Bikes, Poker, and a Canyon

From More Hiking

This was a busy week! Jason and I both rode our bikes to work this week, and the only down side was that Flagstaff has a lot of hills. It was a nice way to get to and from work, we saved on gas, and is better for the environment. Once we get used to huffing and puffing up the hills we will be pros.

On Friday, Jason went to a guy's poker night with some co-workers, and I went downtown for dinner and drinks with my friends Heather, Amy, Wendy, and Wendy's husband Willy. The poker party was at a place called The Hitchin' Post, which has horse stables where they give riding lessons. It was frequented by a lot of famous Hollywood people in the 60's and 70's who were learning to ride horses for movies.

On Saturday we did work around the house, and went out to dinner at a new restaurant in Flagstaff called Tinderbox to celebrate my new job. It was a fantastic restaurant; Jason had jalapeno mac & cheese and duck confit, and I had a veggie pot pie.

We went hiking on Sunday in Walnut Canyon, a National Park that preserves cave dwellings of the Sinagua Indians from around 1200. It was a pretty steep climb down the canyon (and then back up again), and the views were spectacular. Here are a few pictures from our hike.

The first picture is the preserved cave dwellings. The "roofs" were naturally occurring and the walls were made of random lime stones and clay. We were able to walk right along the edge of the canyon where they were placed, and could see another line of dwellings on the other side of the canyon.

From Walnut Canyon

Jason by a big yellow bush. It stood out because flowers are rare out there.

From Walnut Canyon

A picture of the two of us with the canyon in the background.

From Walnut Canyon

This sign welcomed you to the start of the long, steep climb down. I loved the bird.

From Walnut Canyon

I snapped a lot of picture of the twisty trees along the hike. We aren't totally sure what it is called, but it may be a California Juniper, or Desert White Ceder. Apparently they become twisted from the high winds.

From More Hiking

This week Jason travels to Los Angeles on Monday - Wednesday. I have no major plans this week other than working, and getting ready for Richard to visit on Friday. We are really excited to have Richard come to Flagstaff and stay through the 4th. We are planning trips to Grand Canyon, Sedona, and some of our favorite hikes and restaurants in Flagstaff.

Lastly, congratulations to our friends Mary Beth and Adam Russell who welcomed their daughter to the world last week!

XOXO
Helen, Jason, Maddie