Our Summer Yard

Here are some updated pics of our new home this summer. For those of you that were here in January or March, the yard looks much different in the summer. Everything is much greener and in bloom except for the lemon and orange trees. They grow fruit earlier in the year. It seemed like Feb/Mar was when most fruit was edible. Anyway, here are some updated pictures of where we live.
The back patio...


Living room and family room...

My Birthday

Here is just one of the pics from my birthday. We just went out for dinner and drinks. This is at Islands, a small restaurant near our house.

Visiting with Family

Dad and Lorrie came out to visit in the beginning of June. Most of these pictures are from the Royal Palms. Although Lorrie was in town in part for a reporting convention at the Biltmore, we did have a packed two days to give the Phoenix tour to my Dad...lunch at the Biltmore, Camelback mountain, Avondale, Arizona State, Scottsdale, Claim Jumper, etc. Then we all had lunch and went to the Scottsdale Fashion mall on the second day.

Visiting with Family 2

These are a few pictures from the Royal Palms Resort Hotel where they stayed for one of the two nights. It is a very nice, quaint hotel at the base of Camelback mountain...right down the road from the Biltmore.

Aaron and I Hike Camelback Mountain

During Aaron and Alitia's visit, Aaron and I decided to hike Camelback mountain a day or so after we came back from the Grand Canyon. Wow! Tiffany and I hiked about a third of the way up a couple months earlier. This hike was a scramble all the way to the top. It was 100 degrees, noon, not a spot of shade in sight.....probably not the best time to go. But it was great. The hike itself is all rocks on your hands and feet for probably over half the mountain. It is about 1.25 miles to get to the top and about 1000 vertical feet....very steep for that short of a distance. Towards the top it seemed like we were stopping every 20-30 feet it was so tiring. But the view and easy trip back down was well worth it. And it knocked the hangover right out of us! Anyway, here are some views, the were incredible. The mountain is right at the edge of Phoenix as you go into Scottsdale.

Scrambling up to a small section of Camelback...

Looking back on an earlier section. This is the only area that is shaded from the sun. It is so steep and the rock is so smooth that there is actually and hand rail installed in this part for people to hang on too that are not more experienced hikers.

More from Camelback Mountain

Pictures from the top of the mountain. This is a zoomed in picture of a golf course community in Paradise Valley...
Looking out over Scottsdale. If you look closely to the lower right, you can see one of the easier hiking trails that also leads up to this peak. This trail is on the East face. We hiked up from the West face.


Looking back over the Southwest. You can see downtown in the distance.

The Twingstrom Visit!

Tiffany's parents visited us in March/April for over a week. They drove all the way out from Cleveland across the country. We had some plans to golf, see the zoo, dinner, etc which was great! It was right after I injured my back though, so I didn't get to participate in the golf outing. Tiffany and I both had some time off work so we were able to relax and have a great time. Miss you both.

At the shops in Scottsdale:

Dinner at Claim Jumper...

Golf in Palm Valley...


This is from the Phoenix City zoo. The zoo was fun, but due to the heat there is not as much variety in animals like at zoos in the midwest. Many of the animals are hiding in shade if it is too hot as well. It was about 90-95 the day we went I believe. Now its getting into the 115-120 range....gotta love living in the middle of a desert!

Tiffany is 30!

Here are some select pics from Tiffany's 30th celebration week....yes, she got a full week.

Jerome, Arizona

These pictures are from Jerome, Arizona. This was the last stop on our 3-day trip to the Grand Canyon. We spent several hours here at the pub, gift shops, and part of the mine museum. The town in built on the side of a hill just over an hour from our house. It was a thriving mine (bronze i think) in the early 1900s. After about 1930, I believe, the mine was closed. The town went from a population of 20,000 down to 1,000 and the town really was never the same. They bill it as a ghost town, with a mine museum, ghost museums, and ghost stories. We ate and had some drinks at the Haunted Hamburger...a pretty cool place. Had to wait about 30 minutes for lunch. We had a great time and will definitely go back. Jerome had a lot of culture and a real eerie feel about it. Some of the people that lived/worked there looked like they had never left and had been there for over 50 years.

Jerome, AZ

This is the old mining transport cars. This thing is probably only 3 1/2 ft. tall. This is what used to transport workers down into the mines.

More mining equipment...

Some of the old buildings in Jerome. The whole hillside town looked similar to this. Extremely old buildings, some of them completely left unrenovated and crumbling. Most of them have been transformed into eateries, pubs, or gift shops.

I believe this was the old hotel right next to the opening of the mine.

View of maybe a third of the town.

More From Sedona

More pictures from Sedona...



These are from the roadway down into Sedona. The road winds down about 1000 vertical feet through pines and then opens up into the red rock area.


Get a cabin dude...

Sedona

On the way home from the Grand Canyon we took the scenic route down through Sedona to Jerome (old mining town). Sedona was beautiful, but we didn't really stop. Just hopped out of the car enough to take pictures....



Alitia and Aleister:


Some red rocks...

Last of the Grand Canyon

This is heading back up to the top...

And finally back at the top of the canyon looking back down at the start of the South Kaibab...Kabob!



One more look at the view across to the North Rim. It is about 8 miles away straight across from rim to rim. To hike it, it would be 6 miles down to the river and then about 7 back up the other side.


The newly engaged family...and their long, lost buddy in fruity yellow.