Arizona Trip

We took a trip to Arizona in March this year. 

We got to Arizona on Friday, but Heidi had been sick the previous week.  After the plane flight she got much worse with a fever.  We tried the regular stuff on Saturday with no improvement so we went to urgent care Sunday.  After urgent care, Julie and I went to see the NASCAR race in phoenix.  It was cool to see.

NASCAR race in Phoenix

Playing in the Pond Mini Golfing

We spent the next few days trying to get well.  On Tuesday we headed up to Sedona, still sick but improving.   Sedona had cool rock like Canyonlands but, they went and but a town in the middle of it.   There were a ton of hikes to do.  The first day we did Ruby mountain.

Ruby Mountain

Heidi is a little explorer.  Purple boots and her hat.

After a little taste of Sedona on Tuesday, we headed to the Grand Canyon on Wednesday.  Julie and never been there.  They have moved the parking lots further from the canyon so we hit up the visitor center and movie before walking to the canyon.  After the movie we started down a path and Julie kept asking where we were going.  I kept telling her we were going to the Grand Canyon.  Then you finally get through the trees and there it is.  Its just huge.  

Grand Canyon

Heidi didn't get to run around at most of the viewpoints.  Just 3 rails keeping you off the edge.

Back in Sedona on Thursday, we had originally planned on just 2 nights in Sedona, but with the weather and our health improving we decieded to stay another day.  First activity of the day was a hike up Fay Canyon.  It was a cool hike with a scramble up to an arch.  It was fun to have the whole arch to ourselves and get to go underneath and all over the place. 

Under the Arch on Fay Canyon Trail

Heidi though a hole in the rocks.

At this point we'd been driving past the Pink Jeep Tours all day long and we decided to rent a jeep and try out the trails for ourselves.   We got an orange 4dr named Chacha.  First trail went down to an old homestead by a river.  Which we crossed. 

Chacha the 4 door Jeep

River crossing in a rental car.

Heidi playing in the mud at the edge.

We are getting ready to move into the old homestead.  Just stacked rocks left.

Next we went on Soldiers Pass.  It was pretty short but had some fun obstacles, the 7 pools, and a big sink hole.  Lots of nice red rock to drive on.

7 Pools

One of the Pools, Heidi needed rocks to throw.

Working our way down, Heidi has to do all the walking now.

Devil's Sinkhole.

After Soldier Pass we went over to the Devil's Arch hike.  This one we had to drive a few miles on a really rough road we didn't want to take Grandma's car down.  Devil's arch is big and you can go out on top of it.  It had a nice bouce to it. 

Devil's Arch, A long one, lots of broken up rock, stetchier than most we've seen.

On the Arch, nice sunset starting.

Cool lighting when we were there.

In the morning we hit up Broken Arrow.  It's one of the tougher trails in the area.  The pink jeeps have worn ruts in everything so it wasn't very challenging.   

A little crack in the rocks.

Heidi woke up at the turn around point.

This is on submarine rock.  The scenery in Sedona was amazing.

After a quick drive of Schnebly Hill road we returned the jeep and did Cathederal Rock.  This hike was more of a scramble, with lots of people turning back before the top.  Julie did a great job climbing up.   We didn't let Heidi out at the top because of the big drop offs and it was so windy she probably would've fallen over.

Near the top, thats the trail on the right.

There were a couple of narrow spots all the wind funneled through.

Julie was probably the only pregnant woman to attept the hike that day or maybe ever.

Friday we headed back to Sedona for a few days before our flight home on Sunday.  We took a drive out to the Superstition Mountains and listened to an audio tape.  It is an interesting area.  Something about the lost dutchman mine.  Heidi got to do more rock crawling in the dry river next to the town of Tortilla Flats.  We also tried the cactus ice cream.  That was it.  It was a fun trip and I'm sure we'll be back.

Tortilla Flats, this is where the show took place.

The dry river to crawl in.

This is her new favorite hobby.

Photos on the last day with Grandma

Here we are ready to go.

Heidi thought this was funny. 

 Thats it for now.  Possibly a movie to follow.  I've got a lot of clips that need to be edited down.

Road Trip to Moab and Colorado

We took a road trip down to Moab, UT and the San Juan Mountains in CO.   I had this big hitch basket to carry all our camping gear. Not much room in a 2 door with the backseat it. Needless to say we still did Elephant Hill and out Beef Basin with fairly minor scrapes on the basket.

There is a stone henge replica in Washington near the Dalles OR

Shishone Falls in Twin Falls, ID was cool. I think it lived up to being the Niagra of the West.

Bonneville Salt Flats needed more going on to justify the extra drive. Go for an event or something. We just pulled up, walked on the salt, felt it's pasty qualities, and left.

Elephant Hill

Devil's Kitchen Campsite

Silver Stairs (my brother spotting)

The Group at the Confluence, I'm the one with the saddle one the far left.

Everybody Squeezing in a Joint

Chesler Park Viewpoint

The Joint Trail really was amazing. Well worth an addition to any trip through canyonlands. Also we had no idea what amazing viewpoint in Chesler Park was waiting for us at the end of the trail.
Exiting through beef basin

Lined up in Ruin Park

Poughskipie Gulch Trail, The Wall was awesome. I made it up and winched up the unlocked TJ. This is further up the trail.

Some other pass in CO, they start to run together

Headed down into Telluride via Black Bear

Telluride from Black Bear

The film festival was going on in Telluride so crashing that was awesome. Bunch of dirty 4x4s pull through the little town as they are rolling out the red carpet. Has some amazing organic lemon basil ice cream from a street vendor. Fat Kid Ice Cream or something. 

Overhanging rock on Imogene

Getting ready for an evening swim in the great salt lake

Ever been blocked in by a Hot Air Balloon? They were taking off as we got back to the jeep.

This spray bottle was the only A/C in the jeep. When is was really back it was an every 5 minutes spritzing.

Trip B 3259.2 Miles

Who's that monkey?

Snow and Icicles!

We found huge icicles hanging from our garage after the last snow fall. Andy decided one of them would be a fun toy for Heidi. This was not condoned by me... although I did take these pictures.

Heidi's sword.

Don't take it away from me, Mommy!

Our backyard after the snow last week. Good thing we hadn't planted our garden yet! We did plant some onions and beets today, so we can't have any more snow now...

Hopefully our last snow of the season. It was fun though!

Andy's 25th birthday

Andy's 25th birthday was on Monday February 28th, but we celebrated with his family the day before, on Sunday. Here are some pictures from it. Enjoy!

Ready to open presents and cards with Heidi to help!

Connie made Andy a cake with a Jeep rock-crawling theme.

Our family :)

That's too many candles to blow out by himself. Heidi, you have to help Daddy!

Daddy got to feed Heidi some yummy apples on his birthday.

March 5th Off-Roading Trip: Elbe, WA

On Saturday we headed to Elbe at an early 7:30am to meet up with some Jeepers from JK forum and Washington Virtual Jeep Club (WAVJC). There was about 1-2 feet of snow on the trails, and nobody else had been on them, so they were actually a little hard to find. This is the first time we had to break the path, besides just playing in the snow. We, luckily, were not the first ones to have to set the path, as we usually are. A 4-door JK started out, but then he got stuck in a huge mud hole (pictures down below) and later got high-centered on a tree stump. Those darn tree stumps were so hard to see, especially in the snow! We had to literally "yank" him off the stump with toe straps. That was when he realized his winch wasn't working, so he called it a day. Then, another TJ set the path and we were at the back of the pack the rest of the time since we have a winch and CB radio.

We did have an adventure early on when one of the tires popped off the wheel and we had to reset it. After looking at it today, though, Andy noticed there is a stick wedged between the wheel and tire! Whoops!

We saw an eagle on our way. It is right above my head and a little to the left.

The line-up of Jeeps.

Huge mud pit. We ended up going through a different icy mud pit next to it.

The white TJ was too light to pull the 4-door out, so Lucas's XJ had to be the anchor.

Scenery of Elbe Hills, "Gotcha Trail"

Andy and Heidi playing in the snow during lunch.

Snow makes for a good use as a chair!

Heidi in her Jeep dress.

7:30pm and finally on our way home after Andy tried to figure out what was causing the "Death Wobble" in the Jeep. Heidi had just woken up from a nap.

What a day!