Arizona Trip

Business has been really busy at Walsh Engineering. Mark has been putting in a lot of hours and working really hard for the company. They called me and wanted to send him on a little mini vacation somewhere to show their appreciation for all that he's been doing. I told them that he would love to go to Arizona to see his family. We left on a Sunday afternoon and got back on a Thursday. It was super fun!

Sunday night we went to Scott and Amber's house straight from the airport. We had dinner with everyone, and then had a planning meeting for Lake Powell. We are doing a family week there this summer!

Monday morning Mark and I went to the OdySea Aquarium. It was a fun place. They have sharks in the bathroom!

The rays are always my favorite. I could stay and pet them all day.

That afternoon we did a trail run with Scott, Amber, and Kim. We went in the San Tan area. It was pretty because they were having a super bloom, so the flowers were blooming all over the desert. It was also very hot compared to what we're used to. I just tried to soak in as much sun as I could!

Scott and Mark

Lots of pretty yellow flowers everywhere.

That night we watched Chloe pitch a great game of softball.

We decided that we want to keep Chloe!

On Tuesday morning Mark and I got up early to do the Flatiron hike in the Superstition Mountains. It was quite an adventure! We veered right on the trail and should have stayed left. We ended up going up the crazy part of the mountain. I kept saying, "This can't be the right trail!" Pretty soon we could see people to our left on the trail we should have been on, so we knew we were off. At that point we had already come up some pretty hairy stuff that we didn't want to go back down, so we kept on climbing. We got to a point where our only option was to try to get over a rock ridge. For a normal size person that would probably be fine, but for my 5'1" self, I was quite concerned. This is the point where Mark realized how far up we were, and noticed that we were basically stuck on a ledge. He isn't a fan of heights at all, and the panic started to set in. With his adrenaline pumping, he got up the rock ledge and told me the trail was right at the top. I had him double check, because I knew that if I got up the ledge, there was no way I would be able to get back down. He double checked and told me that was our best option. He hung his foot over and told me to grab it and he would pull me up. Um....No! I managed to get myself up it (go me!), and all was well again. The views from the top were amazing! We did a lot of exploring around the top and spent about an hour up there. Great hike!

This is my favorite picture from the hike! such a beautiful area! The dome like mountain in the back is where we were headed.

This is when I started saying we couldn't be on the right trail. You can't tell from the picture, but we were literally going over a small rock field straight up the side of the mountain. Mark was sending rocks tumbling down toward me with each step.

You can get a better feel for the steepness in this picture. Then things got worse from this point.

When we were exploring at the top, I took this picture of the last part we climbed up. The circle is the place we got really worried. We were just standing there thinking, "What now?"

We made it!

We could see a long ways in all directions!

Looking off the back part of Flatiron.

We went to the ridge next to Flatiron and got this picture of it.

Heading back down on the right trail! It was much better!

We thought we had already had all the excitement we could for one hike, but when we got to this point on the way down, there was more in store for us. We heard this buzzing sound. Mark said, "That has to be a lot of bees to make that loud of a sound!" Well, the buzzing got louder and louder. I looked up, and the whole sky was dark with bees coming our way. I was so freaked out! I would have preferred to be stranded on the ledge compared to this nonsense! It was freaky! They went right over the top of us. They just passed right on by and left us alone, but AHHHHH, I didn't love it!

Such a cool hike! If you stay on the right trail, it's one I would totally recommend if you're ever in the area.

On Wednesday Mark, Scott, and I got up early to do the Minor's Needle Loop trail run. It was so awesome! It is so different than what we are used to running in, and the surroundings were so fun! Mark and I felt great, so either all of our snowshoeing was paying off, or the lower elevation made things a lot easier. Probably a little of both.

I love the cactus!

Cactus in bloom!

See the hole in the rock behind me? That's the needle that gave the trail it's name.

Such a pretty area!

After our run, we went to lunch with Scott, Amber, and Kim. Then we went to watch Calli run in her track meet. That night we all went to Kim and Russ' house to check out their remodel project, and hunt scorpions with the black-light. We found lots!

Ewwww!

We had a great trip! We want to make it an annual thing at the same time each year. So fun to get away and spend time with family. The sunshine doesn't hurt either. Thanks Walsh for providing us with such a good time!