Happy 4th of July

The girls are checking out the smoke bombs before we went to see the fireworks at the top of the hill at El Conquistador Resort.

Monsoon weather

 The monsoon finally came to us today.  We had over a third of an inch of rain making for a beautiful sunset over our mountains

Greer, AZ

 We left on Monday to pick up the trailer in Payson.  We drove up to Greer to get out of the heat and hike for a couple of days.  This is the West Fork of the Black River.  Even though there is some fire damage in the area it was a beautiful hike.

 The wild iris's were blooming everywhere.

 Here we are at the top of East Baldy trail and Big Lake in the background.  Hiking at 10,000 feet is a lot of work.

This was Thursday's hike up West Baldy Trail #94.  I think that those are wild snapdragons.

Back to Venice

 Wr have come full circle and returned to Venice.  This time we did the usual tourist sights ( St. Marks, etc.) that we did not do 2 weeks ago.  We arrived in large downpour but the weather cleared up after we got to the hotel.  We have been very fortunate to have great weather this whole trip.  The combination of the full moon, high tide and rain gave us a chance to see what happens when Venice floods.

We have really had a wonderful trip and enjoyed every minute.

Florence

 Here we all are on the Vecchio Bridge.  This is the bridge of the gold and silver sellers.

 The River Arno

 The Santa Croce church where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried.

The Duomo

Siena and Florence

 Today we spent a couple of hours in Siena on our drive to Florence.  It was a beautiful church.

 Just some small doors into the church in Siena.

 This is the view from the roof of our hotel in Florence into the Santa Maria Novella Plaza and church of the same name.

 

This is the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore of Florence.  Incredible.....

On our own in Rome

 Today we had a free day to wander in Rome.  Here is Andy at the Trevi fountain.

 The Pantheon, the largest dome in the world.

 A court yard we walked by.

The Tiber River on our way back to the hotel.  Probably added 3 to 4 more miles to our trip.