Charity Dog Walk in Tempe

Today, Tyler and I (plus Tinker, Topo & Bentley) participated in the 2nd Annual Petsmart Charities PetWalk. This event helps fund the many PetSmart Charities programs focused on saving the lives of homeless pets.

Why Did We Walk??
Homeless pets desperately need our help! In Arizona, an estimated 120,000 companion animals enter shelters every year; despite the best efforts of shelter staff, only about half of those pets find homes. In Maricopa County alone, more than 98,000 dogs and cats entered shelters and more than 53,000 had to be put down last year.

The 2nd Annual PetSmart Charities® PetWalk brings people and pets together for a great cause: raising money to help homeless pets. It's a fun-filled way to spend the day with family and friends (two-legged AND four-legged). Best of all, it will help Arizona pets find the lifelong, loving homes they deserve!

The Plan for Tahoe Rim Trail Hike

Commitments made, vacations requested, next of kin notified...time to get down to logistics!

A few problems that are very apparent for Zach and I are; we don't live near each other, and neither of us live near Tahoe. Solution: books, maps, phone calls, internet, and Google Earth!

The main source of knowledge about the finer points of the TRT have been provided by a wonderful author named Tim Hauserman via his book "The Tahoe Rim Trail: A Complete Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, and Equestrians". His book provides detailed trial notes, water locations, forks in the trail, and even the names of prominent peaks that can been seen in the distance.

Zach and I each purchased a copy of Tim's book and we approached the schedules on our own, to see if we came up with anything different. Thankfully we were both on the same page. We agreed our starting point would be Tahoe City, and we would hike in a clockwise direction.

Here are the plans as they stand now.

Wednesday July 14, 2010 - Tyler and Topo drive from Phoenix to Sierra Madres (near LA)
Thursday July 15 - Tyler and Topo drive from Sierra Madre to Sacramento and pick up Zach. Then head to the cabin in Tahoe (Hillard Haven)
Friday July 16 - Start food caches, visit TRT Asso., visit dog boarder and then check into Hampton Inn
Saturday July 17 - Complete food caches, drink one last beer and lay in bed awake all night...


Section 1 - Tahoe City to Spooner Summit 46.5 miles
July 18 - Night one @ Watson Lake - 13 miles
July 19 - Night two @ Gray Lake - 16.5 miles
July 20 - Night three @ Marlette Peak - 17 miles

Food Cache at Spooner Summit

Section 2 - Spooner Summit to Echo Summit 52.4 miles
July 21 - Night four @ South Camp Peak - 19.2 miles
July 22 - Night five @ Star Lake - 15.8 miles
July 23 - Night six @ Round Lake - 17 miles

Food Cache at Echo Summit

Section 3 - Echo Summit to Barker Meadows - 40 miles
July 24 - Night seven @ Lake Aloha - 20 miles
July 25 - Night eight @ Lake Aloha - OFF DAY - 0 miles
July 26 - Night nine @ Middle Velma Lake - 11.5 miles
July 27 - Night ten @ Richardon Lake - 8.5 miles

Food Cache at Barker Meadows

Section 4 - Barker Meadows to Tahoe City - 23.2 miles
July 28 - Night eleven @ Barker Meadows - 6.5 miles
July 29 - Night twelve @ Ward Creek - 11.5 miles
July 30 - Complete hike to Tahoe City - 5.2 miles and drive to Hillard Haven (cabin)

July 31 - Drink beer and relax at the cabin...soak feet in hot water.
August 1 - Zach flies home, Tyler, Claire and Topo drive back to Phoenix.

Hillards were in town!

Cate and Wayne made it out here for a long weekend as well! We had 3 days between parents being in town but it was fun!
Friday we took Cate and Wayne into downtown Phoenix on the new light rail. Our destination was The Phoenix Art Museum which had an Ansel Adams exhibit. While on the light rail we noticed a street fair going on so we jumped off the at the next stop and browsed the street fair for a little while. After the Art Museum we went to the Old Spaghetti for an early birthday dinner for Claire.

Saturday the 4 of us made the 1.5 hour drive down to Tucson to visit the Biosphere. The Biosphere was simply amazing! We had a terrific tour guide and if you are ever in the area, make the trip to see this marvel!

When Cate and Wayne flew into Phoenix, they brought Ruby Joy down to visit some other family. On Sunday Ruby Joy came to our house to see the animals and then headed off the mall to see more animals! We also went out to the local R/C flying field to watch the maiden flight of Tyler's new R/C plane (it survived the first flight).

Monday, Tyler had to leave early for a business trip so Cate, Wayne and Claire spent the day doing some small projects around the house and relaxing.

OH Matney's in Town

Greg and Jan came out to visit in conjunction with Greg's business trip. They weren't able to stay long, but it was terrific to have them over! Friday Jan and Claire went to see puppies at Claire's store and we all went out to dinner. Saturday we took a little backcountry Arizona road trip up scenic Highway 88 to Tortilla Flats for lunch. We stopped into the Ghost Town tourist attraction out that way and wandered around.

Sunday Greg had to fly back to Ohio, and Jan stuck around for an extra night relaxing. Tyler even managed to score some new clothes of dear ol' Mom. :)

Claire gets a promotion!

Claire is now the manager at Animal Kingdom! She is very exciting to start this new challenging career! First day as manager is 2/1~ Wish her a good first month!