Julia's first time in Arizona while I attend a conference for work... view from our hotel

After the booth setup the afternoon was free until the dinner reception, so we decided to take a short drive to the famous Apache Trail

I think we need to drive through (or around) that mountain!

Julia was still on the phone with her parents when we got to the entrance to Apache Trail

Nothing around us but cactus trees

Strange that there's water in the middle of the desert

This is Canyon Lake

Our first picture together in AZ!

GPS is totally confused by where we were at

Two lane roads throughout the trail, with signs warning of possible roads being washed away during storms

And one-lane bridges!

Aside from the cactus growth this might as well be on Mars

The trail continues...

Yeah, have to make sure we don't run into a snake - I haven't watched enough survivalist reality TV shows to know what to do :P

After cheking out the vista view...

Back to driving on unpaved one-lane roads

and worrying that we'll fall off the mountain trail

Hey! Another lake!

Not only did we find a lake...

Right next to the lake...

Is a restaurant!

I called these two cactus trees "The boxers"

We wanted to make sure we get out of the crazy trail before it got dark...

Back on the road again!

Funny this didn't feel one bit like Christmas/Winter

Another boxer cactus

Bye bye Apache Lake!

Back to paved roads and freeways before it got dark!

One night we decided to have a light snack for dinner :)

Checking out the resort pool

Another night, dinner at Benihana

Somehow we just couldn't synchronize our smile :P

Okay! Let's eat!

The last evening before leaving town, a local Mexican joint. Super-spicy dip

Julia can eat really spicy food!

My beer :)

My main course

What Julia ordered

Yum

Exactly!

Full Moon. Next stop, Salt Lake City!