Thursday, December 10, 2009

Snowy Mountains

It never really dawned on me to truly appreciate the mountains that have always surrounded me. People think of Phoenix as a flat desert. It's really quite the opposite. You can't look in any direction without seeing a beautiful mountain. Yes, it may be covered by the brown cloud (pollution), but it's there. Prescott is the same way, minus the brown cloud. Mountains everywhere. Again, it never dawned on me to really appreciate them until my father in law was visiting. He made a comment about how beautiful Mingus Mountain is. They are right down our street and they are pretty spectacular.
I asked about mountains in Orlando. He told me there aren't any. What? How can that be? Places exist without mountain views? I've visited a lot of states (including Florida). Did I not notice this? I had to consult my mother in law just to make sure my father in law wasn't mistaken. He is right. There are no real mountains in all of Florida. How do you go snow skiing? Where do you hike? Apparently, you go somewhere else to do that stuff, like Arizona. I love the diverse topography of Arizona. You can go skiing in the winter at our two ski resorts and in the summer, you can rent a house boat and spend a week floating on some of the most beautiful lakes you've ever seen. You can go from saguaro cactus to pine trees in 2 hours. The only thing missing is a beach, but even that is just a tank of gas and 5 hour drive to San Diego. Even less if you want to venture into Mexico, and you can't beat $1 for a fish taco!

The snow is still hanging around in the shady spots of Prescott, like my front yard. The kids are still enjoying it.

That's it kids. Have a snowball fight.


Whoa little missy...not at me!


That's better Ben. Hide and wait.


Get her!!!!


The look on Emily's face here says it all. Pure and total happiness.


I'm glad we live in a state with so much diversity.

I think Forest Gump had it right when he said, "And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It's so beautiful." Isn't that the truth...

And that's all I've got to say about that.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, no mountains in Florida! I love the pictures of your surrounding mountains sprinkled with snow. The views are beautiful! That's one of the things I love about visiting my family in Salt Lake City.
Ben and Emily look like really enjoy playing in the snow! Have fun!!!
Kathi

Linda said...

And no mountains in Illinois either (very large hills in northwestern and southern Illinois), though I wouldn't live anywhere else because I love my state as much as you love yours. ♥

Those are some beautiful photos. I love mountains. And you still have much more snow than we have - ours is just about gone.