Sunday, January 16/2011

It was a bit cloudy when I awoke but the clouds soon dissipated and the sun shone through with wild abandon. Time for Ben and I to hit the hiking trails. We asked Ariane to join us but she opted out, instead decided to head into town with Larry for propane and what ever other adventure they could find.

Hogan in limping today on one of his front paws and although I have looked and looked, I can't seem to find any thorn causing the problem so he may have just bruised it while playing with Grace yesterday or while chasing that rather annoying jack rabbit that keeps taunting him!! Whatever the reason, he will not be coming on the hike with us which is really too bad because we always hike together and I feel bad that I have to leave him behind.

John is feeling even worse today - as colds go and plans on having a "football" Sunday, so him and Hogan can bond over some football!!

I plan on having Roast beef for supper so will get it on the BBq when I get back from the hike.
As you can see from the pics, the saguaro are everywhere. They stand majestically on the hills perpetually reaching towards the sky. No two are the same and I love taking pics of them. It is like they are the custodians of the desert.

We hiked for what seemed like forever and headed cross country and off trail to traverse a couple of hills heading back towards camp. As we crested the hills, we hoped to see Ben's camp on the other side and twice were greeted with more hills!! Finally, on the third hill we saw his camp!! This hike had taken us three hours and close to 6 miles round trip and we were just in time for "happy hour"!!


Leaving Ben at his campsite to rest for the remainder of the evening, I hiked the rest of the way to our site and once there, put the roast on the bbq for supper. John was still feeling rather poorly and Hogan was still limping. Man, what a bunch of sad sacks I am hanging out with!!

I had spoken to Jace earlier today. I text him a "Have fun but be careful" message as he is headed to Mexico to be the best man at his friend's wedding. He was to leave at 11:00AM but I guess there were issues with the plane and now they were re-scheduled for 9:30 tonight. That is a bit of a bummer but I reminded him that he should arrive there in time for "happy hour"!! Mexico never sleeps and the Cervases is always cold!!

The roast turned out beautifully and Larry and Ariane made it back just as it was ready although they had already eaten so it was just John and I who enjoyed the fruits of my labour!!

As it turned out, they had made a trip to Prescott over the pass that John and I had told them about and the same one that we had taken on the bike last year. They seemed to have had a good day and got back safely so what more can one ask for!! Another great day in the Sonoran Desert and another lovely sunset.