Joy and Michael Springer - joyandmichaelspringer

Yup. 

Before the school year starts, it's always nice to take a solo mini-vacation to relax. I camped out in San Diego, California. Look at all the awesome pics to see what I did there!

It looked like Mike's leg was rotting off. Not really. It just looked like a quarter sized red spot with a black dot in the middle. Upon further inspection, it looked like a tick had been attached to Michael, but his skin had scabbed over it. Instead of picking it out myself, I insisted that he go to the minute clinic and have it looked at.

The Dr. at the clinic was able to pull out the tick! It was sooo gross! The tick had been dead for awhile and it looked like Mike's body was trying to push it out. When we got home, it looked like he just had a big hole in his leg and then it started to pus. We pushed out the pus and cleaned the area really well.

According to the Dr, Michael is not at risk for Lyme disease. Just in case, he got an antibiotic and the wound seems to be healing really well. Of course, there are pictures if you are grotesquely interested in what the wound looked like!

Speed cameras suck. The whole policy of speed cameras is totally whack. I was having a fabulous 4th of July when we decided to check the mail. And what do I find to ruin my fabulous day? A ticket! Apparently a speed camera caught me going 56 in a 40 and I owe the town of Paradise Valley $235 for speeding in their lovely town. Here's the kicker...

The car in the speed camera photos isn't even mine! Argh! It's some chick in a Jetta. I've never owned a Jetta in my life. What the hell?!?!?!!? Her car has four doors, it's tanish/green, and... it's a Jetta! You can see the Jetta logo clear as day in the picture zoomed in on the license plate. My car, however, is a two door, blue, hatchback, Hyundai. WTF!? Her license plate number looks to be very close to mine especially with the blurry picture... But wouldn't any moron with half a brain check to see if the car in the picture matched the license plate? Hulllooo. On the ticket it even describes my car as a blue Hyundai... Someone obviously wasn't paying attention.

The best part of all this is that the traffic infraction occurred while we were in Indiana. At about that time, Michael and I were at my brother's rehearsal dinner.

Now I have to waste a day of my summer vacation so that I can go to court and tell them that ... duh!... the car obviously isn't mine. And... no ... I don't know who the damn driver is! That's your job! Arghhhh.

And yes... mother... I know that I can't call the judge and police idiots at court. I will be very polite and state the facts in an organized and compelling manner. That doesn't change the fact that I think they're all still idiots.

So, it’s 6:30 in the morning, Phoenix time, and I haven’t slept for over 24 hours. As you probably noticed from the post title, we haven’t quite resolved the tick problem yet. We arrived home about 2 am and unloaded the car. I was getting ready for a nice warm bath before bed when I spotted it. A little tick on my waist. The little sucker (no pun intended) was already sucking my blood. Worried that Athena might also have a few stowaways we checked her as well. We immediately found a big tick lodged halfway up her yay-hoo (aka vulva). Athena was a good sport and allowed us to attempt to remove said tick. However, we aborted the mission for fear of being mauled. Enter emergency vet.

We drove Athena to the emergency vet knowing that the longer a tick is in, the more likely it is to cause disease. (Actually, the mere thought of the dog having a tick grossed me out so much that I would still have it removed regardless of their propensity to cause disease.) The vet not only removed the tick in Athena’s lady parts, she found more in the following places: 2 in her anus, 2 in the armpit and 7 between her toes. It cost us approximately 10 dollars to have each tick removed. Obviously the tick bath of the previous night did absolutely nothing. Plus, the tick collar was a waste. The vet recommended Frontline tick drops. These things are guaranteed to kill ticks. According to the vet, “The dead tick bodies should just drop off within 24 hours.” I guess that means for the next couple of days Athena will be dropping bug bodies all over the floor… Yippee.

Thus… the early morning trip to the blasted Wal-mart. (Apparently, when it comes to killing ticks, I have no moral compass.) There, I bought an arsenal of sprays, dog drops, etc in which to eradicate the dastardly beasts. I’ve spent the morning spraying and cleaning out EVERYTHING. I am currently at the Laundromat frying the little bastards out of our clothes.

Maybe it’s the lack of sleep, or lack of medication, or just the plain fact that I have OCD, but every brown speck might be a tick. Freckles, once so cute and complimented, are now the enemy. Every brown spot requires a double take. Is it a tick? I do know the spray is working because I have found the desiccated bodies of ticks at the bottom of the camping bag. They look shriveled and dry and I can’t help but smirk at their helpless (ie dead) state.

Timeline for your convenience:

2:00 am – arrive home

2:30 am – Joy finds first tick

2:45 am – Joy finds tick on Athena’s “you know what”

3:30 am – attempts at removing Athena’s tick fail

3:45 am – emergency vet clinic

4:00 am – 12 ticks are removed from Athena

4:30 am – stop by Wal-mart to get chemicals for tick apocalypse

5:00 am – full body check of Joy and Michael reveals 2 more ticks

5:30 am – Joy launches full attack on the enemy

6:00 am – Joy does laundry (ie boil clothes – including the darks)

 

Tick Count for the Morbidly Curious

Joy – 1 tick

Michael – 2 ticks

Athena – 12 ticks (and counting)

Final Thoughts: If none of the sprays work and Frontline fails us, what’s the worst that can happen? I mean we can just check ourselves daily and kill any ticks that attach to us… Right? I mean it’s not like they will be creating myriads of babies to overrun the house or anything… Right? I mean they’ll have to die sometime if they don’t have a food source… Right? I mean the worst that can happen is that we miss one and we get Lyme Disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever…  Shit…

So... visiting the family was fun, etc. But the real adventure began when we headed home. We had the "great" idea of stopping at some nice camping places on our way back. Last night we stopped in Toronto Kansas. The campground seemed nice enough. There were beautiful shade trees and it was located on a very large lake. Before dinner, we decided to take a swim at the lake beach. The water was literally foaming along the shore and the water was so brackish you couldn't see your hand a centimeter below the water line. We decided not to swim for fear of later conceiving a child with four arms and a tail.

As we settled down to dinner, (which was the only good thing in our whole trip) Michael kept noticing "little spiders" crawling all over him. I was just annoyed at first, until he mentioned that said spiders would not be squished. Upon closer inspection I realized that both Michael and the dog were covered in ticks! Ewe!!! It was like we were sitting in the middle of a tick explosion. It was the nastiest thing I've ever seen.

So... instead of sleeping in a tick infested area, we decided to drive to the nearest town (and, unfortunately, the nearest Wal-mart.) We had to buy tick shampoo for the dog and for ourselves. We also bought a tick collar and special tick spray that is supposed to kill ticks on contact, but not hurt humans. (Hell, we may still have that baby with the tail because of all the toxins we sprayed to kill the damn ticks.) At 11 last night we checked ourselves into a Super 8 and gave the dog two tick baths. We probably washed her for a good thirty minutes. Then, we had to de-tick the car and separate the nasty clothes from the non-nasty clothes, etc. Finally, we de-ticked ourselves and spent a good 30 minutes checking each other for the nasty critters.

We had planned to camp again tonight, but we'd rather spend 16 hours in the car than see another tick. Needless to say, the dog is currently wondering if it was a good thing to get adopted by us or if she would have fared better at the pound. If you have read the past posts, you'll notice that we have gotten her lost twice, had her covered in ticks, immediately gave her the bath from hell, and we're about to eat really good smelling McDonald's and not share any with her. At least we can practice on the dog before we become real parents....

It was a dark and stormy night... Not really. Actually, the sun was shining and it looked to be a beautiful day. Michael and I woke up early so that we could head out for a Memorial Day hike. We packed our bags and got the dog ready to go. The planned hike seemed easy enough. We would walk down the side of a mountain to Poland Creek. From there, we would follow the creek until we hit The Big Dipper, a pool with a 30 foot waterfall. I was happy to finally be going on a water hike and Athena was just happy to be going on a hike.

We drove north and started on the dirt road towards Crown King. Half way up the mountain, we drove by Cleatorville. It was essentially made up of several shacks and a "general store." It looked like something out of Deliverance. But, we kept driving to our destination. The road was dirt the entire way and we had some exciting moments on the one lane road and the hairpin turns required.

We finally arrived at the trailhead. Of course, it wasn't really marked. But, there seemed to be a trail. We followed it for a quarter of a mile until we hit the trail register. We were excited to know that we were on the right track. We followed the trail down the mountain for a little over a mile. There were wild flowers everywhere mixed with cacti and some small pine bushes. The sun was low in the sky and there was a nice breeze.

Eventually, we reached Polan Creek. The water glimmered and you could see straight down to the bottom of the creek bed. There were plenty of frogs and lizards scurrying around. We rested in the shade of some of the river trees. I decided to make a cairn to mark where on the creek we had come off of the Algonquin trail. After that, we decided to set off in search of the Big Dipper. As we walked, we came to a fork in the river. We consulted our map and continued on our heading towards the dipper. We felt confident in our hiking skills and felt that the hike hadn't been very strenuous as of yet.

We soon came to "the gauntlet." This area is where the creek widened and became deeper. There were large rock formations on each side. I wore my water sandals and just walked through the gauntlet with Athena swimming behind. The water was freezing, but it felt good. Michael tried to go around without any luck. He eventually had to take off his shoes and traverse the gauntlet as well. Shortly thereafter, we were at the Big Dipper. Unfortunately, we were standing on top of the waterfall! We couldn't figure out a way down to the pool below it. We decided that we might be able to climb down, but the dog just wouldn't be able to do it. So, we decided to head back. The sun was beginning to climb higher anyway.

We made it back through the gauntlet and walked, and walked.... and walked. We started to see more algae in th water. The boulders around the creek bed became rockier and more unstable. We realized we had been climbing upwards along the creek; the canyon wasn't rising nearly as high above us. Then we realized, we had missed the fork in the river. However, this was beyond our comprehension. How could we have missed the fork? It was plain as day when we came upon it the first time. Slowly, the landscape became less and less like we remembered on our hike towards the dipper.

Finally, we decided to turn back around. We slowly walked back the way we came, the sun beating down on us from above and everyone tired from climbing over rocks. Athena and I decided to walk right through the creek and up the miniature waterfalls. Michael continued to traverse the rock face on the side of the creek. We started coming up with worse case scenarios as we walked along. We still had our GPS, so we could at least walk towards a road if the situation got dire, but we both knew that there were only two options we could have followed on the creek. We knew that water would get us somewhere, sooner or later. We also knew that we had plenty of shade and fresh water along the creek bed. We knew we would find our way.

After about 1-2 miles of backtracking, we finally found the fork. Then, it was obvious how we missed the fork. On the way back up the river, a bank of trees blocked where we had come from. Coming back from the dipper, there was no way to recognize the other branch of the creek that fed into the wider water flow. We were ecstatic when we found the branch back to the trail. We continued up the trail and finally spotted the cairn I had made to mark the Algonquin trail that would take us back up the mountain. We rested for a moment when Michael realized that he had run out of water in his hydration pack. Luckily, we had four extra bottles of water.

We started the long ascent up the mountain. It was the worst hiking ever! It was completely uphill for over a mile and there was no shade on the trail. Michael drank down his water like a camel and I was worried that we wouldn't have enough water. I cursed myself for not being able to find any Iodine tablets before our trip. I kept thinking, "If we only had some Iodine tablets, we could have refilled our packs at the creek." We finally made it up the mountain. I felt fine (albeit a little sore from walking uphill) but Mike was worse off. He plopped himself on the ground by the car and refused to move. He was completely tuckered out. All he wanted was water, but we were completely out.

We got into the car and started our drive down the mountain. We were both thirsty and would have given anything for some cold water. Luckily, it didn't take us long to get to Cleatorville. Despite the creepiness of the place, I decided to pull in to the general store/bar and buy some bottles of water. Mike was practically passed out from the hike so I left him in the car and approached the store. There was a morbidly obese man on the porch who seemed to be the proprietor. I asked if he sold bottles of water. We were in luck! He slowly ambled to the refrigerator behind the bar. The place looked even creepier inside, but I knew I could outrun him if he tried to grab me. I got our water and left as quickly as possible.

Michael was so happy to have some fresh, cold water. We sat in the car drinking down the coldness. Despite our mishaps, the trail was truly beautiful. We would post pictures, but the camera was submerged in water accidentally.... we're trying to dry out the camera and see if we can recover the pics.

My teaching buddy, Rachel, Athena, and I drove to the Tonto Narrows to go on a water hike. Unfortunately, the Narrows were closed because of the vandalism caused by miscreants. Oh well. We found another trail, the Barnhardt Trail. It was a beautiful trail and the shade was much welcomed. We saw a stream below us as we hiked up the mountain, but we never got close. Compared to the other hikes (the ones where  Mike and I get terribly lost) it was pretty relaxing. Plus, there was a lot of really cool wildlife!

Sorry to everyone for being so bad about updating our site. We've just been so busy and having way too much fun!

I'll go all the way back to Christmas (play Wayne's World flashback music)... Michael and I had a lovely Christmas together. Everyone was so thoughtful and we were glad there were no mail snafus. The day was beautiful and we enjoyed lazing around the house and not having to go anywhere. We also had this really cool fireplace DVD. It played jazzy Christmas music and had a video of a blazing fire. I mean, this thing was the size of a bonfire. I was really surprised to find tickets to The Nutcracker Ballet in my stocking. We went in saw it the Saturday after Christmas. It was the most beautiful production I've seen yet. The Arizona Ballet Company is really talented and it was nice to go out to the theater together.

The only major event that happened in January was my car accident. I got hit by a Ford F 150 that ran a very red light. My poor little Honda was totaled. I had some back pain, cuts in my leg from where my door caved in, and bruises all over my shoulder from the seat belt. Luckily, nothing was severely damaged and I'm all better after a week of pain. After the wreck, I felt like I was swimming through molasses every time I tried to move a muscle. It totally sucked! I was also looking forward to not having to pay a car payment anymore. However, I had to buy a new car to replace my totaled Honda. I guess I have some more years of a car payment after all. (Someone once mentioned that all cars about to be paid off have a curse on them. They're always the ones that get hit and totaled!)

We've spent a lot of time at the dog park lately. We've met a lot of new people who love their dogs just as much as we love Athena! We usually take some toys for Athena and books for us and hang out for a couple of hours. She's so much nicer after she's run out all of her energy at the dog park. During my winter break, I was able to take her to the park almost every day. She was so calm at night! Now, we're back to our old schedule and we can only take her once or twice a week. When I'm on summer break, I'm going to try and take her everyday. The house is so much calmer when she's been able to run out some of her energy!

Let's see... Mike and I went horseback riding a couple of weeks ago. We went out on a trail for two hours. Because I was the most experienced rider, they put me at the back of the group. Unfortunately, some bozos were shooting in a nearby ghost town and caused my horse to get skittish and bolt! I had to rein her in, but by the time she was under control, I was ahead of the group. She seemed calm and under control, but then another idiot rode by on his ATV. The guy was trespassing and he wasn't in the ATV zone. My horse freaked out again because she was already skittish. Luckily, she didn't get very far when she started to run. For the rest of the ride, I had to stay up front because my horse kept trying to bolt. It was exciting and the trail guide said that I did a really good job of managing the horse, especially since she was being so crazy!

Finally, we've spent some time hiking. Our most recent adventure was Camelback Mountain. We chose to do the easy side, but it was still really hard! The climb was steep and very rocky. There were several parts where we had to do some bouldering to get back to the trail. Also, we had to do some minor mountain climbing. (Nothing dangerous that would require a rope or anything.) Athena was such a trooper. She climbed the mountain with us the whole way to the top. When we go to the top, we all took a breather for about 30 minutes to enjoy the view and have a snack. Athena wasn't so keen on going down the mountain. Several times she got scared and wouldn't climb back down. There were times when I had to pick her up and lower her to Michael so that she would climb down the mountain.

If you check out our weather postings you'll notice that the weather is really nice out here. Last weekend we spent our first day out by the pool. The water was too cold to jump in, but we were able to work on our tans!

We decided to do an awesome hike while we are both on vacation! First, we decided to go up to Wind Cave. It is a 3.2 mile hike up to the cave and back. The cave was created by wind being pushed down the side of the mountain. It was neat to sit in the cave and look down the side of the mountain. The trail up to the top was really cool. There were a lot of rocks left over from volcanic activity. (Of course, there's no activity now!) The rocks shimmered in the sunlight as we walked up the side of the mountain.

It was really easy to take Athena up with us this time. We bought her a special collar that replaced her choke collar. She used to be so excited that she would pratically pull me up (and down) the mountain when we hiked. This collar wraps around the top of her neck and her mouth, just like reigns for a horse. She can still drink and eat with this collar on. If she tries to pull me ahead, the collar turns her head back so that she actually walks towards me, instead of pulling away. It's even more effective than the choke collar and it doesn't hurt her. We also opened one of her Christmas presents early. She loved her backpack and we loved it too! She was able to carry all of her own water, snacks, and extra gear. It lightened our load and she was a lot calmer. I think she felt a part of the pack since she was helping.

After our climb up the mountian, we took a 7.4 mile hike around the mountain. This hike took us through several wash areas, so we were able to see a variety of vegetation. The trail took us between Wind Cave Mountain and another mountain. It was interesting. The wildlife on the back of the mountain was very different than the side with Wind Cave. The back of the mountain had a variety of grasses and other bushes as well as cacti, etc. We saw more wildlife including small birds, chipmunks, and hawks. It was really neat to see the diversity. Next, we walked up to the saddle. This is the half way point and looks a lot like wind cave. Before we reached the saddle, we were warned by another hiker that there were three men up there shooting a gun and throwing rocks on the trail. She had called the rangers, but when we got to the saddle, we didn't see anyone.

We then hiked down from the saddle. As we hiked down, two mountain bikers passed us. We are amazed that these people can ride their bikes up and down the mountains. I know that I would definitely fall off the side of the mountain and probably run into a bunch of cacti. Anyway, it was a long trek down the side of the mountain. We were all exhausted after walking about 11 miles in 5 hours. The rest of the night, Athena was passed out. She could barely keep her eyes open while she ate dinner. Mike and I were pretty tired as well and watched West Wing for the rest of the evening. I doubt we'll go on another hike tomorrow!

Today, we went on the Mormon Trail to the Hidden Valley Trail. We have been spending most of our time on the east side of the valley, so we decided it would be a good time to look at the south side. The trail had us hike up South Mountain. It wasn't very hard as there were a variety of switchbacks up the mountainside. Also, the mountain stone made for nice steps up its side.

After climbing to the top of South Mountain, we took the National Trail to Hidden Valley Trail. The Hidden Valley Trail was very cool. We started by hiking a little further up into the mountains. There is a lovely view of the city from this point. The valley looks so small from that height! Then, we came upon Fat Man's Pass. It is a nine inch wide opening between two boulders. You can go around the pass by climbing on the boulders, but we had fun going between! After the pass, there is a really cool spot with lots of boulders that you can slide down.

Next, we went through another little valley with boulders on each side. We took the hard way and slid down the boulders to the bottom. When we turned around, we saw that there was a much easier trail that just goes around them. We hiked a little further and went through a really cool rock tunnel. It was much wider than Fat Man's Pass and had some petroglyphs on the side.  After the tunnel, we had completed the loop, so we headed back down the mountainside.

This trail was very cool and really easy. We might even take a picnic up the mountain one day!

P.S. Mom, this trail was very easy and very safe. There were quite a few hikers on the trail, even though it didn't feel crowded. Also, as you hike South Mountain, you get closer to the cell phone towers. So, we could always call for help if we needed to!

Yesterday, we went and explored the Hieroglyphic Trail in the Superstition mountains. We hiked 3 miles to see the Hohokam Petroglyphs. These petroglyphs were over 800 years old! It was so neat to see the animals and plant life carved into the rock.

After seeing the petroglyphs, we tried to hike 3 more miles to the Superstition Ridgeline. While the first part of our journey was easy, this route was very difficult. Many of the cairns to help guide us were knocked down. We replaced as many as we could so that other hikers could follow. After we passed by an old copper mine, we had to hop through a series of boulders. This type of hiking is exhausting, especially when you have a dog that wants to choose her own route.

Eventually, I slid and got cut up by a cholla cactus. The cuts seemed minor, but it felt like a knife slicing through my leg. None of the needles got caught in my skin; there were only a few stuck to my pants. I got cleaned up and only have a few scratches on me now. After this experience, we decided that it would take too long to get to the top and we would try it some other time (preferably without the dog).

Even though the route was difficult, we were able to get gorgeous views of the canyon and the city below. We can't wait to go hiking again next weekend. We purchased a hiking book called 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles. We can't wait to travel around our new home and find cool hiking spots. Again, be sure to check out our pictures under the pictures tab!

We just went and saw cousin Jared wrestle at the Sunkist Kids match in Phoenix. It has been years and years since we've seen each other. Michael and I made t-shirts to support Jared in the competition. We were so excited when he won first place! Take a look at the pictures in our picture tab.

Today, we decided to take Athena on her first hike. We looked up several locations for a good day hike and found one that looked reasonable. We printed off some maps, packed a  bag full of food and water and headed off.

We drove out to the Superstition Mountains east of Tempe. We started on the Lost Dutchman Trail, which was a moderate trail and gave a beautiful glimpse at the Superstition wilderness. The weather was perfect. It was only partly cloudy and there was a cool breeze. As the day wore on, the clouds dissipated, but the breeze remained. We decided to take the connection to the Boulder Canyon Trail and stop by the lake. This was going to add about 3 more miles to our trip, but we really didn't mind. There were hardly any other hikers, except for a nice couple who were visiting the area.

We walked along a beautiful mesa that showed vistas of the wilderness all around. Eventually we came upon a sign for the Boulder Canyon Trail and started to follow a rock bed that was dried. We went on for some time hoping to see the lake ahead. According to our maps, it should have been about a 1/2 mile walk. We walked much further and decided that we had probably taken the wrong route and should head back. Besides, we had to hop from boulder to boulder the entire time and our joints were getting sore.

We headed back and had been going for some time before we realized that we probably missed the turn off. We came upon a cairn, but didn't see the Boulder Canyon Trail sign that led us to the river bed. We kept going, hoping to see the sign soon. After about 1/2 an hour we decided that it would be best to do some scouting, especially since Athena was getting very tired. I left Mike and Athena under a tree with the backpack, took a bottle of water, and started to scout. Usually, I would never go out alone, but we had a time limit set and I was not going to leave the river bed.

I went back to the spot with the cairn and looked around some more for the sign that had led us to the river. There was no sign, but I remembered that many of the strange rocks in the area had salt on them.  I was able to follow this path a little ways and find our trail again. After I retrieved Mike and the dog, we followed on the trail still a little unsure if it was the right one. We got out our GPS and saw that we were headed in the right direction. Even if it wasn't the original trail, we knew that it was leading us in the right direction.

Eventually, we started recognizing more and more landmarks and knew we were on the right path. Our original plan was to go 3 miles in and come 3 miles out. In the end, we travelled 7 miles in and 7 miles back. It made for a very long day! Honestly, there were a couple moments when I was scared that we were lost for good, but we both knew we had to stay calm. We had plenty of food and water to last us for a night, plus extra jackets, etc. We also had maps of the area and a compass to guide us.

After this trip, we decided that we would get the newest trail guides to help us on our way!

After Sophie passed away,  I decided that we should rescue a dog from the pound. They have 5 or 6 different animal shelters in the Phoenix area and we went around visiting them all. We decided to get a larger dog so that we could take it on hikes. As usual, I wanted a female dog.

We spent several weeks looking around and we finally found a group of three Australian Cattle Dogs. There was one male and two females in the litter. They had been at the pound for over a month. The male was very aggressive. He refused to let his two little sisters eat and would bite at them whenever they tried to leave the kennel.

We tried to play with one of the little girls, but she was way too scared to come out of the kennel. We played with a couple other dogs and went home to think about which dog would suit us best.

The next week, we went back and the three Australian Cattle Dogs were still there. The male dog was still being very mean. We were finally able to play with one of the girls and we fell in love with her immediately. She has huge ears that practically take up her entire head! She also looked like she rolled around in a bunch of white paint.

We adopted her that day and named her Athena, goddess of war and wisdom. She is a very smart dog and was able to figure out how to get out of her crate on several different occasions! We had to reinforce her crate with steel wire! She was malnourished while she was at the pound, so the initial pictures I'm posting of her make her look way too skinny. She's a perfect weight now and she has a muscular, lean body.

She loves to go on hikes with us and can't stand to be away from us. She follows me around the house, even if she's been sleeping. She'll just plop herself right next to wherever I'm working. Currently, she's learned sit, stay, and come. We're still working on "down" and "stay." She's just too excited to have to sit still! She loves to give kisses and receive belly rubs. I'm glad we decided to get another dog. It is nice to have a companion.

Our friend, Mike, had an awesome birthday party! The party was a Zombie theme and we had a lot of fun going to Goodwill and picking out Halloween costumes early. Be sure to look at the pictures of the party under the pictures tab.

I went as Jane Austen Zombie; inspired by the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I was in full period costume! We didn't skimp on any of the details. Michael went as a man who had been run over by a car while he was jogging. We almost bought him a pair of glasses and said that he was Stephen King Zombie. We thought that was a little morbid and unkind. (Technically, we really just didn't have time to find glasses that would work!)

We spent the evening watching a range of zombie movies. Everything was themed and it was a good time.

Sophie was born on July 19, 2001. She was the runt of her litter, but that didn't stop her from being spunky. When we went to pick out a puppy, she stood out from the rest of the crowd. She walked right up to me and put her nose on mine; claiming me as her owner and friend. From that day we were inseparable. Sophie enjoyed running around the backyard and going on walks. Of course, she didn't like walks that were too long. She also enjoyed keeping the squirrels and other critters out of the backyard and protecting us from the random stroller or bicyclist. She also enjoyed chasing the ironing board back into its closet, something she never grew tired of. She became ill shortly after our wedding and was able to make the trip out to Arizona. Unfortunately, she deteriorated from that point. On September 8, 2009 Sophie died at the ripe old age of 8 years.

Michael and I have both had a couple full weeks of working. We've both been crazy busy and we're trying to get used to waking up at 5 in the morning. Right now we only have one car, so we're trying to do the carpool thing. It's been difficult and we can't wait until we have Mike's car fixed.

Mike seems to be having a good experience at work. The M&I banks here aren't that different from Indiana, so he hasn't had to learn a new system or anything. He still has to go to orientation, even though he's already been "oriented." Oh well. It sounds like an easy day to me!

My job at Genesis Academy is going wonderfully. I'm not used to teaching four different classes in a semester. Usually, I only have to teach one or two classes per semester. I don't mind, going  over the same information 8 times a day can get boring for me. So far, the kids have been good and I'm developing rapport with many of them.

Michael and I have made some new friends in our neighborhood. We've been hanging out and watching movies and playing Wii. Other than that, things are pretty much the same!

Today we decided to splurge and went to a water park called Wet 'N Wild Phoenix. We both had an awesome time even though Michael got terribly burnt. We applied sunscreen before we went, when we got there, and every two hours and he still got burnt! Oi! I, on the other hand, got an awesome tan. (Thanks mom and dad for those genes!)

We couldn't believe how many people were at the park on a Monday, especially since there was an excessive heat warning out. I guess they were all crazy like us! We started with the Phoenix Flyers which were pretty basic slides that you went down in a tube. We eventually moved on to the Maximum Velocity slides which were described as "water coasters." These two slides were awesome. They actually boosted you up hills and dropped you down roller coaster like dips. The whole time we were in a tandem water tube. You had to keep your butt up to keep from being blasted! It was basically a water slide on crack.

They also had the Super Bowl, which everyone was referring to as the Toilet Bowl. You rode a tube down a slide and it dropped you into what looked like a huge toilet bowl. It spins you around and around until you get sucked out the bottom. They also had a really cool Mammoth Falls slide that started out like a white water ride and ended up dropping you fifty feet. We rode with a young boy and his dad the first go around. Mike and the dad sat on one side, which was a big mistake. The little boy and I went airborne as Mike and the dad went down the drop first. Luckily, we all held on tight and made it to the bottom alive.

They also had your basic water park features like a wave pool, racing slides, and twisting slides you go down in tubes. Overall, we had a lot of fun and are thinking about getting season tickets next year.

We decided to get up early today and visit Lost Dutchman State Park. Michael got camera happy and took a lot of pictures of the road on our way to the park. He really wanted to capture what it looks like driving around with mountain vistas everywhere you look. Arizona also has really cool rock designs on the sides of the highway. It's really a beautiful place to live.

We got to the park and only had to pay $3 for entrance even though it was the weekend and we had out of state plates. Basically, it will be a lot cheaper to go visiting the state parks here! We decided to try out the Siphon Draw Trail that led us into the Superstition Mountains. It was hard to find the trail head at first because the desert is so vast and open. We finally saw a trail that had a rock border on both sides. It was neat following the trail out into the desert.

At first, way before we got to the mountain, there were little Quails running around making funny noises. They're probably the cutest birds we've ever seen. Mike observed that they run like toddlers - head jutted out in front and the rest of the body following in a straight line. We're still trying to figure out how to describe the sounds they make as they run. Either way, it was a super cute noise! We also saw a lot of lizards running around. At the end of the trail, we saw a cotton-tail rabbit. He was standing on his hind legs pulling at the branches trying to get some food. He looked very similar to the rabbits we have back home, but his ears were huge! 

After traversing the trail at the bottom of the mountain, we entered the Tonto National Forest which is connected to this state park. Here the trail got a little confusing because the rock border turned into a rock trail. We were slipping and sliding on a lot of the rocks, especially when we actually started to climb the mountain. As we climbed, we kept rushing to areas of shade provided by the mountain so that we could get out of the heat of the sun that kept climbing higher and higher in the sky. We finished the Siphon Draw Trail and decided to leave the Flatiron Trail (the trail that goes to the very top of the mountain) for the next visit. We definitely did not want to run out of water!

Overall, the park was gorgeous and we didn't see any dangerous animals. There were entire fields of tumbleweed plants. There were also a lot of varieties of cactus. There was another plant that sounded like a rattlesnake because it was full of dried seedpods that rattled in the wind. We can't wait until springtime when the whole mountain is covered in wild flowers!

It was an interesting trip out to Arizona. We got started a little late because we had to relinquish our keys to the apartment complex, etc. By the time we got off 465, Sophie had peed on her pillow 3 times! It was a mess and we had to turn around to go to a pet store. We had to buy her doggy diapers and throw out her favorite pillow. She was not happy with us at all when we put the diaper on her. She tried to get it off, but couldn't reach it. Then, she refused to walk to the car with the diaper on. She just sat by the car glaring at us. We had to pick her up and carry her whenever the diaper was on!

After that little fiasco, we were able to get pretty far. Missouri was congested near St. Louis and Mike had to try and follow me through a detour at the start of rush hour traffic. It was a mess, but we made it through okay. While in Missouri, we stopped at Meramec Caverns. It was a pretty cool park. There was a large river running through the park that we were able to wade through. There were a lot of cool little shops at the front of the cave. The biggest shop was actually half way inside the cave. We wanted to take a tour, but it was way too expensive so we putzed around the store.

During the car ride, Sophie sulked the entire time. I think she was still upset about having to wear a diaper. Sometimes she would get excited and stick her nose to the air conditioning vent to smell the outside. She also smudged her nose all over the passenger side window - I could barely see through it by the time we got to Oklahoma!

We stayed the night in a small town in Oklahoma. Of course, I can't remember the name, but it was nice. We left Sophie in the hotel and had a nice dinner at Chili's. (For all of our other meals we had to take turns watching Sophie. One of us had to stay outside with the dog while the other got the food.)

The next morning, we headed off again. We both dreaded going through New Mexico as it is a very large state and it never seems to end. We made it to Grants, New Mexico which is on the border of Arizona and New Mexico. We wanted to see if we could drive all the way through, but after 8 hours on the road, we were both sick of driving. We started to get really excited because we were able to see the desert terrain and mountains.

On our final day of travel, we decided to take the scenic route into Arizona. We drove through the Tonto National Forest, which is absolutely stunning. The forest is mostly made up of pine and is in a mountainous area. The view is breathtaking when you look over the side of the mountain and see a vista of trees all around you.

We were happy when we finally got to Tempe safe and sound. It's nice to finally be home!

Mike and I had a wonderful 4th of July with his family and the McDonald Clan. We all went to Conner Prairie to see Symphony on the Prairie. The music was fantastic, as always, but we felt that there was way too much down time. A lot of the time was taken up by actors reading patriotic letters and random people telling stories. We really just wanted to sit back and listen to the amazing symphony.

I will definitely miss the symphony; I hope that Arizona has a symphony that is at least as good as the Indianapolis Symphony. It will also be weird being so far away from Conner Prairie. We'll just have to be sure to visit it when we come back home to visit.

Overall, the evening was fantastic with great food, great friends, and great fireworks.

This month, Michael turned 28! He was a little bummed because it meant he would be in his late twenties instead of his mid-twenties. I keep giving him a hard time. I like to tell him that I'm still in my early twenties. What a cradle robber!

For his birthday I drove him out to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Ashboro, IN. He had always wanted to visit, but had never gotten a chance. In fact, we were supposed to go there before we started dating, but things fell through. He had no clue where we were going until he saw the signs - and heard the roars!

The Exotic Feline Rescue Center rescues exotic cats that have been mistreated or need a good place to live. For every cat they rescue, they have to turn down around 40 others. It's sad to hear the stories of lions living in cages that are so small they can't walk or turn around. We had fun taking the tour and seeing all of the cats in their new large digs.

You can look in our photo album for pictures of our tour. The white Bengal tiger in the picture was gorgeous in person. Many circuses and other acts will say that they are protecting a species by breeding this type of tiger, but this is not true. White tigers are not a species, but a genetic defect. Most white tigers have serious deformities. This tiger is blind and the breeder got rid of it because its fur wasn't white enough. The best action we can take is to boycott shows that use tigers such as these - or any large animals for that matter.

The tigers really loved the water! It was about 1 pm when we visited, so they were all soaking in the tubs provided for them. Many of the tigers were able to come here through donations from the Tony Stewart Foundation. Actually, a lot of the tigers are named Tony.

The Bobcat that you see standing on top of his enclosure is Rocky. Rocky's owners taught him how to use the toilet! Unfortunately, his owners did not have a license to own him. The EFRC took him in and promised to give him back if his owners got the proper paperwork. The owners never came back for him. Rocky lived with the owner of the EFRC for awhile. Unfortunately, he turned on all the water faucets in the house and flooded the downstairs! They moved him outdoors and he was very confused when he couldn't find the toilet.

After visiting the cats, we drove to a little field and had a picnic lunch. We hung out at home for awhile and enjoyed lamb ke-bobs for dinner. Overall, it was an awesome day!

8/6/2009 1:36:17 AM - 002081893884
Thank you for including me! And update me! You guys are in Arizona? Living there? Details, please!