Two of mine got serendipitous and took advantage of a pretty awesome flight deal and came down to visit for a day and a half.
Boy we spent those precious hours in true Eyre fashion, trying to pack in as much as humanly possible, and I have to say I think we did a pretty good job!
We have a little tradition of hiking together, so we spent half of our time hiking Flat Iron again.
Yeah, I should have titled this post “groundhog day”…ha! (Remember I just conquered that thing with two other good friends for my birthday a couple weeks before this? back HERE).
And here we were again.
And it was just as gorgeous and filled with good conversation amidst the huffing and puffing to climb all those boulders.
Our car is one of those teeny specks way down there below:
We went up a little further this time and found some pretty amazing rock formations to explore.
Can you spot my sisters at the tippy top of those columns down below?
Let’s zoom in a little…here they are a tad bit closer:
We were blazing new trails through the brambles and brush up there and I loved exploring the top, seeing Saren and Saydi come out at the tippy-top of those boulders when we split up to try to get a better vantage point.
Favorite other things:
Exploring my favorite art museum together.
I may be a little biased here, but to me there is no one in the world better to soak in art with than my sisters.
Loved that a lot of the art that spoke to us reminded us of our hike earlier in the day:
We spent some good time in front of this one:
Check out the paint color mixtures up close:
Isn’t art a beautiful thing?
Loved this one too:
Close-ups:
True beauty of creation right there!
We ate a delicious Italian dinner nestled under a twinkling tree on a little patio with live music playing as a background to our talk, talk, talking.
This screenshot is from that night too…we were talking through some prayer/connecting with God ideas and this is one of my favorite scriptures coupled with one of my favorite quotes:
The sun lighting up my sister’s like angels as we rode bikes to and from breakfast that second morning.
Dropped them off at the airport wishing so much that we had just a little longer, but filled with gratitude for that precious time carved out.
I adore your posts…. your writing and passion.
I was wondering about hiking in this area and the wildlife. I visit Scottsdale in a week and long
For some good hiking yet I was wondering about snakes. You have not mentioned in all your hiking about this and prep for this should there be snakes. Also other form of Wildlife e and the precautionary details. I would love your input. Thank you so very much. All the best!
I was wondering the same thing – I know that in the desert, there is a ‘season’ when the snakes are predominantly dormant (sort of like a state of semi-hibernation) when the temperatures are lower. I’ve heard that sometime in March, that changes and there are more rattlesnake sightings. I would personally be terrified to share my hiking trails with giant snakes, so I’m not sure if hiking stops as it gets warmer.
I’m curious about wildlife as well. I’ve been a bit scared to hike when we’ve visited out that way just because I’m not sure what we’ll face out there that we don’t have experience with in the mid-west. Would love a post on this!
In all my years of hiking here in the desert (18 years), I’ve only seen one snake! So I don’t get too worried. Probably good to be alert and aware though!
Good to know! I think those of us not used to the desert just assume they’re everywhere! LOL!
I’m so happy to see you three together and also happy that I wasn’t there for the hike, but I loved the pictures! 🙂 I sure missed all that good food and great conversations. Can’t wait to see you soon. Hugs!
That’s wonderful… looks like everyone had a wonderful time.
I love the little prayer excerpt from Enos & Patricia Holland. Is this from a talk or article? Would you mind sharing the source? Thank you for your goodnesses and light!
It’s from latterdaysaint.org but I don’t know exactly which article. I should have written it down. Hope you can find it!
xoxo
Would you mind sharing the name of the art museum and restaurant? Thank you!
The art museum is the Phoenix Art Museum and the restaurant is called Cibo. It’s so good!
In Patricia Holland’s book, “A Quiet Heart” she has a whole chapter devoted to prayer and that quote. It’s one of my top five books of all time. Hope that helps!