high country chronicles

A couple of weekends ago, Chris and I took our sweet dog, Mae, to her first ever (at least with us) trip to the lake! We adopted Mae a year ago in June from Second Chance here in Flag, and at that time they told us she was 2 1/2 years old.  She was so shy and skittish! It took her quite a while to get used to us, I have to say.  I also noticed a weird, unidentifiable smell in our house shortly after we got her.  In took a couple of weeks before I noticed the source of the smell-one of our living room rugs.  Apparently, Mae had made herself at home in more ways than one.

After that slightly rocky start, she has been such a joy.  She gets along well with our two cats, especially Fanny, who grew up with Spike.  Anyway, since we got her as an adult (a very skinny adult, which she no longer is), we didn’t know how she’d respond to the water.  We drove her up to Ashurst Lake, a lake about 30 minutes from Flagstaff.  On our way, we passed another large lake, Lake Mary, and Mae seemed so excited! We let her out briefly, and she ran right to the water’s edge.

Lake Mary

Once we arrived at Ashurst, we took a short hike down to the water.  It’s very rocky there and slightly difficult to navigate.  Mae was unperturbed.  As soon as she saw the water, she did whatever it took to get to it.

Mae at Ashurst Lake

There was an uncertain moment when she struggled to get out of the water, but other than that, she was certainly comfortable! It makes me wonder what sort of life she had before she met us (the story at Second Chance was that she had come from Gallup, New Mexico, with a bunch of other dogs).  One other interesting fact: she’s so sweet, but she goes ballistic if people walk to our front door.  Seriously, it’s like Cujo incarnate.  But, she’s really a gentle doggy at heart.  Unless you cross me, then it’s on! Let that be a warning to ya.  🙂

While ya’ll are waiting to see Chris’s ride, I thought I’d entertain with a post about…wait for it…curtains! Yes, folks, I said curtains.  And while some of you (okay, most of you), may not think curtains are the most exciting topic out there, I am so excited about the difference they’ve made in our living room.

Here’s the evidence.  The back window before:

Sad window

The back window after:

Happy window!

Sweet, right?! I love textiles! I’m the biggest dork in the world!

Today I went for a ride on the Arizona Trail. The Arizona Trail is a single track dirt trail that traverses the state. The trail can be ridden as far south as Mexico, north to Utah, to the Grand Canyon or any number of destinations. There have been sections of the trail around and through Flagstaff for years, but recently they’ve been completing a section that starts at the base of Snowbowl road and goes all the way to the White Buffalo and beyond! This is a just a short clip of what turned out to be a 3 hour ride on the trail. The trail offers some incredible views and I nearly crashed into some deer twice on the ride while I was looking around at the scenery.

Video to come...experiencing technical difficulties

Some people might get the impression from reading our posts thus far that it’s all kittens and rainbows in Flagstaff. Well, guess that may be true! Check out these two rainbows:

One happened right around sunset and the other happened the next morning! ‘Tis the season for rainbows in Flagstaff. Monsoons always bring some pretty spectacular skies this time of year. It’s not uncommon to get double rainbows over the mountains, which is also really cool . The other picture is of Ernie, our male cat. Even half asleep he’s prepared to attack! He’s so cute that sometimes I can’t help but feel like a fly heading into a Venus Fly Trap; I’m irresistibly drawn to him, but I inevitably pay the price…

The sleeping lion

A couple of weeks ago, Chris and I drove down to old town Cottonwood on a Saturday afternoon.  Cottonwood is a small town located between Prescott and Sedona, and has the Verde River running through it.  Old town is a one-street strip of businesses with an old-timey flair; there’s a coffee and gelato shop, a store that has tons of different varieties of olive oil, lots of antique stores and book stores, a few restaurants, and…wine tasting!

Pillsbury Winery

Two wineries have shops on the main street-Stronghold, the winery made famous by Maynard Keenan, the lead singer of Tool, and Pillsbury, a winery that grows its grapes about 40 miles north of the Mexican border.

We started at Pillsbury, where Chris tried a flight of their red wines, and I had a glass of “Wild Child” white.  The wine was delicious and the atmosphere was cozy.  The only drawback was the very strange girls working there-no, I don’t want to hear you try to sing along at the top of your voice to the radio, nor do I want to see you dancing your little hippie dance.  Our server was nice, though.

Enjoying the wine at Pillsbury

After Pillsbury, we went across the street so Chris could grab a scone at the coffee shop and I could try a gelato.  The store specializes in their homemade gelato and was featured in ArizonaHighways magazine.  There were many different flavors to choose from, and I tasted the salty caramel gelato (good!) before choosing their vanilla (what can I say? I love vanilla).  It was wonderful!

Main St., Cottonwood

Next, Chris and I walked down to Stronghold.  The atmosphere here was a little “edgier”-lots of red walls, cool artwork, and many themed items for sale.  The servers here-two guys whose names escape me-were super friendly, too.  Chris and I shared a red flight (for those of you who are wondering, a flight of wine consists of 5 really small tastings of different wines-about 2 oz.-so we weren’t getting boozed up or anything).  The wine here was tasty, too-not quite as good as Pillsbury, but it was also less expensive.

Me at Stronghold

After our flight, we walked around for a bit then hopped in the car for the drive home (about an hour and 15 minutes).  It was a really fun day, and it’s so neat to be able to embark on these small excursions when it’s just a short drive from home.

For my husband’s last birthday, he decided he wanted to commemorate the occasion with a new tattoo (he already has a small, oval-shaped one on his right shoulder blade).  He knew he wanted something to reflect the southwest, so he and I went to the library and picked up a slew of books on Native American pottery, art, weaving, and sand paintings.  We looked and looked and looked, and a few things were appealing (we both really liked some Pacific Northwest drawings that were meant to symbolize a bear with a salmon), but nothing was really hitting the mark.  He then began perusing the internet, and found what he wanted.

So, he enlisted the help of his friend who’s also a tattoo artist, and he got this:

The bear claw

This pic was taken a few days after ‘the procedure,’ and notice the flaky skin?  I didn’t know that happened! All my dreams of getting a tattoo of my own were quickly extinguished (also since I can never decide on something I want permanently displayed on my body).  Thankfully, the flaky-skin stage was relatively short (just about a week), and now it’s lookin’ good! What’s next on the horizon?  Perhaps a full sleeve? Just kidding, moms!

Well, I must say that Holland has really stepped things up in the kitchen. When we first met, she was always content to eat mac ‘n’ cheese every night or wrap a tortilla around whatever leftovers were in the fridge. I used to give her a bunch of crap for not caring about what was on the plate or where the ingredients came from. Now, I’m the one eating crow because she’s been honing in her skills in the kitchen. I have to be honest, I’m a bit jealous of how quickly she has picked up on cooking. She is incredibly diverse in what she prepares. Her dishes are surprisingly refined and never over-thought or unnecessarily complicated. To put it simply, they taste really good! I’m so excited to cook with her and experience the synergy of creativity and the joy of making something that taste delicious. Discovering things like this and growing together makes life with my wife so great!  I guess I just added enough cheese for now!!!

Yummy shrimp pie

True love

If you’re reading this blog, you most likely already know the story of how Chris and I met.  To make a long story short, he accosted me during The American Novel, a class we were both taking at NAU (he really loves when I tell it like this).  Anywho, on our first date, he told me about his dog, Spike.  And, well, that was really the clincher.  Yes-first date, dog story=I’m hooked.  And then when I met Spike…well, let’s just say it was love at first sight.

And now, after Spike’s lovely life has passed, his legacy lives on; Chris and I are the happy joint guardians of Fanny, Ernie, and Mae dog! And before I get sickeningly sappy, let’s just say I have plenty more tales and pictures to come.

This weekend Holland and I traveled down to Phoenix so I could join some friends for a little Go Kart fun.  The occasion was a bachelor party for Adam, and about 10 of us went down to engage in a little competitive racing (Holland did not participate-that would be dangerous).  Despite the workers’ reassurances that THERE WOULD BE NO CONTACT, I quickly realized that was not the case (special thanks to Jason for the welt on my back).

F1

I raced two races and earned a fourth and sixth place. The F1 Race Factory is where they held the World Championship Go-Kart Racing competition. Before we arrived, I didn’t realize that we would be wearing helmets and traveling at near 50 mph! Wow, it sure feels fast when you’re that close to the ground and weaving between the tire walls! All in all, it was a lot of fun and I felt like a kid again playing games with my friends.

After the race, Holland and I headed north to Scottsdale to spend the night in a 4 star hotel that she scored for $50! After a little time soaking in the pool, we went out to a pizzeria for some brick oven pizza. Holland, the queen of discount, scored a coupon for a free large pizza and we were lucky in that the food was delicious and the restaurant was really close (in Old Town Scottsdale).

Grimaldi's Pizzeria

Though I am a high mountain person myself, the occasional quick trip to the city, with all of it’s amenities, is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. And while the trip was a nice break from the hectic pace associated with the start of the school year, it was really wonderful to come back home to Flagstaff and get out in the woods for a mountain bike ride this afternoon! Guess it’s a good sign when you go on a vacation and you’re glad to come home.

The San Francisco Peaks

Chris and I thought that a blog would be a great way to share our lives with our family and friends. We feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful place and to be able to experience so many wonderful things. Expect lots of bike and book tales (of course), as well as details on our home improvement projects, cooking escapades, and, of course, stories and pictures of our four-legged friends.