Christmas Tree Pass

If you ever want to go to a fun, small (and I mean small) town, you MUST go to Oatman, AZ. We drove down to Oatman by way of Christmas Tree Pass, where we took a slight detour to the "Graves" site. Here, we got to check out an old homestead and Patches found some Gambels Quail. Unbeknownst to us, she ate one her catch of  in the backseat of the truck. Oatman has quaint shops, burros you can feed, and a great bar, wallpapered in dollar bills from the old mining days.  

Christmas Tree Pass (northwest of Laughlin, Nevada)

What remains of a homestead established in the 1950s.

One of the trees decorated along Christmas Tree Pass.

Patches and her quail.

Christmas Junipers along the way.

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Thanksgiving was a great opportunity for Scott to meet my parents. We spent four days in Las Cruces, New Mexico, enjoying the rare, cloudy weather. The clouds hovered over the Organ Mountains, which is where we did two great hikes. What we didn't expect to see was the array of fall colors; all across the city, trees were turning. We also explored downtown Las Cruces, where we bought some authentic Hatch chilis at their farmer's market

Our Thanksgiving Day hike in Aguirre Springs.

White Sands, NM Missile Range is just over the ridge.

Dad and daughter.

Day two hike in Soledad Canyon. 

Remains of an old cabin.

Surprisingly, the fall colors were absolutely perfect! 

The Fam :)

Snow Canyon, Utah

We went to see the Fall colors in Zion and stopped at the lesser known Snow Canyon on our way home. The red rocks were impressive. 

Snow Canyon State Park, just northwest of St. George, Utah.

Walking the Pa'rus trail.

La Madre Mountains, Nevada

A quick ride and hike in the La Madre Mountains, just west of Las Vegas.

Logandale, Nevada

Logandale, northeast of Las Vegas, has some great trail riding along its red rocks and sand. Scott, Duane drove (and I rode) the YFZs around the trails for the afternoon.

Logandale Trails, Nevada

I look like I'm doing something really important...I'm getting food. 

Rhyolite, Nevada

We, along with Scott's mom, took a day trip to the ghost town of Ryholite, Nevada, just outside of Beatty (where you can get the best chili and cold beer). The ghost town has been revitalized with some unique art. 

Rhyolite, Nevada

King snake.

The town of Rhyolite.

An entire house was made of glass bottles.

View fullsize

Sparkle Mountain, Arizona

Stopped by an old Mica mine south of St. George to do some good old fashion mining.

The tools we used to mine our mica.

The fruits of our labor. 

Camping in Zion, Utah

My first time in the Skamper was to Zion, Utah. The weather was great and we made the hike up the famous Angel's Landing. 

Walter's Wiggles up to Angel's Landing.

We saw this sunflower in August and November. We just happened to get the same campsite.

Brian Head & Marysvale, Utah

Our first trip together was for the 4th of July to Brian Head, Utah. We watched fireworks over the lake and rode the Bombadier around the area. I even drove it, not realizing it didn't have power steering...fortunately I recovered quickly and we didn't end up in a ditch. We camped with Duane (and his massive motorhome). We then drove north to Marysvale, UT where we took the jeeps up to the Radio Tower, over 11,000 ft.  

Our jeep ride up to the Radio Tower in Marysvale, UT

Duane took me for a ride in his Arctic Cat

Beautiful view over looking Cedar Breaks, UT

My first ride with Scott.

Camp in Marysvale, UT

View from 11,000 ft.

Brian Head and Marysvale, UT

We spent the 4th of July watching fireworks in Brianhead, UT surrounded by great people, including Duane. We rode quads and relished in the cooler weather (including hail!). From there we headed off to Marysvale, where we took the jeeps up a great trail will a beautiful view of the area. It was Sara's first time on a quad and first time in a jeep.