When we finished our hike at Rotary Park, we headed back to town where they were hosting a food truck festival. One of our daughters friends is from Butte Montana where Papa's Pork Chop Sandwiches originated, so we had to go give it a try.
Yesterday we visited the small town of Kaycee, Wyoming, and today we are going to hike near the Hogadon Basin Ski Area. Just at the base of Casper Mountain is an area called Rotary Park. It has all kinds of hiking trails for all abilities, but many are considered moderate to difficult.
Another fun spot to explore in this beautiful state, and I think I forgot to mention that the weather is perfect. It will be cooling off very soon, but for now, it's perfect!
When they bought the farm a year ago, it had been a bit neglected, and the garden was is rough shape. Our daughter has worked really hard to try and get the weeds under control, improve the soil, and just make the garden something productive that she can be proud of. We are happy to report that this summer was a huge success for her! She produced enough for them to eat all summer, and is now preserving everything possible for the winter. We are so proud of her, because it was no small undertaking!
Once we got to Wyoming, it was all about great food, exploring beautiful places, and helping out on the farm when we could.
Antelope Kabobs, with garden fresh vegetables. Oh my gosh, so amazing!
Exploring near our kids home the next day was so much fun. Our daughter always says that it's a good thing they put all of the highways through the ugly parts of the state so that no one realizes how beautiful Wyoming is. We have to agree!
Today's trip took us to the small town of Kaycee Wyoming where we enjoyed lunch at the Country Cafe, and then on to the red rock cliffs and canyon that the kids really enjoy.
On our way back through Kaycee, we stopped at the local gas station to get a f'real shake. We had never seen them before, but they are a lot of fun. You pick your prepackaged shake out of the freezer and then put it on the mixing machine and you come out with a wonderful shake of your choice.
Steve and I always try to work when our kids work, and to play when they have time off. This weekend was so much fun!
We are heading to Wyoming to see our youngest daughter, and we are so excited! Since we live between Phoenix and Tucson, we have a choice of airports. In the past, we have always flown out of Phoenix, but this time we were able to save some money and get better flight times by flying out of Tucson.
We knew there probably wouldn’t be any security wait times, so we planned on getting there about an hour before our flight, and that was perfect. We parked in the economy lot, which cost us a whopping $4.50 a day, and they provided a shuttle to the terminal, which took just a few minutes. Once inside the terminal, we went to the security line. There wasn’t a separate line for TSA precheck, but they gave us a card that allowed us to go through without removing our shoes, taking out our liquids, etc. It went very quickly, and the airport was small and easy to navigate. We knew we would be on a small plane since we were flying out of Tucson, and they didn’t disappoint us.
This plane was just as fast a flight on a large plane! Our first flight was from Tucson to Denver, then we flew into Casper from there. We never realized that DIA (the Denver airport) had a downstairs for the smaller flights where you just walk out onto the tarmac.
I planted some basil seeds around my avocado tree this summer to help keep the roots cool, and it worked great for that, and also gave me a great basil harvest. The plants are almost as tall as my 4 foot tall avocado tree. I bet they are at least three feet tall, and haven't even started to go to seed yet. I think basil likes summer in Arizona.
Summer gardening in Arizona is fun and rewarding, but it’s hot work, so a swimsuit is required for a quick dip in the pool here and there.
Now it's time to make some pesto.
It’s going to be a hot day in the city today, so we headed to Tucson to spend the day at Mount Lemmon where it is guaranteed to be nice and cool. It’s predicted to be 106 degrees in the valley, but it should be about 40 degrees cooler at the top.
As we approached the mountain, we noticed a sign that we hadn’t noticed before, advertising a free app for the Mt. Lemmon Science Tour. So we pulled over and downloaded it. If you drive the speed limit going up the mountain, the apps timing is very accurate. The most interesting fact that Steve and I picked up from the app is that in the 25 mile drive from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain, you will drive through 4 climate zones, the same zones you would drive through if you drove from the Mexican border to the Canadian border.
