One of my favorite experiences from last winter’s snowbirding in the Southwest was my motorhome offroading adventure along the Apache Trail east of Phoenix. I was also captivated by the Superstition Mountains and Canyon Lake along the Trail and wished I had been able to spend more time at each.
So, last weekend, I found an available campsite at Lost Dutchman State Park, at the base of the Superstitions, and took full advantage of my location. The weather was absolutely perfect—upper 70’s and sunny with barely any winds.
After setting up camp, Millie and I quickly set off to hike one of the trails in the state park that led up to the base of the mountains.
Sunset was approaching, so we couldn’t complete the whole trail, but we made it high enough to have a wonderful view of the Phoenix valley below. As luck would have it, the clouds were also lining up to provide quite a sunset show for our trip back down to the campground:
The next day, I promised Millie a swim at the incredible Canyon Lake along the Apache Trail. It’s got tall rock canyons on one side of the lake and hills of various cactus plants on the other. She was thrilled, of course!
I then pulled out my Sea Eagle FastTrack 385 inflatable kayak from the back of the Tracker and within a few minutes, Millie and I were off for a paddle. We even paddled under the Apache Trail (the 1-lane bridge that goes over part of the lake)!
We arrived back to shore just as the sun was fading off the canyon walls. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!
Great photos, great life, so glad you got to paddle. Millie looks so happy.
ReplyDeleteoh my... Millie looks just like my Allie, who I had to put down 5 years ago. Most yellow labs have a dark nose, but Millie has a light color nose like my precious Allie. I bet you have a great time with Millie.
ReplyDeleteI saw a VIEW come in to our park here in Texas today and I wondered if maybe it was you! I guess not.
Millie is so calm. Maybe because if you capsize she gets to go in swimming again. I would have a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteFirst time reader. I have a yellow lab named Jack. I know I would have been in the drink if I took him in a small boat, though he did go whale watching in a zodiac boat with me in Oregon. His nose turns pink in the cold weather (although with age, it seems to stay lighter). It used to turn back to black in warmer temperatures.
ReplyDeleteLizzie's (my beloved black Lab who I lost New Year's eve of 2009), nose was always black.
Glad to have found your blog. I look forward to reading of your adventures. Health and other family members have kept me from hitting the road, again, but I had the most wonderful time in 2010 and hope, some day, to do it, again. If not, I'll have to live vicariously through gals like you! Pats to Millie!
Sorry. Should have read family "matters" not family "members".
ReplyDeleteJust a side note. Most other RV bloggers that I follow have done away with the word verification without any problem. I never used it, and have never had a problem.
Hey, thanks for the alert-- I had no idea Word Verification was turned back on. I thought I had disabled it months ago! Well, hopefully, it's turned off now!
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