Whales of the Forest

This past weekend the metals grads, significant others, and our professor (and 5 year old son) took a little camping trip to Verde Glenn on the Mogollon Rim for a "critique around a campfire". It was quite a time. We left the valley at about 11:00 am on Saturday morning, and stopped in Payson to eat lunch and buy groceries. We then drove to the pre-planned destination and kept driving until there were no other campers. Then we set up camp! We grilled sirloin steaks for dinner and roasted up some yummy, garlicy potatoes, corn on the cob, and fresh mushrooms (not all together). It was delicious! We had fun talking and sharing stories over the campfire, but bedtime was when the fun really began! Never before had I had the pleasure of listening to an Elk bugle up close and personal. All night long. Loudly. So fun. I swear it sounded like whales in the forest! Luckily there are only so many hours in the night!! In the morning we found the tracks of all of our little visitors. Some pics of cool things around the campsite...

In the morning we cooked up some breakfast burritos and the men (Scott and Jim) dug right in! After breakfast we headed to the Tonto Natural Bridge for a short hike with a big reward! No, this wasn't the reward!

This was! The Natural Bridge was gorgeous, and I couldn't fit all of it's splendor into one pic, so I did a montage (In honor of my friend and former teacher, Filippo Tagliati).

The rocks inside the cave of the bridge. Can you spot Victoria?

Along the way...

Jim, Becky, Oscar and Lauren checking out the water.

Vic and Jim halfway through the bridge.

Looking through...

The finish line, Yay! Scott and I were tired campers!So were Vic and Jim!

It was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again!