Memorial Day - Sunset Vista Funeral Home and Cemetery

Monday, 26 May 2008 - Memorial Day

Mike was asked to play the bagpipes this morning at the Memorial Day Celebration at Sunset Vista Funeral Home and Cemetery.

Mike with some of the veterans who did the 21 Gun Salute.


La Societe des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux (The Society of Forty Men & Eight Horses) - traces back to the box cars used in France in World War I.

A lot of bikers came to the memorial ceremony.

21 Gun Salute

Below the tree, Mike played "Amazing Grace" to close the ceremony.

Saturday, 24 May 2008 - Sunset Visa Funeral Home and Cemetery

This is an interesting finding - A veteran with the same 1st name, same 2nd initial and the same last name as the present US president, George W. Bush, was buried in this cemetery.

I thought this is cute - an angel at this graveside. This angel is wearing out. There is a hole around her knee.

Last but not least, a tank from World War II, standing guard in the Veterans burial ground

Long Time No See

Sunday, 25 May 2008

So happy that Stanley, Mary, Joanne & Cassey (their Shih Tzu) were able to stop over in Yuma and stayed with us for the night. It was good to visit with each other and talk the Malaysia way, for a change. It has been 6 years since Stanley & I last met. Last we lived like half an hour apart by road, in the same city. But now it is 19 hrs apart by road - 1300 miles, in different cities, in different states.

I love Mike's Mexican cooking. I think I prefer his cooking than the food at the Mexican restaurants. For Stanley, Mary & Joanne, it was their first time having Menudo, which we bought home from a Mexican restaurant, to add to the Chili Pepper Omelette and the Chili Stew/Tortillo that Michael had prepared.

Wheat and Rock Melon

Sunday, 25 May 2008

I am impressed with the agriculture here. I thought the yellow field were hay but it wasn't This is the first time I have seen wheat plant.

On the other side of the field is another crop - Cantaloupe. Never heard that term in Malaysia. I knew it as rock melon.

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Friday, 16 May 2008

Last place of interest to visit before we drove back home - Petrified Forest National Park - located near Holbrook in Northern Arizona.

Painted Desert is beautiful!

The Newspaper Rock

The colorful Teepes

Petrified Forest

Agate Bridge: The petrified tree trunk

Agate Bridge: The petrified tree root

The skeletons of the animals that once dwelt in the Triassic Park.

An imagery model of what the Triassic Park had looked like?

Southwest Soaring Museum, New Mexico

Friday, 16 May 2008

Yesterday, driving westward from Tecumseh, Oklahoma, Mike & I visited an entertainment museum - the Roger Miller Museum - located in Erick, Oklahoma. Today we had the opportunity to visit a soaring museum - located on Route 66, on the east side of Moriarty, New Mexico.

We were not allowed to take pictures at the Roger Miller Museum. Today, I am allowed to take as many pictures as I wanted to, of anything in the Southwest Soaring Museum.

I didn't know I am interested in planes until today, amazed by the different kinds of sailplanes and gliders.

From the outside, it looked like a big warehouse

First plane I saw entering the museum was this "Little Bird 1". I guess it is built for any little child to feel what it is like in a glider!

The collection of gliders

The oldest glider in the collection: Northrup Primary Glider (built 1929)



2nd oldest glider in the collection: Franklin P-S-2 Glider (built 1930)

Hang Glider

This is an interesting piece: Benson B-8 Modified Gyro Glider

A model of what the place would look like in future.

N.B. What I also enjoyed also on this visit is playing with Duffy.

The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries, Groom, Texas

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Travelling along the Interstate 40 in Groom, Texas, we could see the white cross from far away. It has been claimed to be the largest cross in the western hemisphere but after checking the internet it is now the 2nd largest. The cross at Effingham, Illinois is 8 feet taller, standing at 198 feet.



There were 13 bronze sculptures, depicting the different scenes from the time he was condemned to death until his body was removed from the cross.

Station 1: Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judaea.

Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the cross.

The Last Supper in front of Station 12 - Crucifixion of Jesus and the 2 thieves.