Yesterday as we drove to church, I kept spotting the snow covered mountains over the tops of the houses. I could see Pinal Peak outside of Globe, about 60 miles away, covered in snow, and Four Peaks, about 40 miles to the northeast. With all the city pollution washed out of the air, they looked close enough to reach out and touch.
I realize that a dusting of snow on a few peaks is not a big deal to the majority of the country. But to us desert rats, it's a big deal.
So after drooling over them all day yesterday, Levi and Noah and I loaded up after dropping Ella off at kindergarten and headed out for a closer look.
I'm not sure Levi and Noah really even noticed that we were driving, such was their electronics induced coma...
However, once we got out there, they were excited to get out and go do some "exploring."
The road up to the peak takes over an hour of dirt road driving. And I know from experience that if there is snow up there, you need four wheel drive at least, and chains would be preferable. So rather than make the drive up to find only an impassable road and a dusting of snow, we just got close enough for a good view and then wandered around the desert and saw how much mischief we could get into.
Warning: Their mother may want to avert her eyes for the next several photographs, as the level of risk-taking allowed by their father likely exceeded the bounds of responsible parenting... ;)
They got their first lesson in desert hiking: Always watch out for poky plants (which would be pretty much all of them.) Despite the constant warnings, Levi managed to go crashing over a cactus, but by some miracle avoided getting even one spine embedded in his feet.
We found a fairly large saguaro, which they stood dangerously close to, considering it could have easily crushed them if it happened to fall over at that exact moment...
We risked broken limbs and gravel rash by leaping off of cliffs...
And finally, we played far too close to the busy road...
Finally, as proof that I get far too excited about a little bit of snow (as if we needed proof, you say...) here is a photo from 1997...
...which I then replicated with the new ride. Luckily, those full coverage vinyl graphics that I ordered showed up just in time for installation on Saturday. Paige is going to be thrilled when she returns home!
(Ok ok, so there may have been a little PhotoShop involved in the above picture. But you've got to admit, the van would look sweet with those graphics. You should leave a comment to encourage Paige to let me do it, as she isn't quite sold yet...)
The dangerous duo, unscathed at the end of their explorations...
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2 comments:
I hope you busted a few caps out there with those boys..... ;)
I was kicking myself for not bringing the proper accouterments. Would have been the perfect opportunity, but no caps were busted.
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