Arizona

A payphone.

Shiny!

BUF

Waiting at the Buffalo airport

A Glendale Park

Marcella + Cris' apartment complex is on a street corner, so across the street in front of them is the shopping plaza where I leech Starbucks' wireless from. Across the street to the side, though, is this park with a walking path, two big lakes, some picnic areas, and lots of ducks.

Patio Chairs

Chairs on Cris' patio as seen through the blinds in the kitchen

Beginning

On our way up. There were lots of cacti at the beginning, but the higher we got, the more they thinned out.

Mini flowers

Mountains and Hills

Phoenix apparently resides in the valley and is surrounded on all sides by mountains. This was done so that there'd be pretty scenery everywhere.

Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw

When you pick a pear Try to use the claw

Dog Walk

Marcella and I took Iggy and Onyx for a walk in the park.

Flower Shoots

Growing over the wall surrounding Marcella + Cris' apartment complex

"Death March"

The trail was considerably steeper than the one Marcella had originally intended us to go on, so "death march" became our nickname for it.

M & M

Neither of us like how we each look in this picture, which means everyone else will probably be okay with it. A very nice guy offered to take this pic of us, and I was apparently completely incompetent at explaining how to take a picture with the cam.

Agua Break

It wasn't a "hot" day, but it was warm and the trail was long so we stopped and hydrated every now and then.

Home, Home on the range

I haven't seen any Buffalo. Nor is this really "the range". It's a desert, and there's mountains. But they're in color, in real life. IDK why I titled this one like this. Damn, all the space is wasted now ... MOVING ON.

Under a tree, just past halfway, a little before it sets

According to Marcella, a sunset and boobs are all you need in a photo for it to be successful

Marcella of the wind and sun

At OUR top, I got her to pose for a pic. Her hair had fun.

Lone Cactus

Apparently they don't grow arms until they're 10 years old, so this one was a "toddler" by cacti standards.

'Death March' Sunset pano

The dark details really get lost in this one at any view less than large. Not a perfect panorama by any means, but I really like how it rewards closer inspection to see things like the fact that there are actually two people walking on the trail.

View from our top

We hiked up about 1,200 feet by the end. We were worried about it getting too dark to see by the time we got to the bottom, and with good reason: it got really difficult to see. Plus, I was pretty darn beat.

Vertigo

I didn't take many photos of us actually going up or down the trail because not only was it very steep, it also was filled with strangly shaped sharp rocks, holes, slick rocks, and other dangers, so you really had to watch every step you took.

OUR top

This is as far up the 1.2 mile trail as we went. The sun was setting, it was gonna be dark soon, and we were pooped.

Summit Trail at Piestewa Peak

Go figure: I never actually took any photos at the bottom looking all the way up. This one's from probably a lil' more than halfway up the trail.

Sunset Silhouette

This seems like as good a place as any to mention that virtually every other hiker was wearing gym clothes or a stylish running outfit, and one in every 4 people had an iPod or other mp3 player. Apparently this trail was the Phoenix equivelent of the gym. Cardio equipment wishes it had this view. :P

Phoenix Lights

As sunset commenced, you began to be able to see all the lights of the city down in the valley. By its conclusion, it was downright gorgeous. Looks best Large

"Car before dark!!"

Our mantra on the way down. We didn't succeed, but it was a valient effort. Marcella's car can actually be seen in the parking lot in this one, in the bottom left.

Marcella's Bears

Okay, here's the story. Onyx likes to bite things, preferably soft squishy things. Marcella had put her bears on a shelf about 3 feet off the ground so Onyx couldn't get them, but he learned he could jump up, or stand on his hind legs and bite one off the shelf. When I'd manage to get one away from him, I'd put it on this shelf in the kitchen, but then he'd jump up and grab another one until we'd gone through almost every one on the shelf, in increasing-size-of-bear order. Except for the little brown guy on the right who Onyx hid somewhere and didn't bring back until later. He's a bad dog.

Marcella and the attention hog

Onyx cuddles up on the kitchen floor

A surprising amount of water for a desert

The pond, which is practically Marcella + Cris' backyard. This is one of two big ones in the gated, walled-in complex. This pond had a fountain, and at least 2 families of ducks. On the left is the pool-area.

Deck chairs, pool-side

Peanut Butter Cookies

The first batch turned out fine. The second batch ... well, we forgot to smoosh the balls of dough down until they were almost done cooking, so the deformed ones on the left are the result. They look like they got dipped in acid or something. Marcella told me I couldn't just show THOSE, so the ones on the right are the "pretty" ones from the first batch.

A ball with feet

This is one of Onyx's toys. I thought it was wildly odd looking and needed to have its picture taken.

Red flowers

The award for boringest photo title of the year goes to ...

Pool #1

The pool closest to Marcella + Cris' apartment. There were sun-bathing chairs, tables with umbrellas, a BBQ bungalow, ferns and palm trees, and a hot tub!

BBQ Bungalow

A view from a second-floor balcony, overlooking one of the ponds in the apartment complex.

Leathery Skin

I'm not actually sure what to call this type of plant. Is it a cactus? I'll have to ask ...

Wind Chimes

People really like to decorate their patios. These were the only wind chimes I saw, though.

Afternoon sky

View from a 3rd-floor balcony overlooking the apartment complex.

Corner apartment

Palm fronds

Tiny fruit

These pieces from some sort of small fruit were only about the size of a quarter

Vine Flower

Stucco

Seed Pod

These were lying all over the sidewalk behind Marcella + Cris' apartment. They started out really green and turned a deep dark brown-ish black as they rotted.

Get along lil' doggies

Puffy Plant

These seem to be really popular here. They appear, to me, to be a cross between a fern and a cactus.

Phoenix At Night

Marcella is pretty sure that this is actually Phoenix that we were looking at, here. For reference, I was staying in Glendale, the town directly next door to Phoenix, AZ. This was particurally hard to assemble because all the sky colors changed so quickly and were different in each photo. BAH! Looks best @ Large size

Onyx

I think Marcella said that he's just over a year old. He's a ball of energy, likes to play tug of war, climbs over and on me like I'm furniture, and loves to bite Marcella's stuffed bears. This is the first time he sat still for longer than 3 seconds so I could get a clear photo.

Thunderbird Park

Glendale, Arizona just before sunset