Happy birthday Timm

It was too chilly to do much today but I sure do love spending time with this man...and his dog.  

Happy Birthday Timm!

Thank You For Serving

 

Words do not express our appreciation enough for all the sacrifices each and every soldier (past and present) have made to all Americans. 

Thank you!!!

Enjoy your special holiday!



Marysvale

We took the Labor Day weekend off from the BBQ thing and decided to go camping instead.  Marysvale and the Paiute Trail was our destination and it's a great choice.  The weather has been wonderful, we've had some rain, clouds and sunny weather.  It's been nice and cool, especially at night.  Lizzie and Charlies RV Park wasn't as full as I expected, I'm just glad we were able to get a spot (and in the old area with grass as well). 

We've covered quite a bit of ground over the last few days.  Friday, we set up camp and took the truck over the mountain to Beaver.  What a beautiful drive it was, with a steady rain at the higher altitudes.  We picked up cheese curd and enjoyed some ice cream at the Cache Valley Cheese Factory, got my wood order from the lumber yard (Lynn rocks by the way) and enjoyed dinner at Maria's in the Beaver Canyon Campground.  Our adventure took us over I-70 for the return trip to Marysvale. 
Saturday, we headed west and explored the old Silver King Mine area, down to Kimberly, and back over to Deer Creek Canyon. 

That is one beautiful ride for sure.  I even got a short video of it.  Cassy got to play in the water, hunt for squirrels and chase a deer on her 40 mile trip.  She stayed back at camp for the afternoon ride while we took the trail up to Boullion Canyon.  Timm got to play in the water there.  We even saw a few deer. 

Sunday, we headed out to the east side of the Pauite in the Monroe Mountains.  Lunch was lake side at Manning Reservoir. It was good to see that it wasn't lacking for water.  Cassy sure enjoyed that part, she got to go swimming and fetch sticks...not to mention roll around in the grass. 

Some of the leaves are already starting to change...a few more weeks and it will be stunning.

It was a great weekend that I look forward to with anticipation to go again.  We can't wait.

Cassy's birthday

Cassy is 6 years old today!  It's hard to believe she's been with us that long. 

Our little girl loves to get outdoors and explore, ride the ATVs, camp, travel, and more. 

She is our perfect companion.

We love her to pieces.

As we gather with family and friends, let us not forget the reason for this day and those that gave all so that we may have so much.

Snowy weekend in Kanab

In January, I purchased a hotel night in Kanab, Utah on Living Social.com.  We've been so busy, we just made the deadline on the offer.  It's been warm in recent weeks, but not this one.  We left Vegas in the rain, hit snow just outside of Hurricane and had it snowed most of the day.

A pit stop in Fredonia, AZ was in order to pick up an axle for Scott from a guy.  Cassy enjoyed rolling in the snow and trying to chase down a cat in a huge pine tree while Timm and the guy loaded up the axle in the truck.

We stayed in a cute, cozy, retro room with super comfy beds and fluffy down comforters at the Quail Park Lodge.  They have bicycles for guest use...we didn't use them because of the snow and rain. But next time I'll surely give them a spin.  Just a note if you stay there...parking is tight. 

A nice thing...they are pet friendly!  Cassy loved the beds too.

  

We wondered out and explored on Saturday a bit over to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary...  

Coral Pink Sand Dunes was gorgeous!

Cassy ran around on the dunes a bit.

We took a few photos in the snow

Sunday we took the tour at Best Friends.  Our tour guide was a gal I worked with at the country recreation dept about 30 years ago.  She retired and moved up there about 6 years ago.  Small world. 

Timm really enjoyed the kitty section.

Sunday the snow was only in the upper areas and ecerything was gorgeous!  We had a late breakfast at Mt. Carmel Junction then headed to homeward via Zion NP.

 Apparently, eveyone else had the same idea and went to Zion on Sunday...it was really crowded.  We explored around the Grafton ghost town area.

 

After that, we enjoyed a late lunch overlooking Sand Hollow Reservoir before making our way home.  It was a great weekend, I look forward to the next getaway.

A quick getaway

We're heading up to Kanab, Utah for a quick getaway naext weekend.  It was a Living Social deal I couldn't resist.  Got one for Scott and Christy for their anniversary as well.  They already went and had a great time.  I'm looking forward to ours.

Adventure in Hope, AZ

It's been several years since we've headed south into Hope, AZ for some great ATV riding with friends.  With new tires on the quads, adventure was calling our name.  One of our great friends, Dennis and his wife Sally now snowbird there after spending a week there with us about 4 years ago.  Charlie and Jeannie were the first reason we went, and Hope, AZ has never dissapointed since.  This year, Alan and Liz came with us for a 4 day adventure riding and exploring the hills and valleys around Ramblin' Roads RV Park. 

 

On our first day we ventured over to King Tut Mine...and you know I had to go in and check it out.  There is a small cemetary on the way there. 

Dennis has a new dog, her name is Lucy.  She LOVES to ride his quad and she lets everyone know it by barking and yipping like crazy.

Cassy also went out with us on Friday.  I thought she was a unique dog because she rode quads, but down there she is just another ordinary dog since almost all of them go riding.  As a proud parent, I'd like to report she road 48 miles through some rough spots and did an awesome job.  I gotta tell you though, she was whooped when we got back.  It's been a long time since she, and us as well, have been on our quads and put some decent miles on them. 

We headed up to a high point after lunch...and what a view!  Dennis figured we climbed about 1200 feet, and around here that's pretty dang high.

 

A person could see a hundred miles it seemed.  Which trail was next?

Saturday's ride took us out to petroglyph rock where we ran into a LARGE group of riders.  The Salome ATV club was hosting a group from Phoenix.  There had to be 45-50 ATVs and sidexsides with about 75 riders.  I climbed up on the rock and couldn't get all of them in the picture. 

From there we headed over to Jailhouse Rock.  Sadly, kids have been out there and have been marking it up with graffiti. We headed over and down Tank Pass (it's fun and full of large rocks to go over).  We stopped for lunch in a shady spot in the wash then headed to a 'river house'.  Miners from years ago carved out the bank added a wall with windows and a door.  I'm sure it was much cooler than most anyplace else around.  It was up and over Cottonwood Pass and back towards home base for another great dinner with friends. 

We really want to thank Dennis and Charlie for showing around their winter home again.  We had a blast and looking forward to going back already.  Timm really enjoys the time spent exploring with Dennis.  People don't come anybetter.  Thanks again.

New tires

They're here!!!!  New ATV tires from Rocky Mtn ATV arrived yesterday at noon.  This week they will be on our quads so we can get out and have some new adventures!

A Few Days in Sierra Vista, part one

For the last couple of years my husband's office has closed shop between Christmas and New Year's.  This year we made the most of it by adding a few extra days to a trip my husband had to make to Sierra Vista, AZ for some work.  Cassy and I tagged along and made a vacation out of it.  Let me tell you...it's a long drive from Las Vegas, about 9 hours.  After what seemed like forever, we finally made it, checked into the hotel, then went out to explore. 

We headed for the hills, wandered up a couple of roads and found our way into Coronado National Forest...not what I was expecting so far south.  It was a pleasant surprise...until we came across this sign...yep, we are just a few miles from the Mexican border.  P.S...we saw the Border Patrol heading in as we were heading out by the way.  We did finally make it up to this waterfall...so cool...freezing cold.  Some locals said they had never seen it frozen before.  Just beautiful!

Our first full day we ventured over to Tombstone..."the town to tough to die".  It's really not very big so it was easy to walk all over the place.  Timm, Cassy and I wandered all over and enjoyed a relaxing day.  We took the trolley car tour, it was helpful in learning much of the history and occurances in the area.  We tried to watch the gun show but Cassy didn't like the noise at all. 

Timm and Cassy in front of the Courthouse.  It was one of the tallest buildings between the east and west coasts at the time. 

I loved all the old buildings.  It is however, a typical tourist trap with gift and jewelry shops in every building.  We still had a good time though.  I love old western history.  Millions of dollars worth of ore including silver and gold were taken from the mines here.  They even mined mangenize which was vital to the US efforts in the World Wars, we were told about 40% was supplied from Tombstone.