Pre-4th of July celebration

 Here we are, nestled in the middle of the tall pine trees on top of the Mogollon Rim in the middle of the Coconino National Forest.  We are all alone in the wilderness, less than an hour from our sweet cabin in Pine.  And we are simply loving the peace and solitude and wild beauty that surrounds us.

We are celebrating that we live in a free country where we can pursue the kind of life that we choose, where we there are unlimited isolated exquisite places to roam through forests, mountains, deserts, and grasslands in our beautiful country.

….where we go to sleep to the lullaby of a family of coyotes and awake with the birds singing as morning is breaking….

…where we can see elk grazing peacefully in a ravine as we hike up East Clear Creek...

 

and witness a different large herd of elk running across a grassland meadow in front of our bikes….

 

….where we can cycle and hike in wilderness so vast that we have seen coyotes hunting on the opposite side of a lake, a LARGE bear running through the forest as it chases it’s prey, and, this week, have discovered footprints of a bear walking on the same path as us—in fact the prints are so enormous compared to our boot prints that we are not sure if it was a bear or Bigfoot!

…..and we are celebrating living in a country where there are hundreds and hundreds of miles of unbelievable beauty available for all to discover and explore in our lovely state of Arizona from the Mexican border up into Utah….

Dan's note:  A 73-year-old Grandma, with a surgically repaired back that gives her pain every night, is doing this.  I ride behind her every mile in amazement.   The road shown below and in the video are about the easiest we ride on.  In fact, sometimes we have to go cross-country when trees have fallen across roads (a frequent occurrence).  Many roads are much more technical where a simple mistake can result in a fall (and we should know!).

 

We don't even see kids up here cycling on 80-pound bikes.  All we ever see, when we actually see anyone else, are people in OHVs.  Sometimes I wonder what they think when they pass us.  We do notice that they almost always smile, wave, or yell something friendly.   When they are camping they always wave. They usually slow down when in OHVs so as not to create dust for us.....which is nice, huh?

 

  

Watch this video of her riding.  Feel free to applaud loudly!

 

 

My Danny and I are celebrating all the love that we have for each other, our children, grandchildren, and family.  And that there is so much love in our beautiful country that we can be hiking off-trail in the middle of thousands of miles public lands and find this tribute to love that somebody created….

….we are celebrating that we are fortunate to live in a country where men and women (generations of those in our family starting with the Revolutionary War)) have fought and many have died to preserve all the freedoms that we enjoy.  And that our children, and grandchildren—and all of those who live the USA enjoy. 

Many people criticize our amazing and wonderful country, but we are old enough to have seen tremendous changes and progress in the United States, which allow in everyone to enjoy our freedoms.  

There is no other country where we would rather live.  We are thankful to be Americans….and we are celebrating the 4th of July with pride and joy.

Happy 247th Birthday AMERICA!