Our Trek Through Texas

Well, we recently returned from a 1 week adventure through the Southwest.  We drove into Texas to see Mary and Michael in Del Rio and Sarah, Dom, and Mia in Houston.  The driving a little excessive, but it was worth it to see the family! :)

Our first stop was in Del Rio, TX, where Mary and Michael were fabulous hosts.  We traveled around the city and saw the Del Rio sights.  We also experienced Lake Amistad and it was a blast! Barley was unsure at first, but with some coaxing he managed a little swimming. 

We also ate at some cute local spots around town, including Memo's. We had some fun and did some acro in the grass outside of Memo's, and when we went inside, the patrons gave us a round of applause for our performance (we didn't know they were watching... or could even see us!)

Tommy got into the Texas spirit and almost walked out of the store with the lasso :) See for yourself how good he is with the lasso.

 

 



Thank you Mary and Michael for a great trip!! :) You guys were great hosts and we had a blast in your small world of Del Rio! :)

After Del Rio, it was on to Houston for some more family visits.  When we arrived, Mia was VERY excited to see Barley! He was pretty excited too, at first, but eventually I think her constant "Doggie!"-ing got to him.  Our entire visit, he was very patient with Mia, which was very comforting :)

 Our first morning was spent at the Houston Zoo. It was fairly big but very well-kept! Here's a shot Tommy took of a jaguar mid-jump.

 









Tommy and I went to the climbing gym in Houston. It was pretty nice, but we are very spoiled at Rocks and Ropes in Tucson.

 Sarah made me a birthday cake. It was not just ANY birthday cake, but a Kennedy favorite... chocolate parfait cake! It was bowl-lickin' good!

Then it was off to Galveston. Barley loves the ocean!

 A little ocean yoga :)

Mia loves her uncle Tommy!

She loves him so much that she feeds him bagel chips without him even asking!

And then she stuffs them in his mouth until he can't fit anymore :)

 Sarah and Dom have these great bamboo floors but are too soft to withstand Barley's claws, so we bought him booties to wear around the house.  He actually did a great job with them! This is the face he gives me when he's practicing being patient and wants to be reassured that he's a good boy.

Thank you Sarah, Dom, and Mia for an awesome time in Houston! It was so much fun to watch Mia and Barley together! 

 What a trip! Barley was worn out by the end f it and slept for the entire 17 hour drive home. Though we decided to split the drive into two days. As we arrived in El Paso to spend the night, out poor car couldn't take the 90 mph driving anymore and overheated.  We added coolant and made it home the next day, though our head gasket was mis-shaped and it turned into an expensive repair... At least we made it back!

 Even God is bigger in Texas!

Yay! Alternative energy! There are quite a few windmills along the interstate in Texas.










"Clearly, we need more incentives to quickly increase the use of wind and solar power; they will cut costs, increase our energy independence and our national security and reduce the consequences of global warming."
~Hillary Rodham Clinton

We officially love Flagstaff!

Last weekend, Tommy, Barley, and I piled into the ol' Camry and trucked up to Flagstaff.  We went to a bluegrass festival, camped, climbed, drank good coffee and hung out with friends.  I completed a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course in Flagstaff a few weeks prior, so we met up with some of my friends from the course.  It was perfect weather, though it was getting pretty cold at night.

The first night, we pulled into a recreation area north of Phoenix. Barley was really excited... so we didn't get much sleep in our 2 person tent with him.  He tossed and kicked all night.  The next day, we finished the drive to Flagstaff, took Barley to the dog park and then dropped him off at a doggie daycare so we could attend the bluegrass festival - Pickin in the Pines.  Afterward, he was exhausted and we slept really well that night.

The next day with went climbing at The Pit.  The rock was limestone and very different from what we were used to, but it was really fun to climb on! It had pockets in it, as you can see in the pictures.

                           Tommy climbing "Popeye"

                              Barley was so tired!                            

         
                                                        I'm trying to clip my chalk bag to Heather's harness :)

Enjoying the view

Our last day, we spent time in town and has some yummy coffee.  Flagstaff has a really great coffee shop scene.  Plus, there's some good food to accompany it too!  

So, after the trip, Tommy and I decided we will definitely be back soon! Especially before it gets too cold :) I think we'll probably have a summer home there in the future (a campsite...).

"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."

~William Wordsworth

Rain in Arizona

We took a vacation last week and went on an Arizona road trip.  The weeks leading up to our trip were sunny and hot. We were having record hot temperatures for March! We were excited about climbing in Cochise Stronghold, hiking in Flagstaff, treking through Slide Rock State Park in Sedona, and enjoying an Olive Oil Mill tour topped off with climbing near Queen Creek.  We had a full week planned of tent camping and adventure with Barley.

Cochise Stronghold is amazing. It is a large grass field with mountains of pure rock all around. It is an open range for cattle, who are used to the human visitors by now. After driving along a gravel/dirt road for over 12 miles and maneuvering around drainage holes in the road, we arrived at what we hoped was our destination. We set up camp in a shady grove at the base of a massive slab and set off to find climbing. Miraculously, we stumbled on a group of NOLS adventurers and the correct climbing walls we were looking for. It was luck that we found the correct walls.  After climbing with amazing views, we trekked back to our campsite to view the sunset.

The next morning we woke early, enjoyed eggs and pancakes for breakfast before packing the Camry and making the long drive to Flagstaff.  

Before the trip, we looked at the Flagstaff weather and decided it would be too cold for us to camp up there overnight. We decided to stay in a hotel, and we are SSOOO glad that we did! On the way up to Flagstaff, it began raining... and it was very cold!! We enjoyed a nice hot shower before heading to downtown Flagstaff for dinner.  We found a pizza place with some outdoor seating so we could eat with Barley, so we bundled up in hats and coats for dinner.  After dinner we found a dog park for Barley to blow off some steam, drove through Northern Arizona University in search of the large Lumberjack (never found it though....), and went to Oregano's for their infamous Pazooki! :) 

The next morning we awoke and discovered it was not raining, though still cold, and decided to go for a short hike, partially for us and partially for Barley :)  We found a relatively short hike, close to the city and it was gorgeous! There was snow on the mountain too!

Tommy really enjoyed the 500 year old Elder Juniper and "holy" rock :)

After the hike, we checked out of Flagstaff and started the scenic drive to Sedona in hopes it would be warmer and sunnier down the mountain.... It wasn't.  When we arrived, there was still a chill in the air, though no rain... yet.  We set up camp at Cave Springs Campground in Oak Creek, just north of Sedona.  Barley loved the open area and creek that ran along the campground.  After setting up camp, we decided to get dressed... for a VERY nice dinner.  Tommy's boss, Richard Serna, used to be the Sous Chef at Enchantment Resort's Yavapai Restaurant. The elegant restaurant called for dressy clothes... and that is tough when you're tent camping!

Dinner was amazing! Richard had told the Chef at Yavapai that we were coming, and they took GREAT care of us! We started dinner with starters of Maine lobster tacos with smoked chiles and avocado in a ponzu sauce, and we enjoyed slow cooked pork belly in a root beer glaze with a saffron and curry sauce with corn puree.  DELICIOUS! We were then served a roasted beet salad with a yogurt dressing to cleanse our palate for the main entrees... Tommy enjoyed four lamb chops served on a ragout of farro, bacon, and camboloza cheese.  I indulged in three large scallops served with Osetra caviar on a lobster risotto in a beurre blanc sauce. We finished dinner with a chocolate lava cake served with a raspberry sherbet (though I had a cinnamon gillato) and expresso.  We were so stuffed with yummy food that we returned back to camp and slept very well :) 

It was a lovely dinner and evening.  The morning however... is a different story... we woke up to rain and hail! We quickly made a run for the car and decided to head into Sedona for breakfast, since camp-style eggs and pancakes were out of the question.  After breakfast, the rain let up and we returned to the campsite and learned that they were expecting SNOW! 6-12 inches of snow at the site... so we decided to leave. We packed the wet tent and wet dog and decided to head down to Queen Creek to camp there. We thought, it's outside of Phoenix, should be dry... warm... no. It was cold! Again! So, we unloaded everything, built a fire, cooked dinner, s'mores, played with Barley :) It was a cold but nice evening.  The next morning, we awoke to... RAIN! Crazy! So... rock climbing and Queen Creek Olive Oil Mill were out of the question... we packed the car in the rain and decided to just head back home... Mother Nature did not want us to camp anymore.  

We plan to head back to Queen Creek and Sedona when the weather is more... cooperative :)

Bisbee

A couple of weeks ago, Tommy and I had 2 days off in a row together! This happens so rarely I can't remember the last time we experienced it! So, I decided we should take a short trip and see some other areas of Arizona. I made us (Tommy, Barley, and me - of course) a reservation at an adorable vacation rental in Bisbee, AZ. Bisbee is an old mining town that has turned into a tourist shopping and sight seeing destination. It is famous for it's copper mine tour, well-preserved history, stairs, eclectic shops/galleries, and small town Southwest charm.  Most of the homes are built on the hillside, so they are not reachable by car, so you must park at the bottom and take stairs to the houses. Our guesthouse had 75 stairs leading up to it. I can't imagine moving in this city! :) It is a "Mile High" city, at about 5200 feet above sea level.

 A view of the city from the highway. Bisbee is surprisingly hilly! We walked everywhere during our stay and it was tough! :)

 Tommy and Barley enjoying a stroll in downtown Bisbee.

 Bisbee draws many artists and there are a lot of galleries in downtown.

 Tommy enjoying his morning coffee on the porch of our guesthouse. We stayed at the Doublejack Guesthouse.

 Barley really enjoyed himself!

 We also bought a new camera recently... so we were having fun with the features :)