Chiquita and the "Bug"

My birthday falls a few days before Halloween, so I can be assured that my birthday will include creepy crawlies and ghoulish delights. Last year, my oldest daughter and her then fiancé gave me some special Halloween cup cakes, complete with large plastic spiders on top. Well, my little dog, Chiquita, absolutely loves to play with real bugs (i.e., crickets, spiders, etc.). So, as Halloween draws near, I got out the plastic spiders and let her have some fun. I believe she thinks they are real! When I first let her play with them, she scratches at them for a couple of minutes. This is what she does with real bugs. Then, once she is sure they won't be able to bite her ('cause they're dead), she'll pick them up with her mouth and have a ball. See for yourself.

Cheryl's First Race

Cheryl ran in her first race today, the 17th Annual Frank Kush 5K, which was held at Tempe Town Lake. Being a true family event, people were encouraged to bring their kids and their furry children (i.e., dogs). As always, you can click on any of the photos for a larger image.

There was a pretty good turnout for the event.

I provided the morale support.

Cheryl's pumped up and ready to go!

The early morning light was reflecting so nicely off the bottom of the old Mill Avenue bridge.

They're off! The winner (see red arrow) finished the 5k in just over 16 minutes!

I tried my best to get a shot of Cheryl as she ran by, but the best I could do was capture her head and one leg. Interestingly enough, there was a young man running with a log. Cheryl said he almost whacked her in the head with it a couple of times during the race.

Here's Cheryl on top of the bridge, just a few minutes from the finsh line.

She did it! I timed this photo just right, as her time is recorded (above to the right of her head). Cheryl had a goal of finishing the race in 40 minutes, but to her delight she beat her time by almost 2 minutes!

Superstition Wilderness Hieroglyphics Canyon

This weekend ushered in wonderful Fall weather. The temps were in the 70's with a strong breeze, so we took advantage of the change and went out for a hike on the Superstition Wilderness Hieroglyphics trail. I feel the name is a bit of a misnomer. A "hieroglyph" is an image, which is part of a writing system that is carved into rock, whereas a "petroglyph" is a picture made by scratching or scraping an image onto a rock surface. I guess either term is okay, but I've always called the ancient drawings in Hieroglyphics Canyon, petroglyphs.
Okay, now that the English lesson is over, let's get down to the real story here. Basically, the petroglyphs are truly awesome. According to what I could find on the Internet, the drawings are anywhere from 200 to 2000 years old (as they were added to over the years), and are attributed to the Hohokam peoples.

Click the sign to view it in greater detail. It contains a nice history of the area and how the trail came to be.
At the start of our hike, we came across a downed Saquaro that appears to have been struck by lightning. Cheryl wanted to get a closer look.

This is a highly zoomed image so it isn't as clear as I would like, but I was really struck by the "teetering" rock. From this angle, it almost looked like it was actually moving due to the high winds we were experiencing.

I took another picture once we got closer. Click the image to get a better view of the rock.
While hiking, we came across two Collared lizards. One was just a baby (his body was about 3" long), while the other one (pictured below) was a juvenile (body about 5" long). They allowed us to get pretty close. Cheryl really wanted to catch one, but I talked her out of it.

The skin color of the older of the two lizards had a really pretty green cast.

We didn't get a picture of him, but Cheryl found a Chuckwalla lizard hidden away in the rocks near the petroglyphs. At the time, we didn't know what type of lizard he was. She thought it was an Iguana, and when we got back home and "Googled" him, we found she was actually right. Chuckwallas are related to Iguanas. :)

I'm a sucker for pretty flowers. These were tucked between some rocks just off the trail. Their color first caught my eye, but I was amazed at how small they were, which was barely half the size of a dime.
I call this the "Kitchen Rock". As you can see, there are several large holes, which were used by native peoples to grind food.
Cheryl's pointing to the cave (it's the small-looking hole in the center of the rock face) she had hiked to while I was exploring the canyon. It looks really small from this perspective, but she was able to get inside it.

I saved the best for last. The petroglyphs were spectacular. I am amazed and grateful that they've survived this long without being total defaced by vandals. There are many, many more drawings, but these epitomize what the canyon has to offer.

If you haven't hiked this canyon, you've got to make it a point to do so. The hike is relatively easy, but it is very rocky, so sturdy hiking boots are recommended. The total distance from the trailhead to the canyon is about 1.5 miles. Here's a link to information and driving directions: http://www.arizonahiking.org/Hyrogliph.htm#Title. Note that the parking situation has changed since the referenced article was written. When I first hiked the trail back in 2002, parking was almost nonexistant. Today, there is an adequate parking lot that can accomodate at least 50 cars, and it now has a porta-potty!

How lucky I am to have this treasure a mere 25 miles from my home (not the porta-potty, the petroglyphs, duh!).

Sedona! Room With a View!

These three pictures were taken from the balcony of an acquaintance's home in Sedona. Can you believe this is what she gets to look at every day from her home office window. I'm so jealous!