Tag / az

by kritterspaw

I’ll take Flagstaff over Sedona

Blasphemy, I know!  Sedona has stunning views, no doubt.  But there is something real and genuine about Flagstaff.   What’s not to like in city that is littered with start up breweries and coffee roasteries.  Flagstaff has more boutique breweries (NOT affiliated with any big beer company) than anyplace I know.  Let’s see there is Beaver Street Brewery, Flagstaff Brewing Company, Mother Road Brewing Company, Lumberjack Brewing Company, , Darksky Brewing, and Wanderlust Brewing Company.  That’s SIX small breweries.  You don’t have to like beer to understand that there is a mentality and state of mind that comes with small breweries.   The people are free birds, a little hippi-ish, and proud of their passion and want to share.

It doesn’t stop with breweries…  Flagstaff is home to not 1, but 2 Farmer’s Markets weekly PLUS a Farmer’s Market store PLUS an Urban Market every 2nd Saturday.   It has SEVEN coffee Roasters spread across it’s charming but condensed small city.  Now maybe that’s common in big cities… but it’s unheard of in such a small town.   This entrepreneurial mindset demonstrates the passion that Flagstaff residents exude and want to share with their community.  It’s not out of sense of making big bucks or charging high prices, but moreover sharing the products they care about and are proud of, with their community.

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While Flagstaff may not be have the stunning landscape that Sedona has, it makes up for it in character and the great outdoors.  It’s filled with walking paths, trails, hiking areas and National Forest.  It’s a great place to camp, hike, forage and enjoy the abundant wildlife and unburdened (no fee) forests.

It also DOESN’T have the high prices, ticky tack souvenir stores, floods of tourists, or hoity toity-ness that define Sedona.  You don’t have to pay to park on the side of the road (like in Sedona) or fight the insane traffic to get from one end to the other (though Flagstaff has it’s fair share of traffic – unfortunately).

Did you know that Sedona has the only McDonald’s in the world with a turquoise arch (rather than the standard yellow)?  The Sedona city council deemed the yellow McDonald’s arch ‘too garish’, despite the fact that many business (including Hertz) have yellow logos along the same street.  That’s Sedona.  Flagstaff’s McDonald’s arch is yellow.  Need I say more?

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by kritterspaw

Mountain Snow

My friends in the Phoenix are all talking about the torrential rains they are having.  The storm this week has given us some much needed precipitation… all in one week.  While Phx is dealing with their large volumes of rain… we GOT SNOW!

 

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Our local ski resort, Snowbowl, is reporting the best year in a decade, with up to 100″ of snow!  55″ this week alone.  Flagstaff is reporting 30″ this week, and here in Happy Jack we probably got about 16″ this week.

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Our dog, Journey is loving it.  What is it about snow and pets… they are like little kids …. oh boy, oh boy… SNOW!journey snofac_Ssi.JPG

Totally fun to watch.

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by kritterspaw

Sand Patterns

While I’d like to post my 3rd and final video on the pizza oven, it’s just still a long way from done.

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It’s coming along… slowly though it may be.  Here’s a pic to show you the current progress.  So many people think… pizza oven, what’s taking so long.  So let this picture give you a different perspective and a teaser until the final video details it’s many still left undone steps.. like building our own roof, our own doors, countertop border, stone facade, etc.

So this blog entry offers a distraction from the pizza oven.  Wouldn’t want anyone thinking we’re all work and no play.

We recently got back from Page, AZ.  Now there isn’t much in Page, AZ as far as charming towns, shopping, or restaurants.  But it is full of natural wonders, textures, shapes and colors.  Page is home to Antelope Canyon (see my photos posted on kritterspix.com).

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I am far from an avant garde photographer.  I concentrate mostly on landscape & wildlife.  Having said that, Page is full of interesting difficult-to-capture textures and colors.

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I love what my friend Gayle shared… now all I have to do is learn to make countertops out of my textures.  Thanks, Gayle.  You’re awesome.  You’ll be the first to get a set when I do!

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by kritterspaw

Limestone Ranch

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We like to frequent the Mogollon Rim as it is close to us, and bountiful with it’s awesome nature and scenery.  We always feel so fortunate to live so close to something so stunning, and are always finding something new and interesting.

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On a recent trip we ran across this old cabin.  There was no signage to get there, but this old cabin was well kept and maintained.  We wandered around it and were mesmerized by how well built it was.. and how lasting.  We estimated it was built in the 1930’s, and still standing.  We could imagine that some old rancher set up home here… cutting down local timbers, perhaps even mixing his own concrete to chink the lumber walls.  Corrals still stood from apparent horses, and old farm implements strewn about allowing the tenants to live off the land.

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All that’s left is the evidence of a past life, an era gone-by, and the new tenants that stand guard.

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by kritterspaw

Best view in Flagstaff

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When my husband told me he was taking me someplace special for lunch in Flagstaff, and we had never been there, I was baffled.

It seemed a contradiction in terms.  There are a lot of good places in Flagstaff for a good meal.  Probably the best of which are only open for dinner.  We’ve visited most of the best lunch places in Flagstaff, or at least I thought.  One we hadn’t been to??  I was intrigued.

Well he hit a home run when we surprised me with Snowbowl.  Not being a skier, we had never been.  Snowbowl is a ski resort, open during the summer strictly for the views.  You can purchase a ticket for the chair lift to the top… enjoy the view and / or a hike… and head back down.  The ride takes around 30 minutes each way… and must be the best view in Flagstaff.  It takes you from 9500 ft to 11,500 ft.  It was a chilly 53F at the top.

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It forced us to sit down and relax for a change… and literally take in the scenery.

The restaurant at the bottom of the hill was less than spectacular… but the view made up for it.  Next time (and there will be a next time), we’ll bring friends… and our own lunch.  This kind of experience should be shared!

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by kritterspaw

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

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We took the Verde Vally Train with some friends the other day.

It reminded me that it’s fun to do activities you have done before with someone who hasn’t.  It’s like Christmas, seeing it through a child’s new eyes… it brings joy seeing others expressions and delight in the new experience.

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We’ve done the Verde Valley train, and honestly for someone who lives in the outdoors and is constantly exploring, picnicking, and day camping throughout AZ, the train was less than spectacular.  But for our friends, who don’t have that same opportunity, it was a delight.

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We were thrilled they had a great time, and from their perspective got to see AZ from the inside out… through the mountains, hills and trees, as we whooshed through the outdoor wild of a gone by era.  We got to see the old train stop in Perkinsville; and heard stories of farmers delivering produce all the way to Jerome.  The train in it’s heyday moved tons of copper ore from the Jerome mines.

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by kritterspaw

Blue Ridge Reservoir

Blue Ridge Reservoir is in my opinion the most picturesque lake in Northern Arizona.  Many of the lakes in Northern AZ are small, and while fishable, not the most attractive.  Lake Mary is popular upon the ‘walk in’s’ who climb down the hill to cast their lines.

Knoll Lake, Bear Lake, Kinnickinick, Ashurst, Woods Canyon are all part of the Northern AZ lake options.  But my heart belongs to Blue Ridge.  It’s windy green waters traverse through thickly forested high canyon walls.  bluridgresv_ssilog reflectn_ssi

tree rfl vert_Ssi Tall dense trees reflect on the waterways like a mirror.  Wildlife abounds.  On this particular trip we saw bald eagle, a blue heron fishing for dinner (www.kritterspix.com), and wood ducks and their little ones.

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It’s a peaceful respite commonly enjoyed by an abundance of rude camp canoe organizations and kayakers.  The Forest Service is now syphoning off water to Payson, compromising our tax payer recreational resource.  The water continues to drop at a rapid pace.  Yet, with it’s many flaws, and frustrating politics, it is a beautiful lake that should be enjoyed and shared by all, as long as we are ‘allowed’ by the US Forest Service to do so.

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by kritterspaw

Milky Way over Mogollon Rim

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The Mogollon Rim in Northern Arizona is very near to our home, for which I feel very fortunate.  The views are stunning, and varied.  Every overlook uncovers another view, with great ledges, moss, rocks and trees… truly a photographers haven.

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June is one of the best months of the year to see the Milky Way.  It is low on the horizon and bright in the sky.  With a new moon, it’s the perfect time to get great Milky Way photographs.  So with such a great opportunity we took full advantage of it, and got out to see if we could photograph the Milky Way over the Mogollon Rim.

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The challenge is to get decent foreground, but far enough away to be able to see it against the starry sky background.  The rocks in the front just don’t show up.

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So I selected 2 trees… one on each side of the Milky Way and did a 7 photo panorama to show the whole galaxy.

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Cool!

Then, I did a star trails photo.  This shot is 75 individual shots, each taken for 30 sec, over an hour… then stitched together to show the movement of the stars over time.

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by kritterspaw

Sedona Snow

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Weather is our friend.

I remember when I used to travel, I used to complain when the weather wouldn’t be perfect.  No doubt there is something pleasant about a sun shiny day.  But where’s the fun it that.  Adverse weather brings out all sorts of new adventures… people coming in out of the rain looking for shelter, and a friend… animals getting out on a shady cool no shadow day… and us photographers looking for rainbows… or snow… or fog…

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We went to Sedona for the weekend… and it snowed.  It’s not often you see snow on the Red Rocks.    It was pretty awesome.        s40A6658_Sd

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