Friday, April 21, 2017

Remembering Tahoe

Today was a sad day for us, we lost the best dog we've ever had.  In February 2008 we drove to Santa Monica, California to meet "Charger" a homeless 1 1/2 year old Dalmatian (click here to see his story).   He was skinny, scared, wild, and we'd never had a male dog before . . . we quickly decided to take a chance on him. Long story short, it was one of the best decisions we've ever made.  Dalmatians are not for everyone, but Tahoe is our third and as they say "Third time's the charm."

Kent found Tahoe on the Petfinder website
Tahoe's first day with us in Utah . . .
He wasn't too sure this was all going to work out

He made friends quickly . . . Tahoe and Pepper were inseparable

Tahoe enjoyed sitting at the top of the stairs in the garage

He could be quite playful

He loved his blankies, they were for sleeping, playing and wearing

This is one of our favorite pictures of him

First Family Christmas Picture 2008

In his early years he played hard

We quickly learned that he really liked cherries

Soon he was banned from the orchard

He was always up for a good game of catch

After playing hard he enjoyed hanging out with us

He had the most unique sleeping positions

Unfortunately, life was not always fun and games

He enjoyed a good game of tug of war

We took him on a few hikes

He was afraid of water

One day we found him in the recliner, he was not allowed on the furniture . . . oops!
For a California dog he learned to like snow

Kent always joked that we planted the garden for Tahoe . . . he liked to pick his own veggies

We called him our Unicorn

I like to make greeting cards and Tahoe was often my favorite subject, he was so patient

Tahoe's last day with us

Goodbye, my man . . . see you when I get Home.


April 21, 2017




Sunday, March 12, 2017

On the Road to the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas

Kent and I haven't taken a long road trip in awhile.  Part of the allure is to travel two-lane roads and allow the time to visit interesting stops en route to our destination. This post documents some of the places we encountered on our two-day travel from Hurricane to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Click here to see a map of our journey.


The Colorado River at Marble Canyon is a good place to stretch your legs 

The San Francisco Peaks quickly come into view north of Flagstaff

The Eagles song, "Take it Easy" plays in the background when you visit here

Winslow's claim to fame . . . besides trains

The last time we were in Glenwood, NM this was closed, so we're hoping it is open

It is open for 1/2 mile, so we started up the trail

This is an older section of trail

Apparently this narrow canyon closes often due to flooding

In the 1890's the creek was piped to an ore processing plant

The catwalk structure was finished in 2003

This is where the trail ends for now . . .

We explored a little further 

Whitewater Creek was flowing pretty good

At Emory Pass, Kent examines the fire damage that was lightning caused



We are here to explore Guadalupe Mountains National Park

We plan to hike up Guadalupe Peak later in the week



We have time for a hike in McKittrick Canyon

It was refreshing to hike along this intermittent stream 

The unique peeling bark made the Madrone or Manzanita trees stand out along the trail

We crossed the stream a few times, but never saw any signs of trout

Entrance to the Pratt Cabin

After hiking 2.4 miles we reached Pratt Cabin

Wallace Pratt began construction in the early 1930's, so this could be original 

The cabin is made of stone and wood

The stone was quarried from the base of the mountains 

The rockers on the front porch made for a great place to relax

Even the roof is stone

Pratt Cabin was built to last

Flowers along the trail

This unique limestone grotto was further up the trail

Hunter Line Cabin was where we turned around

Built in 1924, it apparently had electricity at one time

The cabin appears to be in great shape