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Aravaipa Fall? Hike

Today was the day that Cindy and I took a group with us up Aravaipa Canyon. I was afraid it would be too hot. I was afraid there wouldn't be much water. We had gone in April the last two times. I didn't need to be afraid. The weather was perfect. There was plenty of water. We had a great time. Here is the group at the beginning, minus me the photographer. No they aren't pointing at anything, they are just being silly.

Here is Jet, Beth's husband, enjoying the water. He would just plop in the water when ever he was hot.
Penny, Melanie and Cindy take a break.

Penny and I sitting on a log.

We saw creatures great and small. It was really cool. The first thing we saw was a coatamundi. It was too fast to get a photo. I also did not get a photo of the green snake or javelina. Again they were too quick. But these tent caterpillars couldn't get away!

And Melanie enjoyed having a butterfly visit on her finger.



Pretty scenery.

An alligator masquerading as a log bites Beth's foot.

Dave found a wild rose for Cindy to where behind her ear.

Melanie, Cindy and Penny at our turn around point.

A little frog in Jet's palm.

Melanie and her bedazzled headband. Isn't she beautiful?

This centipede was pretty serious looking. Jet found him stranded on a rock in the middle of the stream. He got him on the stick and rescued him. I"m glad I didn't have to really get near him. He was huge.

A bigger frog.

Melanie's hiking stick.

Dogbot

Making Crobots. My first is Dogbot.

Converse baby booties

Cute, huh?

New Scrap Afghan

I have lots of "scrap" or extra yarn from left over projects. I have been trying to use it the best I can. I had a pattern for a scrap afghan called "Catty Cornered". As you can see, the squares are all catty cornered. Some squares meet up, some are opposite. I actually really like the way it turned out. I think it looks better in person than in my photographs. I'm not sure where it will end up yet.

Hiking Bryce Canyon

I went hiking in Bryce Canyon this weekend! I had always wanted to do it. I met someone who had done it several times and offered to be my tour guide, so I couldn't pass it up. We started from a trail head near the town of Tropic. We didn't have to pay to get into the park! Here I am at the beginning of our hike. We had a stile to go over the fence.
The scenery was so beautiful. I know there are a lot of photos, but I really DIDN'T put them ALL in!
The formations in Bryce are called Hoo doos. I always wanted to walk among the Hoo doos. Besides I like to say Hoo doo.

We went from the Tropic trail and then joined the Navajo Loop. We took the part of the loop that went through the slot canyon called Wall Street. Then up to Sunset Point. We walked over to the lodge and took a break. Then we took the other half of the Navajo loop and rejoined the Tropic trail and retraced our way out.

You can see some of the switchbacks here with people coming out of Wall Street. It really is only a short piece that is so steep.

looking back on Wall street.

My friend Luke and I. He was a great host and tour guide!

Looking down on Thor's hammer and the switch backs down.

Our cabin! I loved the swing.

Luke made us a great fire every night. He had some great pieces of maple that was salvage from work. The stars were so beautiful out there too. I don't get to see the milky way that often!

People were concerned that I was going hiking with someone I hadn't met in person before. The were afraid that he might be a bad person. Luke posed with his ax to show that he was an ax murderer!

This morning when I left, we walked to Mossy Cave and saw this pretty waterfall there.

And I got to see this cool herd of Antelope as I was leaving! Thanks Luke for a great time!

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

This past weekend, I went on a little trip up to southern Utah. My first night, I stayed in this little vintage motel in Kanab. I was going to tour Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and they give a great discount to you if you are going to do that. Isn't the bathroom tile fun?

I have driven by Best Friends for years. A couple of years ago, the National Geographic Channel started a little series called Dogtown. It took place in the dog part of Best Friends. I LOVED this program. Through it, I learned about the great work this place does and it was so interesting. This shelter takes in domesticated animals, that no one else will take. They also respond to large scale animal emergencies, like Hurricane Katrina. They took in the Vic dogs that were used for fighting and either rehabilitated them or gave them a home for life. The go on regular runs to puppy mills and rescue animals that would otherwise be put down because they are ill or have outlived their usefulness as breeding animals. The stories are inspiring and amazing. So I wanted to take a tour.

This is the Welcome Center, gift shop and beautiful garden.

And this is the Angel Canyon where they are located. It's a beautiful area, an old cattle ranch. They have horses, mules, pot bellied pigs, goats, rabbits, exotic birds, pigeons, geese, etc. And of course, lots of dogs and cats.

This is Angel's rest, the cemetery. Besides burying their own animals there, they also will take other people's pets to bury. You can see the stands of wind chimes they have to in remembrance of folks pets who have died.

The cats have a fabulous place to be. There are several of these buildings and cat rooms. They have both indoor and outdoor areas and can go all the way up to the rafters. They have the cats separated by different criteria, age, Feline Leukemia status, etc. They all looked very happy!

The majority of the dogs they have are large breeds as they are harder to place, and a lot of pit bulls. This guy is a chihuahua from a puppy mill. Dogs who have lived in this environment have so many issues. One of the big ones is socialization. They have had virtually no contact with people. I have a dog that came from one of these rescue situations and know first hand how hard they are to rehabilitate. I thought this little guys back was rather symbolic.

After Hurricane Katrina, Best Friends had shelters set up in the area for about 9 months. They reunited as many people and pets as they could. Some people had to surrender their pets as they had no place to live and no way to care for them. And some, they never knew who their families were. The dog that they brought out to socialize with us was Bo Bo and he was a pit bull from hurricane Katrina.

They are very organized with their kennel arrangements.

Bo Bo was very sweet and liked to lean on you.

The pot bellied pigs weren't on the tour, but you could walk over to where they were and look at them if you wanted. I was curious. They really were cute, although I couldn't imagine having one as a pet. They seemed to need quite a bit of space and you could tell there was a fair amount of digging and rooting around that went on. This pig was named Daphne. She started whining at me for attention as soon as I got close. I put my hand through and rubbed her back some. Then I saw a bucket on the fence with scrub brushes in them. I took a brush and started scratching her with it. She immediately rolled over on her side so I could scratch her side and belly. She really was sweet. But some of them had signs that said they would bite, so I imagine not all of them were as sweet as she was.

Waiting to be scratched.

I think you should all go! It was really fun.