We went to Payson/Woods Canyon Lake over the weekend. We headed up to Payson on Saturday afternoon. It was dark by the time we got to the hotel, so we checked in and headed over to Wal-Mart. I don't remember the last time I enjoyed being at a Wal-Mart, but I really enjoyed it this time. I'm not sure what it was, maybe the fall stuff on display, or the clean, neat toy aisles, or just the easy way people took to their shopping; it seemed so different than shopping at Wal-Marts here in the valley. We were there for quite a while, and got some snack food before checking out and heading back to the hotel to watch a dvd we bought. We were up pretty late, so we didn't get up until late the next morning. After checking out of the hotel, we headed to Woods Canyon Lake. It was beautiful there, as always, but even more so this time due to a storm that was coming in. We spent some time at the lake before going to the convenience store located in the parking lot. We let Caitie look around a bit and then got some ice cream. While we were in the store, we heard people talking about hail, so we went outside to check it out and got hit with hail stones the size of marbles. We were thrilled, as was everyone else. You can tell we're all Arizonan's, who else would make such a big deal about a little bit of hail? ha We then headed over to our favorite spot where we planned on feeding the chipmunks some of our ice cream and other snack food. But not too long after we got set up, the rain started coming down in buckets, and it started hailing again as well. We were soaked by the time we got back to the truck to wait out the storm. It lasted for a little while, and when it began to slow down, we decided to take a chance and go on a hike, not knowing if it might storm again. It was a wonderful hike. When we made it to our destination, we were in awe of the beauty we saw before us... it was still cloudy, and there was fog on the lake. It looked like steam rising off the water. I took a lot of pictures, I couldn't get enough... it was so beautiful. The pictures don't do it justice. We stayed for quite a while; we were all wishing we could build a cabin right on that spot near the lake, and never leave. I miss it. *sigh* Here are some pics from our trip...
The start of our trip; we're in Fountain Hills. I know she's serious when she gives me that look... she's hungry, and we must stop for food.
The cheesy, touristy kinda pic. Gotta love those.
mmmm... So tasty. Gotta love Taco Bell.
Her tummy is full and she now has a smile on her face, it's time to get back on the road.
The driver makes the decisions, and since I got in the driver's seat, I decided we would stop for a late afternoon desert photo op.
I love this pic. The sun is setting, and all is calm and right in the world... well, in our little world, anyway.
'Decisions, decisions' Caitie can't make up her mind on what she wants. So much to choose from. There are two reasons for this pic, one is to show Caitie in a shopping dilemma, the other is to show how nice and neat a toy aisle can be. This is the Wal-Mart in Payson. This is what a superstore is supposed to look like... ahhh... nice and neat and clean...
ummm... You have your fire hat on backwards there, little buddy. (too cute)
I took a few pics at the hotel, but they didn't come out too good, but thought I would include this one. Caitie loves to play with everything in the room, including the air unit. She also loves to turn all the lamps on and off, over and over again. You would think we don't have lamps at home... they seem foreign to her. Oh wait, we don't have any lamps. duh! ha We really don't have any lamps, just lights controlled by switches and remote control fan lights. I really need to call an interior decorator.
The next day at Woods Canyon Lake. You can see the storm brewing in the distance.
Here's what it looked like in the other direction(this is the boating dock). There were some white, puffy clouds in a pretty blue sky.
Caitie loves to throw rocks in the lake. She calls it her pond(she gets that from the Little Bear cartoon).
Looking at toys at the market by the lake. She found a car with the wheels off, she tried to fix it. She enjoys trying to repair things.
Holding some marble-size hail.
This was taken at our favorite spot. It started pouring down rain just a few minutes after we got there. I took a few pics of the pouring rain, but they didn't turn out too good; I was more concerned about my camera getting soaked than I was about getting a good picture.
This pic shows some of the hail coming down.
Caitie peeking outside of the SUV to see if the rain has slowed down.
When we went to get the snacks out of the ice chest that was in the back of the SUV, a truck started coming our way, and as soon as Caitie noticed it, she grabbed hold of me and Michael and told us to get inside; she didn't want us to get hit. She can be very protective at times. I had the camera in my other hand, so I snapped a pic real quick.
It was still cloudy and sprinkling, but the storm had passed, so we decided to go on a hike.
This looks like snow, but it's hail.
In a lot of the following pics, you will see the fog on the lake. So beautiful. As I mentioned above, the pics don't do it justice.
Michael skipping rocks on the lake.
This rock skipped a few times, as you can see in the pic below this one. You go, man! Or whatever the term is for the male species. Maybe "you rock!" would sound better? (i think it's time for me to go to bed)
I had to get one of a chipmunk. This was taken at our favorite spot.
The sun making an appearance.
And all too soon it was over. Here we are back home again. Caitie isn't too happy about it, she enjoyed being at the lake.
2 comments:
I always enjoy reading your blog. Your photography is awesome. You should look into entering a photo contest, or AZ Highways...I mean it...your work is really that good!
Wow, what a nice comment. Thank you. :)
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