The West Fork of Oak Creek

We did a great hike a few weeks ago in Sedona - the West Fork of Oak Creek. The total hike is 7 miles, out and back, or if you want to swim, I believe you can go 12 miles total (one-way). Billie and Adam joined us on the hike, and were willing to get their feet wet - thanks for being such good sports! It was a great weekend to go camping, and we're looking forward to backpacking to Fossil Springs this weekend. Anything's better than 110 in an urban heat island!

I'll post more photos next week after our trip. It should be fun!

Jenny

A gorgeous view of the creek and canyon- you can't take a bad photo in Sedona!

A picturesque waterfall on the creek - the water was really high, thanks to a 2" rain a couple of days prior...

Our group at the halfway point - 3.5 miles into the West Fork of Oak Creek.

The end of our hike - you have to swim from this point!

The most beautiful rock in Oak Creek canyon

Job search... installment #1

So I went on my first interview last Friday... overall the situation was pretty good. The only bad this was that sticky question about why my contract wasn't being renewed. "Because my boss doesn't like me" didn't sound that keen, so I went with the re-organization angle. I said she's a new director and is dissolving my position - farming out my schools to another manager, commodity processing to a classified employee, and going with Assisted NuMenus (meaning an outside company plans them.) The Child Nutrition director made the comment, "That seems really odd that they would get rid of YOUR position..." Gee, because I'm the only registered dietitian in the district and we have to have a Wellness Program for next year? Hmmmm, could be!

I'm sending out emails left and right, and contacting everyone I know in school foodservice. I don't want to go to food sales or anything, so I guess I'm pretty picky at the moment. If something doesn't materialize soon, I may put off the full-scale job seeking efforts until after I get back from South America.

Well, it's hot here - 105 today - and we're all trying not to melt. I'm gonna post some pics and catch y'all later.

Peace out,
J

Home improvements...

Greetings from HOT Arizona! It's supposed to be 107 today, and needless to say, we've got the A/C on and we're hunkering down for a LONG summer! We've got most of the patio done - just need to do some more sanding before we use a clear wood protectant to seal it up. The roof is done, and it looks good, though the company was something of a pain to deal with. They didn't really feel it necessary to call us when they weren't going to get things done on time, or the roll roofing wasn't available, or the plastic needed to be re-done to protect the house...Oh well. They gave us $100 off, so that's something, but not much.

In the meantime, I gave my final last week - the class was a success, I thought. Or everyone lied to me about enjoying it, which is fine. :) I'm looking for a new job, and I've been called for one interview - that's today - at the AZ Dept of Ed in the School Nutrition. I think that could be a good position - I'd be helping schools in the National School Lunch Program - with applications, meal regulations, etc. It's close to my house, which would be good, and I would stay in the state retirement program, which is good, too.

I've almost completed my community college class that I'm taking - just 3 more assignments (I'm doing homework next), and we're still training up for our trek on the Inca trail. We're supposed to do a 10 mile hike this weekend at Horton Springs north of Payson, but Travis may have to work this weekend. We'll see. Next weekend we're heading to Fossil Springs for our first backpacking trip.

Hope everyone's doing well! I'm going to post pictures from our last camping trip - we went to Sedona in April, and though it was cold at night, it was perfect weather for camping! I'll put up more pics once I get them developed - the age-old excuse!

-J-

Here our tribe set up camp in the picturesque surroundings of Oak Creek Canyon. Our new backpacking tent (only 4 lbs!) is in the foreground.

Look up!

Completed decking on the roof of the patio.

Up she goes!

We've almost completed putting up our patio roof - and she looks awesome! Here are a few pictures from the construction effort last weekend. Many thanks to Dad, Brian, Curtis, and Ed for braving the heat! This weekend we plan to put up the soffits and the roofers should be here tomorrow to do the roll roofing. We'll have the whole roof re-done starting next Wednesday... pretty exciting!

Life otherwise is OK... I've started looking for a new job. I'm following leads at the Arizona Dept. of Education, Mesa Public Schools, and also the possibility of increasing the number of classes I am teaching at MCC. I appreciate everyone's good wishes and prayers. I think that is helping me get through. :)

This weekend we're taking a break from the training, but we start again next weekend. We plan to camp at Wet Beaver Creek near Sedona, and start taking longer hikes after that. Well, I'm off to do some laundry - the excitement never stops!

-JW

Day One - Operation Lures and Jigs

Before...

Check out that jig! Travis and Dad worked on drilling holes in the posts to hold the 15" all-thread. These were epoxy-ed into the holes in the cement pad.

How many engineers does it take...?

This is the end of the first day's work - the guys put up the posts, the beams, and the rafters you see here. What a job!

Day Two - Check out those Rafters!

Here's the results after two LOOOOOOOONNNNG days of hard work. We've got the decking put on now... I'll send pictures of the whole thing when we get them developed!

And then there were none...

Listen to that - it's quiet! Nothing but the sound of the dryer and dishwasher cleaning up. The company has gone, and according to flytecomm.com, Betsy's flight is scheduled to take off in like 20 minutes...

I haven't written in months, and now all of a sudden I've posted 12 times in the same day. Weird. Must be the Zinfandel (on the beach). I thought I should preface this fine photo gallery that I've posted below. This was the first full week of our trip to Europe...Brugge, then back to Stuttgart for Christmas Day. We had a blast, as you can see below.

I'd better go rustle up some fresh photos for the next installment. After Stuttgart we headed to Interlaken, then Vienna, then Czech Republic, and Berlin before heading back to STR and home. We got some great photos, I have to admit. It was a great trip - I'd do it again in a minute!

I hope everyone has a happy Easter. Take it easy and enjoy the weather.

Behold the Döner KING! (Courtesy of the Köln Hauptbanhof)

After visiting Köln, we took the train to Brugge (Bruges) in Belgium. After a quick turnaround (30 seconds to spare in Brussels!) we headed to this romantic little city full of churches, museums, canals and cobblestones. Oh yeah, and chocolate, and lace, and beer!

The famous European UGLY fish, at the Groeninge Museum.