Lookout Mountain Hike

On Tuesday this week, it was a rare overcast day in the city, so Clinton and I decided that we would go for a quick little hike after work. We stopped at home to change and pick up Emmy, and went to Lookout Mountain Preserve to get in some quality time with our teeny family unit.

Looking North from the base of the mountain.

Turned around, looking at part of the mountain. There's more to the left, and it's higher.

The above picture only shows part of the mountain. There's the smallest peak to the right, then to the left is the middle peak, and to the left of that (not pictured) is the highest peak. We took a circumference trail that went around the whole thing, instead of up. About 3/4 of the way through, we went up to the top of the middle peak before heading back down.

pre-hike selfies ftw.

We hiked around about a quarter of the trail before we had to stop for puppy's first water break. Seriously, our pup is a champ. She is so teeny and takes like 20 steps to our one, but she makes it through every hike we do - even the long ones!

Puppy!



About 1/4 of the way around the mountain. We are now looking Southeast.

After a quick break, we were on our way again. Clinton and I spent this leg of the hike talking about how stupid and unfair cancer is. Someone we work with was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer and it's just so frustrating because she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet - not to mention the healthiest! It just feels frustrating and unfair that someone like that (or someone like my sister) has to deal with this crap. It makes you feel helpless. It was therapeutic though - there was nobody else out on the trails but us, so it helped being able to vent and work out some frustrations by sweating a little bit.

I just thought this rocky area was cool-looking.

 



 View to the South.

 

About 3/4 of the way around the circumference of the mountain preserve we slowed the pace because we were looking at all the huuuuuge houses on the west side of the mountain. Seriously, they are enormous! In the one pictured above, there was a wraparound raised patio with arches around the entire house. There was another house (pictured below) that looked like a tropical resort or something with all of the trees surrounding it and the pool. I wondered aloud if the people who live in these houses get irritated when people on the mountain are totally creeping on where they live, because I'm sure everyone who hikes there does it.

 

Also - the clouds were awesome, so you know I had to snap some photos of those too. I just love grey days!

Thanks, clouds, for allowing us to hike in Phoenix in the middle of summer!

 



 

We also took some photos on the peak (this time the photos are facing north again, except from the top now instead of the base). I captured Clinton trying to take a photo of Emmy - poor guy, he can hardly ever get a good one! I tried to get Emmy to come stand next to me to take a photo w/ the city behind us, but she was toooooo scared because about 3 feet back you could see over the edge and she thought she was going to go over it or something. Poor thing... I was trying not to laugh at her, but it was pretty funny.

 

 

She refused to back up at all and laid flat on her belly. As soon as I told her she could move she bolted right back over to Clinton for comfort. Our dog thinks she is a human...

Wimp.

 

After taking in the views at the top for awhile we decided to head back down so we could get home and make supper.

 



The infographic and map at the base of the preserve.

 



Post-Hike. It wasn't difficult, but it was hot even though it was cloudy!

 

All in all, I'd call it a success. It was nice to get outside for awhile on a weekday. We can't wait until the weather starts turning so that we can do these quick little weeknight hikes more often, instead of being forced to go out of town on the weekend if we want to hike!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Outside of the obvious things - friends and family and all of our loved ones - we all have things that can cheer us up or make us happy or give us those warm fuzzies no matter what. Here are just a few of mine.

Memes
Man, I love memes. I have a bunch of them saved to my phone and regularly use them in text conversations. Seriously, if you're feeling irritated or bummed out, just google 'funny meme' and you'll be giggling in no time. They're simple and silly, but effective. Here are some of my favorites and/or most oft used.

And here are my Top 3 Favorite Memes Of All Time, because they just make me laugh and laugh no matter what. Seriously, just imagine these things really happening, and try to think about what situations you would be in where these are applicable:

Beyonce
If you asked me how many solo dance parties I have had while cleaning my house blasting Beyonce music, I don't think I would be able to tell you. I lost track a long time ago. At our wedding, our first dance was to her version of Ave Maria. Last week I told Clinton that if I could switch places with anyone in the world for one day it would be Beyonce. Why, you ask? BECAUSE SHE IS BE-FREAKING-YONCE. She's an international superstar at the top of her game, she's absolutely gorgeous, she is rich beyond my wildest imagination, she is friends with the POTUS for goodness sake (!!!), and oh yeah by the way if none of that is enough she is married to HOVA!!! I'm fine being myself and all, but seriously.

Cloudy/rainy/dreary days
Growing up in the desert can be rough. I've lived in different areas where there are seasons and it snows, but most of my life has been spent in one of the hottest, driest places around and let me tell you, it gets old quick. I've never been a fan of the desert, for as long as I can remember. I am cognizant enough to realize that there is real beauty here, but for myself, I just greatly prefer places with snow and rain and NOT 115F degrees. Because of this, there is nearly nothing that I love more than rainy days. Even if it's just cloudy, I still appreciate that because it's rare here and I have always, always loved everything about rain. I love thunder and lightning, I love the way the clouds look, I love the way the air feels, I love how everything looks green, and I LOVE the way the desert smells after the rain. Whenever it rains here I always wind up taking a bunch of pictures because looking at them makes me happy.

Raindrops on my windshield.

Cool clouds during a walk around my apartment complex.

One of my all-time favorite memories is from a day trip Clinton and I took last year - we took our puppy Emmy and drove up to Montezuma Castle, walked around and checked it out, and then decided to go picnic at Montezuma Well down the road. When we got there the clouds had gotten pretty dark and ominous, but there was no lightning yet so we decided to push on. We hiked around there a bit for awhile checking out the well and then taking some old stairs carved in the stone down to a creek and we even saw some hippie-type people having some kind of ritual down there with smoke pipes and singing a pretty song.



Emmy on some rocks down by the creek.

 It started to sprinkle and then rain a bit heavier, so we went back to our car and decided to wait out the storm instead of trying to drive in it. We sat in the back of our little SUV with the hatch up and ate the most amazing picnic of good quality cheese, nuts, veggies, hummus, and chocolate pudding. Emmy sat between us eating a couple biscuits and even got lucky enough to be handed a few slivers of cheese. The rain came down in sheets and gales and the wind shook our car, but we just lay there in the back dry and comfortable and warm watching it for an hour. It was amazing, and the photo I took is still the background on my phone because it brings back such a good memory.

Comfort Foods
Mine are red velvet cake, avocados, and orange juice. These are my absolute favorite foods - I basically never turn down the cake or guacamole. Orange juice and I have a long history. Ever since I was little, it's the thing I wanted if I was sad. Sometimes if I'm bummed and we don't have any juice, Clinton will go out and get me some. When we lived in different cities and I'd go visit my best friend, she would always make sure she had OJ for my visits. It's not just something I want when I'm sad, but it does always seem to help a little bit.

OMNOMNOM GET IN MY BELLY.

Delicious AND nutritious!

Most of the time now, I just make my own! This week's batch had a grapefruit too.

Photographs
 I love pictures. Take a look back at my entries and it should be pretty obvious - they are littered with photos breaking up the text. I love them so much that my dad even brought it up in his speech at my wedding - he said that he was thankful that I always take and keep old pictures because it has helped him re-live and remember some stuff - for awhile my Facebook cover photo was a picture of my dad walking behind me, teaching me how to ride my bike, and he mentioned that one specifically in his speech. He was right though - I get to remember some amazing things and re-live some great days just by looking through old photos. Those images can be an incredibly powerful thing and take you right back to a place you may have thought that you had forgotten. I'm a big fan of Instagram because it is JUST pictures. My phone saves all my Instagram photos to memory and I like looking back through them sometimes because I can remember where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with in all of them, just from a small 1.5"x1.5" image.

I love looking at other people's old pictures too - imagining what things were like, where the were, what it smelled like, how they felt. I love looking at pictures that people show me of their recent vacations. I even love looking through magazines - food magazines, style, decor - I just love the vivid imagery, it makes me happy.

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

What are a few of your favorite things? I'd love to hear about them.