and Glenn was really happy I had read about this place!

We drove back to Cedar City, stopped in at the Visitor Center to get some directions, and took off to find the Iron Town Ruins.

 

We had a cow detour

Charcoal Kiln

Remains of foundry buildings

Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom

Arrastra - Horses were hooked up to this to grind limestone

 

This was the county's second attempt at iron mining back in the 1870's.  Utah still has one of the richest iron ore deposits.

We went back to the motel, ordered Papa John's pizza, and finished off this wonderful day with a dip in the hot tub!

 

I'm caught up! and Cascade Falls

Whew!  I finally did it!  I'm caught up on my blog!  Hopefully, now I can keep posting everyday and you can follow us in real time.

This last day of May and we are still at the Holiday Inn.  The radiator has been shipped and we hope it will come in on Monday or Tuesday.  We made the decision to put tires on the motorhome while it was in the shop.  It is recommended to replace tires after 6 years no matter the miles on them.  We are at 6 years with ours, so replacing them will help Glenn's peace of mind.  Just the other day, in St. George, UT, 2 people died when the front tire on their motorhome blew out.  The driver lost control and slammed into an apartment building.  Wouldn't want that to happen to us or anyone else!
Anyway, with any luck, we will be back in the motorhome before the end of next week.

Glenn and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on Wednesday.  We had dinner at Milt's Steakhouse.  A small rustic restaurant on Hwy. 14.  It was delicious and we had some extra entertainment.  They had hummingbird feeders outside the window and they were quite busy!

Today we decided to hike to the Cascade Falls.  It's located off Highway 14 past Cedar Breaks National Monument.  We read it was .9 miles and not too strenuous.  Hmmmm, we'll see.   Once we turned off Hwy.14 we followed a dirt road until we finally found the trailhead.

 

 

The views from the trail were absolutely breathtaking, literally!  We checked the GPS when we returned to the truck and the elevation at the trailhead was 8,942 feet and the falls were higher than that!  It was a nicely maintained trail with heavy timber stairs in the steeper spots.  Some parts were pretty narrow with no room for missteps!

 

We could see Zion 56 miles away!

Pretty little wildflowers (phlox, maybe?)

Let's hope that rock stays where it belongs, at least until we get off the trail!

A Western Tanager

A nice spot to catch our breath

Clearing the trail. lol!

This waterfall flows through a lava tube deep in the rocks and is fed from water leaking from Navajo Lake sink holes.  Navajo Lake sits at 9.250 feet.

Close up of falls

 

Navajo Lake

 On the way back from our hike to the falls, we drove along Navajo Lake.  This is a large but shallow lake.  When the water is at the top of the dike it is 15 feet deep.  The dike was built to maintain the lake level.  Due to the sink holes in the lake bed on the other side of the dike, the water would drain out if not controlled.  We saw several nice NFS campground around the lake.

Cinder Cone

 

Lava field

We returned from our drive, chilled out at the motel and went to Sizzler for dinner.  Great day!