Merry Christmas 2012 from Catalina State Park

Our rig is tucked in at Catalina State Park outside of Tucson, Arizona for Christmas morning 2012.  We have travelled south for the holiday in search of warmer temps.

We have exercised our legs on the Sonoran desert trails both inside the park’s boundaries and at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, where we watched the Raptor Free Flight show.  Chris’ ear was grazed by the wing of a hawk as I ducked down to the ground.  Why no photos?  Well, to me it was quite frightening with birds of prey flying inches above our heads.  So instead here is a picture of a Mexican Grey Wolf…

As we continue on our winter journey, let me show you a glimpse of our trip to the Imperial Sand Dunes at Glamis a few weeks ago.

Cruzin’ the sand dunes…

launching …

hanging out with friends…

Glamis.

Fall Break- Usery Mountain Regional Park- Mesa, AZ

Fall break is a welcome respite from the busyness of back to school.  Caleb spent the first part of the week touring Lake Powell on a houseboat with his grandma, grandpa and their friends.  So when he returned and we were hooking up the trailer to head out, it appeared a cold front was moving in.  The beauty of where we live is that we decided to change our plans from going north to going south and we enjoyed several beautiful days at Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa.

After a few trips to Bass Pro, we were ready to enjoy the archery range!

There were few people in the park and the temperatures were just right for a trek through the desert in search of the elusive burlap wildlife.

Eventually, the trigger fingers were sore and we retreated to the comfort of our 5th wheel.

58 Days–4,995 Miles

While in Marysvale we were fortunate to meet some new friends to enjoy riding the trails and sharing tasty meals. 

The Paiute trail is one not to be missed, with miles and miles of beautiful scenery to explore.  This summer we rode about 650 miles in our RZR- and most of those miles were right from our campground in Marysvale, Utah!

We left on Friday morning for our final road trip back to our home in Cottonwood, Arizona.  Driving along Hwy 89 we passed through red rocks and over the Colorado river, skirting the edges of monsoon storms near Flagstaff before descending into the Verde Valley where our truck’s thermometer read 104 degrees!

We drove 4,995 miles on our truck this year, mostly towing our Heartland Road Warrior toyhauler loaded with our RZR and Caleb’s Honda 250EX quad.  We were fortunate to spend 57 nights and 58 days on the road exploring.  Diesel was about $3.70 per gallon and the price went down as the summer progressed. 

We are settled back into our home in time for the quickly approaching school year.  Our summer trip was unforgettable, full of joy and laughter.  We spent two weeks enjoying the lake up in Canada, fishing and kneeboarding, and three weeks riding the Paiute trails with our side by side and quad.  We bundled up  in the ponderosa pines of Grand Canyon National Park’s North Rim and were misted by the spray of geysers at Yellowstone National Park on father’s day.  We look forward to future journeys along the trail!

11,500 feet- The Highest Point on Paiute 01

Heading out of the Marysvale valley, we ascended the 02.
We were going to the Paiute 01, past the gate that was still closed on our last visit  due to snow.

We climbed through the pine and aspen to reach the highest point on the trail, between Mt.Belknap and Delano Peak.

We topped out at 11,500 feet!

The scenery was breathtaking, crossing avalanche chutes and climbing above the tree line.

The views of the valleys below and the mountain peaks are truly amazing.

Riding in the mountains rewards the senses with vast mountain views, clear crisp air, alpine flowers, deer grazing, and butterflies fluttering.

From the meandering Beaver Creek running on the valley floor to the pale purple alpine Columbine, the Tushar mountain range holds surprises around every corner.

As I was photographing the alpine flowers it appears that the Chris and Caleb were enjoying their break!

Lounging on the quad watching the puffy clouds float by, Caleb has been to some amazing places.

Following the creek back to the valley of Marysvale,

we were welcomed home to camp by this young colt.

Raspberries on the Deer Creek Trail

Back in beautiful Marysvale,  we headed out for the Deer Creek Trail.

Crossing over the Sevier River, we headed towards side trail #74.

Just beyond Hoover’s, the large rock cliffs came into sight.

And then our ride came to a halt!  Raspberries were spotted by the creek and anyone who knows Caleb knows he LOVES berries!

So we picked and he munched until a glance up at the sky told us we needed to move along the trail.

Flowers and butterflies graced our way over the creek crossings.

We travelled up to the top where the side trail joins with the Paiute 01, eating lunch at the meadow fence that Chris and Caleb helped construct a few weeks ago.

Caleb’s new tires traversed the rocky fields with ease as he was now fueled with raspberries!

Twenty-seven miles round trip was perfect timing

to arrive back at the trailer before the monsoon opened up the sky!

Another beautiful ride on the Paiute trail!

Making Tracks- Minnesota to Utah

After leaving Canada, we stopped at the Red River State Recreation Area campground in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.  Following devastating floods the cities of Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota joined together to create a greenway that provides recreation and protects the cities from future flooding of the Red River.  We enjoy our stay in this area to restock the cupboards, enjoy the city parks, browse through Cabela’s and view a movie and pretty much all within walking distance!  This year we immersed ourselves into Disney-Pixar’s new movie “Brave”.  We were also treated to a reshowing of “How to Train Your Dragon”.

(photo courtesy of Disney-Pixar)

From point A in East Grand Forks, Minnesota we traveled to Mitchell, South Dakota for an overnight stop.  Wouldn’t you know there’s a Cabela’s there too?  Then we made our way through the edge of the Black Hills and decided to return to Chadron State Park in Nebraska (point C).  We stayed 3 nights before a long travel day with an overnight stop in Lyman, Wyoming.  Moving on to our current location (point E) in Marysvale, Utah to ride the trails before returning home.  According to Google Maps that is 1486 miles from point A in East Grand Forks to point E in Marysvale!

We stopped in Chadron a few years ago and had a great time.  The same was true this year, except there was a bonus!  Due to the drought, there weren’t nearly as many ticks! 

We swam in the warm pool, practiced archery, walked the grounds, played on the playgrounds, and watched the turkeys meander through our site.

Now we are settled in at the South Forty campground where we stayed earlier in our trip to ride the ATV trails!

(Deer Creek Reservoir, Utah)