Fabulous Fourth Fun

We had a leisurely morning on the 4th of July. Will made bacon and blueberry pancakes. Outside the storms were building up, but the blue skies did peak through occasionally. Will asked if we wanted to do anything, and I mentioned wanting to take a drive down to the border and see where a road went. We decided to head out after lunch.

We headed south on Highway 92, driving towards the Coronado National Memorial, which we have been to a few times now. Then on past the parking spots for the cave hike. The road heads up into the mountains, becoming an unpaved road that hugs the side of the mountain and makes many hairpin turns. This may or may not have been a road my mom mentioned to me once or twice. I was driving and didn't get to enjoy the spectacular views until we got to the top and stopped to look around.

It was rather chilly up there in the saddle of the mountain. Looking out towards Mexico you could see the border fence stretching on and on.  There are signs stating that being this close to an International border means that smuggling and illegal immigrants are common in that area.

Looking towards the west, one saw clouds butting up against the mountain top, trapped for a moment before pouring over them to head to the east. It was beautiful.

We climbed back into the car, but not before Natalie took a spill. She is learning to run and doesn't always see rocks in her path. She tripped over one and since she was going down a slight slope she fell then hit her face on the ground. She has a small cut from that. But it wasn't the last time she would fall on our trip.

Down we descended into the Coronado National Forest, on the south side of the Huachuca mountains. This side gets more rain which was evident by the vegetation. So much green. Even the rocks were green, not mossy, but bright green lichen on them. I'm not sure why I didn't take any pictures through this area, probably just enjoying looking too much. Gwen spotted some mule deer up high. I didn't see them but did see many Mexican Blue Jays.

We drove for what felt like forever, winding our way down and around. The west side of us was black from a fire last year and possibly another one this year. The road seemed to be a break for it, as on the other side the plants seemed to be just fine. We arrived at Parker Canyon Lake around 2:30. We got out and walked around, watching the swallows, as they swooped down.

We spent quite a while at the lake, talking about fishing and letting Lily smell things.  There is a cement path partway around the lake and we walked along that. You could see how much less water there was in the lake than there normally is.

 Natalie had a great time eating mud. Gwen was catching little frogs and Rhayn was just watching the water.

When we left the lake we headed home. Not really sure how to get there, but we knew we'd find it. We took a chance and turned right onto a road that directed us to Fort Huachuca, it took us in the back side of the Fort, and through and area that was beautiful and remote feeling.I am pretty sure this is a better way to get to that lake without driving through Fort Huachuca.

As we got into town the rain was coming down hard. But we needed to stop and get something for dinner, even though, as is traditional, we wanted hamburgers. The rain would keep us from being able  to grill. The grocery store parking lot was a flash flood. The water was running up and over the curbs. Will dropped me off and I ran into the store.

At home, we rested while watching Napolean Dynamite. Then ate dinner and watched it pour rain hoping that it would let up in time for the fireworks.

At 7:30ish we headed into town to find a place to watch the fireworks. It was still drizzling at that time. The rain stopped at 7:50, the fireworks started at 8:10. It was perfect. The weather was awesome, so cool out. We were able to get close enough to the fireworks that we could smell them. Natalie did not like the loud noises, but she seemed to like the bright lights. I put her in the sling and nursed her though much of the noise.

We were able to get out of the parking lot fairly quickly and home by 9:20. Perfect.