Trail Blazing

Friday, January 23, 2015

Friday was the start to another exciting 3 day weekend! I am afraid I've already grown attached to these and it will be too painful to go back to anything else. At least we know that we're enjoying every day as much as we can. :)

For today's adventure, we planned for a hiking trip that would be around 7 miles. The original destination was Elephant Head in the Santa Rita Mountains, but that isn't what it ended up being! We drove South on I-19, past Green Valley and the exit for Madera Canyon, and instead took a road around Amado, first driving along a paved road, then turning off onto a rough, rocky road. 

Curtis knew that the road would be gravel, but wasn't expecting it to be so poorly maintained. He was also going off of a trail map, so all the dirt roads were hard to follow. We took a wrong turn, and the truck overheated. We were not ready to deal with more car issues in the middle of nowhere, so we decided to park in the closest and easiest spot, hike the extra 1.8 miles to the trailhead, and not worry about making it all the way up Elephant Head. We decided to take it easy and simply enjoy everything about the hike.

After stopping in the parking lot. Elephant Head is the bald, tan peak on the far left.

These 5 small peaks peeking out remind me of waves in an ocean, or something like that

Following the Gravel Road

For the first 1.8 miles, we followed the gravel road, which turned out to be much easier to walk on than drive up! We saw some bikers and a few other hikers (all of them loved on Charlotte!) but when we reached our trailhead, we were the only ones there, and we loved it. The trail was well maintained with tall grass surrounding us, for the most part. There was a bit of an incline, but nothing strenuous, it was all so easy to enjoy.

As we were walking - Me in the lead, Charlotte in the middle, and Curtis bringing up the rear - Curtis heard something from off the trail and glanced over and saw something...white and grey. "Hey, there's a skunk!" he noted as he passed by. But then he noticed it walking toward the trail...then on the trail...following us. "Run!" He shouted. All of this happened in seconds. I was nervous from the moment I heard there was a skunk. I took off running, and Charlotte ran after me, naturally. She didn't see or smell the skunk, she just ran because I was. Such a good dog! The 3 of us ran for a bit on the trail, until Curtis said we were fine. We returned to walking at a normal pace, checking behind us every now and again for the skunk, just in case. It was just so weird!

Elephant Head!

We continued on the trail for about 2 miles past where we were chased by the skunk. The trail slowly inclined until it reached a ridge, followed that for a while before quickly declining and meeting up with a mountain bike trail. From there, it followed a ridge, slowly inclining again, weaving through a valley, with several high peaks above us. We finally reached the spur "trail" that led to Elephant Head peak (above picture). We were disappointed to realize that this trail didn't continue following the ridge, but instead cut across the valley - going downhill, losing 500 feet of elevation in a quarter mile, only to gain all that plus more walking up the other side, where there was no official trail. The peak looked so interesting, and I wanted to be there so bad, but it really didn't seem possible with a small dog. It was also already 2:30, (we had a late start, plus the long drive and wrong turns didn't help!) so we decided that we wouldn't attempt it. From where we were, we could either continue on the trail to a mining site or head back. 

I desperately wanted to reach a "peak" so that we could have some sort of destination, so we decided to trail blaze up the side of the mountain that we had been walking along for a while. This was new for us - to go where there was no trail! It was steep, prickly, and very tiring, but I felt so free and adventurous. The peak turned out to be further than I thought, (mountains are so deceiving like that!) but we didn't give up, and all 3 of us made it to the top, after taking our own routes around the desert plants.

Elephant Head

The trail continued to a mining site, but we chose not to visit today.

Facing East, with Babaquivari being the prominent peak in the background!

Facing Elephant Head from our own secret peak. The Catalina Mountains are in the far back.

Chilling at the top!

Once at the top, we stopped for a snack and took time to enjoy it. Curtis checked for any caches around us, and found that this peak had no name. We decided to call it Mt. Charlander - "Charlander" was one of the nicknames that my siblings came up with for Charlotte. We thought it sounded right, in honor of our adorable 6 month old puppy's achievements. :)

Charlotte LOVES kissing daddy!

family :)

Facing East - Mt. Wrightson is back there somewhere

After this, we began our trek down. Trail blazing while walking downhill is so much more difficult than uphill, especially with how steep this was! Curtis carried Charlotte, and I took my time, planning out each move. Curtis and Charlotte made it down before I did, and Charlotte was very concerned for me. :) 

Once I made it, we began hiking back, in the same order as before - me, Charlotte, Curtis. However, not 20 steps in, I see something ahead of us, coming toward us..."SKUNK! IT FOLLOWED US!! RUN!!!" I screamed. I turned around and pushed past Curtis in a rush. He swooped up Charlotte and ran after me. "Go left!" He yelled, and we both took off running off trail, trail blazing again. We dashed through the desert plants on the downhill slope, making a huge loop before meeting back up with the trail. We couldn't see it any more, but we/I were/was terrified and weren't about to face it again. We continued walking at a quickened pace, and Charlotte rose to the occasion and followed our example. Again, she didn't even see what we were running from, she really just puts up with everything we do!

As we walked back, we could smell traces of the skunk every now and again. We were paranoid! I wasn't too concerned about being sprayed as I was about it hurting Charlotte, or maybe even being rabid. We couldn't believe the thing followed our scent for at least 1.5 miles! We're almost positive that it's the same one that followed us - it looked the same, walked the same, and was the only one we saw all day (thank God!). We were safe for the rest of the hike - saw no more wildlife, and left with a great new story to tell. :)

Goodbye skunk, until next time!

Before driving back home, we stopped to check out Whipple Observatory, and grabbed a nearby letterbox.

That huge mirror thing is some sort of telescope...we're intrigued!

Saying goodbye for now to the Santa Rita mountains

The Catalina mountains reflecting the beauty of the sunset

While driving home, we saw a beautiful sunset, and enjoyed delicious pork chops and strawberry crisps at home. Day 1 of this weekend's adventures complete! Altogether, we hiked 7.2 miles.

Trail blazing...it's much more enjoyable when you can take your time and plan each step. When you have to do it out of necessity because you're being chased, the adrenaline rush is real, but it will end up being much more painful in the end! I still have many scars on my shins, arms, and even stomach from running into shin daggers, ocotillos, and other prickly desert things!

Charlotte: 6 Months

Last week was our baby Charlotte's half birthday! Today, I just wanted to share some recent pictures and write down the things I want to remember about her at this age.

~She's around 25 lbs. I thought she'd be bigger by this age, but I did some research and learned that this isn't abnormal, she's probably going to be a smaller basset hound. I am totally fine with that - the little stinker is getting way too strong and heavy for me! 

~We've stopped using her collar and now use her harness all the time. She can be stubborn when we go for walks, which leads to us having to pull her around, so it helps to not be pulling her by her neck.

~The only words that will get an excited reaction out of her are "Outside," "Food," and "Breakfast." She will usually obey when we tell her to sit. 

~She responds much better to smells, like the smell of frying bacon. The only time when I will make her stay away from me is when I'm making food. She loves to be involved in every part of the food preparation process...from making it to eating it, then clearing off our plates!

~Whenever we come home from anywhere, or if Curtis takes her out for a walk, the first thing she'll do is run to me as fast as she can! I love that she loves seeing me the most. ;) When she gets to me, the two things she wants to do are jump up and kiss me, and roll over so I can rub her belly. She usually tries to do both at once - all while whining and wagging her tail at 25 mph. How could I not stop everything I'm doing to give her a belly rub and accept her sweet kisses?!

~I am so happy that I have a dog that loves being rubbed/massaged. She just lies there and lets me massage her all over, she'll even roll over and let me get her back too. Those are some of my favorites moments with my baby girl!

~Getting fixed didn't change her at all. She still has her spunk, curiosity, and noises that she makes all the time. We call her our little piggy sometimes because of all her grunts. She also snores like a maniac.

~Other names that I call her include but are not limited to: Charlie, Baby, Babygirl, Chuckles, Chuckie, Sweet Pea, Sugar, Sweetheart, Sweetie, Homegirl, Homedog, Pumpkin, Sillyhead, Monkey. Names that Curtis calls her: Kid. "Hey, Kid!"

Hey Charlie, say Cheese! 

CHEESE!

~She has a thing for pens and pencils. If we don't put them high up and out of reach, she will destroy them.

~Yesterday, while I was trying to get her to settle down, I found a Youtube video that is 2 hours of dogs barking. I played it to get her reaction. The result was her getting very nervous and cuddly. It was adorable...and no, we did not care to listen to all 2 hours!

~She sleeps with us every night, for at least part of the night. If she isn't taking over Curtis' pillow or snoring in my ear, she can be found on the floor laying on our pile of pillows, or maybe on the futon in the other room. Who cares, the point is that she sleeps like a (snoring) angel, and never demands us to wake up!

That's our Charlotte! Still working on training/housebreaking, as always, but for the most part she is a joy to have. She handles our exciting and eventful life with ease and is always ready for our next adventure!

First Hike of 2015 & Other Happenings!

We are back in Arizona, and it is as lovely as ever! Curtis had his first day of his LAST semester last Thursday. He basically has the best schedule ever for a senior in their last semester, with classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays! We are so excited about all the extra days for hiking!

That windblown look!

So excited, in fact, that Friday found us back on the trails and getting back in shape for everything we want to do this winter/spring. We started off this year with an easier hike that we had done before - Wasson, the highest peak in the Tucson Mountain Park and in the West side of Saguaro National Park. As you can see from the above picture, it was very windy! 

My handsome husband!

Curtis, putting his Christmas gift to use. Thanks to his fancy new eyeglass, he was able to see Kitt Peak and Mt. Lemmon Observatories, other peaks we'd hiked, and even specific buildings in Tucson, such as our mall. It was clear enough to even be able to see Miller Peak in the far distance!

Panorama of Tucson from Wasson Peak

My husband looks sooo awesome :)

We did it! Yay! Now to get out of the wind!

We completed the hike in 3 hours, counting the 30 minutes we spent at the top. So we ended up hiking 7 miles in 2.5 hours - last time we did this, it took 6 hours, so we cut our time in half! The switchbacks were still pretty tiring, so I feel justified in thinking that last time. :)

Sentenial Peak from the Santa Cruz River Walk

After we finished, we were able to grab a few new letterboxes in the area. We really enjoy it when letterbox planters place boxes on trails that haven't been used before!

View of downtown Tucson from the Santa Cruz River Walk

We have a growing appreciation for the multiple River Walks around the city. They make for great spots to walk/run/bike for exercise. Oh, and do not be deceived - "River walk" just means you're walking along a wash, where the water would be if we had any - it's dry for most of the year. ;)

Someone's in the Cone of Shame!

But while we were out having fun, Charlotte was getting fixed. :( We picked her up later that day. She was pretty dazed and drowsy, and ended up sleeping for the rest of the afternoon/evening. She did great through it all though, and was super sweet and cuddly. 

It took a while for her to regain her hunger, but now, 2 days later, she's totally back to her old self! The hardest part is trying to make her settle down and take it easy. 

Charlotte, loving all the extra attention and pampering that she's receiving.

On Saturday, I stayed home with her and let her sleep on me most of the day while Curtis was out helping a friend. When he walked in the door, she sprung to life and was thrilled to see him! We removed the Cone of Shame on account of good behavior, and she's left her healing wound alone. We're happy to see that this experience hasn't taken away her spunk!

Christmas 2014: An Eventful Drive Home

And just like that, the holidays were over and we were on our long journey home. I don't think goodbyes will ever get easier for me, and no matter where I live and make my home, I'll always be looking forward to the next time we go back to our hometown.

That morning, we saw our first and only snow while at home. A mere dusting, with the roads mostly cleared besides what was being blown on the quiet highways. But it was cold - with highs in the single digits. Looking at the weather forecast, it wasn't going to get any better up there...however, Arizona was experiencing record-breaking highs, and that made the trip just a tiny bit more bearable.

Charlotte resisted getting in the truck at first. She certainly wasn't ready to leave her new friends, and the snow which she had taken quite a liking to! But she settled right back in to her spot - right between Curtis and I, fast asleep.

For our trip back, we decided to take it easy and have some fun. Our first stop was to see some of the Bridges of Madison County. Curtis and Mitch are big fans of Clint Eastwood, not necessarily this particular movie, but we had wanted to see these for a while so we decided to see them as snow covered bridges. 

Oh, Curtis was constantly checking on the engine of his truck. While the alternator had fixed some issues, there were still others present, like strange sounds or smells would occasionally come up. When he closed the hood with only marginal pressure, the black windbreaker thing in front shattered, as you can see in the above picture! It felt like we were driving an old, beat-up car from a cartoon, where you start driving and as you go, pieces fall off until you're left with just a seat and the steering wheel.

However, we were still able to enjoy the beauty of these bridges, and Charlotte was most grateful for a chance to run around in the snow!

Driving through Winterset, IA

Loved this courthouse building!

Holliwell Bridge - the one where the movie was filmed.

Curtis took these pictures and found letterboxes while I tried to keep warm in the truck.

After seeing the bridges, it was around 2 in the afternoon. We were behind schedule, but had nothing left to see, so we planned to head right to Fort Smith, AR. We made it through Kansas City and were 30 miles North of Joplin when all of a sudden....the truck stopped working. We had heard some noises throughout the day, but right before it stopped, Curtis thought that he should pull over at the next exit. As it turns out, the truck just couldn't make it that last mile. We were panicked, yet remained surprisingly calm as Curtis turned on his hazards and pulled to the side of the road. He got out and looked at the engine, tried a few things, until we finally decided to call a tow truck. It wasn't expected to arrive for an hour and a half, and so we bundled up with the blankets and pillows in our truck and said a prayer of thanks that we were safe. We knew that the tow would take us to the next town - Lamar, MO - so I found a Super 8 on my phone and made a reservation.

Through it all, God was with us, and looked out for us the whole way. Only 45 minutes later, (half the time that we expected!) the truck showed up and the driver quickly got us (including Charlotte!) into his warm truck while he got ours on the back. He told us that when he heard we were out here, he rushed to help because he knew how cold it was. (Even though we were coming from Iowa, where it was 20 degrees colder during the day than it was here at night!) He also gladly dropped off Charlotte and I at the hotel, and even grabbed a cart and unloaded the luggage we'd need for us. I checked us in while Curtis went with the tow to the mechanic.

Now if you're familiar with Lamar, Missouri, you know that it really isn't that big of a town. The tow took our truck to the only mechanic in town, which Curtis described to be like a "Mom and Pop" garage - family owned and operated, with the garage attached to the house. The guy there wasn't like a professional and really had no obligation to help us, but he agreed to anyway. He even gave Curtis a ride back to the hotel. This was by no means an ideal situation, but God was with us for every moment. We settled in to the hotel and tried to de-stress.

The next morning, we knew we had until 12  in the room. We were anxious as we waited for news about our truck to arrive. At 11:30, we reluctantly decided to reserve the room for another night, because we hadn't heard anything and didn't think that the truck could be fixed in such a short amount of time. Curtis even started looking for used car sales around the area, and for rental cars in case we needed that. Nothing seemed to be convenient. We decided to try not to worry about it, and walked to a Sonic across the street.

At Sonic, Charlotte enjoys her "pup cup" of ice cream!

 However, once we ordered our lunch, the mechanic called Curtis with good news: it was just the fuel pump that was shot, so he could replace it and be ready in 2 hours! He had also called the hotel, and they said that if we could get our things out of the room quickly, that they wouldn't charge us for another night! Once we got our lunch, we hurried back to the hotel to pack up. They graciously allowed us to wait in their lobby for our car to be finished. It ended up being a bit longer than 2 hours, but we were very grateful once we had our truck back and were on the road again! That night, we were able to make it to Broken Bow, OK. We learned from that drive that Oklahoma is NOT flat - and we were disappointed to not get to see this drive in the daylight!

The next day, we started off by going to a nearby state park and finding our 8th Whispering Giant! 

This is Charlotte's 1st whispering giant...she didn't get all the hype. ;)

We went looking for the letterbox but were disappointed to not find it. While Curtis searched, I let Charlotte lead me through the woods. She loved it here! While the weather was continuing to get warmer the further South we got, all the radio stations were saying the same thing: "It's cold outside!" :)

Crossing the Red River into Texas

After our quick detour, we began a loooong drive through Texas. We love taking back roads just as much as we enjoy taking new roads, and so we literally did not take a single interstate all throughout this state. Thank God for highways with 75 mph speed limits! 

Above is what our entire drive looked like. At least 95% of it. Ahhh!

By sunset - we're still in Texas...

...And it still looks the same.

Except sometimes it's green.

I get this whole bed to myself!

We finally made it out of Texas and found a hotel in Artesia, NM for the night. (The whole town was booked for some reason...it was a Tuesday night?!) Oh, and there was snow there. We have come this far South only to run into snow. Great!

The next day, we set off on our final leg home. As we drove, we saw clouds in the far distance, and they came closer and closer...it was rather ominous driving into this. 

But as it turned out, the clouds were just fog - no snow yet, but there was snow predicted for later that day! We were thankful that we beat it, because we were going to drive through the Sacramento Mountains, which are East of Alamogordo, NM. 

We stopped for a letterbox in Cloudcroft, NM. Charlotte loved running around again!

Normally, Charlotte sleeps while we're driving, but somehow she just knew that the views on this road were too beautiful to miss!

Oh, and here in Southern New Mexico is where we saw the most snow from our entire trip. Given, it's high elevation, but still. That's pretty sad, and I don't even like snow that much! Thankfully the roads were clear and we were able to enjoy this lovely drive down the mountain.

Tunnel coming up! 

I love this picture of Charlotte. We're stopped at an overlook of the White Sands Valley.

See that layer of white in the distance? That's White Sands National Monument - Not snow!

Curtis is getting good use out of his Christmas present already!

I love this view of white sands, followed by more mountains!

Once in Alamogordo, we stopped for some letterboxes. It was in the 50's here and it felt amazing! 

Charlotte is happy to be back on the trails in the sunshine!

Facing the New Mexico Museum of Space History, with White Sands in the background.

Finally, for our last stop, we went to see White Sands National Monument. We've driven past it before, and finally decided to spend a little time here. It was SO fun! We drove through the driving loop and pulled over at a point where no one else was around. They are pet-friendly here which is wonderful, and Charlotte had a blast running around and kicking up the sand!

See Yeti down on the road?

This place is amazing. Dunes of white sand as far as you can see, with blue mountains and skies in the background. It really looks like snow, but feels MUCH better! ;)

Snow capped mountain in the distance!

Charlotte's racing toward me, with Curtis trying to keep up!

Put my camera on Auto-timer to take this!

Here's how my camera was positioned for the auto-timer picture :)

Selfie!

Panorama of this incredible place

Charlotte taking a break from all her running

Driving through the loop

This was such an enjoyable break from our driving, and definitely a high point before what was to come... After we left, we were driving to Las Cruces when we heard a new sound from the truck. It sounded like a recorder. It was a little concerning, but mostly funny. It was a recorder that only knew 2 notes. We were mostly confused by it, so we didn't stop until we reached a gas station. Curtis checked the engine, and decided it was probably the pulley which held the belt that connects the engine to everything else. (Air conditioning, alternator, power steering, water pump...) We took off on our final leg of the trip, ready to be home. The recorder sound was gone. We started talking about our next vehicle. When suddenly...

We were driving West on I-10, with 4 hours left on our journey, when we heard something that sounded like something unscrewing, and then ping! It fell off. We exchanged a nervous glance, waiting to see what would happen, and then it all happened at once. No power steering. Some liquid came spilling out over the windshield - like windshield wiper fluid, but not. The engine overheated. Curtis turned on his hazards, pulled over, and got out to look at the engine. It was immediately obvious what had happened - the pulley and the belt were gone. Curtis walked back along the interstate looking for it, but it wasn't anywhere to be found. Even if we could find it, there would have been no way to get it safely attached for the rest of the drive. We really had no choice again but to call for another tow truck.

Yeti gets a lift for the last leg of the journey.

2 hours later, our truck finally arrived. It took longer this time, but at least it wasn't 20 degrees outside! We thought about our options, like where to get towed, and decided that all we really wanted was to be home. We didn't want to go to another mechanic or spend another night in a hotel when we were so close to home. Curtis knew exactly how to fix the truck, it was just a matter of being in the wrong place and not having the tools to do it. And so, we decided to just get towed back to our home. 

We really had a great time chatting with the tow truck driver. He was from El Paso and owns the towing company. We were also very thankful that he allowed Charlotte to be in the truck with us, and she was the perfect sleeping puppy the whole way home. Home...at last. No more driving, no more stressing about this trip, we were done. 

And one last HUGE thank you to our friend Mitch, who came over and brought us dinner that night at 9 when we finally made it back! We're so blessed with such a good friend!

Overall, I look back on this entire trip and see God's faithfulness and hand of protection the whole way through. He placed just the right people in the right places to be there to help us. Our problems over this trip are so small in the big scheme of things, yet He was there, watching out for us every step of the way. I'm walking away from this big adventure with more faith and trust than before.

Oh and by the way, Curtis was able to fix the truck and it is up and running again! :)