Camping with friends at Apache Lake

 Apache Lake, AZ

20 Oct, 2022

Camping with friends is the best

A fall trip to Apache Lake is becoming a tradition.  4 days of paddling, lazing about, and visiting with friends!  One year it was way too hot, sometimes the bugs are horrendous (this year was mostly just annoying), but it's always fun to hang out around a campfire with friends.  Last year I almost burned up my camp stove (leaky propane connection - no such issues this year.   

The road into the lake is not for the timid!  It is a very winding, single lane of very poorly maintained dirt running right along a cliff down to the river.  I dread it every year - but every year I see a few large motorhomes and trailers that manage the road - so I guess I'm just overly cautious.

Phoebe has decided she can trust other people's laps too.

Nothing like a real campfire!

Finally landscaping around the house!

 Vail, AZ

30 Sept, 2022

Finally chose plants and got them planted!

I had the old landscaping ripped out a couple of years ago - mostly river rock that I hate and a lot of native but dying yucca and prickly pear.  It took me a long time to visualize what I wanted to plant - while also being cautious not to plant too much at one time - I'll have to keep the new plants watered until they are fully established.  I'm loving seeing some new plants in the front yard, while realizing that I'll be long dead before they mature.  My gift to the future.

Golden Torch - imagining them a lot taller in the future, with more shrub like plants sround them.

I've grown these from single pads found in someone's trash pile - time to put them into the landscape!

3 Texas Ranger and 3 Emu Bushes planted along the side yard - very cute but currently tiny!

 

In the nursery this Ocotillo looked like a dead stick.  Again, very tiny - but I have visions of it soaring into the sky - someday.

A splurge - a 5' Saguaro which will someday be the centerpiece of the front yard.

Another splurge - a beautiful variegated agave.  Hopefully, protected against the javalina.

I've been replanting Agave Pups; I have a ton of them - probably another 4-6 will be moved next spring.

I love the sunsets in the Southwest!!

Best Friends at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, UT

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Kanab, UT 

24 Sept, 2022

Best Friends Visiting Kanab

Some friends from Portland were volunteering for a week at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, UT this summer - so, I drove up to visit with them and hang out in the evenings.  Phoebe and I enjoyed a good visit with friends that I see too little now that I live so far away.

The Sanctuary is home to many critters

Besides dogs, cats, bunnies, and birds, Best Friends cares for a wide variety of other animals.  They're all fun to visit.  I think my favorite was watching volunteers taking giant pigs for walks around the facility!!

I love the red rocks in the Southwest!

This is a great spot along 89a between Page and Kanab.

Camping along the way 

I like finding a cool spot up in the mountains to camp - this is public land North of Flagstaff, AZ.

Home Again!