Tires crunched through the snow as the vehicle inched along the deserted, unmaintained dirt road. Slowly, tediously, it negotiated the frozen ruts, and when the road finally ended abruptly in a large semi-circular area, inched gingerly into what appeared to be a parking space. But appearances were often deceiving in this land, so far from [...]
I can still hear it plain as day -- her urgent silence against the deafening roar of the falls -- and it chills me to the bone. I emerge from the swirling stream below the waterfall and see my sister-in-law Chris walking towards me... "Where is Dan?" I shout to her. Her mouth is moving, [...]
This week's Weekly Photo Challenge speaks to a topic I love -- if you couldn't already guess -- Adventure! Maybe I'm just in Grand Canyon mode lately, but when I think "adventure," this image immediately comes to mind. I remember the moment captured in the photo clearly. We were at about the half-way point in [...]
Jutting shards of Squaw (Piestewa) PeakTo many Native American tribes, rocks are the "stone people," or Ancestors. I was in a sweat lodge once and the huge volcanic rocks in the pit glowed red like searing hot sponges. The holes in the rocks, along with the shadows from the fire (or maybe it was my [...]
I love rocks. Stones, earth, dirt, sand, gravel -- I love rocks in every form. Walking along a gravel road, a pretty pebble protrudes and catches my eye, and I crouch down to pick it up and examine it further...sometimes I keep it, sometimes I put it back when I’m done. I just like to [...]
"If anybody is not blown away by the Grand Canyon, they won't be blown away by Judgement Day, either. To spend the night on rocks that have been warmed to 120 degrees by the sun, to feel the incredibly insistent and very dangerous Colorado River rush by you, to be down in the depths of [...]
Not too long ago I received a random, seemingly innocent text message from a good friend: "Hey, just wondering -- which Vegas chapel did you guys get married in?" Needless to say, it didn't take a huge mental leap to figure out something was up...I give full credit to my persuasive texting skills that, after [...]
I'd like to send out a great big "thank you!" to Rachel of The Penniless Traveler and Naveed Chaudhry of Lovely Shoots for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I'm so happy you enjoy my posts and pics, and am flattered by your nomination...To everyone reading this, I highly recommend both Rachel's and [...]
I didn't breathe a word to anyone, but as we climbed down out of Pueblo Canyon, I was secretly thinking to myself, "there's NO WAY we're doing another hike tomorrow." The plan had been to tackle Pueblo Canyon, the harder and longer of the hikes, on day one, and follow up with a quick out-and-back [...]
It was a motley crew that set out from our house early Saturday morning. I had proposed a little expedition after reading an intriguing article about the Sierra Ancha in Arizona Highways magazine a few months prior and was really jazzed when a few people actually seemed serious about accompanying us. Aside from my husband [...]
Southwest Adventurer 