Maui

We decided a few months ago to go to Maui to celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary. We lined up a teenage girl at the campground here at Nellis AFB to watch our cat Shasta while we were gone. That worked out well for us, because Shasta hates going to the kennel.

We flew out of Las Vegas last Thursday at 6AM and arrived in Maui around 11:30AM. Maui is three hours earlier than Pacific time. We invited friends and family to join us and my sister Janet and her partner Nancy from Sacramento joined us. We waited an hour for them to arrive on their flight. Then we drove to our condo at Honua Kai Resort & Spa on the west side of the island.  

On Sunday, our anniversary, we went on a nice snorkeling trip to Molokini and Turtle Town. The water was warm and the fish we saw were amazing.

We went to the Hula Grill for our anniversary dinner and the seafood was fantastic.

Nancy and Janet flew home Monday morning, but Julie and I were on a 10:30PM “red-eye” flight back to San Francisco and then home to Las Vegas. On the way to the airport we stopped for a traditional Hawaiian mixed plate lunch. After lunch we stopped in Lahaina, at the best place for shaved ice on Maui, Ululani Shaved Ice.

 

The trip home was brutal, but we're fine now after catching up on our lost sleep from Monday night.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Living in Las Vegas

We’ve been in Las Vegas two weeks today. We dropped our Ford F-150 off at the body shop on Monday, October 3^rd to get the hail damage fixed and it should be finished by the end of October. I went by to check on it this past Monday.

My sister Marcia and brother-in-law Mike spent a week with us here in Las Vegas. We got out and about some. We went to the National Mob Museum, downtown in the old post office building, and it is well worth a visit. We saw Jerry Lewis perform, talk about his career, and show film clips. He is 90 now and we enjoyed his show.

We researched the various buffets in town and the Bacchanal at Cesar’s Palace got the best reviews. We went with Mike & Marcia on a Tuesday afternoon and the food was very, very good. Afterwards, we walked to over to Bellagio’s to see Chihuly’s glass sculptures, the Conservatory decorated in fall colors, and the outside fountains.

 

On Thursday we went with Mike & Marcia to see the group Heart perform at the House of Blues. It was our first time seeing them in concert and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Mike & Marcia left last Friday, heading home to Virginia. They had planned to stop in Phoenix and Houston on the way to visit friends and family.

 

One of our favorite places to go for breakfast here in Las Vegas is Hash House A Go Go. They are well known for their egg benedicts with pork or chicken tenderloin but I tried the blueberry pancakes, with eggs and crispy bacon, on our last visit.

Julie and I are looking forward to seeing the Moody Blues perform at the Venetian on Friday night.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Moab, Utah

We arrived in Moab last Saturday and settled in at Portal RV Campground. Moab is a mecca for bicyclists, Jeeps and other all-terrain vehicles, with many trails in the area.

 

We watched the Broncos-Bengals football game on Sunday. After the game, we went downtown Moab and wandered through several gift, sports and tee-shirt shops. Then we headed to the Moab Brewery for dinner. 

 

We visited Arches National Park for the first time yesterday. The park is often very congested with traffic between Memorial Day and Labor Day. However, the park wasn’t very crowded yesterday and it was a beautiful day out. We began at the Visitor’s Center and saw an excellent film on how the landscape and arches are formed. There are over 2,000 arches in the park.

 

We enjoyed our stay in Moab and we’re headed out tomorrow for Las Vegas for a month-long stay. We’re getting the hail damage fixed on our Ford F-150 and it’ll be in the body shop for 3-4 weeks. 

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Lake Powell 2016

We spent two weeks at Navajo State Park, near Arboles, CO, and thoroughly enjoyed our stay there, including Labor Day weekend. We watched many campers and boats come and go for the last big weekend of the summer.

We enjoyed going to the Saturday Farmers Market in Durango to buy locally grown produce, especially the tomatoes. We also made a couple of visits to the Durango Diner and Julie ordered her favorite, “The Cure”.

Our friends Vince & Lisa from Westcliffe, CO joined us at Navajo the Tuesday after Labor Day. My sister Marcia and brother-in-law from Winchester, VA also joined us the following Thursday. We enjoyed several awesome sunsets during our stay there.

All of us left together on Saturday morning, Sept 10^th, for the drive to Page, AZ and Lake Powell. On the way, we always stop in Kayenta, AZ at the Burger King because they have a large RV parking lot. This Burger King is special as it has interesting displays about the World War II Navajo Code Talkers.

We arrived safely at Wahweap Campground in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area for a two week stay. Our friends Kris & Jan arrived from Albuquerque on Sunday. On Tuesday, Sept 13^th, the four of us guys went on a guided fishing trip. Together we caught 14 stripers, enough for a good fish fry.

Marcia made peach cobbler as dessert for my birthday after dinner on the 14^th.

Last Friday we visited the Upper Antelope Slot Canyon on the Navajo Reservation outside of Page, with Vince & Lisa. It was our fifth visit but we thoroughly enjoy the different colors of the sandstone as the sunlight illuminates it during different times of the day. We were lucky enough to see a sun beam shine into the canyon.

Kris & Jan celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary last Saturday night and we enjoyed dinner together at the Wahweap Resort restaurant.

On Monday all of us, in our three boats, headed 40-miles up lake to the Dangling Rope Marina for ice cream. We enjoy this trip every year to get out and see the beauty of Lake Powell with its large bays, canyons, and many red rock formations.

 

We left Page, AZ and drove to Moab, UT today with Mike & Marcia for a 4-night stay to visit Arches National Park and explore the Moab area. We drove through Monument Valley on our way to Moab and thought of John Wayne and all the westerns that were filmed there.

      
Steve & Julie Cornelius

Colorado Springs

We spent 8 days in Colorado Springs going to doctor, dental, optometry and haircut appointments. Our friend Wendy came for dinner on Friday night at Cheyenne Mountain State Park and we caught up since she visited us in Key West last March.

On Sunday night we enjoyed seeing old friends Rick and Diana at a new, small craft brewery, Peaks N Pine. 

On Monday we enjoyed dinner at Olive Garden and visiting with my two daughters and two granddaughters. Our oldest granddaughter Audrey turned 13 in July and is in 8^th grade. Hannah is 10 and is in 5^th grade.

 

Our friends Mike and Candy and their daughter Misha joined us for dinner on Wednesday night. It was cool and rainy so we ate inside the motorhome. On Thursday night, our long-time friend Cheryl and Julie’s sister Deborah joined us for dinner.

We departed Colorado Springs last Friday, and after an overnight in Alamosa, arrived at Navajo State Park last Saturday, August 27^th. We’re spending two weeks here just hanging out and relaxing.

 

Steve & Julie Cornelius

New Home

We overnighted on Tuesday, August 16^th at St. Vrain State Park near Longmont. On Wednesday we took delivery on our new 2016 Winnebego Tour 42QD motorhome. We spent all day at Camping World of Longmont doing the walk-through, paperwork, and waiting for the technicians to move our Air Force One braking system from our old motorhome to the new one. Finally, about 3:30PM, we began moving into the new motorhome. It took us nearly 4 hours.

We finally left Longmont around 7:30PM and headed south on I-25 through Denver and Colorado Springs, arriving at Cheyenne Mountain State Park around 9:30PM. We were exhausted from the move and glad to finally get settled in for the night. 

We’re in Colorado Springs until next Friday, August 26^th and will be busy with doctor, dental, optometry and haircut appointments. We also plan to visit with family and as many friends as we can while we’re here.

 

Steve & Julie Cornelius