Adventure is Out There!

Today was such an amazing day! I am so lucky to have married a man who I have so much fun with and to have a baby who is a total trooper when we drag him around with us on all of our outdoor adventures. It is finally starting to warm up in Flagstaff (Hallelujah!), which means the weather is absolutely perfect down in Sedona. Today Jeff, Luke, and I spent the day in gorgeous, sunny, 67-degree weather. We were in heaven. I have so missed fresh air, sun, and the feeling of spending all day outside using my muscles.

This morning, we packed up the car and headed down the mountain to hike Munds River Trail in Sedona. I realized right away that I had left the camera's memory card in the computer at home. That would have been a huge bummer, but Jeff saved the day with his brand new and prized iPod Touch. He just bought it off of Ebay for a great deal and he loves it! All of the pictures in this post are courtesy of that marvelous device. I was so grateful that Jeff had it with him to document our incredible day.

 At the trail head. This sign doesn't list the trail we hiked, but trust me, it was there.

 Setting out on our first adventure of the day. Luke enjoyed riding up high in the backpack carrier much more this time than the first time we used it, back when he was 3 months old.

 We saw a lot of red dirt, red rocks, and cactus, but most of the trail was down in a riverbed with a little river flowing through it and there were a lot more green trees and bushes down there.

We crossed this road twice at the beginning of the hike and were near it at a couple of points on the trail. It was funny to be out in nature and suddenly see a car drive by.

 Our first time crossing the little river

 We saw a few pretty little waterfalls along the way. Luke wanted to touch the water every time.

 We hit this waterfall after about 2.5 miles. We sat near it to eat our lunches before heading back the way we came.

 Luke napped on the move.

 We saw a bunch of aloe vera plants along the trail. How convenient that they grow so abundantly in a place where sunburns abound!

 At the end of the hike

Replenishing in the car after a long hard hike (despite the fact that he was carried the entire way).  

After we finished our hike, we got curious about where the dirt road we were on lead to so we went to check it out. There's another 12 miles of dirt road and we still don't know what is at the end of it because the road was closed after 4 miles, but not all was lost. We got to enjoy an awesome view at the 4 mile mark. Not to mention the wild ride on the way up. The road was so rough that it felt exactly like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland a lot of the time. It was intense!

We climbed up a little ways after we stopped the car to get a good look at our beautiful surroundings.

 We were so high up!

Next, we drove back to the paved roads of Sedona for a bike ride. We thought we had found a place that wasn't very hilly, but it seems that all of Sedona is just a collection of ups and downs. The hills weren't quite as steep this time, however, and we enjoyed a very nice ride. Jeff was planning on working out his legs tonight, but after carrying Luke and most of our supplies on his back during the hike and then towing them behind him up multiple hills on his bike, he reconsidered.

 Luke riding an 8-foot chicken that we spotted on the side of the road during our bike ride.

 Back at the very dirty car after our bike ride.

When we had our fill of bike riding, we decided to drive into downtown Sedona, put Luke in his stroller, and walk around for a little while before heading home. Jeff decided Luke needed a chance to stretch his legs since he had been strapped into one thing after another all day with few opportunities to move around. So he walked Luke around the parking lot in just his socks for a few minutes before putting him in the stroller. Luke was happy so who cares about the blackened socks, right?

In downtown Sedona, we stopped in a candy/ice cream shop to sample some tasty Snickers fudge and buy some delicious ice cream to share. It was late afternoon when we went out onto the balcony to enjoy our ice cream. The sun was starting to go down and yet we were all wearing short sleeves and eating ice cream and we felt perfectly comfortable. It was a wonderful feeling. We let Luke stand up on his own, holding onto the railing and looking down at all of the people passing by. He was so happy! He just kept screaming and letting out the funniest fake laughs. People walking by down below kept looking up to find the source of the strange noises and found Luke smiling down at them. They laughed and waved and nudged the people they were with so they would look too. I think he brightened a lot of people's day (It's what he does best). Check out the video here. As we were walking down the street a little while later and Luke was making similar noises from his stroller, one guy even recognized him and excitedly asked, "Is this the little guy from upstairs? He was pretty popular!"

Luke crashed in the car on the way home. He was exhausted after being dragged around all day by his crazy parents, but he was such a trooper the whole time. He played along and went happily (or with a sleepy, zoned out look on his face) on every escapade we embarked on. We sure do love this little boy.