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.

Day 1&2 Our Arrival to Painted Desert

We are at the end of our first full day in the Painted Desert. We left home on Saturday morning and wanted to spend the night in Needles, a very 'exciting' lil town in the middle of nowhere, but instead we decided to push through and make it all the way to Flagstaff. After twelve hour drive we arrived at our destination and spent the night in a five star Motel 6 :o). It is safe to say that Zoe is not a fan of tall buildings and open stairwells. We had to (Chris had to) carry her both up and down to our room - it was a very traumatic experience for the lil puppy.

We had our breakfast in Flagstaff and after that we headed towards Sedona. On the way down we stopped for a 4 hour hike in West Fork of Oak Creek State Park. It was a picturesque hike with multiple acrobatic river crossings. Eventually Chris just gave up and walked right through it.

In the afternoon we drove through Sedona (wow I had no idea how beautiful it is around here) and checked in our cute lil resort right by Bell Rock. We are lil tired but I can't wait for tomorrow to see more of this beautiful place. Here are some pics we took right behind our hotel.

Easter Weekend

What did we not manage to do? Our long weekend started on Thursday by having our friends over for dinner. It has been a while since we had everyone over so it was nice to see all and catch up. We also placed bet on when Heather would fall asleep... and hey... I won... I put 10 but 9:58 marked the spot.

We wanted to go wine tasting on Friday but instead we spent the morning searching for Chris' wallet that end up showing up in Erinn's car, she thought it was Rob' and took it with her when they left our house on Thursday. Once that was all sorted out we headed up to Petaluma for a bike ride. It was absolutely stunning. There were no cars and the views were spectacular (thank you Tom for recommending this one). I also realized that 26 miles is for now my limit. We have to work on that if I want to do the ride in May (40 or 60? not sure yet).

We got home, took the dog out, worked on the yard, and drove down to Muir Beach to meet up with a group for full moon hike, picnic and bon fire on the beach thereafter. We had a great time! We started in Pelican Inn with a group of 25-30 and hiked for an hour under the moon light, set down on the top to enjoy our dinner and bottle of wine and hiked down to the beach where the bon fire was already waiting. We couldn't have wished for a better weather! I am sure we will do this hike again. I believe we got home after midnight.

Poor Chris had to go to work the following morning. I had the best intentions of going to kickboxing but that didn't happen and instead I met up with my friend Kamila for lunch. After that I attempted to get into Easter mood by coloring eggs with my sister and my niece an that was lot's of fun. And to finish the day off I played tennis with Erinn. I am still hurting from that one. :o)

We took it easy on Sunday cause we both needed it. Chris went for a run with Zoe and than we did lil work around the yard and got ready for his parents. They came in the afternoon and we had a wonderful lunch/dinner and enjoyed the afternoon together.

Uff... now I am back to work hoping for a lil rest :o)

Planning our Southwest Trip

We are starting to get ready for our lil road trip to SouthWest. I can't wait. We are going to leave on Saturday 3/29 heading for Bullhead City with a brief stop in Mojave Desert. The following day we drive over to Sedona where we will stay for the next three nights exploring the town and the area around it. Chris already picked some wonderful hikes for us to do. On the third day we want to venture to Flagstaff and see what that area has to offer. From there we drive to Kanab via Grand Canyon. As of now our last stop will be Death Valley. But I believe Chris has changed the itinirery a little bit since the last time we talked about it. I believe now we are going to incorporate some slot canyons and kayaking.... he is a great planner!!
Our next trip after this will be Alaska and after viewing Misa & Filip's blog from their trip up there... I just can't wait. But one trip at the time. :o)

Another Weekend in Tahoe

We just had yet another wonderful weekend. Chris has been working a lot so it was nice that we were able to steal away couple of days up in Tahoe. We needed it. Mitch and Julie invited us to stay with them in their cabin, we just had to find a dog-sitter. Luckily, Chris' parents just got back from their vacation and were able to take care of Zoe so we could head out. Seriously, I hope when we are his parents' age that we have as great of a life as they do. Just this year they already spent three weeks in Hawaii, got back for two weeks and left again for two weeks to go to Egypt. They sure know how to live!! One day....
Anyway ... Tahoe was great. We snow-shoed one day and played on a ramp that the boys built for Hannah (Ari's lil girl who was never allowed on it, cause it was too dangerous) yeah.. boys will be boys. Actually I think it was Mitch who shouldn't have been allowed on it cause he end up dislocating his shoulder... poor guy! Thank God we had a trained professional on staff. Go Chris! He had to step away from his post in the kitchen and put Mitch back together. Poor Mitch :o) What a great man I have!!!
Oh almost forgot... Julie and her siblings just remodeled their cabin in Tahoe and after seeing the living space/kitchen we know what we want in our own house. Now if we could only get the money together :o( Next year. My friend Kamila and her boss Dave (the structural engineer) are coming by on Monday to tell us what is and is not possible to do, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.