Joe and Mary Ann's personal web site

Mark, Father Charlie, and I went up north to the ‘Arizona Strip’ on October 7-9. It was a photography trip, in search of fall colors, and vistas from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Fr. Charlie and I went to Woods Canyon Lake on the Mogollon Rim. We wanted to try our luck photographing the Ospreys and Bald Eagles. We left on Monday, Aug 26th, at around 7:00 AM, and got there around 9:00 AM.

Fr. Charlie and I went to Mt. Ord on August 6, 2019. We got to Forest Road (FR) 1688 at about 8 am (after a 1 hour drive). The weather was overcast, with some sprinkles. There were reports on ebird.org of quite a few birds on Mt. Ord, but we didn’t see many. I only got photos of a couple of common birds. We had an expert bird guide once at Boyce Thompson who told us that the birds aren’t as active in overcast conditions. I was skeptical about that, but it was true that day, because when the sun came out, so did the birds. Could it be why we didn’t see many birds on this trip?

Fr. Charlie, Dave, and I went to the Pinal Mountains on Tuesday, July 16. It’s nice to get away from the Phoenix heat and up to the cool mountains. We left at about 7 am, and it’s a two hour drive to the peak.

Mary Ann and I went to Oregon for Bob’s 80th birthday party (his actual birthday is June 24th). This post has mostly family pictures that I took in Terry and Bob’s back yard, and a travelogue.

Mary Ann’s sister Amy came for a visit, and we took her to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA). We got there about 8:15, and stayed until lunch time. We had lunch in Superior at Los Hermanos, which is our usual (since Casa Denogean closed).

On the second day of our trip to Sierra Vista we went first to Hunter Canyon, and then to Paton Center for Hummingbirds.

Fr. Charlie, Mark, and I went to Southeast Arizona for a two day trip. We stayed in Sierra Vista, and from there went to Huachuca Canyon and the San Pedro River on the first day, and on the second day we went to Hunter Canyon, and Paton Center for Hummingbirds. This post is for the first day.

Father Charlie and I hiked the Tres Rios Wetlands between the trailhead on the east side (91st Ave; a permit is required) and the park on the west side (the Base & Meridian Wildlife Area near ISR Raceway on Avondale Avenue). It’s about a 3 mile hike. I also threw in two pictures I took when Mary Ann and I went to Kansas in March.

On the second day of our trip to SE Arizona, we went to the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area (NCA). The highlight was the Bighorn Sheep! We went to Aravaipa Canyon the first day (see here), and decided to spend another night and explore the area around Safford a little bit the next day. There are a lot of options e.g. Roper Lake and Mt. Graham. But we decided on Gila Box.