living up to his name...

Our dog, Saco, was named after the river in NH/ME that we first canoed. This past weekend we gave him his first chance to live up to his name.

We traveled to Ashurst Lake (in the Mormon Lakes District about 20 miles Southeast of Flagstaff, AZ) and Sandy Canyon to do some canoeing, fishing, camping and hiking.... and for Saco, swimming too.

Miraculously Saco stayed in the canoe without putting up a fight. There was a bit of "running around" in the canoe and trying to drink over the side, but no capsizes (my marker for success)!

Although the day was windy and the evening had started to chill early, we were treated to a beautiful desert sunset with the hazy San Francisco Peaks in the background and a warm campfire (including s'mores of course).





Sunday we hiked to Fisher's Point in Walnut Canyon via the Sandy Canyon trail. What a change it was to hike around Flagstaff instead of snowshoe! The air smelled of pine and the sun was the perfect warmth to toast our white winter skin.



Dave will be so disappointed when he notices I didn't post the picture of him with a trophy sized trout on his fishing line.....

the first of many

For over a year now I have been swearing off blogs for one reason or another. I do have to admit though that over the past few months I have become somewhat addicted to my friends Patricia and Ryan's blog. I'm not the best about keeping in touch with family and friends and figured I would give this a shot!

Where to start? It seems there are too many things to tell about the past 7 months of life in Chinle. So, let's start here and now instead! This past weekend 2 friends from Boston visited with 5 BAA students on a community service trip to the Grand Canyon. Friday night and Saturday brought them to the Rez. I think we heard the question "what do people do for fun out here" more than a few times!

Sunday a friend I met a few weeks ago (who lives on the rez in Tuba City, AZ) brought her daughter and Mom to visit. We hiked the White House trail to the bottom of the canyon and then had a nice afternoon cookout (courtesy of Dave's awesome grillin' skills).

Tuesday in celebration of Earth Day, the Chinle High School Environmental Group sponsored a 5K run. The event was a success despite the small turn out of runners (which helped me to win 1st in my age group and 3rd overall female!!) and money was raised to put more trash receptacles around the high school campus. One outstanding runner even picked up litter on the course (GO PATRICIA!!!!). HAPPY Belated EARTH DAY! Do something GREEN every day!