FSAF #1 DESERT LOVIN'

No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter! Ever wonder why we like something? I'm not talking about Facebook, I'm talking real life. Today I took Vincent on a trip up to Lake Pleasant to get some pictures and be outside in the beautiful weather. We drove around inside of Lake Pleasant State Park, checked out the visitors center, took some pics of where I almost rolled our truck into the lake last weekend (that's a story for a different time), and walked around on the trails looking for wildlife I was going to head home. When I got back to Castle Hot Springs road I knew I should go left and head home, but instead I went right. While I was doing this Theresa's words were running through my head. When she had called less than an hour before, she said something to the effect of "don't do anything stupid, you have our son with you. You know sometimes you take dirt roads and trails and realize after it wasn't the best idea". She was right, that's how I almost put us into Lake Pleasant upside down in the Montero the previous weekend. So even with her voice in my head telling me not to, I headed north on Castle Hot Springs road off into the desert. Vincent was asleep so I reasoned that if it got really bumpy or sketchy looking I'd turn around, after all I had very little water for myself, no extra bottles for him, and no tire repair kit. As I explored, and took more pictures, I was thinking about the fact I love the desert. I don't know why, but I find it absolutely fascinating and beautiful. It could be because it's the polar opposite of the terrain I grew up around. Back in New England it's all grass and trees, it rains frequently, it snows way too much. Here we get almost no rain, no snow at all, the trees are few and far between, there are cacti everywhere. See, totally different. But I love it. I know it can be deadly, there are venomous snakes and lizards, the summer temperatures always exceed 100 degrees, the winter nights can get down below freezing. So, why do I love it? Is it because we can camp all year round? Is it because it's so different? Is it all the unsettled land we can go out and explore? Is it because desert racing is so friggen cool? Is it because of all the great mexican food? Maybe. Here's some pics (click on the thumbnails for bigger pics), enjoy!

Apache Lake Weekend

Joe, Lucy Fur and I went camping this past weekend. We decided to go out near Canyon Lake (Tortilla Flat, to be precise), because Joe took a drive out there with his family last month when they were in town. Turns out, the campground near Tortilla Flat was nowhere near the lake. We remember reading that there was a campground on Apache Lake, so we decided to drive a little further to that site. Well, the road ended and we were stuck on a steep and winding dirt road for about 20 miles. It was fun, but looooonnng! I know I'm a wimp and it was probably just a "bumpy road" to some, but I consider it off-roading a little bit. There was one point where we thought maybe we should turn around, but right after we rounded a corner, there it was. And the sites were right on the lake. It was so beautiful. Cold enough at night that you saw your breath when you stepped away from the fire. But it was gorgeous. And Lucy even had fun swimming in the lake. The water was freezing, but she didn't seem to mind. We want to go back!! Here's a little taste of what the weekend was like. Hope you enjoy...



And here's a video of Lucy playing in the water. She LOVED it! Once we got to the beach, she just started going in on her own. Then we threw some sticks in and she went and snatched them and swam back. We had her on a lead so she couldn't go too far, but she loved it! She's our little Beagle Retriever. [oh yeah...and just ignore my annoying voice.]

Crown King Camping Trip

We went up to Crown King, AZ this weekend, it was quite the trip. First you drive an hour north on the freeway, then get off and continue 35 miles up an unmaintained dirt road that winds through the mountains. I had a blast offroading, Theresa was a little less thrilled. Did I mention neither of us had a vehicle with the proper ground clearance to get there? We remedied that situation by renting and enormous truck through enterprise who have a half price weekend deal. So we got to drive a 2008 Chevy Silverado. I wouldn't want to own it (12 mpg, freaking enormous, parallel parking basically impossible). We got to our campground, Hazelett Hollow around noon on Saturday and set up camp. Setting up was a feat in itself, because of the altitude. I'm not positive because we forgot the GPS, but I think it was over 6,000 feet. Once set up we made some lunch, then explored a little on foot, walking the dog 2 miles in the process. After that we took the truck and gathered an excess of firewood, then relaxed before starting a fire and dinner. This is about the time we found out that the little boy at the site next to ours really liked to scream...a lot. Roughly every 10 minutes this kid let out a blood curdling shriek. I really think he had Tourettes. Our dog was much quieter than that little beast. So we could have ignored him if he only screamed during the day, but for some reason he screamed all night, too. His parents didn't seem like they were doing anything to stop him. The weather was so nice we didn't even put the rain fly on the tent, which may have been a bad idea, because it was COLD. Low 40's cold, so cold our little dog was shivering when we went to bed. She actually slept under the blankets between us. So after the freezing night, and interrupted sleep from the screaming kid, we got up at 7:30 and took down camp. All in all it was well worth it, and we had fun despite the inconveniences. Here's some pictures.