We got up kind of early Thursday morning. I was scheduled to catch the airport shuttle to Phoenix later that morning, but Tara and I figured if we got up early enough, we could squeeze in one last hike.
Ooo...
Tara wanted to show me that there actually is water in Arizona. Simba wasn't a big fan; turns out he reeeally doesn't like water.
The scenery was awesome, but the lighting, not so much. None of my pictures were turning out the way I wanted, but then I realized that the light was making Simba look really neat. I switched to taking pictures of him instead; he alternated between looking very majestic and very silly.
We stayed by the river for a little while, then eventually made our way back to the car so we could get cleaned up and still have time for breakfast before I had to catch the shuttle. Simba kept sneaking off to the side in hopes of finding tasty horse poo to eat. Mmm, horse poo...
Even the view from the parking lot was nice!
I had checked my email and my flight information before we left for the hike just to make sure my flights would still be on time, given the awful luck I'd had a few days ago trying to get out to Arizona. Everything was showing on time, so I figured I'd be good to go. All of my bags were packed, I had already checked in and printed my boarding passes, and I had a spot reserved on the airport shuttle. So imagine how happy I was when I checked my email when we got back from our hike and saw the heading "Southwest Airlines Flight Status Change...". They canceled both my flights AGAIN!!
We had spent the past couple days joking around about how that might happen, so it was pretty funny when I walked back out to the living room and said, "So, you know how we've been joking around about my flight getting canceled and me having to stay longer...?". After laughing at my terrible luck, I went to their website, thinking maybe I could find a different flight for that afternoon, or something for early the next morning, since I was supposed to be at work the next afternoon. Nope. The best I could do was a flight leaving the same time the next day that connected through Denver instead of Midway. So much for being back at work the next day!
I rescheduled my flights, we went out to breakfast, then Tara left to go play a round in a golf tournament. Timmy and I headed back to the house; he did some work, I studied a bit for my instrument instructor exam. After a while, Timmy asked me if I wanted to go for a ride to drop something off at his friend's house. Sure, I said. He tossed me the keys to their shiny little Mercedes convertible and told me I was driving. I figured we'd just ride over there and come back, but instead he had me take the scenic route. We spent about an hour driving around all sorts of scenic roads with the top down. It was great!
By the time we got back to the house Tara was back from golf, so Timmy went back to work while Tara and I grabbed the dogs and went out for another hike.
We made our way back out to Turkey Creek, where Timmy and I walked the dogs a couple days earlier, but Tara had a different trail in mind. It snaked back around through the field and up a slope until you wound up near the top of a hill.
I really liked the texture of that bit of red rock.
We passed a medicine wheel along the way. The dogs had fun running around it.
The further we went, the better the views were.
Kunda and Simba like to stand on any ledge they can. They would run ahead and go out onto the ledges as we went along.
The dogs, of course, didn't mind one bit that I kept stopping. More ledges to climb on!
We eventually made our way back down to the car. We passed a few people on horses and a couple guys on mountain bikes, but for the most part we had the trail to ourselves. It was pretty nice.
Since we had a little extra time, Tara wanted to show me the big sinkhole nearby. This one puts the one Timmy showed me to shame!
That is a full-size tree in the bottom. I couldn't even fit it all in the picture.
Tara pointed out the 'Loose Rocks' sign. It doesn't mention anything about the huuuuuge hole in the ground, just loose rocks.
Tara and I got back to their house as Timmy was getting everything ready for the next day. He's pretty serious about cycling and had a race the next morning in Phoenix, so I was going to ride down with them and get to see the time trials before they dropped me off at the airport. We grabbed dinner, hung out for a little while, then all headed to bed pretty early. Off to Phoenix in the morning!
I had checked my email and my flight information before we left for the hike just to make sure my flights would still be on time, given the awful luck I'd had a few days ago trying to get out to Arizona. Everything was showing on time, so I figured I'd be good to go. All of my bags were packed, I had already checked in and printed my boarding passes, and I had a spot reserved on the airport shuttle. So imagine how happy I was when I checked my email when we got back from our hike and saw the heading "Southwest Airlines Flight Status Change...". They canceled both my flights AGAIN!!
We had spent the past couple days joking around about how that might happen, so it was pretty funny when I walked back out to the living room and said, "So, you know how we've been joking around about my flight getting canceled and me having to stay longer...?". After laughing at my terrible luck, I went to their website, thinking maybe I could find a different flight for that afternoon, or something for early the next morning, since I was supposed to be at work the next afternoon. Nope. The best I could do was a flight leaving the same time the next day that connected through Denver instead of Midway. So much for being back at work the next day!
I rescheduled my flights, we went out to breakfast, then Tara left to go play a round in a golf tournament. Timmy and I headed back to the house; he did some work, I studied a bit for my instrument instructor exam. After a while, Timmy asked me if I wanted to go for a ride to drop something off at his friend's house. Sure, I said. He tossed me the keys to their shiny little Mercedes convertible and told me I was driving. I figured we'd just ride over there and come back, but instead he had me take the scenic route. We spent about an hour driving around all sorts of scenic roads with the top down. It was great!
By the time we got back to the house Tara was back from golf, so Timmy went back to work while Tara and I grabbed the dogs and went out for another hike.
I must have stopped every five feet to take another picture. The scenery out here is absolutely gorgeous.
Since we had a little extra time, Tara wanted to show me the big sinkhole nearby. This one puts the one Timmy showed me to shame!
Tara and I got back to their house as Timmy was getting everything ready for the next day. He's pretty serious about cycling and had a race the next morning in Phoenix, so I was going to ride down with them and get to see the time trials before they dropped me off at the airport. We grabbed dinner, hung out for a little while, then all headed to bed pretty early. Off to Phoenix in the morning!
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