Meet the Newest Addition to the Murphy Family

I know it took me a long time to finally find a new car.... it has been what... two days since they told me that my car was no more... but that's just how I work. :)
Here is our new baby - Mazda 6s Wagon with V6. We both love it even if most people think we are crazy for having a mini van and a station wagon.. but we don't care. :o)

April 10th I said bye bye to my car

Thursday was a beautiful day and I just couldn't wait to get out off work, get home and enjoy the great outdoors with Chris & Zoe. But instead I had to deal with cops, tow trucks and messed up back. Needless to say it could have gone better. I just wish people would look both ways before pulling out of parking lots. Now we are awaiting the verdict from the insurance company whether my car is worth saving.

Here is what is left from my car :o(

Day 8 - Death Valley through Bishop back home

The last day of our mini vacation started early. We wanted to get in and out of Death Valley before it got into the forecasted 90 degrees. I am not sure what I expected of Death Valley... but I guess maybe lil bit more than there was. Hey... you know what... it is a Desert!! more of what we have seen on our trip over and over. The cool thing was that we got down to 0 elevation and passed several 7000s and one 8200 within a few hours of each other. The other amazing thing was that within two hours you went from desert to ton of snow. Pretty amazing! Zoe & I totally fell in love with Bishop area - we have to come back. We did a nice hike along a creek and Zoe got her fill of swim. We also stopped off by Mammoth, Mono Lake and the backside of Yosemite. Chris was right when he said the 395 was beautiful!!!

Day 7 - Bryce Canyon to Death Valley

I can't believe that our vacation is almost over :o( It went by so fast. I guess that's what happens when you are having fun!! We started the day early in Bryce National Park (btw it was 23F overnight..brr). We brought Zoe with us but unfortunately dogs were not allowed on any trails in the park so we took her anyway, at least on one of the hikes. I have heard a lot about Bryce and I have seen many pictures but the semi-snow covered hoodoos were breathtaking. There was still snow all over the trails so the combo of the snow/ice/clay mush made it all a very interesting hike. We hiked a couple of the beautiful almost empty trails around there and around two headed up to a very exciting town Beatty on the border of Death Valley National Park. It is amazing how many noman's towns one can encounter in these parts of the world. The drive was about 5-6 hours and we passed through three states on the way. We also got from almost 9000 feet in Bryce to Death Valley in that amount of time. Unbelievable.

Day 6 - Lake Powell & Grand Staircase Escalante

Before we even had a coffee we headed for Lake Powell. We did a lil hike to the Horseshoe Bend where we had a great overlook of that part of Colorado River. It was trippy when all you see is a desert and then out of nowhere... there is a raging river way down below. Zoe wouldn't get anywere close to the edge. After that we gave her a nice lil treat when we took her down to the lake for a nice swim. She had the best time ever chasing the waves and retreiving empty cans (no sticks around there) from the water.
We tried to get in to hike the Wave, this really picturesque slot canyon, but unfortunately we didn't make the list of the ten people they let in each day :o( Instead they recommended a different one the Buckskin Gultch. It was amazing!!! The only thing that was somewhat daunting was the constant threat of flash flood. I know it wasn't really all that realistic, but the clouds were collecting... and the three mile hike back through the riverbed was lil scary. Not to mention the wading through the clay water pools, so we turned around lil bit sooner than we intended, but it was still worth it.

After that we took a 40 mile ride on a dirt road up to Bryce. Oh did I mention there is snow outside our lodge... brr... from the desert to the snow in less than two hours.

Day 5 - Grand Canyon

Headed out of Sedona to Grand Canyon first thing in the morning. We got there three hours later. Chris down played as to what to expect when we get there so I didn't really have any high expectations. But once we got there.... it was great! It is not very interactive... but the hike around it was worth it. We hiked for a few hours and then had nice drinks and appetizers in the lodge and left in the afternoon for our next adventure, this time from a small town by Lake Powell - Page.

And as some of you know... our tradition unfortunately is... to get stopped by cops at least ones... and it so happened in the Arizona desert. Suprise surprise Chris was speeding... but common... is 11 miles over limit really speeding? He should have seen us earlier!! Luckily, not sure whether it was the fireman sticker on the van or our super cute border collie that the cop happen to have at home too... but we got away with warning. Uff... that's a first one.

Day 4 - Bell, Courthouse & Cathedral Rock

It seemed like today we never stopped... but it was good. We started with a morning 5 mile hike right from our hotel to Bell Rock, Courthouse and around both. The views from there ... wow. I can see what it is #1 hike in the area. We got back to our room 3 hours later and had a nice lunch downtown Sedona and supported local business by buying few silly lil things we didn't really need. We also checked out a few nice art galleries in the area.

Around 3 we thought we could do a short hike to the Cathedral Rock. Yeah, once again what started as a 2 mile hike ended 5 miles later. We tried to make it all the way to the top but unfortunately, Zoe's lil paws couldn't climb up the steep rock. It was more of a climb than a hike and she just couldn't do it, although she did try - poor thing. Instead, we did loop around the whole mountain and finish it off with a swim for Zoe in the creek.

One thing we did forget to bring with us for the hike was a bottle of wine. In order to correct the lil omission we went for yet another, this time really short hike up Bell Rock to watch the sunset... and we got really lucky... you be the judge of that.

Day 3 Dead Solider's Pass - aka 2 mile hike

Day 3 we started rather slow. We took our time in the morning and went into Sedona downtown for breakfast. We found a nice covered parking place where we were able to leave Zoe for a bit and explored the town. It is a super charming lil town with many stores/restaurants/cafes/galeries. It was nice just to walk around and explore what Sedona has to offer. We also stopped by the information and got some info about all the best hikes in the area. The lady was well informed and recommended whole slew of hikes to fill our days with.

We grabbed the map and headed for a short/easy hike through Dead Solider's Pass. What started as an easy 3 mile hike ended the 'Murphy Way'. Seven miles and four hours later we arrived back at our point of departure. Three miles wasn't really enough so we added on another path that intersected with ours and decided to make a loop out of it. The only problem was that we missed the turn of point so it added lil bit more extra miles. But it was well worth it, the views from up there were amazing, but Zoe and I are very happy that we came in April while it was still 'cool' cause cool it pretty darn hot according to my standards.

We spent the rest of the day in our cute hotel and watched 'Into the Wild'. Overall, not a bad day.