Spring Creek Hike, Kanarraville, UT

Most of the time I get to see cool things only because cool people I know know about the cool places.  I don't.  I just tag along with those that do.

Remembering Summer In the Middle of Winter

My brother's wedding in Wisconsin, August

Trips to the zoo, Bay Beach Amusement Park, and the back yard in Wisconsin, August

Zion National Park in Utah, July 

Zion National Park in Utah, August

With Megan and her family in Midway and Park City, Utah in July

With Libby and Lisa in Cedar City and around Panguitch Lake, July

Just a few more months and it will be spring.  I am ready.  So very ready.

Getting to First Base in Arizona

A few months back, I visited Flagstaff, AZ to see an SUU football game, but I lamented that I didn't get to see more of Arizona.  When my friends Tiffany and John said they wanted to drive to the Phoenix are to catch some of Spring Training and invited me along, I said I would love to - as long as I could catch a Brewers game.  They happily obliged.

Saguaroooooooo! 

First game was Brewers vs. Rockies.  First stop was food!

Polish with ketchup, mustard and kraut.  It's tradition.

Unfortunately, we missed 1/2 the game - we thought, and timed it for, an hour time difference between Utah and Arizona.  There isn't.  I attribute this oversight to the Brewers loss.  I wasn't there, so...

The lineup

After the game, we checked in to our hotel in Tempe.  We took a nap (we left before it was light outside to make the game, so we were pooped).  We wandered downtown, just off of the ASU campus so really vibrant area, and ate a late dinner at PF Chang's.  Tiffany and I enjoyed the hot tub while John watched some TV.  Because he wasn't there to protect us, we were hit on by one of a pair of  guys on the prowl with probably a few drinks in them.  They looked like they were fresh out of an episode of Jersey Shore.  The conversation went like this:

Him:  What are the chances!  Two guys, two girls!

Us:  (awkward smiles)

Him:  Can we get you ladies anything to drink?

Us: (Ok, mostly Tiff) No thanks, we're good.

Him:  Are you guys sober?

Us:  Yup.

Him:  Like, not a drink at all?

Us:  (sighing) Totally.

Him:  Is that by choice or by religion?

Us:  Both, actually.

Him:  Oh, that's cool! What are you guys?

Us:  LDS

Him:  (Now he decides to get religious to diffuse an increasingly awkward situation, more for himself than for us) Oh, me too.  I grew up Jewish. So I get it.

Us:  That's cool. (Meanwhile, the other friend is standing three yards behind his bolder buddy, smirking shyly the whole time but not saying anything. )

Him:  Well, you ladies have a good time.  We'll catch you later.

Us:   Have fun.  (Shakin' our heads, rolling our eyes)

Day 2 was the Giants against the Royals.  Royals won, which I actually was impressed with.  We were literally 5 rows up - fantastic seats right behind home plate!  More ballpark snacks - peanuts in the shell, a giant soft pretzel, lots of water.  Did I mention it was 80 degrees outside?  Or that it was 80 degrees during the second weekend in March?

I just think these things are so cool!  

Got'cha!

Before the game, we went shopping at a local mall after a huge breakfast.  After the game, we went back to the hotel and took another nap.  I lost my phone, so tried to track it down to no avail.  Tiffany and I sat by the pool as the sun went down.  We found a great local pizza place, ate way too much, and drove around ASU to check out more of the local activity.

On Sunday, we found an LDS ward to go to  for the first hour, and then we drove to the Mesa Temple.  It is such a beautiful  temple, and the grounds were peaceful and covered in various citrus trees (I sampled an obliging kumquat) and cactus varieties.  

Then we headed to the final game of our weekend:  Rangers vs. Mariners.  Tiffany is a Texas native, so this was she and John's must-see game (John and Tiff were getting married in two weeks, so he has become a fan over the course of their relationship).   Philly cheese steak and peanuts in the shell were on the menu.

 This was such a nice, relaxing weekend.  We drove with the convertible-top down, got messy hair, and some sun.  We took naps (um, vacation!) and ate really good food.  My phone was even turned in to the hotel, so the only inconsequential tragedy wasn't a tragedy at all.  Arizona in spring is amazing.  I think I need to do this again next year!

No Painted Desert, No Sedona...but Flagstaff and Bearizona

When I was in college, the song "No Arizona" frequented the radio waves, and I belted along as the music blared through the radio. The lyrics trace a path through some of AZ's most famous and picturesque destinations, and when my friends invited me to travel with them to some of those destinations for a weekend of football and roadtripping, I was anxious to attend and cross some of those spots off the list of must-see Western destinations, of which I have seen an unfortunately low number of considering how long I've lived in the West.  I also had full intentions to sing Jamie O'Neal's song.

My friend Camaree works at SUU, and though she is not an alumnus, she is one of the biggest die-hard Thunderbird fans out there (and one of the only ones I know), much to the shame of Kyle and I who are alumni.  SUU was playing their final football game of the season against Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff on November 11th.  The plan, as I understood it, was to watch the game on Saturday and then drive back to Utah through Sedona.  I've never been to Arizona - the little strip I need to pass through on I-15 on the way to Las Vegas doesn't count - and Sedona played such a prominent part in the song lyrics that it must be worthy of a view.  OK, that was mostly a joke as I had heard of it before outside of some song lyrics, but it certainly would make singing the song a lot more interesting.

The four-hour, rainy drive went quickly.  We drove through Colorado City (the two photos above were taken just outside of it) and Page, AZ.  The morning after we arrived in Flagstaff started with a walk around its historic downtown shopping district.  It was absolutely charming!  They have great little boutiques and gift shops and outdoor sports stores, and I would love to go back and explore even more of what this city, a gateway to the Grand Canyon, has to offer.

You can't fake a sky like that -  what clean air and sky look like.

Following the shopping was SUU's tailgate lunch, actually held indoors at the NAU commons and cafeteria.  It was quite chilly outside as it had rained and snowed the night before, so I appreciated the warmth.  The game was great, and SUU won in triple overtime!  I am such a sports pessimist that when games get close I am so prepared for disappointment that I have come to expect it.  I was glad to be wrong.

Our trip home did not include Sedona as I had expected.  I was a little disappointed.  I wanted to see quintessential Arizona.  AND I never got to sing my song!  Instead we drove back through Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam.  Before we got that far though, we detoured at Bearizona (because if you can't go to Sedona, Bearizona is the next best thing, right?), a wildlife park where the animals are wandering free and you are driving past in your vehicle, and bears are the featured residents.  It was actually pretty interesting to get so close and personal to the bears and wolves.  There is a traditional zoo-like part with a lot of baby and adolescent bears and other animals native to the West.  And if you know me and my love of wildlife photography...er, captive animal photography, you know that I was clicking away.

This is dedicated to my niece Claire-bear, who from an early age learned from her
nick-namesake the best way to scratch your own back. 

Baby bears are extremely active an exceptionally entertaining.

I LOVE foxes!

The Hoover Dam is a great architectural and technological feat, especially considering it was constructed during the Great Depression.  I kept waiting for my friends to start the "dam" jokes like my family did almost 10 years ago, but they didn't, and I'm kind of glad so I can keep that as one of the funniest afternoons I had with my family.  A few years ago, a new bridge was built across the canyon so people didn't have to drive over the dam to cross, and it was my first time seeing it from the dam itself (saw it from a plane).  The dam was packed with dam tourists (sorry, I couldn't help myself), but we had a relaxing afternoon considering the drive, and a fun weekend exploring some interesting places.

5 Miles Uphill Both Ways

You know those stories your parents and grandparents told you when you were a kid, the ones where, with a twinkle in their eyes, they told you they had to walk to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways?  And do you remember how you didn't believe them?  After this weekend, I now do.

I had my first experience hiking at Bryce Canyon National Park.  I went with two friends who had not only been, but were in way better shape than me.  In their defense, they did ask me to choose a hike, but I relinquished my right to do so because of my naivete about the park.  In their defense, they were not aware of my bronchial limitations, nor the extent of my physical flabbiness.  In their defense, they didn't even realize which hike we ended up going on and were surprised when I told them after we were done. I could make a lot of excuses as to why I am such a terrible (Utah) hiker, and while some of them may be valid, there is no skirting the fact that I was out-hiked in part because I was not physically fit enough.  That being said, the hike was ranked as being difficult and had over 1500 feet in elevation change over the course of 5.5 miles, had a recommended time frame of 4-5 hours, but we did it in 3.  So.  You decide:

Now that I'm done both putting myself down AND making excuses for myself, I can talk about how beautiful it was!  Most real hikers like to get an early start, but I think time and temperature change are not the only motivations for doing so like most would explain.  The lighting in the morning is stunning in the way it plays with the existing colors and detentions. REALLY stunning.  Bryce Canyon is a place that needs to be seen in the morning.  The limestone hoodoos vary in color from reds to oranges to whites, but with the morning light, some of them looked like they were glowing from the inside, those natural color variations adding to the affect.  By the time we finished at noon, the light was so strong on the rock that the effect looked rather harsh.

This is the starting point, the top of the hike at Sunset Point

Julie and Ann descending down the switchbacks of the Navajo Trail to get to slot canyon known as Wall Street.

Looking down into the mouth of the slot canyon.

Entering Wall Street, which was probably my favorite part of the whole hike.

A lot of these pictures look the same, but I struggled with the lighting of it.  And the further in it we got, the more the lights and colors would change.  It was not this dark, but I was limited in my understanding of settings on my camera.  As soon as I would get it so the lighting was right in the foreground, the back was washed out.  The distance perfectly lit?  The foreground pitch black in the picture.  I'm still trying to figure it out!

Like I said, the rocks looked like they were glowing!

The Douglas firs growing in Wall Street, Bryce Canyon's very  own skyscrapers.

The Navajo Loop is one of the most popular hikes in the park, especially because of Wall Street.  Instead of finishing that loop, we picked up an adjoining one, the Peek-A-Boo Loop Trail.  This is where the hiking starts to exit the moderate difficulty level and enters the strenuous zone.

A Clark's Nutcracker (I think)

Julie and the Indian Princess Hoodoo (to the right of what looks like a  perched groundhog)

Another switchback, which means eventually we have to go up again.

Nature's gargoyles.  Or goblins (as hoodoos are also called).  Or are they more like aliens?  

The Wall of Windows

If you look closely, I caught a passing plane in one of the windows! (I'll let you think it was carefully timed on my part)

While I did stop to take some pictures, there may have been a little bit of exhaustion contributing to this break (if only you could see the hill leading up to this point, and if only I knew how much harder the end of the trail would be!)

A Western Bluebird

Inspiration Point

This hike was really a struggle for me, but I guess there's always something to be said for completing something like this without having to be carried out.  It really was such a beautiful place, and the perfect hiking weather too.  Though I was stiff and sore for a few days after, I am so happy I finally made it here.  I live within an hours drive of two national parks, and it has only taken me 12 years to finally make it to this one.  I can't wait to go back and do some more hiking.  Maybe I'll do a few of the easy hikes, now that a difficult one is out of they way. ;)