Luna and Melinda wanted to shop in the El Tovar gift shop, but....no dogs allowed. She's saving me money!

Even my panorama function can't capture the beauty

First stop, Flagstaff

After a late start, we headed on up to the 7,000 foot level at Flagstaff. Since we are now traveling with a new canine companion, we googled the dog parks in the area.  After a good night's sleep, we headed to this dog park, which was nice, but no other dogs were out on a Sunday morning.  So, we threw the ball, got some running done, and hit the road for Williams.

 We left Flagstaff for Williams, which is closer to the Grand Canyon.  On our first day, we explored one of the many nearby lakes.  This one is Whitehorse Lake, and has a federal campground, with dry camping, most sites with a lake view.

 Luna got herself right into the water....or mud, mostly.  We had a nice walk around the lake, and returned to camp.

Looking down the main street of Williams, AZ....this is the old Route 66.  Lots of history here.  Williams is also the stepping-off point for the Grand Canyon, if you are taking the train in.

Bees in the tree-Palo Verde-

Every spring our Palo Verde bursts forth with beautiful yellow flowers, even though we trim it with a vengeance every fall.  Proof that desert plants are programmed to survive.  As you walk around the tree, the bees are buzzing like crazy. 

The Friday before leaving for Montana, we had breakfast at Tohono Ch'ul Garden.  It's a desert arboretum in Tucson, and also has a nice restaurant.

SNAKE TRAINING - IT PAID OFF!

Sunday morning Luna was out back chasing her favorite lizard when she started barking .  Darrell went out to check, and she was by the BBQ.  He heard a noise like the drip irrigation running....except it was Sunday, and we don't run the drip on that particular day.  He traced the noise to under the Jasmine vine, and there was a small rattlesnake coiled up.  We used to to be able to call the fire dept, and they would come and remove the snake, but they stopped doing that a couple of years ago.  So, Darrell knows a guy in the neighborhood who does that, and he came over and used a long pole with a gripper, and we put mr. snake in this box.  In a little bit, we'll go release him in the nearby desert..  We called her trainer and gave a report....he said he's always happy to hear stories with good results!

More of the dogs

Last Sunday we took Luna and Diesel (with his dad, of course) to Lake Patagonia. They had an absolute blast. This appears to be the nearest body of water where the dogs can swim. Well, Diesel retrieved for about 2 hrs straight, Luna watched a lot, and went in 2 times, actually swimming. (She had an accident at a neighbor's pool, fell in the deep end, and has been a little leery of deep water). We stopped for lunch at Velvet Elvis in Patagonia, and really had a nice day out!

MOTHRA?

This guy was hanging out on our back wall all morning. It was so big, about 4 inches long, and just like nothing I've ever seen before. Since I'm not a naturalist, I don't know what it is.
Ginormous for a moth.....