Welcome 2011
New year, new outlook, some of the same, much anticipated new adventures. My resolutions remain my annual bids to exercise more, shed some poundage, do more with my precious non-working time - spend more time with family, friends, and travel. Work on my photography. Read more books. Eat more salad. Do more things that make me happy. Pray more. Accumulate less. Make increasing my IRA a major focus. Meet new people and really settle in down here.
2010 closed with a blessed Christmas with my whole family - one can't ask for any more than that. I am so, so thankful that I got to spend time with everyone. Kyle and I took a much needed break to Arizona with the intent to get outdoors and breathe in some fresh desert and mountain air. We had three full days. The first day it rained. In the desert. It never rains in the desert. It was cold and we drove around Lake Pleasant in our "wanna-be mid-sized" Toyota rental that smelled like curry. We didn't see any wild burros. It rained the entire day so after about 15 minutes of walking around we changed our route and went to Cave Creek to eat some amazing Mexican food fireside in an indoor/outdoor authentic structure. We shopped around and stopped for a while at the Cave Creek Coffee Company.
Day 2 we bit the bullet and headed out east of Phoenix to the Superstition Mountains. The roads to Flagstaff were closed due to the massive snow influx and our only choice that day was south, southeast, or southwest. We hiked the steep and rocky Siphon Draw Trail up and weathered two snow storms and wind gusts, came back down and went across and up, yet again weathering a third snowstorm and cold, cold wind. We gave a new name to layering clothing. We stopped at a ghost town for dinner and hot chocolate.
Day 3 we braved the roads - which were completely clear at this point - up to Sedona. The roads between Sedona and Flagstaff were still closed eliminating the much anticipated Oak Creek Canyon hiking. We took the Courthouse Loop around Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte for about 5 miles. The sky was clear but it was cold, cold on the north side. Two-thirds of the trail was red mud and the remaining third was frozen or snow-covered. After again freezing for the afternoon we drove up to the airport lookout for incredible panoramic views. We would have stayed there until sun down for some great photography but I was just too cold. We stopped off at the Javelina Cantina - a favorite of ours- and ate tilapia fajitas by the fire. New Year's was celebrated with chocolate cake, milk from Target, and many hopes for a promising 2011.
Happy New Year to all!! I must go vacuum to start the year off right!
2010 closed with a blessed Christmas with my whole family - one can't ask for any more than that. I am so, so thankful that I got to spend time with everyone. Kyle and I took a much needed break to Arizona with the intent to get outdoors and breathe in some fresh desert and mountain air. We had three full days. The first day it rained. In the desert. It never rains in the desert. It was cold and we drove around Lake Pleasant in our "wanna-be mid-sized" Toyota rental that smelled like curry. We didn't see any wild burros. It rained the entire day so after about 15 minutes of walking around we changed our route and went to Cave Creek to eat some amazing Mexican food fireside in an indoor/outdoor authentic structure. We shopped around and stopped for a while at the Cave Creek Coffee Company.
Day 2 we bit the bullet and headed out east of Phoenix to the Superstition Mountains. The roads to Flagstaff were closed due to the massive snow influx and our only choice that day was south, southeast, or southwest. We hiked the steep and rocky Siphon Draw Trail up and weathered two snow storms and wind gusts, came back down and went across and up, yet again weathering a third snowstorm and cold, cold wind. We gave a new name to layering clothing. We stopped at a ghost town for dinner and hot chocolate.
Day 3 we braved the roads - which were completely clear at this point - up to Sedona. The roads between Sedona and Flagstaff were still closed eliminating the much anticipated Oak Creek Canyon hiking. We took the Courthouse Loop around Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte for about 5 miles. The sky was clear but it was cold, cold on the north side. Two-thirds of the trail was red mud and the remaining third was frozen or snow-covered. After again freezing for the afternoon we drove up to the airport lookout for incredible panoramic views. We would have stayed there until sun down for some great photography but I was just too cold. We stopped off at the Javelina Cantina - a favorite of ours- and ate tilapia fajitas by the fire. New Year's was celebrated with chocolate cake, milk from Target, and many hopes for a promising 2011.
Happy New Year to all!! I must go vacuum to start the year off right!
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