Christmas Eve

Michelle and I were alone for Christmas Eve for the first time in our marriage. We had a very fun day and tried to do some things to make it different from other days we spend alone.

My mom sent us reindeer food as part of the 12 days of Christmas. Here I am spreading it out in the yard so we could ensure Santa would visit.

Michelle made a German meal of rouladen, sauerkraut, potato dumplings.

The rouladen is thinly sliced beef rolled up with spices and other food inside.

They are then tied together, browned and then boiled until tender.

Yummy!

Candle lit dinner for two. (it was super tasty too.)

After dinner we did a video conference call with Michelle's family while we opened up buddy gifts. It was a lot of fun to be included, and fun to use technology to be close to family.

After we opened up buddy gifts with Michelle's family, we opened up new Christmas PJ's, then drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We then returned home shared hot chocolate...

...read 'The Night Before Christmas', and finally watched the original Grinch and A Muppet's Christmas Carol.

It was a little sad to be away from family, but we had a wonderful time with each other.

A white Christmas?

No, just Hail, but in Mesa we will take whatever we can get.

One last tree picture....

A storm just rolled through, so the sun is hiding and Jeff decided it would be the perfect time to grab a picture of our tree in all its glory. You, our dedicated readers, get to enjoy it :)

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Tree Makeover

Two years ago we scored a great deal on a prelit Christmas tree in an after Christmas sale. This year after we had put up the tree and decorated it, the lights started to burn out. The first plan was to fix the lights with a Wal-mart light fixing gun. No good. I think that gun is just a con to get you to spend $20 and hours fiddling with the lights! The second plan was to ignore the 50 or so lights that wouldn't light. That worked until almost half the lights wouldn't light. The third (Michelle approved) and successful plan was to un-decorate the tree, strip off the lights, and put new LED lights (Jeff approved) on.

The before picture.

Without the ornaments.
Removing the lights.

More light removal.

Bad lights!

New lights.

First level of lights.

This is me realizing that we need more lights. The ten boxes I bought from the first store only did the bottom of the tree! We proceeded to 4 other stores to buy all the lights we could find.

Putting the tree back together or playing Christmas tree?

Almost done.

Final stretch.

All done with lights. Final count: 1440 LED lights, 24 boxes, 4 Fry's stores, 80% more efficient.

The left over boxes. Finished and decorated!

This one's for you, Grandma :)

I have all these good intentions to keep my blog up to date, and then.....nothing :) I really have no good reason why I don't get on here more often to update things. I suppose that it seems like our lives don't vary that much--things were more exciting while I was in school :) However, I got a sweet Christmas card from my Grandma saying that she checks the blog often, and there hasn't been any changes lately, so I thought I'd better spice things up!

Thanksgiving was fun this year. I think that we have spent every Thanksgiving but 2 at home with either friends of family over. This was an odd one because I didn't cook a thing! We got invited to two dinners--so fun. Thankfully Jeff was home too, so it worked out nicely. I am now taking applications for next years dinner...be warned, we were spoiled with lots of good food and company :) Although, if you have cooler weather, you will get a point--it was 80 degrees and that was just way too warm for turkey day!

So it turns out that Jeff's company has no idea when they will be doing what. They put these time lines out and then change them. Jeff hasn't traveled once since October. I put Jeff on notice--give me 24 hours so that I can be sure you have enough laundry done, otherwise, I don't want to know the "plan." Both launches are delayed until early-ish next year as they wait for a part to be made to overcome some rotation problem they found. It has been nice to have Jeff around more than expected, but I will admit to mild irritation because we haven't made plans for things since we didn't know what to expect. For instance, I had this insane desire to hike the Grand Canyon again this year. Not sure why--I had a dream about it and decided we should. It probably won't happen until the fall (if it happens at all!) because of work stuff. We shall see....maybe I will come to my senses before then :)

Our church callings are keeping us busy. This time of year is especially crazy for me. I collected all of the teachers binders this week, so I will be spending the next couple getting the teachers all ready for the new year. I also have to update all of the presidency lists etc. I envy those of you who work in other organizations where there isn't quite as much paper shuffling. My goal is only 2 paper cuts this year :) We have a tiny number of scouts (both cub and boy), so we were trying to get another ward to meet with us, but that didn't work out, so Jeff has had a little shift in what he is doing. He is still the YM secretary and an assistant scout master, but he is going to be running the 11 year old scouts. I think he is pretty excited about it--all those scouty things he gets to teach unsuspecting young men! We are actually hosting a scout Christmas party for the 11 and 12 year olds tomorrow night. I am hoping they will have fun. I am a little stressed about it because I have gotten slightly carried away, but I am a firm believer in Christmas being magical for kids....even if they are slowly turning into stinky teens! I also have a primary Christmas party on Saturday--between the two events I am making a little over 200 sugar cookies! I didn't realize that these were in the same week, or I might have reconsidered a thing or two. Good thing my work schedule is a little more lax this week :)

We will be spending Christmas here in AZ--the first time we will be alone for Christmas! I probably complained about this in several earlier posts... forgive me for mentioning it again. I am trying to be less traumatized about it, and embrace it for its opportunities. We have been invited to several places, but I am thinking that we should just stay home and figure out what we want out of the holiday--I am sure this isn't going to be the only Christmas we are stranded with only one another for company :) I am trying to think of ways to make it fun and different from all the other days we are home together....I am open to suggestions.

I was going to post some pictures of Jeff putting lights up in shorts and t-shirt, but my memory card is being freaky. You will just have to use your imagination, and yes, it still freaks me out that it is so warm here. Sunday was a cool blustery day, with crunchy leaves getting blown about--fall in other words! I have big plans to make Jeff take me to see some snow while we are both off! Our other Christmas decorations are up too. I have several new nativities, so it was fun to put them up. Our tree is a little sad this year--the whole middle section of lights is out and then two little spots on the sides. Jeff spent a good hour laying underneath it with one of those little guns trying to figure out what was going on. I left the room to change into cozy pants and came back out to find Jeff just laying there, defeated. I have been trying to convince him that he wants to take the ornaments off and replace the lights, but as yet, he is unmoved :) I was hoping the idea of LED lights would spark some interest (he loves electronic gizmos!) but I only got a mildly interested response. We shall see....

I had big plans to get Christmas cards out, but I don't know if that will happen. If it doesn't, know that we still love you and are thinking about you, but that I am blitzed. I really am going to try to be better about updating this blog....especially now that I know someone is reading! Merry Christmas!

Because there isn't much else for me to do :)

Well friends, our lives are boring. Mine is especially boring with Jeff out of town. Thankfully I have friends that occasionaly take pity on me and let me come and hang out with them :) Halloween was one of those nights--thanks Deanne, Lance, and family for letting me come hang with you. I was a lot less nervouse that I was about to get beaten up since I was in a crowd! I didn't really dress up this year because, well, I'm really boring this year. I didn't get any fall decorations up. Maybe because we seem to be skipping fall here in the big AZ. It is still 90 this week! I did however, glam up the makeup in honor of the horror of the day :) I even have proof:

Pay no heed to the unmade bed mess behind me!

In other news, we are sad to say that we will be going absolutly no where for any holiday this year. I am totally bummed. We don't usually go anywhere for Thanksgiving, so I'm not as sad about that, but Christmas! In the words of my favorite siblings--double crabz!! So, don't mention the word Christmas to me unless you want some wailing and gnashing of teeth to come your way. *Sigh* Are you sure we have to grow up and fly away from home? I miss my family!

And now, to remind myself that there are lovely, happy things in the world, like fall :) here are a couple of pictures that didn't make it into Jeff's post about camping.

This is what our tent opened up to--a lovely site in the morning.

I just loved the colors and textures in this trees bark....I know it's weird. I think I might have a disease, I am obsessed with things like that.

Aren't these the cutest little acorns!?!?

This is actually from a couple of months ago--it is the desert (obviously) somewhere along the highway. It reminds me of a little book my Mom had when I was little.

Campout

This last week we escaped the heat (yep it was 100 degrees yesterday) and went camping in Oak Creek Canyon. Oak Creek Canyon is a beautiful area just north of Sedona. It is a great place to camp in the fall because it is one of the few places in Arizona that you get the fall colors. We had a great time relaxing and enjoying being outdoors. We went on a few hikes and spent a bunch of time just relaxing. I know it was good to get away from everything. While we were there Michelle got a urinary tract infection, so we had to pack up the last night early and drive home so she could go to the doctor and get some medicine, but it was still a great trip.


Lounging about in the cool weather. (Notice evidence that Michelle was there!)

Getting ready to cook.

Some of the fall colors.

Picture of wildlife!

Do you miss us?

Yeah, so we haven't been very good with updating our blog. I believe that the problem is we haven't seen much of each other :) and....we are sometimes lazy. I am now going to try to make it up to you.

Unfortunately there haven't been any more cockroaches, so no good stories! Jeff has been in California a bunch, they are hoping to launch October 30th. We are going to find out tomorrow (we hope!) if Jeff is really leaving Thursday for 6 weeks. If he doesn't head out then, it will probably be in the next week-ish. I am personally hoping that the launch happens before Thanksgiving....I don't know if I can deal with a single-person holiday season. (I don't know if Jeff's pocket book can handle a single-person holiday season ;))

I have been hard at work testing tons of little ears. I have successfully picked up a few germs, but, I am now recovered and hoping that those little sweeties don't share anything else with me. I have been busy with Primary too. We are down to the wire with our program, so there are lots of little things to take care of. Seems like we have had a bunch of personnel changes too, which also keeps me busy as I try to keep all lists up to date.

I honestly can't think of anything else going on here. Lots of days spent just getting things done. I will work harder at finding good stories to share, so keep an eye out. Oh! If you happen to be in the 602 in the next 6-ish weeks PLEASE call me and lets go do something! I might slip into a catatonic stupor if I don't find some people to talk to while Jeff is gone :)

My Decleration of Self Esteem

I saw this at a school I was at this week, and I really liked it. I think that it is so important that we know ourselves, and that we like ourselves, no matter what we find. This past year or so I have been really working on that--liking myself just the way I am, while still finding ways to be better. Knowing I am enough. I hope that you find something helpful in this poem:

My Declaration of Self-Esteem

I am me.

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me. Therefore, everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone choose.

I own everything about me -- my body, including everything it does; my mind, including all its thoughts and ideas; my eyes, including the images of all they behold; my feelings, whatever they may be -- anger, joy, frustration, love, disappointment, excitement; my mouth, and all the words that come out of it, polite, sweet or rough, correct or incorrect; my voice, loud or soft; and all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself.

I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears.

I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.

Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts. I can then make it possible for all of me to work in my best interests.

I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know. But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for the solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me.

However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is me. This is authentic and represents where I am at that moment in time.
When I review later how I looked and sounded, what I said and did, and how I thought and felt, some parts may turn out to be unfitting. I can discard that which is unfitting and keep that which proved fitting, and invent something new for that which I have discarded.

I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me.

I own me, and therefore I can engineer me.

I am me and I am okay.

--Virginia Satir, "A Goal of Living", ETCETERA, December 1970.

The case of the vanishing cockroach

While I know that many of you are sad because Jeff and I have been blog slackers, and you would rather have some real news and pictures than some story about a cockroach, you will have to be disappointed for a while longer. Today, you only get a lousy cockroach story :)

Once upon a time, there were two girls: Michelle and Emilie. They occasionally lived with a boy named Jeff, but he had been excessively elusive of late, so we won't talk about him much.

One night, Michelle and Emilie were getting ready to go to bed, so they changed in to pajamas, and went through the house one last time making sure lights were out and things were put away. Michelle found Emilie's swimming towel in a little pile on the floor, so she told Emilie to go and hang it up so that it could dry. (Emilie probably wasn't going to use it again for a while because she had turned into a lobster earlier that day, but that's a story for another time.) Emilie walked down the hallway to the room affectionately known as the shower room. You see, in Michelle's house, there is a bedroom that contains the shower. It was ultra cool, just take my word for it. Anyway, Emilie flicks on the light and then stops in the doorway staring at the floor. Michelle hears her name being called, so she heads down to where Emilie is standing.

Emilie says "Is that a cockroach?"

Michelle leans her head around the door jam, and sure enough, there is a two-inch long cockroach sitting on the bathmat in front of the shower. Instead of panicking, Michelle calmly walks out of the room to the kitchen, grabs a blue plastic cup and a can of Diet Coke. (Really, that bug is quite large and we wouldn't want it to escape because it could flip the cup!) Michelle walks back to the bedroom and hands Emilie the cup.

"You catch the roach under the cup and I'll put the Coke on top. I don't think we should try to squish it because it is gigantic."

In a panicked voice Emilie replies " Why do I have to catch it?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?"

"Just do it."

So, Michelle and Emilie, armed with their torture devices, start to inch into the room. Emilie abruptly stops and walks out saying "I've got to get some shoes." Michelle waits a moment and here comes Emilie in bright pink flip flops--platform flip flops--there is no way a stinkin' cockroach is going to touch her toes!! So, again, Emilie and Michelle begin their stealthy entrance into the room. Emilie crouches down about a foot away from the bug and begins to **slowly** stretch towards the bug with her cup. Just as she is about to triumph, that roach runs away with lightning speed. Both girls jump back shrieking! (Please believe me when I say shrieking....think of the highest pitched scream you have ever heard and then raise it 4 octaves and multiply the sound by 10....it shouldn't surprise you to know that soon only dogs will be able to understand anything coming out of their mouths!)

Emilie "Did you see, did you see, how fast that thing MOVED?"

Michelle"Yes! You missed it!"

"Oh crap, now we have to find it."

"It went in between those suitcases, I'll move the little one and you trap it, ok?"

"Ok."

"Ready?"

Emilie breaths in and out a few big breaths before replying "Yes. I'm ready."

Well, by this time both girls are totally freaked out, and Michelle decides that now that this has turned into a more complicated operation, maybe she needs some shoes too. So, dressed in her garments, she walks to the bed room and finds her sling back, platform heels and puts them on. After all, she doesn't want roach juice on her toes either!

Thus prepared, the two girls creep closer and all they can think is "that thing is huge--two inches--and then those feelers! they are disgusting...I bet those feelers are two inches long too. That makes this a four inch long bug. Why isn't that ridiculous boy Jeff here to save us!!!!!" Michelle steels herself and then yanks on the suitcase after counting to three, and Emilie dives....and misses again! Now you should know, as soon as the suitcase started to move, those two girls started to shriek again--it wasn't out of fear of course, it was their hunting shriek. It was all about scaring that stupid cockroach into submission.....or something like that.

In voices that carried a little bit of stress, a conversation began:

"Emilie! You missed again!"

"I know! Maybe I can suck it up, do you think it can get back out if I do?"

"I don't know, lets ask Jeff."

Yes, Michelle had called Jeff, even though it was 11:30, and yes, he was completely unhelpful. Some might say that it was because he was in another state, and some might say it was because he had been asleep for a few hours, and some might say its because he could only understand every third word that was shrieked at him. And those all might be right....but girls expect their hero's to be a little more hero-ish when there are large bugs to be dealt with! The girls get the go-ahead from Jeff, who is listening to all of this go on as he fades in and out of sleep, and a promise that the roach can neither fly nor that it will escape when sucked into the vacuum.

Oh, that tricky roach! It scuttled under the bigger suitcase. Emilie starts her new weapon. Michelle looks at her with a glint in her eye--they nod at one another. Michelle yanks, Emilie starts swinging the hose and the shrieking begins! The roach is fast, and speeds behind a little chest that holds all the extra bath soaps etc.

While jumping around "Michelle! It went behind the cabinet! I can't reach it!"

"Ok, ok, I'll pull it out, you suck up the bug. Can you please stop missing it???"

Of course there is clutter on top of the cabinet, so they quickly move the stuff and Michelle pulls out the cabinet and Emilie starts sucking at the roach. Now, you have to understand that the girls had been at this for 15 minutes now. They are both adrenaline filled and shaky, pretty sure that at any moment that bug is going to leap out and eat them. Emilie yanks on the hose so hard that it is ripped from the vacuum and she can't figure out why it won't suck up the stinking bug when she gets close to it! Michelle finally seems the problem and they stop for a minute to try to fix the vacuum. They are pretty sure they are missing a piece, either that or they are two nincompoop girls that have no idea how to fix a vacuum....we'll go with the first!

Michelle says "do you think if I hold the hose on, you can suck it up?"

"I think so, btw, sorry about the vacuum."

"It's fine, we'll worry about it later."

So Michelle turns the vacuum back on, holds the hose onto the vacuum, and Emilie begins the prowl around the cabinet. Suddenly, the roach flies off of the cabinet to the floor and it charges! Michelle realizes that the hose has no suction! There is even more screaming and even a little running....The roach disappears.

Now, those two girls are frantic. No one will be able to sleep (or shower for that matter!) unless that bug is caught. So armed with shoes, and some hangers to move things the girls start to look. They have given up on the stupid vacuum and have traded their cup in for a trash can. Surely a trash can is big enough to catch that wretched cockroach! Emilie and Michelle look everywhere they can think of, the whole time reminding each other that they can be brave and catch the bug. They move furniture, tip it over and check the undersides. No bug. They move anything that is movable and that is on the floor. No bug. They start to get a little panicky (who knew they could squeeze any more panic juice from their pituitary glands!) because they can't find the roach and they are starting to wonder if it crawled up the walls or something. Michelle shakes out the curtains, Emilie kicks the bookcase. Still no bug, and it has been 6 long minutes of hunting. They turn and look at one another.

"The only other place I can think of is in that pile of cloths that needs ironing."

"Oh, crap. Ok. I can be brave. Lets check it out."

"Ok, I can be brave too. Give me two hangers and I'll start looking."

Thus begins the new hunt: Emilie using her two hangers to pick up articles of cloths shaking them a little then handing them to Michelle who shakes them once more a little harder and then places them in a new pile. As they make their way down the pile, Michelle sees movement out of the corner of her eye. The feelers!

"Emilie! I see it!"

"Where?"

"It's in the cloths. Give me one of your hangers and I will knock it down, you catch it."

Some of you may be wondering why Michelle trusted Emilie to catch that stupid roach after missing so many times. All I can say is, she wasn't thinking very well. So Michelle swipes at the roach, praying it won't fly and get her, and Emilie lunges. This time she is successful! Michelle picks up her Costco sized shampoo and puts it on top of the garbage can. The girls cheer, but then Emilie gets a somber look in her eyes.

"Do you have any heavy books? I don't want that thing getting out."

Michelle walks over to the book shelf and grabs a physics book, along with several books on neuroanatomy and communication disorders...five books in all. They plop those puppies on top of the can, and just for good measure, the shampoo and a conditioner go on top.

Emilie looks at Michelle and says "I just sweat through everything I am wearing, I think I need to shower, but I am nervous to be in here with the roach."

Michelle says "Say no more, I will stand guard while you shower."

And so she did, and then Emilie did while Michelle showered. And then Michelle remembered that she had hung up on Jeff sometime ago because she was mad at him for not being more helpful, so she sent him a text to tell him that they had caught the bug, but under no circumstances were they killing it. Jeff sent one back saying that was fine, he'd do it sometime when he was home. The girls were worried because it seemed they might have to live with a trash can covered roach for months, but luckily, Jeff will be home Friday. Only 3 days of skirting around the roach.

Michelle and Emilie finally decided they could stop watching the trash can to make sure the roach didn't escape...but alas, they couldn't sleep. They ended up staying up until a little after 2 before they decided they were calmed down enough to fall asleep.

I'd like to dedicate this story to my dad, who thinks that *possibly* this was all overkill. We'd like to assure him that it wasn't, and that we would be happy to have him come and kill it. The company that is supposed to be keeping those wretched things out of my house is also going to get a friendly phone call that may include the words "get your sorry behind here, you will kill it, and extra bug spray" in it. I guess I have to say that I do owe that cockroach a little debt of gratitude. At least it decided to show itself when Emilie was here so that I didn't have to try to do all of that by myself...and, Emilie has to be a little grateful because she never would have had an adventure like that at home. But I assure you, it is only the tiniest scrap of gratitude. Now if you will excuse us, we have to go and make sure that the roach doesn't escape.....

Oh, and don't worry about the laundry, it will be disinfected of its roach juice.

Catch Up Post

There has been a lot going on in our lives since we hiked the Grand Canyon, but you wouldn't know it from this blog! I will attempt to catch you up on what is going on.

Both Michelle and I have been traveling a lot lately. I was up in Utah in April for a static fire. Here is a picture my mom took from the public viewing area.

Even though this was the fifth static fire I have worked on, I still haven't actually seen one. I am always in the control room when we fire the motor. It was nice to see my mom, dad, and Mark as they traveled down from Idaho to see the firing.

Michelle came up to Utah during this trip, partly to see me, but mostly because her sister Sarah had a stroke. Michelle spent most of May and the first half of June in Utah with Sarah. Even though it was a pretty rotten reason to visit, Michelle is thankful for the time she was able to spend with Sarah, as well as the quick visits with other family.

Here Sarah is early in her hospital stay. Her left side was effected the most by her stroke, and she had to wear the eye patch to help her balance and see clearly.

Sarah has been working hard on recovery and is making a lot of progress. Here is a video of her practically running with only the help of a cane. We wish her a continued speedy recovery!!!

I have been traveling to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California a lot for work. We are getting ready to launch our first Minotaur IV rocket and are in the process of integrating and testing the motors. Here is a picture of the bay we are working in.

I am headed out on Monday for two more weeks in California, but then I should have a break from travel until we get ready to launch this fall.

Michelle's brother, Spencer, and sister, Emilie, are spending much of the summer with us. So far we are having lots of fun and have lots of fun things planned. Stay tuned and as things come along we will work harder on keeping the blog update.

Grand Canyon Hike Day 3

Day 3 of our hike had us started out at Indian Gardens Campground. When camping in the canyon the rangers are very adamant that you don't feed the wildlife. You have to store all of your food, trash (pack it in, pack it out), and anything else that smells such as soap or deodorant in a metal box. In fact they say that the animals know that food is stored in plastic bags, and when they smell plastic they think there is food inside and will chew through any container (pack or tent) to get the the plastic/food. Michelle filmed a squirrel that wanted to find the food we had in our camp (look at the bottom of the post).

Here is our camp at Indian Gardens. Notice the pack hanger that is critter proofed so the animals can't climb into your pack.
A view from our camp.

As we were leaving or camp a helicopter flew in and landed next to the ranger station. I was able to get this cool picture. Michelle found out later that they were just dropping off supplies, and not rescuing anyone.

Michelle and I after about a mile into the trail.

The hike from Indian Gardens to the rim is about 4.6 miles, and climbs about 3000 feet. The day was hot and sunny and it took its toll on us. We went nice and slow, but because of this about 2 and half miles from the top we were close to running out of water. We decided that we should separate for a little bit. I would go to the top and get more water while Michelle continued to the mile and a half rest house. I made it to the top and reorganized my pack to carry water back to Michelle, but then locked my key in the trunk. I called and talked to Michelle and found out that a ranger, Ranger Della, had stopped and given her some water and Gatorade, and was walking with her. Because Michelle was in good hands I stayed at the car and had a locksmith come get my keys out of the trunk. Eventually I got my keys and then met Michelle when she was about a quarter of a mile from the top.

View of the Canyon

Here we are at the top!!!

Good Job Michelle!!!

I had a great time hiking the Grand Canyon. I also want to say how proud I am of Michelle. When my friend had to cancel on me about a week before the trip because he hurt his knee, Michelle jumped in so I wouldn't have to cancel the whole trip. With only a week of preparation and no Backpacking experience she hiked one of the toughest places on earth. This will be an experience I will remember for the rest of my life and I am fortunate to have been able to do it with my best friend!

Grand Canyon Day 2

Before I talk about Day 2 a quick note about the panoramic pictures I posted on the Day 1 post. I have updated them so when you click on them you will get a larger view. Or you can go here: Ooh Aah Point. O'Neil Butte. Tipoff Point.

Below are two maps showing our route for each of the days we hiked. Day one is in blue. Day two is red, and day three is green.

The day started at the Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the canyon. Here I am getting my pack ready for the day.

As we were leaving the campground, we saw 4 deer running up the trail. I was amazed how close we were able to get to them.

We cross the Colorado River on the Silver Bridge, and then walk along the river for about 2 miles.

Looking back at the bridges.

View looking back at the river.

Here is some of the wildlife we saw along the trail.

After hiking along the river we reached Pipe creek and took a short break at the river rest house.

The hike then makes it way up along Pipe Creek until you reach Devil's Corkscrew. Devils Corkscrew is a series of switchbacks as you climb out of the inner gorge. About halfway up devils corkscrew Michelle ran out of water and was struggling quite a bit. We decided to take a long rest and then push our way the long mile and a half until Indian Gardens. We arrived at our campsite around 6:00 pm.

Michelle at the end of the day!