"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." Bilbo Baggins

Category: Arizona

Seven Falls and Cactus Forest Trail Hikes

Time for a little catch up blogging.  I am a little behind writing about our hiking adventures.  We had set goals of hiking once a week.  But like with many things, life has a way of modifying your goals.  Fortunately for us, the modifications were all for good things.  Old friends visiting, family visiting, and
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Together for Christmas

Anytime your whole family can be together is a special time.  When it happens during the sentimentality of the Christmas season, it makes you even more aware of how thankful we are for those things that are most important in our lives.  This year we were especially spoiled as both of our boys and their
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Holiday Traditions

We all have holiday traditions; some passed down to us by our parents, some we share with our extended families, and some we start on our own – like making cookies, opening a single gift on Christmas Eve, trimming the tree, watching Christmas movies.  You get the idea.  Well one of the family traditions we
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Hiking Season Begins: Saguaro National Park East

There is an old saying here in Tucson, “if you can’t stand the 100’s, you do not deserve the 70’s”.  Well, it’s not that we can’t stand the 100’s, it’s just we prefer them sitting around a pool with a cold drink.  On the contrary, the 70’s are made for hiking, and that time of year has
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Family Vacations

Every other year the past 10 years, we would escape the cold of the Midwest and head to the Florida Keys for a long weekend of sun, food, beaches, and hanging out.  But this year was a little different.  Since we had moved to Tucson and everyone’s schedules had gotten crazy, the family decided to all come here for a stay-cation.  Since there were no hotel costs, we used “the fund” to pay for our entertainment and filling our stomachs.

East Comes West

Visitors are what makes a house feel like home, especially family visitors.  Besides celebrating Independence Day, the 4th of July also brought the other half of our immediate family out to Arizona to see us.  Our other son, and our soon to be daughter-in-law (just 14 days from the day I am writing this) came
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Back on the Trail – Finally

These last two months of moving in and getting settled in our house has wrecked havoc on our leisure activities.  Golfing, hiking, exploring and date nights were shelved for unpacking, sorting, hanging pictures, construction and installs.   Feeling completely exasperated with the sense of being held prisoner in our own home, we made a breakout escape
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