Simply Belle

I had a whim yesterday to drive to East Verde River, a place not too far from where live, about 5 miles the most, to capture some pictures. My husband obligingly drove me, bringing along the books he was reading and a chair. While I was taking pictures, he was seated comfortably on a chair facing the river.

You see, the chance of good photography abounds in my neck of the woods because of lots of sun and shade, mountains and valleys, interesting rock formations and colors, striking geological features, birds, flora, and fauna. We have been to several places here but we haven’t had a chance to capture them in pictures.

East Verde River is one place that is worth visiting. People flock here during summer for R&R though, I must admit, I haven’t been to this place despite of it’s close proximity to home. Now, that I have all the freedom, I can start checking out these places and capture its beauty.

Anyway, here are some pictures:

Here is how my husband cares about his planet earth by adding his stream to the river..hehe.

16 Comments »

Today, my husband and I went to a Rodeo in town. Payson Rodeo is the oldest continuous rodeo in the United States. People from neighboring states like Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, California, and New Mexico come to Payson to compete.

We had to sit in open bleachers and it was scorching hot. I sat in Steve’s shadow but not enough to cover my whole body. I survived though because once in a while the sun went behind the clouds.

When we got there, I noticed that someone got hurt. Immediately, the paramedics appeared on the scene. It took a while for the paramedics to transport the victim to the nearest hospital so while waiting for the next event, my husband and I wandered off in the concession area. As we were checking out each stall, the rock climbing wall caught my attention. I immediately approached the guy and asked him the cost to climb the wall. He said $6.

Without hesitation, I said, “I will do it,” even though I haven’t done it in my lifetime. It is about time that I should go for reckless abandon. Right amiga, Eden? Why not? I didn’t feel nervous at all. Here are some pictures to prove it.

The guy was giving me instructions.

When I reached the half-way point, I almost gave up. I couldn’t reach the next stone for my hand to grab on. My husband urged me to keep going. The guy said that if I stepped on the next rock on the right, I should be able to gain the ground to hang on to the next rock. It worked! And suddenly, I was at the top. I have never felt so good. Who says 40 something is going downhill?

20 Comments »

This morning, my husband got a call from our friend, Arne. He asked him if he wanted freshly caught crayfish. Without hesitation, my husband said, “yes, I am on my way, I will be there in 10 minutes.” Of course, he didn’t arrive until half an hour later because he waited for me and my daughter.

Crayfish are very popular in Sweden and in Southern US. Arne is originally from Sweden and he makes crayfish traps and sells it online. Around this time of year, he goes up on the lake in the Mogollon Rim to catch these little creatures. He usually stays overnight to get the most in as crayfish are nocturnal.

My whole family loves crayfish. We consider it a gourmet delight. We like to dip it on katsup. So, when our friend, Arne, was kind enough to offer his catch with us, we were so thrilled. The last time we ate crayfish was a year ago and we are so looking forward for the opportunity to feast on it again. He told my husband to get as many as he wanted. He took 120 of them. Quite a bit!

The moment we got home, we wasted no time boiling the water while the crayfish or crawdads were still alive. My husband added a fair amount of rock salt into the water. He waited until the water reached to a rolling boil and lowered down the strainer filled with crayfish. He waited again until it started boiling and timed it for seven minutes to cook completely. Then he let it sit in the cooking water for a while until it cooled off.

While it was cooling off, I took a piece, took another piece, and another piece. Pretty soon, I had a huge pile of crayfish shells on my plate. It tasted so good! I also gorged on the yellow butter inside the head. Yummy! What a treat!

You may visit Arne’s site here.

15 Comments »

This afternoon, my husband, Steffi, and I went for a history lesson, and took a hike as well in the Mogollon Rim. It was quite a drive on an unpaved road. The road was not that bad though compared to the road going to Puraran in the Philippines. The fastest we drove was 30 miles an hour.

We went to see the battleground of US cavalry and Apache Indians. It was located at the Mogollon Rim (mountains) at 7,500 feet elevation . When it became impossible for us to drive further, we swerved right into the open space to park. Then, we began our grueling hike. The hill was precariously steep! I saw footprints and droppings of elks and deer. The trail was rather gloomy. I begged my husband to turn around because coming back was harder yet, and it was getting late. But, he stubbornly acted as if he didn’t hear me and kept going. Steffi was right behind him. I maintained a good distance from them from behind because just in case he made a sudden turn around, I would save myself from traversing the challenging and slippery course. However, he carried on and so I walked a little faster as I didn’t want to be left further behind. I caught up with them in no time.

The battleground was interesting. It was an open space where the US cavalry and Apache Indians fought ferociously. However, the Indians did not come out victorious in this fight, one of the few they lost. This battle was actually the last one fought between the US soldiers and the Indians. It was called the Battle of Big Dry Wash, year 1882.

The lake you see is called the Blue Ridge Lake. The water is green. I was thinking that should we get lost, we would be able to survive for a while because of our close proximity to the water although I doubt if we would be able to handle the freezing temperature at night Steffi was singing the whole time. I could hear her echo from the other side of the ridge. I urged her to stop because the place was eerily quiet and I was afraid of annoying the invisible people…hehe. She would not listen.

Steve had a hard time climbing the steep hill back. He called me chipmunk because I cruised right through it while he groaned and moaned. He took forever to reach the top.

The pile of stones you see is a marker that people put together to find their way back. I saw quite a bit of them. We followed the stones and took us right to our destination.

2 Comments »