Saguaro Lake

This is the last Saturday Josh is in town before he heads back to Alabama so we took the Jet Skis out one last time, we invited my friend Kayla who is amazing to come along.

Josh & I started out on the green jet ski together, that one is the most stable (I call it the mule) and I like it the best.  After about an hour Josh wanted to "play" on the red one so we traded with Kayla & she got on the green one with me and Josh got on the red one by himself.  

Kayla & I literally idled along the canyon looking at the pretty landscape, watching boaters and just talking.  I had a really great time.  We got to the damn idled all the way back & went back to find Josh.

He had a great time but was was happy to have me back, unfortunately while riding the red jet ski he leaned one way & me another at a high speed & we were tossed over.  Josh felt SO bad, because he promised me I wouldn't go in (he knows I really hate water).  

The weather started to get pretty stormy - welcome monsoon season!

It actually got a little scary, with the winds on the water & on the jet ski I honestly thought at some points I was going to go under completely waiting for Josh to come w/the trailer.  It got busy too because people wanted to get out before the storm got worse but with the waves so strong boats had a hard time getting on their trailers.  One complete stranger was great and backed my car into the dock & get our jet skis up to help get things moving faster.  

  I am the best girlfriend because I didn't even ask Josh to shave his mustache, he even volunteered to & told him if it made him happy he could keep it. 

This picture kind of shows how stormy it got, but you cannot believe how strong those winds are down in the water, good grief . . . 

Kayla is basically amazing, she could tell I was pretty freaked out and once her jet ski was on the trailer she literally swam out to me and tried to help me position my jet ski even w/the waves crashing down on her.  

It was pretty cool though, and everyone had a ton of fun, it was one those crazy experiences that is fun remembering, but I will definitely avoid being on the lake during a monsoon storm.

This is our last outdoor adventure for the summer.   

Wednesday we went indoor rock climbing but I don't have any pictures of that. 

I imagine my life will go back to normal when he leaves but it was a fun summer! 

Biosphere 2

On the Fourth we stopped at the Biosphere 2 on the way home.  I asked Josh's friend to take a picture of us with his phone and finally remember to have him send it to us.  I love pictures :)

I changed after we went caving but the weather was crazy on the fourth, super stormy and out in Oracle is POURED!  Lightning struck the metal rods on the building just above our heads, it was so loud and bright.  Oh my goodness.

The storm brewing.  What a fun afternoon with the weather, the storm was just beautiful.

Thanks Moses for the pictures!

Kayla's Rock Climbing Pictures

You have to shimmy through this rock path or take a longer way around, some were better than others at getting through (I was one of those who struggled)

These are not in exact order, but I am repelling down my first climb here. 

This is me on my second route, and Josh said it was about a 5.9 which is harder than my skill level.

 

Josh said I may be the first person he has seen pout on a route,  I got stuck in this one spot and could not figure how to work it so I kind of stomped my feet.  This is the end result of me pouting. 

And I got out of it . . .  Good Job Erin!

I am belaying here, or getting ready to belay.  Josh is smiling because I am wearing his horrible "Radi-Cool" Hat which I always make fun of and his sunglasses.  It got super hot as the morning rolled on.

Me on my last climb, this one was about a 5.8 and it was easier but after working so hard on the 5.9 route this one became very tiring very fast. 

 

Kayla has a very artistic eye, I like the angles she took these pictures.  With the sky, clouds and the mountain it looks great, really captures how pretty it was there and the different angles you see when rock climbing. 

 

My friend Raila today text me that she couldn't wait to go again and even wanted to look at getting shoes - she used mine because they were the closest to her size.  

It is SOOO much fun, even when your fingers are raw from gripping pointing rocks, and your toes hurt from being in tight rock climbing shoes - it is crazy.  Who knew?!

Second Out-Door Rock Climbing Trip

This Saturday I went on my Second Out-Door Rock Climbing Trip!  Josh was originally supposed to go on a hike called The Jug which Josh told me I was NOT invited to which really made me mad so I planned an in-door rock climbing trip with two girlfriends of mine.  Well turns out I am a really mean girlfriend and got my boyfriend to feel guilty enough about going on his hike w/out me and so when given an out he took it & asked me if I wanted to go out-door climbing instead.   

When we went out to First Friday last night he ate pizza & cake from a gallery, well that is relevant bc when I went to his house this morning at 4:30 a.m. to head out Josh is tired from wanting the throw up all night.  He probably got food poisoning.  

BUT being the BEST boyfriend he threw up a few times and still took me and my friends out.

(My climbing shoes are the purple & my harness is purple & I am planning to get a purple chalk bag)

He was the only one skilled enough to lead climb which means you clip in the rope to the anchors, which means you stand a chance to fall farther in=between the anchors.  

My friend Raila has never been before so Josh is explaining to her how her harness works, showing her how the rope is secure and that is completely safe.  

I was really proud of her. She is not very into out-door things and getting dirty, and yet she came and was very willing to get up on the rock.  It took a bit of time but she got to the TOP!!!!  

This is my friend Kayla, she came even with a weak wrist and was awesome.  

When Josh wasn't having to lead climb he was able to just lay down and belay.   He was a great sport, truly great!!!  I had a ton of fun, I did the easy climb, and then I did a 5.9 and a 5.8 both kicked my butt. 

I should get pictures of me on the mountain from Kayla, to be continued . . .

Peppersauce Cave

For my Fourth of July I went to a cave!!!  I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to be at Josh's house at 5:00 a.m. so we could leave for Oracle, AZ to explore Peppersauce Cave.  

Josh & I had been to the Lava Rock Cave up in Flagstaff but he was still concerned I wouldn't like being in a cave because that cave didn't have tight spaces or mud.   This cave had a ton of small spaces and passages and it was nothing but mud and dirt.  

This is the only good picture I got inside the cave, I had to crawl and get super dirty for this picture but it was SO cool looking.  I had Josh go back with me once more before we left so I could see it again.

It was super humid inside the cave so you can see the picture getting fuzzier, Josh got in this picture somehow, he was really happy I was excited about exploring the cave.  I "dragged" him a few places. 

My shot of the two of us together, not very good, but you get the idea. . . 

The entrance/exit to the cave.  It is a very fun cave, there were pools of water inside, and one spot has a big lake and they have added a ladder to make it easier to get down. 

Me exiting.

Josh & I at the exit, he was a great caving partner, very fun and was great to compliment how cute I was even though I was filthy.

My friend Kayla!  I was so happy she came, she is the best!

I don't know if you can tell, but I am a MESS.  I have dirt/mud in my hair, all over the sleeves and hands all the way down to my shoes.  This may be TMI but when I took my panties off when I got home there was dirt on my panties too.

Josh posing for me to show how dirty he got too.

The group of us that went. 

It was seriously fun!!  I cannot wait to go caving again.   Plus the weather was awesome.  On the way home we got flooded!

We had a BBQ later at Josh's Sister-in-law's parents house.  The food was awesome, and we got a private firework show, the neighbors put on an hour long show with legit fireworks, they must have spent some serious money on them but WOW it was cool.

Happy Independence Day!

Home

These pictures I mostly wanted as proof that we really did take the jet skis to Lake Powell, this is us home washing them off and drying them.  With driving around in Flagstaff to the Lava Rock Cave we got a fair bit of dust on them and my car so my Dad busted out his high water pressure cleaner.  

Also I hope you can tell, Josh & I totally MATCH!!  He brought me a matching shirt home from Alabama because he knows how much I LOVE to match!  

It was fun to see Josh & my Dad work together, they got the water cleaner to work but only after something exploded and flooded the garage bathroom.  It was funny to work with both of them.  

We didn't even use the red jet ski but we ended up cleaning it too.   Josh wanted to make sure he left the jet skis in the same condition we borrowed them.  I think he was trying to set a good reputation because he already asked me if my Dad would be cool if we just took them out to some of our local lakes.  I guess he really did like jet skiing, and hearing my Dad talk about the red jet ski being the "fun" one he got really excited and wants to PLAY!

We ended up cleaning not only both jet skis but my Dad told me to pull my car up because it was filthy (which means I had Josh pull it up) so we could wash it, and then Josh asked since we already had everything out could we clean his Truck too.  And then  we cleaned Mom's car just because, Josh even offered to wash Dad's CR-V a few times but no dice.  

From start to finish I had a seriously great weekend, I really like it when my boyfriend is in town!

More at Antelope Canyons

So basically just more pictures of the same really awesome place - Antelope Canyons.  We did the Upper Canyons, not the Lower Canyons.  The couple we took pictures with emailed about 25 pictures this morning.  He made them smaller so they would fit in the email and if there were any I wanted in "full" size he would email me.  Super nice couple.

I didn't realize they took pictures of us even while we were just walking.  It was really fun to go through all the pictures they sent, I tried to pick just a few but I think I still picked about 13 of the 25 he sent. 

This was SO pretty, they arch was BEAUTIFUL!!!  

I think the canyons just look so amazing in these pictures, it really captures the "wave" look I loved in there.  It's like you are walking through waves of sand in there.  So pretty.

This is toward the end, the light came in more and more once you get toward the end of the canyons.

This picture I LOVE!!!  The canyons look amazing and I like the lighting on my face and Josh in the shadow, this maybe my favorite picture. 

We were going for a "far away" look here - I am not sure how well I pull that look off. 

I absolutely LOVED it here!  I recommend visiting the Antelope Canyons every day of the week.