datrupr
Expedition Leader
Black Friday. A day that comes around every year that seems to put normal everyday people into a frenzy. Like sharks going crazy on a school of fish. I have made it a tradition every year to make sure I avoid anything resembling a shopping center. So, early Friday morning, Jacki, Ellesha and I went to see a movie. After the movie we stopped at Costco (I know, big mistake) to gas up the Monty. While I was filling the truck up and watching the chaos at Costco I had an epiphany. "Why don't we get out of town for the day?" I went over to Jacki's open window and stuck my head in and proclaimed, "Lets go on an adventure!". That was met with warm reviews as it was a beautiful day and we had nothing else going on. After I got gas and fought my way out of the Costco parking lot we were on our way north. I had a destination in mind, but wanted to take a route that I had never been on before. Traffic on the 17 was horrible this Friday afternoon, my guess is everyone trying to make their way to the outlet mall at Anthem. I ducked off the 17 and took the back roads into New River, and then jumped back on for the short distance to the Table Mesa exit. Not knowing where I was going, and I didn't have my GPS with me I got lost once, and confused at a gate. Anyone ever get confused by a gate? Anyway, according to my trusty old map, I went through the gate and continued down the trail that I hoped was the right one. It started off pretty tame, but it did provide some minor challenges as we progressed further. It was evident that this is not a maintained trail. I was having fun. Sadly, we never reached our intended destination as the sun was going down and we had been on the trail for about 4 hours. We still needed to have dinner and I had a 6 year old that was getting tired and cranky. However, I am going to do this run with a group next month for a nice day trip. Anyway, on to the pictures.
The scenery was beautiful, and the sun was cooperating nicely:
It seemed like the moon was guiding us the entire way:
There were just amazing rock formations, almost like they were stacked there by someone. This one looks like a sitting bulldog:
And again, the scenery was amazing:
The cottonwoods were very pretty as they were changing colors:
More scenery:
The scenery was beautiful, and the sun was cooperating nicely:
![001-16.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/001-16.jpg)
![005-10.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/005-10.jpg)
It seemed like the moon was guiding us the entire way:
![008-8.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/008-8.jpg)
There were just amazing rock formations, almost like they were stacked there by someone. This one looks like a sitting bulldog:
![009-6.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/009-6.jpg)
![012-6.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/012-6.jpg)
![018-3.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/018-3.jpg)
And again, the scenery was amazing:
![013-7.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/013-7.jpg)
![017-3.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/017-3.jpg)
The cottonwoods were very pretty as they were changing colors:
![019-3.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/019-3.jpg)
More scenery:
![020-3.jpg](http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/Datrupr/020-3.jpg)