Our trip began with Bernie getting tired of dealing with tedious tasks and saying, "Let's just go somewhere right now." He grabbed his maps and some stuff, his dog hopped in the backseat, and we were off. He had a destination in mind, but I had no clue where.
We took the 60 east past Globe, then headed toward San Carlos on the Apache reservation. We left the pavement behind after San Carlos, and the scenery was gorgeous. (I feel like I really need to learn some more synonyms for "beautiful" and "amazing." I need more ways to describe the awesomeness of what I'm seeing.)
Along this road, we saw a spring with water so clean you could drink it straight from the source. It was such a surprise to come around a corner in the desert to a grassy area with a white bridge over a creek! We rocked out to Michael Jackson. We explored an abandoned house and left our mark among the grafitti: Bern and Bram. We saw a wild black mustang. And when it got too late to keep driving, we pulled off the road and slept in the back of my car.
We woke up in the middle of nowhere and set off for Top of the Pines. Finally, after 130 miles of unpaved roads, we arrived at a beautiful lake. Bernie swam, I read my Kindle, and it was lovely. Some Apache kids stopped by to hang out, and they were cool, but our "kick it" spot had been compromised. We left to check out Dry Lake, which thankfully wasn't completely dry. It definitely wasn't as nice as the first one, but on our way, we saw a sign for a fire tower. We stopped on the way back and climbed the tower. Now, I realize this doesn't sound exciting, but here's the cool part- there actually was a forest fire nearby.
We'd spotted it the night before, and we could tell it was growing. Even during the time we were watching it, it was obviously getting closer. From our perch on top of the tower, I said, "Um, Bernie? I thinkwe need to get out of here..." It was like that scene in Twister- "It's headed right for us!" It was within a few miles, and we started seeing helicopters swooping in with water to drop on it. On our way out, we were stopped by firefighters who advised us to leave the area and told us it had been started by lightning two days prior. Hopefully they'll get it out soon!
After a beautiful drive next to Eagle Creek, we emerged back in civilization in the town of Clifton, a town with the biggest open mine in the world. It's a huge hole in the earth where they mine gold and copper. Sad, but interesting because you can watch them working. Then, Bernie showed me something so unique and creepy- the old hidden graveyard in the side of the hill across from the mine. The graves blend in with the cacti, so you don't even notice it driving by. It looked like the front yard of the Haunted Mansion. Fascinating. I want to do some research and go back and poke around there some more!
The next day, we did a scenic drive up to a lake on top of Mount Graham, near Safford. Amazing how it was over 100 degrees in town, but in the 60's at 10,000 feet. We met a guy riding his bike who shared his story with us about leaving an unhappy marriage and giving up his money for a new life he loves. I also lost my heart to George, Bernie's dachshund. I mean, I loved this dog already, but when he left Bernie to follow me on a long walk to the bathroom, I fell head over heels. He ran ahead of me to make sure things were safe, then looked back every so often to make sure I was keeping up. He's sweet and calm and affectionate and I want him for my own.
We chose a beautiful campsite right on the edge of the mountain that night and watched the sunset together. Something I love about Bernie is how he always notices sunsets and stops to watch them.
The next morning, I awoke to "cock-a-doodle-do" at the crack of dawn. I thought it was Bernie messing around. The second time I heard it, I sat up and started to say, "What the hell is wrong with you??" only to realize that Bernie was still sleeping next to me. And there, standing right outside the open hatchback of my car, was a rooster. He crowed insistently a little while longer, but finally gave up so we could go back to sleep. I am still not sure how this happened since there were no farms in the area, but I can say I've never awoken to a rooster crowing before, so that was a novel experience.
We headed home that afternoon, and that was the end of our little adventure.
(I'm still waiting for Bernie to send me some of the pics... My phone was out of space.)
We took the 60 east past Globe, then headed toward San Carlos on the Apache reservation. We left the pavement behind after San Carlos, and the scenery was gorgeous. (I feel like I really need to learn some more synonyms for "beautiful" and "amazing." I need more ways to describe the awesomeness of what I'm seeing.)
Along this road, we saw a spring with water so clean you could drink it straight from the source. It was such a surprise to come around a corner in the desert to a grassy area with a white bridge over a creek! We rocked out to Michael Jackson. We explored an abandoned house and left our mark among the grafitti: Bern and Bram. We saw a wild black mustang. And when it got too late to keep driving, we pulled off the road and slept in the back of my car.
We woke up in the middle of nowhere and set off for Top of the Pines. Finally, after 130 miles of unpaved roads, we arrived at a beautiful lake. Bernie swam, I read my Kindle, and it was lovely. Some Apache kids stopped by to hang out, and they were cool, but our "kick it" spot had been compromised. We left to check out Dry Lake, which thankfully wasn't completely dry. It definitely wasn't as nice as the first one, but on our way, we saw a sign for a fire tower. We stopped on the way back and climbed the tower. Now, I realize this doesn't sound exciting, but here's the cool part- there actually was a forest fire nearby.
We'd spotted it the night before, and we could tell it was growing. Even during the time we were watching it, it was obviously getting closer. From our perch on top of the tower, I said, "Um, Bernie? I thinkwe need to get out of here..." It was like that scene in Twister- "It's headed right for us!" It was within a few miles, and we started seeing helicopters swooping in with water to drop on it. On our way out, we were stopped by firefighters who advised us to leave the area and told us it had been started by lightning two days prior. Hopefully they'll get it out soon!
After a beautiful drive next to Eagle Creek, we emerged back in civilization in the town of Clifton, a town with the biggest open mine in the world. It's a huge hole in the earth where they mine gold and copper. Sad, but interesting because you can watch them working. Then, Bernie showed me something so unique and creepy- the old hidden graveyard in the side of the hill across from the mine. The graves blend in with the cacti, so you don't even notice it driving by. It looked like the front yard of the Haunted Mansion. Fascinating. I want to do some research and go back and poke around there some more!
The next day, we did a scenic drive up to a lake on top of Mount Graham, near Safford. Amazing how it was over 100 degrees in town, but in the 60's at 10,000 feet. We met a guy riding his bike who shared his story with us about leaving an unhappy marriage and giving up his money for a new life he loves. I also lost my heart to George, Bernie's dachshund. I mean, I loved this dog already, but when he left Bernie to follow me on a long walk to the bathroom, I fell head over heels. He ran ahead of me to make sure things were safe, then looked back every so often to make sure I was keeping up. He's sweet and calm and affectionate and I want him for my own.
We chose a beautiful campsite right on the edge of the mountain that night and watched the sunset together. Something I love about Bernie is how he always notices sunsets and stops to watch them.
The next morning, I awoke to "cock-a-doodle-do" at the crack of dawn. I thought it was Bernie messing around. The second time I heard it, I sat up and started to say, "What the hell is wrong with you??" only to realize that Bernie was still sleeping next to me. And there, standing right outside the open hatchback of my car, was a rooster. He crowed insistently a little while longer, but finally gave up so we could go back to sleep. I am still not sure how this happened since there were no farms in the area, but I can say I've never awoken to a rooster crowing before, so that was a novel experience.
We headed home that afternoon, and that was the end of our little adventure.
(I'm still waiting for Bernie to send me some of the pics... My phone was out of space.)
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