Blogs from Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, North America - page 3

November 26, 2011 was the beginning of our trip. We meant to leave in the morning of course, but as usual it took us all day to pack up our shit (always more than we expect). The day before we got a 6 month old Jack Russell Terrier/Fox Hound mix named Yakima. He is absolutely adorable, very friendly and also kind of a jerk. Right before we actually left he started running around in circles like a maniac and would not stop or let us catch him. He was shaking uncontrollably as if he could no longer control his limbs. It seemed like he was about to fall over. We finally caught him and could take off. He calmed down a little bit once we started on our way. That night we stayed in Colorado Springs ... read more

Sat. Nov. 12, 2011 We moved over to the Scottsdale Elks Lodge camp sites. They have 8 sites for Elks to use $15 a night. Our first Elks campsite but not our last. After we got set up we drove the VW to do some shopping. Wow, the shopping you have in a big city ! Sun. Nov. 13, 2011 Had planned to go to a VW Show and swap but I blew it and we arrived after it was over and there were just a few VWs there. After that we did a few Geocaches and took Gordon to a Dog Park to play. Gordon had a great time at the dog park and didn’t care that we missed the VWs. On the way back to camp, we stopped at Walmart and bought a new ... read more

Yippee I got my lay in today. 9am!! I rose out of bed just as Keith, Nige, Liz & Andy were heading out to Walmart to grab some food for our BBQ tonight. I spent the morning relaxing by the pool or gossiping about the likes of Lost & 24 with Sylvia! They returned about lunchtime, and I was joined by Liz and Nige by the pool, The temperature was about 85, but the pool was quite cold - however Nige still got in and Liz managed to get herself into a ring float. Andy had caught the sun so much yesterday that he just stayed in the shade today. I made a pact with Liz that I would get in if she did, her attempt stopped at floating in the ring. Well me being me, ... read more

Although the hotel was perfect last night, we didn't get much sleep due to the Grand Canyon train honking all through the night, even though, when we booked in the receptionist said this no longer happened! We drew back the curtains to a complete shock of snow outside! By the time we had made our way down to breakfast it was even laying and coming down quite heavy. Nige went and got the car so we could load it under some cover. We drove about 45 mins down the road and already the temperature had rose by 25 degrees. We took a quick break to stretch our legs at a view point along the interstate, then drove another hour and half to Phoenix and had some lunch at the Hard Rock cafe. By now the temperature ... read more

Geo: 33.494, -111.921Hiking in Phoenix twists your mind. Because you actually hike IN the city. But not in the city like down city streets--you're in nature preserves that wrap you in solitude, surround you with desolation, and thrill you with singular beauty. All this while being actually very close to the congestion and stress of the city you're escaping.We hiked up Lost Dog Wash Trail in the McDowell-Sonoran Preserve, a 36,400 acre preserve--that's 1/3 the total land area of Scottsdale and the largest urban preserve in the county. Lost Dog Wash trail is an entry point to the preserve, a gentle hike up to Taliesin Overlook with majestic views of the north valley, Camelback, Squaw Peak and Pinnacle Peak, and breakoff points to other trails.Check out the photos for the continuing discoveries of bobnkaren.... read more