Hiking in Phoenix & Flying up to the Grand Canyon

Another personal blog post today! I just wanted to share some of the images from a trip my husband and I took on his post-deployment leave back in November. We didn't want to do a major trip since we were flying home for the holidays, so we just took a few days in Phoenix. I went to Arizona State, so I am familiar with the area and jump at the chance to get back to the desert :)

Our goals were to relax & get to do a few things that I didn't have a chance to while at school. The first day, we hiked Camelback Mt. We chose the more strenuous hike, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite so vertical.





He was getting whiny after a while ;)


View from the top of the Phoenix Valley



The next day, we took a plane ride up to the Grand Canyon! It was an absolutely amazing experience, and totally worth the money to avoid the drive up there. Plus, the views were incredible from the air.

Here's Patrick & I before the first flight. I got a little queasy, and had to hand off the camera to him, haha. Thank goodness for the Dramamine at the gift shop up there.




Neighborhoods of Scottsdale/Phoenix.



Starting to go further north





This was the first view of the canyon - the ground just dropped off, and it appeared out of nowhere. Amazing!







You can just see the CO River in the background


Detail of the rock





And one from the way back to Phoenix



I would really suggest getting up to the canyon, if you ever have time. We went through Westwind Air Service and would highly recommend them.

A Hunting Trip in NY

I am so excited that I have actually had a little time to breathe lately, and have been able to work on my own personal images! This fall was pretty crazy with my husband's homecoming, along with the many other homecomings I did and family Christmas sessions. My own photos went to the wayside and I've been able to catch up on them lately, all the way back from my visit to CT in August, trips to Joshua Tree and AZ in November, and then back to CT in December. Stay tuned to my blog and Facebook to see them all!

DISCLAIMER: This post does contain images of dead birds. If that will bother you, please don't scroll down!

I am not a hunter personally, but my husband loves upland bird hunting. He doesn't get a chance to go very often, so he jumps at any opportunity. His uncle works for Mashomack in New York, and we made a day trip up to visit them and take Patrick out hunting. I got a clays shooting lesson as well, which was fun! The club was absolutely beautiful.





I grew up with my Dad hunting quite often, but I had never been out with him - so this was a first for me. It was amazing to see the dogs work with his uncle, and retrieve the birds. The dogs were SO excited to go hunting, and would whine if we stopped for too long.





It had snowed the day before we visited, so the conditions were not ideal. The dogs just bounded around in the snow though, it was fun to watch! This is his uncle's dog, Haddie.



Haddie would actually find most of the birds, and then Fergus, the black lab, would try and take them from her to get credit.



Another image of how deep the snow was in some spots.



Here's a few more of the day & the scenery.

















Thanks, Uncle Charlie, for a great day!