Offroading

Pat is forever complaining that we don't have enough time to do the stuff we like to do. He likes to blame this on my Sunday soccer schedule, but his Saturday night hockey is equally at fault. And, of course, the real culprit is work. If we weren't spending 40+ hours slaving for The Man, then we'd have plenty of time to do everything he wants to do!
One of the things he'd like to do more of is to take the Jeep out and explore Arizona's backroads. I finally convinced him that this doesn't have to be a full weekend excursion and can be done on a Saturday (after I go hiking with Christy and before he goes to hockey, of course.) There are lots of trails east of the Phoenix metro area, only about an hour from our house that we have never been to. We headed out there on Saturday to finally check it out.

The trail started with the usual desert landscape - saguaros and scrub.
As the trail wound its way up the mountain, we got more trees and less cactus.
It's all pines at the top of the mountain.Arizona is pretty. I like mountains. It makes me happy! :)The trail goes through this river bed. I'm sure the driving is a little more difficult in the spring when there is actually a river in the river bed, instead of just a few puddles.
More pretty:
Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. I assure you they are cleaner than they appear, as well.