Hiking the "Lost Dutchman"

Yesterday Erik and I drove about 40 minutes away to Lost Dutchman State Park to go hiking. It's one of the closest mountains to Chandler, and it has some pretty awesome geology going on. We left around 10am to get most of the hiking done in the cooler hours of the day. It really wasn't bad at all, considering we did leave later than planned... It was probably in the mid-80's but the breeze was nice and cool. It was so great to get out and go hiking! And to be able to see more of Arizona wildness, not just civilization like we see every day.

Cacti are seriously quite crazy to me still. They are so much like trees (in areas that have died it looks like bark of a tree!). And they have roots like a tree, and everything. I might be sounding silly, but hey, this is the first time I really have been up close to these things! These large ones are called Saguaro Cacti.

These were taken at the top of the trail that we took. Quite a view we had. Next time we'll go even further.


This one is called a Cholla Cactus, and is apparently the most common cactus in Arizona. The first pic is a baby of the 2nd pic (the first one is about a foot tall, and the 2nd is about 6 ft).


I just liked this one cuz of the odd cactus...

And this one I HAD to throw up here, just for this blog! I'm huggin' a cactus (a.k.a the title of this blog..)! And I would advise you to do otherwise cuz it wasn't the most comforting hug I have had...

And the end of our hike..

We were back by noon and had a refreshing rest of the day relaxing.

Our home

If you're wondering what our apartment looks like well here's a little summary. When I first moved in, all we had furniture wise was a coffee table but no couch, a desk but no chair, and a bed. We used Erik's couch/bed mat from his VAN for the couch, and a stool thing from his van for the desk.
BEFORE:








The past week we have gotten a lot done--The kitchen is now stocked with food, we have a $995 couch that we bought for $381(!) (JC Penny Furniture going-out-of-business sale, baby!), a bookshelf, and floor lamp. Feelin' pretty good about the place.
AFTER:









Looks a little better, huh? Here's a little more of the place--the deck, and rest of the complex....

We also have 2 pools, and a lake/pond on the property. That's another thing about Phoenix; everywhere you go there are pools, lakes, fountains, waterfalls. The landscaping is insane here. There's no litter on the ground and it's very well kept up.

If anyone ever wants to come down and visit (please do) we have an extra bedroom! We are also looking into getting a dining room table here eventually (Erik calls it a breakfast room table cuz it's going to be small) and hopefully something for our guests to sleep on when they come. Chandler is a nice place, but I must warn you: everyone drives like a bat outa hell, and every once in a while the air smells of poo...

Those crazy birds!

So I found this crazy bird that sits outside our window and makes these insane noises... Click on the link below and you can hear what we hear every day (you need Quicktime to listen):

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Great-tailed_Grackle.html

This is what the crazy dude looks like:



He's actually quite entertaining. For those of you that can't listen to the link, they really make some unpleasant noises: mechanical rattles, sliding tinny whistles, harsh rustling sounds, and sharp hard notes.
I think it's called a great-tailed grackle, if my birding abilities are ok...
This brings me to my interest in possibly getting into birds since there is a small number of mammal species in the desert... And they have some crazy-cool birds down here! I haven't found any bird/habitat jobs yet... but I also haven't looked too hard. (So far I just have applied for a fish position, and a vet tech, but both are super competitive.) I also want to get out there and take more pictures of stuff, and birds are fun to shoot. So you'll probably be seeing more on this site as they come. Especially ones you won't be seeing near where you live...

First day in Phoenix

Hey everyone! This is my first time blogging, so bear with me. I decided to start doing this since, being that I just moved to Phoenix and arrived here yesterday, I won't have much to do until I find myself a job down here (and I can't look 24/7, right?), and my life is always full of adventures, so it would be fun to keep you all posted! Indeed. I know my friends and family will be wondering what I have been up to lately in the desert, and I can tell you that I will try my best to keep you updated.

Here's a little glimpse of what I have been doing so far:

Arrived yesterday after a very uneventful 20-hour drive with Erik. Good uneventful. No accidents, no fires that we could see in California, no car troubles. We did stop in Redding on the way down to see some friends, Bryce and Sheila, though, and glad we did. Stopped in Santa Nella at a Best Western for the night. It smelled of cows (memories of Corvallis living!). Just passed San Bernardino, CA we saw hundreds, if not thousands of windmills for wind-energy which was pretty cool.

Crossing into Arizona was perfect--the sun was setting just as the moon was rising and made for a beautiful sunset/moonrise!

It's warm here, of course. Not bad, though. 'Just' 90 today, and I think the rest of the week will be in the mid-90's and later the 80's. I'm enjoying it after freezing my arse off in Oregon, too early I must add.

Moved all my junk in this morning with the help of Erik before he had to go to work. I really didn't have all that much stuff--just enough to squish into my little Jetta and still be able to see out the back window! When he went to work I took it upon myself to clean the apartment and get my stuff unpacked and "in place". For those of you that don't know, Erik has lived here a month already, and being the first chick roommate he's had, I didn't want to overpower "girlyness" by bringing in a bunch of pink foo-foo stuff, although that would have made for a good laugh (a.k.a. the movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"). Not that I like pink foo-fooness, but hey, I've got some womanly taste. So I only brought the neccessities: kitchen supplies, clothes, a shower curtain, and things I canNOT live without (3 cameras, laptop, and random stuff I bought in Australia). Oh, and a bunch of wall pictures. So far Erik doesn't seem to mind. He was a bit surprised to walk into a clean apartment though ;). I bought a vacuum that I couldn't figure out how to put together so I gave up and stashed that in the hall closest... Other than that, just trying to figure out my ways around this town. Phoenix is huge. Nearly 4 million people, and they all spread way out, rather than building up. It takes forever just to get from one side of Phoenix to the other. We live in Chandler, which is on the outskirts of Phoenix suburbs. It's pretty nice--all new developments. But the apartment complex doesn't recycle! What's up with that?! I guess I didn't realize that not all states are as good about it as Oregon. Arizonians sure aren't what you call "environmentalists", so it will take some time for me to fit in down here, but maybe I can get my voice out there. That's what this place needs! Another difference: the plants and animals are all way different down here, so I have a lot of learning to do... Cactuses are CRAZY!

Ok that's enough for now. Hope you had as much fun as I did.