Visit to Texas and Arizona

My son and I left Christmas night to go visit my daugher in TX. We spent 4 days touring the Texas hill country--some beautiful country. Next we flew to AZ to visit my friend, Irene, who owns Cotton Clouds, mail-order yarn business. I first met Irene when I lived in AZ, but I haven't been back for 26 years and I had never seen Cotton Clouds. I took over 600 photos, but I'll show only a few here! This is the Pernales River where it flows over and through these huge slabs of rock.

Katie's friend is a fence builder, and as we drove around the country he pointed out all the fences that he's built, including some with fancy gates.

In Arizona we stopped at the AZ Sonoran Desert Museum near Tucson. This is a Harris Hawk that put on a spectacular show along with 3 other hawks. They flew over the crowd, swooping low and landing on tall saquaro cactus. It amazes me that they can spot prey a mile away!

This is Mt. Graham that rises to 10,000 feet near Safford, AZ. I used to live in Safford and saw this mountain from my backyard. This is the view from Irene's living room and bedroom. I took the photo in the morning as the sun was just hitting the mountain. Fantastic view!

We drove part way up the mountain and asked someone to take our picture. That's Irene in red, her husband, Ron, me, and Chris (wearing shorts).

This is Irene in Cotton Clouds www.cottonclouds.com Yes, all those shelves are filled with yarn. And here is a happy customer--Me! I almost left my big suitcase in TX since it had been emptied of the Christmas presents we took Katie. I'm glad I didn't because I filled it with yarn to bring home!