Arizona in July?!?!

Well, most of you know that Ryan was gone for 6 weeks to work on an army base (Fort Huachuca) south of Tucson, Arizona. Although it wasn't all that hot where he was (5,000 ft elevation), when I went to visit him, he picked me up in Phoenix. Oh my word! 107 degrees, dry heat or not, is way too hot! I arrived on the 4th of July and we traveled up to the Grand Canyon, which is awesome. There were lots of people of every ethnic background there, as well as an afternoon thunderstorm (w/lightning) that made us hurry our drive through the park. Well worth it though. Hiking down into the canyon or rafting the river would be awesome someday!

The next day we journeyed southeast towards the mountainous eastern side of the state. On the

way we stopped at Crater National Park (or something like that). If you are ever in that area, just call me and I will email you some pictures and save you the $15 per person it costs to get in. Oh well! Ryan decided to pose as a great explorer on the edge of the crater! ;)

After the crater experience, we drove down to Show Low and other towns in the mountains and then wove our way back to Phoenix. (Yes, we drove 9-10 hours that day.) Lots of sightseeing, seeing a dog get run over :(, and weaving through a very steep canyon (with about 50 crosses on the side of the road) were memorable parts of that day.

We spent the night at Luke Air Force Base on Saturday and Sunday nights. Luke is where all F-16 pilots train, so there were rows and rows of jets lined up right by the road, as well as saguaro cactus and lots of gravel.

We also thought it was funny to see alfalfa fields lined with palms! Ryan's hay-raising family would get a kick out of that.

On Monday July 7th (my birthday), we toured the Phoenix zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens amid 107 degree heat. Yes, we were about the only idiots out there. I did get some really cool pictures of cacti and succulents though! I know, I'm a plant nerd!