Last Thursday I told my sweet hubby that I desperately needed to get away. We decided to go up North to Blue Ridge (Happy Jack/Clint’s Well area) for the weekend. Our favorite vacation is camping but I didn’t want to prepare for that so we decided to stay at the Happy Jack Lodge this time. It was kind of a dive but it served its purpose. The kitchenette was metal and olive green from the 60’s and there was NO air conditioning or telephone. I think we were lucky to get indoor plumbing actually LOL.

When we got to Camp Verde on Saturday morning it was still 100 degrees at 10:00 AM. That made us pretty nervous. We were trying to escape the heat (Phoenix had been about 116 all week) and it wasn’t looking good for us. When we got clear up to Blue Ridge it was still in the low 90’s – yikes! HOWEVER, when we took our jeep up by the reservoir, it started raining (it always rains in the summer afternoons up there). The raining quickly turned into HAIL. Totally weird. I have seen lots of summer storms up north but never that kind of hail. At any rate, it cooled everything off and it felt like it was in the 70’s most of our day (it may not have been but with riding around in an open jeep we kept cool). We drove all through the Blue Ridge area, Long Lake, and Strawberry on the service roads. We saw lots of cows and some elk.

One thing I love about boys is that you do not have to entertain them on these types of vacations. Ty loves the jeep and will ride for hours and hours with no complaint. When they needed a break they asked if we could stop and play with sticks and “frow rocks”. No toys necessary.

I posted some pictures at the end of the Summer 2006 slide show. I have scenic pictures and family pictures. For those of you who have never been to AZ, you may enjoy these. AZ is typically known for it’s desert landscape but Northern Arizona is full of pines. It’s really beautiful. You get to escape all the snow but you can drive 2 hours to get to cooler climates if you are desperate:).

One little funny story for you:

While Jim was unpacking the jeep one evening and I was busy picking up stuff in the lodge, Ty was being Ty and getting in to everything. The sinks in the bathroom had really low faucet handles and the hot water was VERY hot and the cold water VERY cold (nice actually). When you turned on the water, it sounded like the water pressure was jet engine propelled. Nice problem to have unless your two year old keeps playing in the sink. So I have my back turned to the bathroom and hear Ty (once again) turning the sink water on. I holler to him to turn that sink off and get out of the bathroom. Suddenely he is screaming! I whip around to see what’s wrong and wanted to collapse in hysterics. It wasn’t the sink. It was the shower. He walked into the shower and turned on the water and was standing under the cold water with it blasting him like a fire hose. I immediately rescued him because at the time I was scared that he had selected the hot water. When I realized it was the cold, I was wishing I would have taken my time with my emergency relief. My little button pusher had it coming and I hate to admit it, but I loved watching every moment of that consequence. Tanner and I were laughing so hard and Ty was SOAKED head to foot (fully clothed of course). I asked Ty to stand in the shower for me before we left so I could take a memory picture. This is the last picture in the summer gallery:). Wish I would have had my camara when the incident occurred.