This is THE END of

"The Sensational Southwest"

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This was the end of a wonderful fall vacation to places we had never been before: Santa Fe, New Mexico and the Grand Canyon! We have our generous children to thank for this trip and the only thing that would have made it better would have been for all of them - Todd, Stephanie, Troy, Connie, Trent and Amy - to have been with us! Maybe next time, huh, guys? We love you all and can't thank you enough for making this trip possible!

. . . but that was more exercise than we wanted right then - in fact, these wicker chairs at the lodge were far more inviting! Remember, we're old - 61 years in another month, to be exact!!

"Ranger Bob" spotted a hiking trail at the bottom of the Canyon - you can see it above -

It was a perfect day to spend at the Grand Canyon - and it was everything we expected it to be!

We weren't in any hurry to get home and had never been to the Grand Canyon, so it seemed silly not to drive the 75 miles from Flagstaff - so we did on Friday, October 7! But we got the camera lens smeared with butter from a pretzel (yes, we were still eating), so this picture turned out cloudy.

It was time to say good-bye to the El Farolito B&B after another hearty breakfast on Thursday, October 6. We would miss this darling little place and vowed to return someday. But now we were headed to Flagstaff, Arizona, where we would spend the night.

Our view from the ski lift.

What we hadn't expected was that only the first 3/4 mile was downhill on this hike, the rest of the 4 miles was uphill and we were exhausted when we reached the trailhead again. So we decided to relax and enjoy the beautiful sunny day by riding the ski lift!

and had time for a smooch in the woods!

We even had to cross a bubbling little creek -

This was the path we took and the view we had looking up into the tree tops. It was a perfect early morning and we were the only ones in the forest, it seemed. It was downhill for the first 3/4 mile, so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The next morning, our last day in Santa Fe, we set off for another hike in the Santa Fe National Forest. We were anxious for this 4-mile loop on a mountain pass in the forest as it would be very different from our customary hikes in treeless, rocky terrain in Las Vegas. Bob is setting his GPS in the picture.

Back at the El Farolito, we enjoyed a glass of wine on our patio - the weather was lovely in the late afternoon.

After all that work, we stopped at the ski lift area for a quick chili dog, hot chocolate and chips - not a healthy meal, but one that tasted soooo good prepared and eaten outdoors!

Aspen leaves we picked up during our hike.

Here we are - ah, "hiking" - about three miles in windy and chilly conditions.

This was one of the sights we had as we huffed and puffed our way up the mountain road. We hadn't hiked (it's too hot in Las Vegas in the summer) since April 2005, so not only was the elevation getting to us, but we were drastically out of shape too.

Our first hike was the Aspen Vista, a road that went up the side of a mountain. The hike wasn't challenging, but was straight uphill at an elevation of about 8000 ft, so we were quickly winded, but the view of the Aspens turning gold and red in the clear October sky was gorgeous!

The delicious breakfast prepared us for our first hike in the Santa Fe National Forest, but before leaving we had to change into our hiking boots.

After dinner at a local diner on the historic square, we slept well and awoke to a wonderful breakfast of an array of fruit plates, breads, muffins, scones, hot egg dishes, juices, tea, cereal and coffee in the darling B&B dining room - a feast prepared by Dana, the innkeeper, each morning. The room was decorated in hues of aqua, faded mauve and gold - a perfect combination.

Santa Fe, a town of about 65,000, was what we expected - authentic western and southwestern buildings with cute boutiques, art galleries galore, and souvenir shops selling jewelry, clothing and artwork.

We unpacked and relaxed before going to dinner. The 6 1/2 hour drive from Sedona had been tiring and the traffic on the freeway in Albuquerque had been unnerving. We look tired here and I'm wearing goofy white socks with my Tevas because I got hot spots on my feet while exploring the Cedars Resort property behind the hotel in Sedona.

Our room was designed with Peruvian furniture and artifacts - cozy and cute!