Airstream wonderers

For the last couple of enoui we have  been doing some nice hikes and playing a lot of disk golf.  Oh and then got rear ended again!  We were at a red light and bam.  The man was surprised when we got out of the car laughing.   He hit us in the same spot as the day before.  No more damage he just kind of bounced off.

Today we did an 8.2 mile run with a total elevation gain of 2120 feet.  Up down up down.  The trails were Templeton, Baldwin, and Highline combined. The highline was a double black diamond.  The picture of don is him standing in the middle of the trail.  Yes, very steep.  The next picture shows the trail we are running.  Way down in the bottom of the picture is Baldwin, my favorite.  The next picture shows there is no more up.  We went as far as we could.  The last picture is just pretty. I took on the way down.

Well it is going to rain on Monday so it will be a good rest day.

 

 

Days may be cloudy or sunny, we’re in or we’re out of money.  But I will be with you always, I’m with you rain or shine.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Did you hear Cream had 3 puppies?!?!!!  Oh, of course it is all on facebook.

It has been rainy for three days here.  We still went running and played 2 more 18 holes of disk golf.  Was not to bad Monday and Tuesday but today even an Oregonian would say this is rain.  Tomorrow we move back into wonderful sun again.

Picture of Shibo kickin it in the house.  We got back this am from running and playing at dog park.  She is on or off.

Yup.  Now Don gets a new back bumper to match the new front one.  We were parked and in the store.  Our bumper is scraped and the whole side of her car is totaled.  Good thing the tow hitch wasn’t in!

I have been looking on all of our hikes and wanderings for a roadrunner.  Never saw one last time we were here.  Taking the back road out of the park and there it was.  Yup, roadrunner in the middle of the road.  They have the coolest Mohawks.  Because they are so fast they are one of few creatures that prey on rattlesnakes.

I’m headed for a land that’s far away beside the crystal fountains.  So come with me, we`’ll go and see the big rock candy mountains.

In the pictures behind Don and shibo, Shibo is pointing to one, are the mountains that we climbed yesterday and today.  So gorgeouse.  In and out of lush little trees and cactus to rocks rocks more rocks and cactus.  On the trail today we met an 8 month old Shiba Inu boy.  They really liked each other and even played.  He sure dwarfed her.

In the pictures of shibo and I, we are standing on top of the largest arch in the Sedona area.  This is called the devils bridge.  It is way the heck up there.  If you Google it you will see some great pictures.  We are not able to go where those pics were taken.  Closed.

We have really gotten into disk golf here.  I went and bought a set.  Don already had one Collin gave him.  We have so far played 18 holes three times this week.  There is a picture of Don throwing.  Collin just aced the 18th hole at the Wilder disk golf course today.  Unbelievable.

Well the weather said it will rain here next week.  We will see what that means.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Today we hiked sycimore canyon trail.  We drove 10 miles down a dirt road to a dead end in the middle of the desert.  Walked down a long long ways and came into paradise.  We hiked 4 miles up the canyon along the sycamore creek that flows into the Verde river.  Who would of thought we would go creek walking in arizona.

In one picture you can see the canyon.  One you can see the reflection of the rocks on the creek.  At times the trail is literally a ledge of rocks over the water.  Had to cross the creek 10 times.  The first time shibo did not like it.  Now she is a rock hopper and loves the cool water.

Did you go on line and see what we saw in the sky last night dad?  Space X!  Looked awesome.

 

We were out and about trail riding and look what we found today.  To funny.  Did not have time to do the entire trail today.  We will go back on Friday.  I’m guessing it goes to the old jailhouse in old town cottonwood.  Will let you know.

Don’t forget it is your birthday tomorrow dad!

We saw a fox and a couple of butterflies along with a lot of javelina foot prints.  Javalinas are really ugly big wild animals that look like boars but are not boars.  I do hope that we do not run into one.

Below are pictures of the Palatki and Honanki ruins built by the Sinagua indians.  These cliff dwellings were last lived in about 800 years ago.  These dwellings are all built under an overhang to protect from moisture.  Also built on the north side so in the winter the sun shines almost all day on the rock walls to keep warm durring the night and in the summer the sun hits the dwellings for just a short time leaving the rocks cool.

I also learned petroglyphs are ancient scratching or pecked images and pictographs are painted or drawn.  Below are some of each.  The reason the pictograph stays on so well is because minerals do not fade.  They used ground up minerals with animal fat and water.

One picture shows where the beams went two support the next floor.  They were 3 floors tall with a rooftop cooking area.

After hiking around the ruins we took shibo to the dog park and then we all went and played disk golf.  I love it here.

The next couple of days will be 80 degrees.

 

So dad we now have another metal!  And here we are in an excellent little Mexican restaurant having a celebration beer or two.  The race was difficult.  Started at 4500 feet and an elevation incline of 1500 feet.  Was very fun.  The mountains in the pictures are some of the ones we saw on or run yesterday.  Most majestic runs we have done.

Today we hiked around and up the first mountain pictured.  Was a amazing with the changing views as we went around.  Not really easy as the sign below explains.  The last picture shows the other side of the rock mt.  Walk down into a canyon with some nice shade.  The extremes here are what makes this place so amazing.

Tomorrow we are going to the Palatki ruins and honanki ruins.  New territory for us.  These are said to be the jewels of area.

We are fixen to get ready, as mom would say, for the marathon on Saturday so won’t be doing a lot of hiking or running Today!

So I think I have my tech problems fixed and below is the current picture of my favorite running trail, Baldwin, taken this trip the one last posted was from

last trip.  Also posted is Montezuma castle and the well.  The well is large and the same principal as crater lake.  This irrigated the entire Verde valley.  Could not drink it because of arsenic.  The other picture shows the prehistoric irrigation ditch built by the valley indians.  Very beautiful and amazing.

 

I want to apologize for spelling and other errors.  Because the internet here is so bad I am using my tiny phone.

Picture of shibo with her bark badge hiking up cathedral rock.  This was very steep with incline of 700 feet in .7 miles.  She scrambled up like a champ.  We helped her a little on the way down.  There is a picture below.  We covered some new trails that we did not hike last time.

The picture of the river is what we see from our patio and there is a picture of Don having a beer in 75 degree weather.  Now I get the snow bird idea.

 

We were in Sedona in 2012 when dad and colleen gave us a two week retreat.  Our favorite trail to run here is Baldwin trail.  I was looking through the old photos and found one from 2012.  I have new pictures but am once again struggling with technical issues.

We were trying to remember what trail it was and found this old picture on a memory card.  Very happy we ran it today!

Since we have been here we have been to tutzigoot national park, Montezuma well and Montezuma castel.

Sorry dad.  Have lots of cool photos but having trouble again.

Shibo is now a Deputy Bark Ranger.  Card carrier with a badge.  Very fun.  Will try to send photos.