Madera Canyon

Family time was spent this weekend hiking. With the weather cooling off, it's the perfect time to get out of the house and do a little exploring. Today, we headed south to Madera Canyon ... a place that looks nothing like the rest of Southern Arizona. Think mountains, trees, lots of green and that's what you find at Madera Canyon.

We packed a little picnic and planned on doing a small hike and then having our lunch. We ended up doing a three mile hike and collapsing on our picnic blanket at the end. Now, three miles isn't really that tough, but factor in a four-year-old who no longer wants to walk half way through, a very excited dog who has to be controlled and a pregnant lady who can't go as fast or as far as she used to.


Mike had to carry Shelby on his shoulders for the last half of the hike, which left Cassius under my charge. Luckily, since he still had lots of energy, he sort of pulled me along.

Even if we were a little worn out and tackled more than we should have ... it was a great adventure. We spotted a deer. We saw a wild turkey perched on top of an 18-foot tree. There were squirrels everywhere. And the most beautiful butterflies.

We bought a book at Costco last weekend called "Weird Arizona." It has inspired us to do more day trips on the weekends.

There are so many REALLY cool things within a short distance of our house .... next weekend I want to check out the Santa Cruz Chile and Spice company. They make the chile paste I use for Chile Con Carne and I'd love to see how they make all their spices and such.

We also want to spend a weekend sleeping in the wigwams in Holbrook, Arizona. Shelby really wants a teepee for her bedroom, so we're hoping to satisfy her teepee desires by spending a weekend sleeping in one. Holbrook isn't too far from Flagstaff, which is about 3 1/2 hours north of Tucson. It should be grand fun!