The last of it

The last box has finally been unpacked. All we really have left is framed family/friend pictures and wall art. I'm waiting for my mom to get here to hang all that stuff.

Is this gross or what? All of this packing paper came from that last box. The box had dishes in it, so it probably took a little more paper than less breakable items...plus, as it turns out, I am an obsessive packer.

After the initial unpack, I ended up delivering 3 Element loads full of broken down boxes and paper to the recycling center in Dewey. Turns out our garbage company does not pick up recycling on the gravel roads in our neighborhood. But they pick up our garbage...what the heck?

A huge score

I rode to the 305 the way Toby recommended and it was awesome. Cross into Yavapai Hills, take Sunrise to Old Black Canyon, right on Lynx Creek. Follow that to the jeep road up to the parking lot for the ruins. Not only a safer commute, but once you get out of the new neighborhood on Lynx Creek, the road follows a creek bed. It looks so different from the alot of the short brush that covers the land until you get up to higher elevations. Beautiful. I've already decided we need to ride that on Saturday...with the camera this time. Lovely colors right now.

Rode for 2 hours, came home, showered and headed to the deck with a glass of wine. All that was missing was some Kirkland brand mixed nuts. I can't decide which I like better, sitting on the deck in the back or sitting in the bike shop looking out the front.

Oh, almost forgot. On my way home on the trail, I ran into the herd of mule deer again. They definitely spotted me first, but once I saw them, I stopped immediately. There were 5 total, not even 50 feet away. 4 of them stood and stared at me, sniffed for a long time cause they knew I was there. All of the sudden something spooked all 4 and they darted into better view. It was hilarious, the noise that spooked them was the 5th....standing there sneezing, rubbing his nose with one of his lower front legs. Just sneezing and rubbing. What a sight. Must have gotten a gnat up his nose. Hopefully we'll run into them again on Saturday so Zach can see them close up.

Shivers down my spine

I haven't seen or heard one of these (scroll down to listen), but that sound creeps me out. Carolyn and John's friend from Freeport who lives in Chino is a nurse and said there have been a few incidents involving Green Mojaves this year.

78 to 55

There was a PCC (Prescott Cycling Club) hike scheduled tonight to see the full moon from the tower at Lynx Creek Ruin. I met Debbie and Katrina there on my way home from work. The temp in the Cruiser read 78 degrees at 4:15. Parked at Sevenmile Gulch and hiked part of the 305 to the trail that leads up to the ruins. The day I rode up the same trail, I noticed there were numbered markers along the way. It was great hiking with Debbie, because apparently, each number is posted in front of a particular bush or tree. If you take a map with you, the map tells you the name of each species. I didn't need a map today b/c Debbie knows them all by heart. pinon pine, ponderosa pine, prickly pear, alligator juniper, mountain mahogany, skunkbush...it was pretty cool. She shared alot of other interesting factoids about Prescott. As we were getting close to the top, Toby joined us with his dog Oreo (first time meeting Toby and Oreo). Turns out Toby lives in our neighborhood on the other side. He gave me a few suggestions on how to bike around the area without having to take the busy roads.

It was a pretty cool hike. Fun going with people who know the area. The view from the top was awesome. I can't believe we live here. It was 55 degrees when I pulled out of the parking lot at 6:30.



In other news. Finished my second week of substituting. With the exception of one full....difficult day at a middle school, I have been at the District Preschool working one on one in the afternoon with a student who requires the use of a wheelchair. This is my first experience at this type of work, and I am guessing that I am spoiled with the student that I have ended up with. Such a good, sweet kid. And a wonderful, constantly positive mom. She is quite an inspiration given their situation. And she's so young. I don't know where she got her patience and outlook. Maybe from her son. It started out as a 3 week assignment, but the teachers, the mom, the director, and the student (according to his mom) all really like me. So I will be staying on long term.

BMXers dream

Found this little secret spot on our way home on Sunday. Makes me want to go buy a bmx bike. It was a sea of dirt jumps. I've never seen so many in my life.

New Job, New Rides, New Hair, New Scrapes, & New Glasses

I finally decided to help Sara out and write one of these things.

It was a pretty good week. I got to go and chaperone a field to trip for the 7th graders to Sunset Crater in Flagstaff. It was pretty cool. It is where all of the dormant volcanos are in Flagstaff. It is in a national park that has a bunch of areas with really cool volcanic rock formations. The weather and Flagstaff were gorgeous. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures cause I forgot to take a camera. The roads were great in the park and there were tons of roadies out hitting the climbs. I was jealous!

I have been commuting to work everyday on my bike.
I finally think I have my route down. I had been riding a different way everyday for a couple weeks. There are a lot of different options. My route involves a little singletrack, some doubletrack, bike paths, a frontage road, and plenty of climbing. It is about a 40 min commute that I can tack on some extra in the evening if daylight permits. This week I had to put on some extra clothes in the mornings. Temps in the upper 30s. Sara is going to post a few pictures she took from last weekend when we rode a section of it.

Sara started working this week. She started subbing as a aide in the Prescott School District. She worked 4 days this week. She really liked it. Most of her time this week was spent at a preschool working one-on-one with a student. On Friday she finished out the week at a middle school. She didn't have as much fun there. It seems there are a lot of changes going on in that school due to growth and the students are really feeling the stress. To make the day a little more challenging she was assisting a substitute teacher.

Sara went on a group ride without me Wednesday night. I didn't get home from work in time. She rode with a Debbie and Billy, a couple of people we had met on some prior rides. They rode the 305. Sara almost had a collision with a deer. We've got to watch out for those things.

Thursday I went on my first full on night ride since we have been out here. Sara stayed home cause we didn't know the caliber of the ride. She would have been able to hang but it was tough. There were five people that I had ridden with before. We went out for about 2 hours. We climbed, climbed, climbed, hiked, and then climbed some more. It was all worth it once we stared decending. I have been doing pretty good with the climbing out here but still can't seem to keep up with the locals on the decents. The BMC is a great bike with more than enough travel for what we are riding but decending like these guys do on the really rocky singletrack and then flying down the winding jeep roads still freaks me out a little.

Friday Sara worked and I was off. We decided that Sara is not going to work Fridays so we can be on the same schedule. Four day weeks are nice! I rode the 305 by myself. I took it pretty easy cause my legs were a little smoked from the night before.
It was a beautiful day and I just cruised along listening to all of the new tunes Jam provided before we moved. The new Editors album rules! Sara and I met at home after her trying day at the middle school. We enjoyed the deck with a couple of Fat Tires.

We headed out on a goup ride on Saturday with a big group. There were 13 people in the goup total. There were a lot of people we had not met before. There was a pretty wide range of abilities on this ride. You know when you head out with that many people there is bound to be some stories. Robert planned out the ride. He wanted to show us some trails that we had never ridden. The trails were awsome. There was a lot of breaks so that we could regroup. Most of the ride was led by three other guys and myself and with Sara close behind. Sara made her presence known early in the ride when all of us up front had to dismount on a rocky climb with Sara blasting through all of us walking still on her bike and a big smile on her face. She should have been yelling "Expert Women Coming Through!" She just rode past and kept climbing. A few minutes later Sara made her presence known again but in a little different way. After a decent a few of us were waiting at the bottom waiting for the rest of the group. Here comes Sara looking a little out of control. It was one of those crashes you can just see coming. Her bike was washing out from side to side until she finally went down on her old stand by right side. She always crashes and lands on the right side. All of the scar tissue that makes up her third butt cheek must pull her to that side. She poped right up laughing as she does most of the time. Everyone made sure she was OK. She was OK except for new scapes in the standard spots (Elbow, Butt, Thigh). The ride continued on as planned. There were more stops to regroup and a few minor mechanicals. All and all the ride was going great until one of the last decents. I was riding second behind a guy named Steve. Steve is 57 years old and is a super strong rider. Steve is one of the guys I have probably ridden with the most since I have been out here. Anyway he was flying down a this rocky decent when a rock kicked him a little to the right towards a tree that was dangerously close to the trail especially on a steep decent. He bumped the tree with his bars and it sent him flying. Once he stopped rolling, he stood up with a confused look on his face. He pulled the neck of his jersey aside and there was no mistaking that the collar bone was broke. It was pretty bad and looked like it was pretty close to coming through the skin. Just like anytime something like this happens the confusion started. OK who is going for the car? What is the fastest way to walk to a road? Who is going with him? Luckily we had cell phones and were able to get a hold of his girlfriend to pick him up at the nearest road to the trail. It was a good ride except for the crashes. I always hate seeing things like that happen.

Along with the riding we did this week, Sara got a new haircut, and I got some new glasses.


I amost forgot the highpoint of the week. After Saturday's ride Sara and I stopped for gas at the AM/PM Station. I went inside to look at some potential snacks. I had my eye on a jalepeno cheddar corndog when I noticed that the guy behind the counter was throwing away all of the cheesburgers that had been sitting under the warmer for too long. Without even thinking I dove behind the counter and had one hand into the garbage can before the guy noticed me. I told him the burgers looked pretty good. He seemed to be in shock and told me that he would notify the women at the counter not to charge me for the burgers. Sara and I did go with the corndogs along with the garbage burgers. The burgers were good but I don't know if they were as good as the garbage donuts from Casey's in Minooka.

Always when you're not looking

Zach and I got some good riding in last week while he was off for fall break. On the first ride back in Prescott after our visitors left us, we came upon a few animals on the 305. Can you see them?

Doesn't it always work out like that? It would have been nice to see a javelina, or a road runner, or even a little snake. (Although we did see the coyote and we caught a glimpse of a jack rabbit on one of the rides.)

Instead, the day after they leave, Zach and I see a small herd of mule deer. That's interesting that they can not detect motionless objects. On a ride last night, I would have plowed right into a buck, had he not bounded out of the way. After I saw him I stopped to get a good look. Once I stopped, it was like he could not see me. He did not run away anymore, just stood and stared in my direction. He finally sauntered off after quite a few minutes. Must have gotten bored.

Here's a few more pictures from our ride. We rode from home to the 305 and continued on a ways up 297.

The highs and the lows part 2

Sunday the 7th...we hit it early, drove by this obnoxious eye-sore of a house off 179. Interesting to see, and it turned out to be worth the extra few minutes...as we were driving about 1 mile an hour through the neighborhood, we had a tired and beat-down looking coyote stroll right behind our car. Of course none of us had our cameras ready. I've never seen one so close up.

From there we fueled up at the Airport. Sedona has an airport on top of Airport Mesa with a pretty tasty restaurant that has....what else, an awesome view! Ya gotta love a restaurant that leaves a carafe of coffee on the table. After a delicious breakfast and Aaron's successful fast one that he pulled on me, we drove back down the mesa and stopped at the Vortex on the way. Stacy got an update on the kids while enjoying the view and Amy just took it all in. Adam, Zach and Aaron walked up a little higher than the rest of us and did the things they do. After the Vortex we made a quick stop at the local grocer for some lip balm, everyone had been using the same tube up until that point.

Then we did a quick hike at Soldier Pass. Easier than Cathedral, but different, there's more pines and a some points of interest, Devil's Kitchen, 7 Sacred Pools, CastleRock, along the way. There is a great spot to bask in the sun. We sat for a few then headed back on the jeep road to the trailhead.

After giving Amy and Stacy detailed directions to Tlaquepaque and to a shop a little off the beaten path, Zach, Aaron, Adam and I geared up for a ride. We rode from Quail Ridge again, up Bell Rock Pathway and did a quick ride on Big Park Loop. We continued on up, past the start of Llama and on to Templeton. What a fun trail. Nice and rolling, a few good technical sections, a nice combination of dirt and slickrock. We rode to Cathedral and turned around.

The boys ran to the store to restock some essentials. Vacation needs to include some rest too, so we took another soak in the tub,



showered for dinner (yes, if you're wondering....only some of us cleaned up once again), and then watched a little TV. I think we caught some world news tonight or CNN. They had a special on Jenna Jameson. I took a few minutes to snap some photos in honor of mikelsall. Of course, they are not of the same quality, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Soon it was time for dinner. The last dinner together before the gang had to depart for Phoenix to catch their flight. We were planning on hitting Oak Creek Brewery, but then the front desk at the Quail said the food at the Cowboy Club is better. He said you can't beat the atmosphere and the beer at the brewery, but for a good steak check out the Cowboy Club. Amy drove this time, unfortunately for her. The Cowboy Club is uptown Sedona and there's alot of cars and tourists and people in the streets. Let's just say poor Amy had a few too many backseat drivers with her that night. She stayed cool though and pulled us in safe and sound into a prime parking space. Turns out we picked the perfect time to arrive. We put our name in and holed up in the front corner near the door. The view out the front door, over the cars and buildings was not too shabby.

Little did we know we picked the self-entertainment area to hang out while we waited maybe 30 or 40 minutes.


At first we just noticed the several different menus that they have to offer. But it didn't take long before Adam and Aaron discovered the western gitup they had neatly hanging for patrons to play with...I mean appreciate. They were the shoot em up brothers, part of the Tombstone gang, out to catch some dirty scoundrels....... At least in their heads they were. And it's questionable as to who exactly was dirty.

Zach missed most of the fun. He was preoccupied with a not so pleasant grandmother who tried lying to the hostess in order to get a table for her grandson's birthday. The hostess threw her out...we cheered quietly, at least most of us did, but then the granny came back and apologized. They ended up being seated right next to us on the front deck.

While we were ordering drinks, I snapped a quick shot for Tim. Dinner was good, steaks, bread, potatoes, pasta, beer, prickly pear margaritas, and a nice little chocolate treat, compliments of the chef. The Bears were playing Green Bay that night, so after dinner we walked down to this shopping area where they had TVs and benches strategically located near one another, no doubt for the patient husband waiting for his browsing wife (of course that's not always the situtation). So the boys watched the game while the girls checked out a few stores. After the win, it was time to hit the road, they had an early departure out of Oak Creek to make their flight in Phoenix.

I think they were gone by 4am. We said our goodbyes and Zach and I crawled back in to our full size pull out. It was Monday and he was on fall break all week, and I, of course, was still a lady of leisure.

Later that morning we got up and tried a new trail,
Munds Park...runs parallel with Schnebly Hill Road. It was tough. Either Zach and I were tired or we didn't feel like concentrating, or we are just plain ole cross country weenies, but we did not have so much fun on that trail. Lots of hike a bike, a broken chain...we felt like we were riding for 2 minutes and having to get off again. After about an hour we ditched the trail and took Schnebly Hill back down to the lot. We tried riding Huckaby for a little but we just weren't feeling it that day. We packed it up and headed to Sedona Memories for one of their legendary sandwiches.

Even though we were checked out, Robin at the Quail said we could come back and use the hot tub for one last soak before heading back to Prescott. I think we were home by about 5? And that's where the low part of the story comes in.

My parents had been here 2 weeks prior. After they left we were busy moving in. We had such a great time with Aaron and Amy and Adam and Stacy. It meant so much to have them visit us. We know it's not easy with the kids, nor was it a cheap trip. It helped us feel at home having them here and showing them around. Doing a little riding, a little shopping, a little hiking together. Drinking some beers, eating lots of chips and nuts. Stopping by the bike and bean. What we didn't expect was to feel so lonely once we got back home. We walked into the house and we both felt like it was about 10,000 miles from Plainfield. Grace wasn't there to greet us and Zach had the whole week to think about things. We were depressed and it was scary, having just closed a few weeks prior. Did we make a huge mistake????

We went and rented a bunch of movies that night to try and take our minds off things. Woke up the next morning, and we both must have made the decision during the night that we were not going to sulk and waste Zach's whole week off. And we did end up having a fun week, lots of riding, lots of movies, beautiful weather. But I think that whole episode really taught us a few things and made us appreciate a whole lot more, our friends and family back home. We really, really miss you guys.

A side note: The fast one's did not go unnoticed, and they will be reciprocated.

The highs and the lows

On Friday, October 5th, Zach and I had our first non-blood relatives arrive for a little visit. Aaron and Amy and Adam and Stacy pulled into our driveway around 11am. We showed them around the house and then had some lunch. After that, Aaron, Adam, and Zach headed out to Granite to go for a quick ride. Amy, Stacy, and I stayed close and drove out Walker Road to trail #297 for a hike.
297 takes you up into the Bradshaw Mountains. The first section was part of a forest fire a few years back. The charred trees make for an interesting view; the colors were beautiful. After our hike, we headed to downtown Prescott for some shopping. Amy and Stacy found some cute stuff for the kids. After about an hour we headed back home for a few ice cold coolies and some nuts on the deck. But that was short lived so we could make happy hour at Coyote Joes for $2 pints of Fat Tire. That's a pretty sweet deal and quite dangerous, considering happy hour is 4-6 and 8-10 every single day of the week.

Our stay didn't lapse too far into the second shift, because we had to walk over to the Brew Pub (Prescott Brewing Co) for some dinner. We were there until like 3 am!! Just kidding, we were at home and in bed by about 10pm. Yes, we are old. We'll blame it on the travelers...after all, 10pm AZ is midnight Chicago time.

The next morning we woke up and showered...at least some of us did, had a quick snack and took off for Sedona. We meant to take the scenic route, but I screwed up the directions and we ended up taking I-17. Which isn't such a bad drive...views are equally lovely, just different from 89A. Had a tasty breakfast/lunch at CoffeePot and drove back towards the Village of Oak Creek for a hike at Cathedral. But it was at breakfast that the infamous hat was purchased.

Cathedral is definitely one of my favorite hikes. The views from above are outstanding. It's not a difficult hike, but there are a few sections that require the simultaneous and strategic use of arms and legs. We took a little break half way up and then forged on, all the way to the top.


We all made it down, safe and sound....with shaky legs and parched lips. Back at Quail Ridge we split into groups, Amy and Stacy went to the Bike and Bean for a Chai Tea and Aaron, Adam, Zach and I followed them there on the bikes. From there Stacy and Amy were able to check out a few stores in the Village of Oak Creek. The rest of the group rode up Bell Rock Pathway and on to the Llama trail, another favorite. We did the full trail and continued on up to Chicken Point. Seems there's always something interesting going on up there. This trip we were witness to a wedding. Not such a bad place to get married. We took the Bell Rock Pathway all the way back to Quail Ridge and finished the ride with a nice soak in the tub.

You certainly can not go to Sedona without catching some Mexican food at the Javelina. Even though no on the trip really likes mexican, we went there anyway. Too bad no one enjoyed the bottomless baskets of chips and salsa, or the beers or margaritas they serve there. We all went home hungry. It was another SUPER late night out, man are we party animals!!! I can't even post the pictures from that night...they are just not appropriate for this website.

And that about ends our first night in Sedona. More on Day 2 later.

Blinding hell

The week after my parents left was filled with moving bikes and the last few items that you think won't take up alot of room in the car....then 4 loads later you realize you were way off on your estimate.

After that, we started hanging blinds. What complete TORTURE. I hope I never have to do that again in my life. If we do, I am absolutely certain that it is worth any amount of money to have someone else do it.

It especially sucks when you hang them and they look like crap because they sag in the middle. I certainly did not pay what we did to have my blinds smiling at me every day for the rest of my life. And they were the slightly more expensive ones from Home Depot. They were off the shelf, but each one had to be cut down to fit our windows. It worked out fine in the end though. Home Depot let us exchange and the cheaper version fit into the same hardware (Zach had worked ahead of me and hung every single set of hardware before we realized the first ones sucked).

Fun times ahead though...

Where to start....

I knew it was going to be a while before I would post again, but didn't think it'd take me this long. Geez.

Here's a quick recap.
September 22nd - Zach and I headed to Sedona for the day to try and dodge the rain headed toward Prescott. It rained in Sedona that day also, but we got a quick ride while the sun was shining. Here's a few shots from the drive back to Prescott. It was quite a storm.




September 23rd - My parents were headed to Prescott on the way home from their tour of the west. Zach and I drove back to Sedona to meet them their instead. We at in the tub, went out to dinner and spent the night at the Quail Ridge. From there, Zach went to work Monday morning and my parents and I headed to Chino to pack up their van for our move into Prescott.


Four van / element loads, a painted garage floor, some good decorating advice (not all of which I have implemented yet) and a few dinners out later, my parents were headed back home to Illinois.