Santa Barbara – Day 2

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

After spending all day with the Burns yesterday and having breakfast with them this morning, we got an early start back to Arizona so we could stop at the California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard, California. On our drives up the coast, we’ll often exit at Central Avenue off the 101 Freeway in Oxnard, where a fruit stand consistently has the sweetest strawberries.

We spotted the signs for the festival and were hoping to have enough time to pay a quick visit, and sure enough, we made it. It’s kind of like the Renaissance Fair but with strawberries instead of overflowing bustiers.

California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard, California

The festival has been going on now for about a dozen years, and if things like strawberry nachos sound good to you, take some time to get to Oxnard around the middle of May.

Grand Canyon – Day 2

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

It’s barely light out here on the edge of the Grand Canyon National Park. We stayed the night at El Tovar, ensuring we’d be close to the rim in the morning.

Jutta Engelhardt, Caroline Wise, and John Wise at Sunrise at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

It’s a bit cold out here, even in May, though not so cold as on previous visits when we had to bundle up in blankets from our room to stay a little warm.

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

We’ve all seen these images before, maybe 100s of times, but when you are standing here in person, they take on an entirely new meaning. So, while my photos are not award-winning masterpieces of dramatic art, they serve us perfectly as reminders of the moments we were here to witness yet another sunrise over the Grand Canyon for ourselves.

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

The Canyon fills with light rapidly once the sun is fully over the horizon though pockets of dark linger deep within.

Navajo Arts & Craft stand near the Little Colorado River Canyon in Arizona

The dream catcher at the very center of this photo is destined for Jutta’s friend Linda back in Germany.

Walnut Canyon National Monument in Arizona

Having accomplished what we set out to do at the Canyon we visited Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff to bring Jutta to yet one more place of Native American history.

Within a couple of days, Jutta was on her way back to Frankfurt, Germany, and once again, I am simultaneously happy to have my time and privacy back and sad that someone who enjoys the United States as much as my mother-in-law can’t just hang out with us and see even more of the magnificence that defines the natural beauty of our country.

Grand Canyon – Day 1

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise, Jutta Engelhardt, and John Wise on the way to the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona

So Jutta may have strolled the streets of New Orleans, snorkeled in the Florida Keys, sped over the Everglades on a fan boat, ate Southern-style cuisine, walked a short bit on the Appalachian Trail, visited Graceland, and a bunch of other things on this trip to the United States, but a vacation in America without a stop in the Grand Canyon wouldn’t be a proper visit, and so here we go.

Sunset in Northern Arizona

It’s late in the day, almost evening here on Saturday, when we decide that we’ll race up the Grand Canyon so Jutta can let everyone know back home in Germany that once again she has been to this National Park that intrigues her so deeply. We obviously won’t make sunset in the park, but we’ll be there bright and early for sunrise.

Casa Grande, Arizona

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Casa Grande National Monument in Coolidge, Arizona

After a few days off to recuperate, Jutta and I took a day trip down south to visit Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Coolidge.

Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona

Followed by a stop at Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson further south.

Jutta Engelhardt and John Wise at Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, Arizona

And then, finally we stopped in at the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley. I think my mother-in-law wears the hard hat better than I do; she looks like a serious engineer in that thing.