Broke truck and grand vistas.

It doesn’t seem like all that much has been going on in my life lately, but I suppose there are some updates to be posted. For one thing – the 4Runner has officially bit the bullet. With 315,000 miles on the ticker I heard a bad grinding noise and then the engine stalled. When I took the poor gal apart I found this:

 

A shattered valve shim, with a valve lifter shoved a little funky into the block:

 

The cost to repair the valve assembly and replace the head is more than the truck is worth by a good bit, so it’s time for the beast to go on to the graveyard. It’s been a great ride though, and I’ll definitely miss it.

 

So now my day-to-day life is a little bit more local, limited to where my feet can take me, or where Courtney wants to drive when we have time off together. C’est la vie.

 

We did get to spend some time down in the canyon for spring break, which was a blast, as usual. I saw some swirly rocks:

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And some swirly water:

 

I also had the opportunity to get off the beaten path and hike a route called the ARZ, which was amazing! Filled with grand vistas of the canyon (bright angel creek seen here):

 

Not a bad spot to hang out:

 

Other than that:

- I will be starting a new job in the nearish future, making coffee at Starbucks, and scratching another item off the ol’ bucket list.

- Prescott is starting to warm up again, making me miss my daily forays into the woods with the dog.

- Life is pretty great.

Havasupai

Last weekend a group of us went down to Havasupai. It was a great trip. There were seven of us total, We had two nights in the campgrounds, and two of our days were nice and overcast. We swam in the turquoise waters, we hiked to the major falls, we had fun. I took my little Canon G9 camera, and tried not to worry about photos too much.

 

Beginning the hike in:

 

Lil’ Navajo Falls:

 

We swam in the pool below Havasu Falls:

 

We hiked to Mooney falls, and tested our mettle on the chains and ladders that you must go down (here’s a video of somebody else doing it) to continue the hike:

 

And I got a closer look from the top of Mooney as well:

 

We made it all the way to Beaver falls, where we swam and cavorted in the water, ate a lunch, and hung out for a bit:

 

Most of use slept in hammocks, which allowed us a great slice of the stellar view at night (this being the only time the little G9 couldn’t get the picture I wanted):

 

We had a fairly leisurely hike out, stopping at the cafe in the Indian village to eat a breakfast at get some more coffee in our systems. On the hike one of our party caught sight of a little fox lounging in the shade:

 

And at long last we made it out, for the three hour drive back home, with a great parting view:

 

For all the pictures, see the Flickr Set Here

Katch-up

Far too long since posting. So what’s new in the land de Tom?

Well, my sister Tiffany has moved back from Virginia with the family. We are all pretty excited to have them close by, and we had the opportunity to go see them for my niece Chloe’s 10th birthday. The day started out at the zoo, checking out all the animals:

 

I shot photos of animals. On both sides of the glass:

 

Then it was time for the party. Pizza, cake, and presents – everything a girl could hope for.

 

It was a great time, and I’m super glad to have them.

 

The next big thing was going to the Grand Canyon over spring break. Courtney, myself, my sis Nikki, her beau Michael, and our friend Tony headed down to Phantom Ranch for a few days of vacation. As always, it was amazing. We hiked to Ribbon Falls, which was a real treat, as well as up the Clear Creek Overlook.

 

Pics:

  

 

 

Other than all that, it is spring time in Prescott. I’m still waiting tables, I’m now the trainer for any new servers we get, and I’m training to be a bartender. Lots of time out in the woods with the hound, lots of quiet hours at home with Courtney. Life is, as usual, pretty amazing and awesome.

And then… everything changes. (And oh, I found some photo-mojo!)

My co-workers throw me a going away party. I don’t remember much of it, so I’m sure we had a great time. Everybody having a headache the next day confirms this fact. Our boss lets us go home early, and so I give quick good-byes to all the folks I’ve come to know and admire over the last five months.

 

I go home and I pack all my stuff into the 4Runner, there isn’t much more than when I was on the road. I’m done half an hour later. Sister and I go out for our last dinner together, and after a nice breakfast and coffee the next morning I’m driving a familiar track to Prescott. As soon as I arrive I dump all my stuff in the living room, and immediately begin re-packing for a four day vacation in the north of the state. When I’m done, before I can even realize that I no longer live in Jerome, we throw everything into Courtney’s car and hit the road.

 

We quickly head to Lake Powell, to a camping area called Lone Rock, and setup camp with friends from Prescott and from Massachusetts. We are all headed different directions tomorrow, but tonight we congregate on the sandy shore of the lake:

 

 

The near-full moon provides a nice light by which to admire lone rock:

 

After cooking breakfast and packing it all in, we all get a late start out of the area. Our friends from Prescott are off for a few days of kayaking around the lake, while the friends from Mass decide to join Courtney and I on our next stop – slot canyons. Along the way we stop to check out the ‘Toadstool’ hoodoo formations along the southern section of Escalante:

 

And from there it was just a hop, skip and a jump over to the Wire Pass/Buckskin Gulch slot canyons. It was my first time into a slot canyon and I was super excited to try photographing it. We had a blast:

 

Once we got to Buckskin we trekked upstream along a muddy track that was thankfully created by people earlier that day. It was slick and a fall into the mud was always close at hand, thankfully nobody fell in.

Once the trail came to a watery end we turned around and headed back to the car, me snapping pictures all the way:

 

Once we were out, we parted ways with our Mass friends, as they headed up to Salt Lake City and we headed to a nearby campground for the night where, unfortunately, the restroom vents were blowing our way and made for a bit of a stinky night.

 

The next day, we didn’t know where to go. I wanted to go up into the Escalante monument, but road reports were grim. A big storm had closed one major road, and they didn’t know about the other. In Courtney’s little Toyota corolla we didn’t want to risk it. So we drove out to nearby Kanab, Utah, and grabbed some coffee at the local coffee shop / outdoor outfitter. We asked the great folks there for recommendations, and were pointed in the direction of Kanab Creek Wilderness. We looked up the area in a resource book and decided on the Snake Gulch trail, reported to have lots of petro glyphs and pictograms. Off we went, through the beautiful Kaibab Plateau, and down the cockscomb to the trailhead. The trail was level, and made for a gorgeous afternoon hike:

 

And soon we found little spur trails leading to rock walls. On these walls were some pretty awesome things:

 

 

We hiked about five miles in before the threat of darkness turned us around and we headed back to the car. By the time we got to the trailhead it was sunset, and since we were all alone, we opted to camp right there. Not a bad spot at all, and best of all – no stinky bathroom!

The moon was bright, and I tried shooting a few photos, but it quickly got cold and so we retreated to the sleeping bags.

 

The next morning we decide to call it the end of our trip, and turn southward once more. We stop in the Navajo reservation to snap a few pictures of a graffiti artist’s work:

 

And Courtney plays model for me:

 

From there we stopped into Flagstaff to have dinner with another friend, before finally heading home.  My new home, with the gal I love. Time to move into the next chapter of my life.

 

For all the photos from the trip, check out this link.

One of those catchup posts

So, since I’ve gotten home it has been a whirlwind.

Christmas eve was spent in Jerome with my sister, her boyfriend Michael, and my mom. It was good food, good folks and lots of laughs:

 

 

Christmas day was spent with Courtney and friends – sans camera. Lots of drinking and conversation, some food. Not a bad way to spend a holiday.

The following day we went rock climbing in the granite dells. It was my first time, and it was a total blast.

 

Mid-week I met up with Catalyst, of Oddball Observations, for lunch. We had some great conversation and some decent food in downtown Prescott. It was a real joy to get to see him and catch up in person. He’s one of those folks who I always enjoy talking to.

 

About this time there was also snow, lots of snow, falling in Prescott. Courtney and I threw her cats out into the white fluffy stuff. Cruel and unusual? Yep!:

 

 

All told, we got about six inches that night/morning. More than I’ve seen in a while:

 

I also got to have a few cups of coffee with my good friend Daryn throughout the week. He’s in town from Pennsylvania, and we had a ton of fun chatting, joking, and philosophizing:

 

New years eve found me hiking out in the snow with the dog in the morning:

 

And spending the evening with friends at Chris’ house. We counted down to midnight, and then I promptly went to bed.

 

Welcome to 2011!!