We spent some time with them. We went to Church together and they invited us to their place for Sunday dinner. We also went to Jerome, a "hip" mining town with lots of little shops and good hamburgers! It is built right on a big mountain. We wondered what kept the houses from sliding down the hill. I guess sometimes they actually do!
Calhouns wanted to go to the "Out of Africa" attraction, which takes most of the day, so we got to "doggie-sit" Katie and Sage. They were very good!
You could tell that by the end of the day they were anxious for Ken and Sandy to come and get them and take them home! 
Verde Valley is only about 70 miles from Payson where Travis and Ryan both live. It was Spring break so Travis and his family stopped and spent one night on their way to spend a week in Las Vegas at their time-share. The boys, Nathan and Spencer, were a little bored because the pool had not opened yet. We were wall-to-wall beds in the Condo that night! 
The next morning before they left, we went down to the clubhouse and played some miniature golf. Here is Grandpa Howie and Nathan.
Spencer, Nicholas, and Travis were waiting for their turn. The Park has a really nice little miniature golf course. We played several games.
The little boys had fun at the playground. Then the whole family joined them for a "family photo." Here is Nathan, Spencer, Travis, Josh, Shannon, and Nicholas.
Terry's Sister Lolita and husband Bob caught up with us a week after we got to Verde Valley and they camped in the spot right next to us. The first week we were here we went to Church in Camp Verde and one of the members invited anyone who wanted to to come to his pecan orchard and pick up pecans. So, after Bob and Lolita got here, we went twice and got pecans.
It was a little hard on the back, but well worth it getting free pecans. But, we didn't realize the work we had ahead of us!
Thank goodness for our "super-duper" nut cracker we got in Yuba City earlier, it made the work a lot easier. But, I think we will still be cracking nuts a month from now!
Later that week, Ryan called and said Payson High school had a track meet that day in Sedona, which is only about 20 miles from our campground. So, we went and saw him and watched the track meet for a while. You can see, he had a little problem a couple of weeks ago when he was playing basketball on the Hospital's team. He jumped up for a shot and blew out his ACL in his knee (he did the same thing to his left knee a few years ago.) He is scheduled for surgery soon. He also brought me a really nice brace for my arm (I keep getting tendinitis, or Tennis Elbow in it), so that was another reason to go to Sedona.
This is the view from the Sedona High School football field and track. This picture does not do it justice, though. The red rocks in Sedona are really magnificent! I took so many pictures of them last year that I didn't take many this time, but we don't ever get tired of seeing them.
The next weekend, Ryan brought his three kids and spent a few days with us. His wife Lori decided she needed a little break, so she stayed home. She has been doing double duty taking care of everything at home and the kids, plus Ryan and his crippled leg!
We spent a lot of time at the club house playing pool, ping pong, Foosball, and of course pinochle. Bob and Lolita showed us how to play 5-handed pinochle. It was lots of fun.
They had crafts for the kids on Saturday. They painted rocks for the Rock Garden and then made some plastic animals and some goofy visors. It was nice they had the crafts for the kids, since the pool was still not open. It was supposed to open that Friday, but they still had repairs to do on it.
Before they went home, Chaz, Riley, and Wesley all made bracelets for their Mom (Chaz made one for his Dad.) I was surprised at how well they did, especially 3-year-old Chaz, in stringing the beads.
Terry and Ryan were supposed to be supervising the kids. It's a good thing they didn't need too much supervision! We had a really good time with all of them.Walnut Canyon National Monument
One of the volunteers at the Park told us about Walnut Canyon up by Flagstaff. So, we went there with Bob and Lolita. The dwellings sheltered by overhanging cliffs were home to the Sinagua (Spanish for "without water") people who lived there over 800 years ago. It was an amazing place.
We had to walk down 185 feet (240 steps) to where the dwellings were. The rim of the canyon is almost 7000 feet in elevation.
At one time, the water wore away the softer layer of stone and left these overhanging cliffs on the side of the canyon. The homes on this one were destroyed by people digging in it and taking souvenirs from it before it became a national monument.
We were able to follow the trail right down to the cliff dwellings and actually go inside some of them.
They were all right on the edge of the cliffs, about half-way down the canyon wall. the people lived there and them went either up or down to more flat areas where they grew some of their food. 
Most of the homes had just a small door with a hole above it for the smoke from their fires to come out.
They were usually just one room.
Terry is making his way back up those 240 steps. Bob and Lolita made it down most of the steps, but then there are some trails that have very sheer dropoffs, and no railing. So, that is where Lolita said, "It is time to climb right back up those stairs." So they didn't get to see the cliff dwelling rooms as closely as we did.
In the museum, there was a model of what it may have looked like when there were actually people living in the cliff homes.
On top of the Canyon, they built one-room pithouses near their fields and also above-ground homes. After walking around these areas, you almost feel like there were people watching you walking through their homes. They have decided that all of these people left for one reason or another and eventually became part of the Hopi Indian culture.
One of the volunteers at the Park told us about Walnut Canyon up by Flagstaff. So, we went there with Bob and Lolita. The dwellings sheltered by overhanging cliffs were home to the Sinagua (Spanish for "without water") people who lived there over 800 years ago. It was an amazing place.
We had to walk down 185 feet (240 steps) to where the dwellings were. The rim of the canyon is almost 7000 feet in elevation.
At one time, the water wore away the softer layer of stone and left these overhanging cliffs on the side of the canyon. The homes on this one were destroyed by people digging in it and taking souvenirs from it before it became a national monument.
We were able to follow the trail right down to the cliff dwellings and actually go inside some of them.
They were all right on the edge of the cliffs, about half-way down the canyon wall. the people lived there and them went either up or down to more flat areas where they grew some of their food. Most of the homes had just a small door with a hole above it for the smoke from their fires to come out.They were usually just one room.
Terry is making his way back up those 240 steps. Bob and Lolita made it down most of the steps, but then there are some trails that have very sheer dropoffs, and no railing. So, that is where Lolita said, "It is time to climb right back up those stairs." So they didn't get to see the cliff dwelling rooms as closely as we did.
In the museum, there was a model of what it may have looked like when there were actually people living in the cliff homes.
On top of the Canyon, they built one-room pithouses near their fields and also above-ground homes. After walking around these areas, you almost feel like there were people watching you walking through their homes. They have decided that all of these people left for one reason or another and eventually became part of the Hopi Indian culture. Bob and Lolita left today to head towards Utah and Idaho. We are leaving tomorrow for five weeks in Wikieup (with one week during that time in Albuquerque, NM at the Good Sam Rally) where we have no Internet close. So, I thought I would try to get the BLOG updated for the past three weeks before we left. We had a great time in Verde Valley and will hopefully come back next year. Ryan had his surgery today and came through fine. His knee was pretty messed up, but he has a good Doctor and should playing basketball again after several months of rehab and healing.
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