Still there?

Well hey there friends!

Not sure if anyone still finds themselves in these parts wondering what we're doing in the desert, but I missed writing to each of you and keeping you updated.

In short, (over the past three? four? years since I last wrote to you) we have become more confident in ourselves as desert dwellers. I have fallen in love with running, spend lots of free time drawing and painting, and have even planted our own succulent garden in our backyard.

Husband has fallen back in love with mountain biking and has begun to join me on runs pretty regularly.

Together we, with the brown dog of course, have been camping all over this state. Mostly in the sunshine, but also in the rain and even in the snow.

So I'd like to start keeping you in the loop again.  I'd love to even go back in time and tell you about some of our favorite adventures we've been on. There have been lots of funny stories along the way that I'm sure you'll enjoy. But for now I'll leave you with a welcome back. I've missed you!

Apache-Sitgreaves and the Mogollon Rim

This past weekend the temperatures in Tucson were set to rise above 100 for the first time this spring (? or is it summer already round these parts?). So, instead of hanging around and dealing with that (we have far too much of that ahead of us), we packed our bags and headed north to much higher elevation and much cooler temperatures.

The weekend began with Friday night in Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest with the most perfect camping spot on the edge of a valley. The next morning we spent some time venturing around the valley and playing some fetch.

(life lessons about bumpers)

We then decided to explore the general area (including the hopping town of Greer, AZ) and came across a guard rooster and Benny Creek (which we HAD to explore seeing as Benny Pat...) which then led to more exploration and more fetching.

(I mean..y'all..what a studly pup)

It then started to rain which really causes a damper on the whole exploration thing so we packed up and headed to the Mogollon Rim, which had another lovely camping spot for us.

(Eagle Scout doing Eagle Scout things)

Visits

What have we been up to lately? Visiting with some lovely folks and doing all the things.

Tracei came to visit. So we soaked up all of the sunshine Arizona had to offer.

(sorry Tracei, this was just too good not to share with the world)

We went to Lake Havasu to see family.  We pretended like we were in England and attempted to avoid college spring breakers.

Caitlyn and William came to visit. We trekked up to the Grand Canyon, walked the street fair, ate ample amounts of food, discovered cool breweries, saw a downtown coyote, and hiked around the mountain (resulting in some sunburns).

And then Terrel (their couple name) came to Tucson to participate in the Tango Festival.

Also, Jackson turned one and the Chickfila on my drive to work opened this week so you know...big things have been happening around here.

Lake Havasu

As it happens some weekends we don't want to get out of pjs and we want to sleep for days straight. Other weekends we load up the Pattywagon and explore this grand ole state. This weekend, the adventure took us to Lake Havasu (also called Arizona's vacation playground...). We went to meet up with my mom and Darrel, but many other vacationers were celebrating spring break. 

Anywho, we had a great time. Activities included pool time, walking across the original London Bridge, pretending to be in London, finding a local dog park for Jackson, witnessing a pug birthday party, picnic time in the state park, and sticking our toes in the freezing cold but oh so clear water.

(There it is! The London Bridge that was falling down and then was transported to AZ...)

(Jackson was on full lifeguard duty but turns out there was a sign that said "no pets"...whoops)






(Jackson made friends with a Canadian!)

Springtime in the Desert

In my effort to get everyone to move to Arizona (because making friends as an adult is hard work), I present to you springtime in our backyard.

I would also like to remind you all that Arizona does not participate in daylight savings and our backyard is basically a large succulent garden. 

Adventures of Jackson

It's been a while since there has been an update on Jackson and let me tell you, he has been one busy pup!

He hung out at Home Depot and only barked at a few children.

He built a planter box for my herbs.

(it's all very serious business)

He saw a coyote in the neighborhood and decided they don't smell like nice dogs.
He had an interview at boarding camp and passed!
He found water in Tucson and attempted to fetch the rocks from the bottom of the creek.

He hung out with his aunt Tracei.

He welcomed baby hummingbirds into the world. 

He spent a weekend at boarding camp and came back exhausted.

Overall, life as Mr. Brown has been pretty swell lately.