Chuck A Walla Trail - February 25th, 2012

 Mandi, Sam, & Ali

 Sisters!

 The Arch

We took Ali, Mandi, and Sam for a hike. We went on the trailhead out behind our house. Mandi usually hates hiking, but she didn't want to be left behind. They had fun climbing all over the rocks. We hiked up to the arch. On the way back down, Mandi went running off around a corner, and all of a sudden we heard a scream of terror. We ran to her, and she was gone. She had lost her balance and gone over the edge. Thankfully, it was only 5 feet down. She did hit her arm on a metal water pipe, and was bleeding a little bit, but she convinced herself, she was dying and wouldn't stop screaming.. It is a good thing we were on the way out. We couldn't get to the car fast enough. Click here for the rest of the pictures.

President's Day Weekend - February 17th-20th, 2012

Doug, Cynthia, Tonya, Kevin at

 Montezuma's Castle

 Doug by the "Camo" tree

 Montezuma's Well

 Dwelling at the well!

 Lion!

 Tiger!

 Giraffe eating out of our hands!

 Our Guide!

 Old Buildings!

 Street Corner!

 Haunted Hotel...

We decided to go somewhere different this time. We drove 6 hours and met up with Tonya and Kevin. We stayed in Cottonwood Arizona. Every time we drive to Phoenix, we pass exits for some stuff we want to explore, so this time we finally went and did it. We went to: The Out of Africa Wildlife Park: http://www.outofafricapark.com/, Montezuma's Castle, and Montezuma's Well: http://www.nps.gov/moca/index.htm, and the old mining town of Jerome Arizona:http://www.azjerome.com/. We had a great time. The weather was a little colder than normal, but we survived. We spent half a day at the Animal park. We took a Unimog safari tour. It took us right into the preserve, where we got to see the animals up close and feed them, etc.Our guide was the trainer for the Tigers, Lions, etc. so she got them to come right up to the fence and interact with us.  The giraffe came up and ate right out of our hands. The zebra's were beautiful. The ostrich tried to bite our bags and camera's. After the safari tour, we went to a Tiger Splash show and watched the white tiger swim and tease the crowds. For years, I thought Montezuma's Castle was a "real" castle. I was very surprised to find out it is an old Indian dwelling. It is a very cool place to see. It is a 5 story dwelling built high up in the side of a mountain. I can't imagine having to climb ladders everyday to get to your house. Those women must have been amazing. A few miles away is Montezuma's Well. It was very beautiful there. There are some very large trees called camouflage trees.  We spent a day exploring the mining town of Jerome. It is quite a drive on the old windy roads. This town is high up in the Verde Valley. The streets are very narrow, and the town is made up of OLD original houses built in the late 1800's.. They look like an earthquake would topple the whole town instantly. We had fun walking along the narrow streets. We went into the "Jerome Grand Hotel": http://www.jeromegrandhotel.com/ It is said to be haunted. It has been featured on the TV show "Ghost Hunters". To see all the pictures click here.