Spring Break

Yes, I know that spring break was two months ago and I am just a bit behind in blogging, but ever since I took a long-term sub job teaching 9th graders English for 10 weeks, my life has not been my own!

Prior to loosing my life and freedom, Garth and I went backpacking with our friend, Terry, and his grandkids. Those of you who read my blog, if there are any, will recognize Terry and his grandkids. They are my regular hiking buddies.

We did a hike that I had been wanting to do for years and we were able to luck out and get some of the very limited permits into the Aravipa Wilderness Preserve.
The hike is up a stream that was unusually high this year because of all the rain and snow that we received. So the going was difficult, strenuous and slow. Garth was not happy when he realized that the whole 5 miles would be in the stream going against the current. He took off and left the rest of us behind.

When we did catch up to him, this is what we found! He looks happy doesn't he?

Here are Terry and the grandkids cleaning out their shoes and resting once we found our camping spot. Rocks and gravel were a constant presence in our shoes.

We found a great little camp spot, got set up and a fire going. By the time the sun went down at 7:00 we were all ready for bed. Nothing fills you up and makes you want to sleep more than dehydrated meals!

I love sleeping outdoors and I've never worried about critters until this hike. While we didn't see any wildlife, their footprints were everywhere and all night I was sure something was creeping around me.

The next morning, before heading back, we crossed the stream and hiked up a side canyon. We were rewarded for our effort and saw beautiful pools, waterfalls, rock cavities and formations that were amazing.

Here we are at the top of the first waterfall.

There were deep pools all over in these rock cavities. If it had been warmer and we'd had more time, they would have been great to swim in.

This was such an amazing little canyon and this was just one of the many off shots from Aravipa Canyon. You could spend weeks exploring them all. Terry's grandkids were great and I never heard a complaint from any of them. Carson was my little hiking buddy quite a bit of the time and he is a great kid.

The going back was much easier because we were going with the current, so it didn't take us near as long, but Garth said he was never going hiking again. Too bad, that makes me so sad because there are still so many places I want to go. I guess it will just be Terry and I and the grandkids.

My Birthday

So two days ago I reached the ripe old age of 50. I had been trying to wrap my head around it the last few months, so I didn't have a big melt down or anything like that. I can't believe that I'm a half a century old. That is OLD! Now if you are older than 50 you are probably disagreeing with me and if you are younger than 35 you are probably are looking at 50 the way I am.

In my head I just don't feel any older and although I color my grey hair (I've been doing that since I was 35) and I'm beginning to get wrinkles, I don't think I look that old yet - that too may just be in my head and be kind and don't burst my bubble.

I've just begun to wonder when I have to start acting older. For instance, when do I have to quit going off the jumps and the rails when I go snow skiing? Or when I do I quit repelling or water skiing or sledding? Or playing games like "will the subway door open where I'm standing" with my kids or other kids? Or jumping over the posts that we happen to be walking by? When do I have to quit scaling the rock to have a good lookout spot to see what is up the canyon just a little further?

The only thing I would like to quit doing is dying my hair, but I would definitely look old then.

So what constitutes old? And is there a time when we have to start acting our age?

Currently I'm teaching 9th graders - 14 and 15 year-olds - yikes I hear you say. I'm wanting them to act their ages or at least sit in their seats and stop bugging the person next to them. So if I expect them to act their age, am I supposed to act my age? And exactly what does that entail?

A couple of weeks ago Garth and I went backpacking (future blog post coming) with our friend Terry and four of his grandkids. Terry will be turning 70 this week and he is my inspiration. He carried a 50 pound pack along with his lucky horseshoe and is counting down the years until I can go skydiving with him (Garth won't let me go as long as we have children at home). He is curious, active, fun and annoying, but that is an endearing quality.

So last Friday, when I had the day off of school and I had lots of friends and family, call, email or post a comment on my facebook page wishing me a happy birthday, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I don't think I'm going to be old just yet.

When will I learn?

So this week I will have my birthday and officially turn OLD. You would think that someone 50 years old wouldn't have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again. Yet I am still having to learn the lesson of proper sunscreen application.

When I grew up my parents had a boat and all summer long I was having to relearn the importance of putting sunscreen on shoulders, thighs, feet and ears. I knew the places that the sunscreen needed to go, I just didn't always get it there.

Then I had children and I learned the lesson over and over again, that sunscreen was the most important thing to do and it shouldn't be done on the fly. Also, it needed to be reapplied throughout the day and to be rubbed ALL over several times to make sure every inch was covered.

I learned that you don't just slap some sunscreen on your hand and then try to put it on your own back - you will end up with a white hand print and a burned back.

I learned that spray sunscreen still needs to be rubbed in - I had little white dots all over my body.

So when I took Preston skiing over spring break and we had a beautiful sunny, clear day - I knew that it was really important to use sunscreen. (I have been burned really bad from skiing - I also know that you never ask the lift operator how he got so tan and then use his suntan oil when spring skiing.)

We were late getting to Snowbowl and anxious to get on the slopes. I hastily put on some sunscreen and thought I had done a good job. But at the end of the day when we returned to the car, I noticed that my chin was burned - oops, forgot my chin. I also noticed that I hadn't quite gotten the sunscreen clear over to my ears - oops, line down my cheek. And I didn't get my neck down to the top of my turtleneck - oops, line around the middle of my neck.

I looked like some freak with white lines and splotches all over my face. Oh well, after all it was only my FACE! (At least it didn't have blisters like the time I used the lift operator's suntan oil). You really would think I would have learned the sunscreen lesson by now,but I was only 49 when all this happened and maybe once I turn 50 I will be smarter.

Another Ohio Trip

The end of February I had to make a trip to Ohio to see this sweet little face.

Amelia had been wanting her grandma to come visit so I had to oblige her.

While I was there, Lonica and Scott showed me a great time. We took Amelia on her first tubing expedition and she had a great time.

I've been tubing just a few times, but it has been years and I had a great time, too.

Here is our little Ohio family.



Then we went to the R-pac (sp) or recreation center at Ohio State and took Amelia swimming.
She thought that was great too.
And so did I.
I got to go with her to music class and we both thought that was great, too.

And one day we went shopping which was great and she got this great hat.

She also worked on eating table food some of which she didn't think was great at all. Luckily, Lonica and Scott are wonderful cooks and everything I ate was great.

While I was there Amelia started to roll from her back to her stomach and she was almost sitting up. I thought that was really great that she would do those things while her grandma was there.

All in all, my five days in Ohio were GREAT!

Geronimo's Cave

On President's Day, I got together with two of my hiking friends (Cindy and Terry who didn't know each other) and two of Terry's granddaughters (Camille and Bunzer, Terry's nickname for her) and we headed out to the Peralta trail head for a hike to Geronimo's cave. When you hike with Terry we always have to have a pre hike photo, so here it is. You've got to love those lovely blue knee braces I've got around my ankles!
We have had so much rain this year that the desert was so green. Okay, I know that if you live anywhere but Arizona you are going to say that looks dead and brown, but to a true desert dweller with a discerning eye - this is green and we are going to have wonderful wild flowers this year.

Instead of going on the heavily used Peralta trail we turned right and followed a trail that most of the time wasn't a trail and we had to look for cairns to follow. In this photo you can see the 'cave' - the dark spot just below the rim and at the top of the yellow rock. We had to scale yellow rock which was anything but easy.

Terry had done all the research for this hike and was hoping to find Geronimo's bathtub. He was so pleased when he did, that he had to sit in it for a picture.

Here is Terry in the cave which was bigger than it looks in this picture. Most of the cave is behind me and several people could have slept in it if they wanted to endure a night on solid uneven rock. We were all pretty sure that Geronimo never actually was in this 'cave' but the name was intriguing and part of the draw to the hike.

Once at the cave, we had to find a way to the very tip top of the ridge, and here I am on the top. while Camille is making her way up as well.

On the way back down we took one last shot of the cave and where we had been. Can you believe that beautiful blue sky? No photo shopping done here. It had been a beautiful day all the way around - beautiful scenery, beautiful weather and beautiful friends to share it all with.

How do we spend our time?

Last week as our family was watching the Olympics, Raquel asked me why we didn't go to Salt Lake when the Olympics were there.

I remember at the time of the Salt Lake Olympics my mother calling me multiple times inviting us to come. She told me how exciting it was just to walk around downtown and how beautiful the city looked. We had a free place to stay (at my mom's) and even some free food (my mom's a great cook and I'm sure she would have fed us at least a couple of meals), yet we didn't go.

I tried to remember what my excuses had been and why we hadn't taken the time to spend a few days in Salt Lake at a time that would have been forever etched in my family's memories. It really was a once in a life time opportunity and we let it pass us by.

It started me thinking of all the "things" that take up our time, consume our thoughts, waste our energy and overwhelm us. And yet the very next week we can't even remember what they were. How many other opportunities are we letting slip away because of all the "things" we have going on?

I would like to think that I'm a little smarter and wiser now, but I'm afraid that I still let all those "things" consume me. But if the Olympics were held in Salt Lake again, Mom, I would be staying at your house.

The perfect plan

Last Monday, Preston and I decided we needed a break from school and decided to take advantage of all the snow Arizona has received. We headed up to St. Johns Monday night, spent the night with Garth's parents and then headed up to Sunrise Tuesday morning.

I don't think I have ever seen as much snow as they had and we were psyched for a great day of skiing and snowboarding. The plan we had was perfect - go up in the middle of the week, avoid all the crowds on the weekend and have great snow, roads and weather before the next storm came through on Wednesday. I was a little worried when we got to the slopes and the temperature was only 11 degrees, but our Arizona sun never lets you down, and it kept us warm all day.
As you can see by all of the snow and the bright blue sky, our plan was perfect and the mountain and snow were absolutely breath taking. The added bonus was the buy one, get one half price on the lift tickets on Tuesdays! Perfect plan!

You can see by the few tracks and lack of people on the slopes that we avoided the crowds. The best laugh of the day was when we were going down the snow park for the first time. I went first and I went off the side of a jump rather than going straight off it. Preston followed me and was headed straight down the jump and at the last minute went off the side like I did. He fell in such an awkward, funny way that everyone on the slope watching started to laugh. There was group of snowboards off to the side and they told him that was the funniest thing they had seen all day. We all had a good laugh including Preston.

To add to our perfect day, we had Indian tacos made with real Indian fried bread for lunch and since they had all their lodges open we didn't have to wait in one line the whole day - not for the chair lift, bathrooms, or food. What could be better?

Our only problem came on our way home. I completely forgot to fill up with gas when we left Show Low - not such a good plan. As we watched the digital gas display count down our miles until empty, Preston informed several times that he was not going to push the car when we ran out of gas. We drove almost 50 miles from the time the display said we had no gas, so we really coasted our way into Globe on fumes. Luckily running out of gas didn't ruin our perfect day in the snow, it just gave us something to concentrate on for an hour or so.