Lake Powell @ Page, Arizona

Lake Powell, Page, Arizona

Page, Arizona is one of the popular adventure destinations in the Southwest. Aside from Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, Page is a popular boating destination because it is bordered by Lake Powell. Page is also the hub of the Grand Circle, being close to many spectacular National Parks of the Southwest. 

Lake Powell @ Wahweap, Page, AZ

Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River, the second largest man made lake in the US. Though most of Lake Powell is in Utah, but the Wahweap Marina, which is 6 miles West of Page is a very strategic location for most tourists exploring the Grand Circle. 

Sparkling Blue Water @ Lake Powell, Wahweap, Page, AZ

Fall Colors @ Page, AZ

Here are some distances from Page of some spectacular and mind boggling destinations in the colored desert of the Southwest:

1. Antelope Canyon - 6 miles East of downtown Page

2. Horseshoe Bend- 4 miles South of downtown Page

3. Wahweap Marina - 6 miles West of downtown Page

4. Grand Canyon National Park North Rim - 123 miles from Page

5. Zion National Park - 110 miles

6. Bryce Canyon National Park - 155 miles

7. Monument Valley - 126 miles

....and a lot more. For more information about the Grand Circle, you can check my "Your Grand Circle Itinerary" post at the Salitype Society. 

Fresh Moment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Toms of Maine. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

Fresh powder.....

A brand new fresh day........

Brings a fresh smile, 

of pure joy and happiness.

 

Who does not want a fresh new day? Who does not want to see a bright smile that warms up a cold day? We all know the benefits of a smile, both to the receiver and to the giver. A smile brings about a happy and better mood. As a teacher, I also find smile very effective to bring up the mood of my students in motivating them to produce more quality work. When things get very challenging in the classroom sometimes, I may forget to smile, and some of my students would ask if there is anything wrong with me. Instead of responding, "no, the class is just difficult", I then would remember that the students are missing my smile. I would right away respond with a smile, and say, "no, however things are just getting a little bit tough". Once my students hear this reply, they would right away focus back to their work and give me a smile back. Sometimes, I wish it is that easy though, there are times however that when things get very rough I forget to smile. It is not because I forgot to brush my teeth, but sometimes, when things get harder, I tend to think harder instead of remembering to smile. I remember when I was younger, my late mom would always remind me to take care of my teeth so I can always give that happy smile. She said smile is our perfect medicine, however, some hesitates to smile because they do not have good set of teeth, thus, she always remind me to take care of my teeth. I did not understand it then, I was a tad lazy when I was young, my late mom had to really remind me ten times or threaten me with tooth decay if I do not brush my teeth. Now, I do not have to be reminded to brush my teeth. Though brushing teeth is not necessarily enjoyable, but I always look forward to the taste of toothpaste, weird it may sound. If not probably for the soothing taste of Tom's Of Maine peppermint toothpaste, I would still have to muster all my energy to get my teeth clean. I take pride however in spending less time at the dentist's chair every 6 months, for the dentist would always complement me for having good set of teeth, and really clean. I guess he is happy with me since he does not have to work a lot on my teeth and the insurance still pay him the same fee for others where he spends more time cleaning. 

 

Talking about personal hygiene, Tom's of Maine has brought us natural oral and personal care products for 40 years. The company is committed to supporting people, communities and the planet. If you have a favorite Wicked Fresh Moment memories to share, you can go to That's Wicked Fresh contest page for a chance to win a $500 Target gift card and other Wicked Fresh Prizes! Isn't this a great way to freshen up? So you will not miss latest updates on Tom's of Maine, you can join Tom's of Maine on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter@TomsofMaine.

 

An Easy Way to Clean

We used to have carpeted flooring, however, because of my allergies, we had to change to low maintenance floor.

Our Living Room With Carpeted Flooring

Our Living Room After Changing the Carpet to Low Maintenance Flooring

With carpeted flooring, we used to do several steam cleaning a year. We learned about the steam cleaning method from a friend who was then looking for a house to buy in Austin, Texas. She was looking into an affordable carpet cleaning austin to help her prepare the house that she will move in. I went to the site and learned many carpet cleaning techniques such as  carpet cleaning tips pet stains, and activated charcoal for odor removal. With carpet, vacuuming is not enough to clean it from dust mites, and molds and mildew can also render a bad odor. The site offered several ways of maintaining and cleaning carpet that they provide as services. Having learned those, I searched more about it, and tried to get some of the materials necessary for cleaning.

We applied some of the techniques we learned such as high pressure steam cleaning, however, after two years, we decided to finally change our flooring and gave our high pressure steam cleaner to my mother in law. That reduced the amount of work we had to do for cleaning, but of course, I still go to the same site to get some other tips for cleaning marble, bathroom tiles, furnitures, and many more. My friend? She does it even way easier than me, she just avail what is near her, and that is cleaning services austin. 

Devil's Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Utah

The Upper O of Double O Arch, Devil's Garden Trail, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

This is a very fun hike, with amazing desert sceneries starting from Devil's Garden trailhead. The Devil's Garden Trail, a 7.2 mile trail, contains the largest concentration of significant natural arches in the world. The first mile is on well maintained and easy to find trail, that leads to the popular stop in Devil's Garden trail, the Landscape Arch.

Landscape Arch ( can be seen after 0.9 mile from Devil's Garden trailhead)

Landscape Arch is the longest natural arch in the world, having a span length of 290 ft, yet having only 6 ft of thickness in its thinnest section.  After the Landscape Arch, the trail is no longer well defined. The fun began when we have to guess where the trail is :) since most sections of the trail are now on rock fins. 

Devil's Garden Trail, Arches National Park

Some sections of the trail requires some scrambling over rocks, but is rewarded by some of the best views I have seen in my many hikes.

Fun Rock Scrambling

The View from the Rock Fin Trail

When It Got Too Windy, I just Sat at the Rock Fin and Enjoyed the Scenery in Front of Me

There are some exposure to heights while walking on the rock fin, but it is pretty safe hike, not as scary and intimidating as Angels Landing in Zion National Park.  

No, He is not Daredevil, he is on the same Rock Fin trail enjoying the views around him

Un-named Rock Hoodoo( what do you see?)

Most of the hike is on rocky footing over sandstone slabs and slick rock with narrow ledges. There is stunning vista everywhere you look from the trail that not even seeing the arches is so worth it, but of course, the arches are added bonus. 

Double O Arch from the Trail

The sight of Double O Arch from the trail was not that very impressive, after having seen the other arches in the park which are easier to hike such as Delicate Arch and the Windows. However, hubby tried to go at the other side of the O, and these are what he got.

Double O Arch At the Other Side

( that's me at the lower O, trying my hardest to scramble past the lower O to join hubby who was photographing the sceneries around)

Me, still stranded at the Lower O

I gave up and decided to pose instead there at the Lower O, had I known this is what I will see, I would have probably tried harder to scramble past that lower O to get to hubby's location. Sometimes, my fear of skidding on rocks stops me from exploring :(

The best time to hike this trail is late fall to early spring, since the trail is mostly exposed. The temperature when we hiked here about 2 weeks ago was 30 - 40F ( 0- 5 C) but for us it is perfect compared to hiking in exposed summer heat. Truth is, we were here summer of 2007, the temperature was 90s F ( 32 C), but we did not make it even to just Landscape Arch and had to turn around because we could not take the heat. This time of the year is cold and freezing, but for desert hiking, a colder temperature is a lot more tolerable for us. 

Simple Joys in Simple Life

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pier 1 Imports. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cliche it may be, but the title of this post is very close to my blog's title as well :) . But then, how else can I describe our home sweet home?

Sunrise from Home

Simple Joys in Simple Life, Gazing out of our Bedroom Window to Greet the Birth of a New Day

How else can I describe my preference and decorating style? Having to balance both studies and teaching in a high school setting which is totally new for me, I struggle with time. Despite my busyness however, there is one thing I cannot give up every weekend, and that is taking time out to enjoy the great outdoors. Hiking, or even as simple as walking at the beach is my way of taking away stress from my weekday's challenges. This love for outdoors, and my crazy weekday schedule hardly allows me to stay home. Not that I don't love being home, but my time just don't allow me to be inside home longer than others would. Thus, when it comes to decorating home, I count on simplicity.

Our Living Room

See? It is easier for me to clean the house when there is not a lot of decorative clutter around, I believe in simplicity. Home for me does not have to be overly adorned, but a simple place to inspire peaceful and happy thoughts. For our simple decors, thankfully, we live very close to Pier 1, a place where I often frequent whenever I wanted something for the house. In less than 2 weeks, some of my fellow friends at The Salitype Society are coming over for a mini-reunion. Now, I am looking for some accents in our dining. However, today the rain is heavily pouring and the howling wind is so strong that threatens to trample me outside. The good news however is that I still continued my shopping for some accents to our dining room at Pier 1 online. And how easy it is to shop, for example, I am looking at the table liner below, which is at 50% discount! 

What a joy it is to find out that this is available in the store very close to us! So, it is very easy, I do not even have to worry about when it will be shipped to me since I can just walk to the store and pick up the item when the rain stops tomorrow.  I can also continue shopping online for holiday gifts for some of my family. One of the simple joys in simple life that brings priceless happiness is when I find some items that I need that are in huge discounts!

Also, during this Holidays season, for the months of November and December, you can support Toys for Tots by dropping off an unwrapped toy and/or making a cash donation at the register. You can also support Toys for Tots by liking Pier 1 Imports on Facebook, for every new fan they get, they will donate $1 to Toys for Tots. A very simple way to spread the Holiday Cheer.