During our years of travel, we always have snacks to eat while driving. Years ago, the snacks of choice were Fiddle-Faddle, homemade cookies or kettle corn. As we became more conscious of our diet, we started snacking on dried fruit, nuts or trail mix. This trip’s traveling snack is Goldfish crackers. First, we love them, but more importantly, they contain 100 percent real cheddar cheese and we are trying to eat more fish.

Monday, Dec. 6

We did our morning hike with the girls without a cloud in the sky and the temperature was already in the low 70’s. The trail took us in and out of dried creek beds. Carol was good with going down, but going back up started to be a challenge. We traded dogs and Christy, the adventure dog, started pulling her up every incline. The trail became easy.

After lunch, I took off for a bike/hike. I chained my bike to a post at the bottom of Brown Mountain. It was now 80 degrees and still not a cloud in the sky. When I removed my helmet, the hot sun made me realize that I had not brought my hat to protect my beautiful bald head. What to do? My helmet went back on and I started hiking up the rocky mountain trail. As I approached a couple coming down the mountain, I sensed they were amused by my helmet. As we passed, I nodded and mumbled, “My wife makes me wear this helmet when I hike rocky trails.” The giggling could be heard for quite a distance. It was a challenging hike, but the views at the top made it worth the effort. Back at the Ham, Lois was still researching the poisonous snakes and attacking creatures that live in this park. She tells me that she worries about me, but I know she’s more concerned about losing her RV driver. 

Click on this link to view my hike: https://photos.app.goo.gl/vBgq5cyzjDEbKTo2A

Tuesday, Dec. 7

We drove to southern Arizona today, close to the Mexican border. Organ Pipe National Monument is another favorite of ours. At Organ Pipe, we now get to see organ pipe cactus along with the saguaro cactus. It’s beautiful here and very quiet. It’s so quiet, that the only thing you might hear is some “border activity.” Except for walking the dogs a couple of times a day, all we did was sit in the sun and rest.

Click on this link to view pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7pTLEewfMa9UF9YZ6

Thursday, Dec. 9

Beautiful scenery, miles of hike & bike trails and almost silence. This is what you find at White Tank Mountain Park in Phoenix, AZ. This is another favorite of ours and we always look forward to being here. I mentioned almost silence above because it’s quiet here until fighter jets fly over. The blast of noise is sometimes deafening, but it is very short-lived. It is also fun to watch them maneuver. 

Friday, Dec. 10

We went for a long hike in the desert this morning with the girls. Thirteen-year-old Lucy has been leading the way recently. She walks fast and with a purpose. Towards the end of the hike, she started running with me like a crazy dog. Christy thought it looked like fun, so she tried to join us. Unfortunately, she was leashed to Carol, or maybe, unfortunately, Carol was leashed to Christy. Either way, there was a lot of screaming and a lot of dust.

After lunch, I got to really try out my mountain bike. The dirt and rock trails took me across the desert, through dried-up creek beds and along the base of mountains. It was great to smoothly and safely ride a trail with the proper bike. My other bike is for the road.

Click on this link to view more pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NkYpo3M1mZBJdJTg7

Saturday, Dec. 11

We did another dog hike this morning under a clear blue sky. The temperatures were in the fifties, but the hot sun makes you warm. We take water for the dogs and a collapsible bowl. I had forgotten to take the bowl yesterday, so Carol became the responsible one. When we stopped to give the dogs a drink, she couldn’t find the bowl. She figured it must have slid out of her pocket. The dogs drank out of our cupped hands and we hiked on. When we got back to the Ham, I redid the trail on my bike. The first hill quickly let me know how tired my legs were from yesterday’s ride. It’s a good thing that I don’t mind the dogs drinking out of my hands, the bowl was not found.

Lois spent the afternoon sitting in the sun and looking out over the desert and mountains. She was disappointed when the sun started setting.