Views Of My Arizona Mountain

I have to admit that I love living in Arizona.  My husband and I arrived here three days after Christmas, and we are going back to Missouri after the first week of May.  I missed the major snow storms in Missouri this winter—by missed, I mean I wasn’t there to see them—not I wish I had been there to see them.  Our home is at the foot of the San Tan Mountains.

I had a total hip replacement 6 weeks before coming to Arizona.  The first day we went to the San Tan Mountain to hike, I did an almost 3 mile hike on fairly level ground.  Over the months I have worked hard to build my strength in the hip that was replaced, and committed to hiking.  Dennis, my husband is almost addicted to this mountain!  He loves hiking all over it.  He loves the solitude of being on the mountain.

This mountain is a desert mountain.  It is not terribly high, compared to the Rocky Mountains.  It doesn’t have lakes and streams, or tall evergreen trees everywhere.  It is a desert.  It has cactus and strange looking trees and unique flowers.  It doesn’t look like the trees and flowers of Missouri.  There are hikers on the trails, and there are folks on bicycles and horses.  We all make room for each other.

The other day we took a 6.18 mile hike, with an elevation gain during the hike of 581 feet.  The path is sandy and rocky.  I find that when I hike I have to watch the ground.  Otherwise, there is a good tendency that I could trip and fall on the trails.  Because of that, I stop every so often to look at my surroundings.  Everyday they look different.  Either new flowers are blooming, or dying.  Birds don’t sound like Missouri birds, and little lizards run across the path so fast it is hard to see them well or take their photo.  There are even snakes, although we haven’t encountered many.  Of course, seeing one rattlesnake fairly close up is enough!

I stop and take a lot of photos on our hikes.  I have always marveled what an amazing artist is our God.  The colors, the terrain, the hills, even the snakes are all part of this natural wonder.  Over the time we have been here, the colors are ever changing depending on the rainfall and the sunshine.

We got pretty good at the hiking thing the few months we have been here.  When we first started out, we would take a bottle or two of water.  As we got more experienced on the trails, and as the weather began to warm up, we started hiking longer distances.  We brought water packs to wear on our backs to give us sufficient water while we are hiking.

This blog isn’t about anything profound, unless you think God’s creation is profound (which I do).  There are no lessons from my life or my family’s history.  I just wanted to share with you the beauty that we have encountered here in Arizona these few months.

I am sure my Facebook friends are growing weary of my postings with all the photos. What I realized was that my blogging friends were not seeing these photos.  So, I wanted to share them with you.

Arizona is a great place to winter.  It is not anything like Florida.  It has no oceans or waterways to brag about, but it has sunshine galore.  It is both tropical and desert.  The temperature in the winter is so lovely.  

I love that we live very close to Phoenix so I can actually shop at my favorite places.  Where I live in Missouri is quite a distance from any large cities, and shopping is not as much of a pleasure.  Okay, confession—I don’t like shopping.  That is why I can live in my small town in Missouri because I don’t need to be near a lot of shopping.  But, when I do want or need to shop, I want to be near many choices to make my purchases.  I also love that we live far enough out of the Phoenix area that my family who has lived here for years thinks we live way out in the sticks!  

I love we live at a foot of the San Tan Mountains, and we can see it from our back yard.  I love that we have some really sweet neighbors who keeps an eye on our home when we are back in Missouri.  I love that we get together with my cousins here who I rarely saw when I am in Missouri.  I actually have 12 first cousins in the Phoenix area.

So, as my weeks are winding down, I am thinking fondly of this wonderful winter we have spent in Arizona.  I am more physically active because of the great weather and the location we chose to make our home here.  I will also love going back to Missouri.  Summer and autumn in Missouri are great.  I love warm weather, so that works for me.  

All these photos were taken on my iPhone.  I carry on every hike just so I can take photos along the way.  Enjoy these photos of our hikes in Arizona.  Maybe one day we will meet you on the trails.