Spring Training in Arizona is not only about baseball!  If you come to Arizona for Spring Training, take a day and enjoy the spectacular desert beauty that Arizona offers.  We headed to Sedona on Saturday to do some hiking and exploring.  What a beautiful place to see and admire God’s glorious creation!

Sedona is home of the of the redrock monoliths named Coffepot, Cathedral, Bell and even Snoopy because their massive shapes resemble these objects.  The church in the collage above is the The Chapel of the Holy Cross.  This chapel is a great start to a day filled with hiking and exploring.

We also discovered the beautiful flowers and cactus of the Arizona desert.  I was able to get a picture of a bird finding some shade in one of the succulents.

There are so many hiking trails and scenic views in Sedona.  You really need more than one day to discover this beautiful area!  I would highly recommend a visit in spring – the temperatures are really nice for hiking at that time of the year!

Okay, we are now off to the Angel/Dodger game.  Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Happy Monday!  Hubby and I saw this stop sign in Hawaii – thought it would be perfect for a Blue Monday post!

For more Blue Monday posts, head on over to Smiling Sally’s!

As you all know, I spend a great deal of time on airplanes.  I also spend a great deal of time with my camera.  So, when you combine the two – airplanes and cameras – you can have quite a bit of fun or randomness. 

Here’s how I amuse myself…

Sudoku is my ritual when I first board the airplane. If there is something humorous or interesting on the plane, I will definitely take a picture of it.  For instance, I loved the way my apricot snack looked in the sun.  I cracked up at the “glass” of wine I was served (I couldn’t finish it!)  I was enthralled by the prism the glass produced!

So, what’s so interesting outside the window of a plane?  Isn’t the view basically the same? 

Oh my friends,  it is always awe inspiring looking out the window of an airplane…

Whether it be sunrise or sunset, there’s always clouds, clouds and more clouds!

Sometimes there’s smoke

There’s also the plane itself as well!

So you see – from California to Washington there’s never a dull moment on the airplane and the views are ever changing!

Every view is a constant reminder of how awesome our God is and creation shouts his praise!

Friday in Chicago was an action packed day! I wish I had a pedometer to find out how many steps we took because I know it was way up there!  We could not have asked for better weather!  The skies were blue and the temps were in the low seventies – PERFECT for what was in store for our day of exploring Chicago by foot!

We started the day with a walk down to Navy Pier to go on our Chicago River Architecture Cruise – a tour through Chicago’s “Forest of Skyscrapers”. 

“The Chicago fire of 1871 destroyed over 17,000 homes and buildings, but this tragedy gave the young city a mission to rebuild on a much grander scale.  Architects flocked to Chicago, eager to be part of the rebirth of a great city.  Their work led to the development of the first iron framed high rise, and then to the invention of the caisson system, which made possible the modern skyscraper.”

We were able to see the famous architecture that rebuilt Chicago into the great city that it is today.  What a beautiful skyline.  I would highly recommend the boat tour! 

Our next stop was a quick bite to eat and then off to Millennium Park – WOW!

The Cloud Gate on the AT&T Plaza  was our favorite!  Here’s the description of it:

“Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a “gate” to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.

Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high.”

A MUST TO VISIT – You will be amazed!

Next stop – yes this is still Friday – The Art Institute of Chicago…

The Art Institute of Chicago has a wonderful collection of art!  We wanted to see Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (the center picture in the top row).  This painting is amazing. Here is why…

 “Using newly discovered optical and color theories, Seurat rendered his subject by placing tiny, precise brush strokes of different colors close to one another so that they blend at a distance. Art critics subsequently named this technique Divisionism, or Pointillism.” 

We found some other paintings that really moved us (the second row). They were Job, Chagall’s White Cruxifixion, and Peter after denying Christ.  I forgot to get the artist’s name on the picture of Peter.  They are not sure who the artist is of the painting of Job. We really enjoyed the Thorne Miniature Rooms display.  We have always been impressed with Hopper’s paintings and purchased a 2009 calendar as well as a print of the Nighthawks. 

Okay, enough art and now on to baseball!  We took the El to Wrigley Field.  What a great venue!

We were quite impressed with the enterprising idea of having bleacher seats and suites atop the row houses all around Wrigley Field!  It was impressive to see all the different features of each location!

We then decided we would w.a.l.k. back to downtown Chicago from Wrigley Field.  That was over 5 miles!  But boy what a great way to see the diversity of this city! My camera battery was pretty much dead and I am contemplating ways of getting around this annoying dilemma! 

On the way back to the hotel we spotted the Rosebud Steakhouse located up the street from our hotel.  What a pleasant surprise this place was! Delicious and the service superb!

“A Rare Steakhouse Well Done”

All during the day we were treated to the different sites and sounds of the Chicago Air and Water Show.  Our night cap was their Firework Show.  This was the first time I saw a firework show that started with fireworks from airplanes and parachuters!  A great end to a great day!

Chicago is one of the finalists in their bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and from what we saw – we could see why!  It is a magnificent city.