mountains – WamiesWorld

a cacti goodbye to Arizona

Published on November 5, 2018 by Jamie Shugart3 Comments

Arizona, what do we say? We had an absolute blast. Four months is just not enough time to really explore and get to know you.

For our last Saturday in the desert, we drove out to Saguaro National Park to see the nation’s largest cacti. Little known fact, they are actually called saguaros. Will had the great idea to drive out to see them around golden hour and sunset, and then to have a farewell dinner in Tucson.

We stamped our National Parks Passports at their visitor center, drove a dirt road loop, and took photos on the side of the road as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Instead of embellishing this experience with words, I think that I will allow our photos to do the talking this time around. If you find yourself in Tucson at any point in the future, Saguaro National Park should be high on your list of things to experience.

If you enjoyed this post, please give it a like and let us know in the comments! If you haven’t joined the family yet, hit that subscribe button and we’ll see you next time!

Until then,

Jamie out.

Our 5 Favorite Things We Did in Arizona

Published on October 29, 2018 by Jamie ShugartLeave a comment

Our four months in southern Arizona are over! We will always have our memories, and I have a couple more blog posts lined up, but our extended honeymoon has come to a close. That being said, we spent much of our time in the desert exploring. Here are our five favorite things we did while in Arizona this summer.

We went on a really long hike

We have already blogged about our Grand Canyon experience, but if you missed it, here are some sunrise photos, and here is the complete story of our hike.

The Grand Canyon has been on my bucket list for a while. It is one of those things that you sit and dream about, like Rome, or the Great Wall of China, or Iceland. It is a destination I was dying to experience. And boy did we experience it.

We got up at three in the morning to drive to the National Park and arrive in time to watch the entire sunrise over the canyon walls. We then spent the next seven hours hiking along the rim. Clearly it was a dream come true for this hike loving, National Park exploring, photography enthusiast couple. The Grand Canyon is so much more than just a giant hole in the ground.

We made reading a priority

Back in North Carolina, life and busyness got in the way. We were often running around and stressed, trying to be at every event, plan a wedding, work 50 or more hours a week, and sleep when we could. Arizona has been much more relaxed and manageable for us. One thing we were able to really enjoy was making reading a priority.

Most nights you will find us reading a good book in bed before turning out the lights. The weekend usually involves at least a few hours of dedicated book time. And the goal has generally been to read one book a month. This is something that I seriously hope we can continue once we get back to North Carolina.

Books I have been reading: the Harry Potter series.

Books Will has been reading: the Inheritance Cycle, “Just Walk Across the Room” by Bill Hybels and “Ghost Soldiers” by Hampton Sides.

We made some friends

I have always said that it is the people that make or break a place. Well the people in Arizona have absolutely made it for us. The community we have experienced, the church family we found, and the friends we made have not only made these four months in the desert so much sweeter, but have made saying goodbye so much harder.

From the movie nights, hiking trips, lunch dates, and hotel breakfasts, we had an absolute blast with everyone.

We toured a mine and ate really good food

On one of our first weekends in Arizona, we visited Bisbee, which you can read about here. We didn’t quite know where to go, where to eat, or what to do. After a few hours in the hot weather, we drove back home. But ever since then, we had a hankering to tour the Bisbee copper mine.

The weekend of Will’s birthday, a couple we met took us to the Queen Mine Tour and followed it with dinner at Cafe Roka. I definitely recommend both things should you ever find yourself in southern Arizona.

We wore our jackets, hard hats, and flashlights in the mines and rode a train to the very back. Our tour guide showed us how miners would drill, what drills they used throughout the years, their dynamite techniques, and other mining habits to include how they went to the restroom. I got to demonstrate for everyone. Who thinks this should be our Christmas card photo this year?

After our tour, we went to the historic district for our reservations at a seriously delicious Cafe Roka. We all ordered the filet on a bed of mashed potatoes and veggies. The starters, salad, soup, sorbet, entree, and dessert sampler platter left nothing wanting. We had a fantastic time and will definitely come back the next time we are in Bisbee. We highly recommend it.

We explored a cave

Our absolute favorite adventure, despite having hiked the Grand Canyon Rim Trail, was exploring a cave in Coronado National Memorial. It was so cool! Caves and caverns are super fascinating, a little scary, and very very fun to explore. This cave in particular was at the end of a short hike up the mountain and was not guided. We climbed down a hill of rocks at the cave mouth (which distinctly reminded me of the movie “Descent,” although I tried not to think about that) and then used our headlamp and flashlight to explore its depths. You can read more about that here.

Will and I are so excited to head back to the east coast and North Carolina! We are seriously looking forward to seeing my family, eating my mom’s cooking, hanging out with our Taco Tuesday crew, and reconnecting with our church fam.

Have you ever been to Arizona? What was your favorite part? If you enjoyed this post, give it a like and don’t forget to join our family by hitting that subscribe button if you haven’t already.

Until next time,
Jamie out

our disastrous first camping trip together

Published on October 8, 2018 by Jamie Shugart4 Comments

Our first time camping together was slightly spontaneous and outrageously under-planned. We did little to no research, left much later than we intended to, brought no smaller bills to pay for our camping spot, and ending up setting our tent up with the use of flashlights and the very last bits of orange on the skyline as the sunset had already passed.

Parker Canyon Lake

The camping spot was actually super cute and had a great view. It’s five or ten dollars a night, all the spots have easy access to the bathrooms, and the break in monsoons had left the place nice and green for us.

As far as we could tell, the camping sites were first come first serve. We packed up some odds and ends for breakfast, brought some extra water, and then stopped at Subway to grab dinner on our drive out. Unfortunately, our navigation took us the long way to get there so it took twice as long as anticipated. We watched the sunset during our drive instead of from our campsite.

Despite a somewhat frustrating start to our spontaneous camping trip, we made the most of it. We resolved to be a little more prepared next time, because a camping trip without firewood (and s’mores) may not even be a camping trip at all.

Despite having purchased my tent almost two years ago, I had never actually used it. It was super nice to break it out and realize that the six-person tent is huge for just the two of us.

Will is a very experienced and avid camper and backpacker. He has all the gear. Despite having brought all of it to Arizona with us, we unfortunately didn’t plan well enough in advance to use most of it. The consequence of spontaneity, I suppose. Hopefully in a few years we’ll have this down to a science.

We woke up a little after six, as you do while you’re camping, got dressed and ate breakfast. We didn’t bring any kind of camping stove or firewood, so I made do with a few creative food items from our hotel room back home. One item on my wish list is definitely a french press, or at minimum instant coffee and a means to heat up water. Your girl had the worst migraine of her entire life later that afternoon and starting off the day with zero coffee didn’t help.

After we ate breakfast, we packed up the tent in the already eighty degree weather and then drove down to the lake to take in its views and enjoy its peace for a bit.

Items I added to my camping wish list:

Table cloth
Bug spray
Tiny broom
Mallet
Better stakes
COFFEE

Let’s be real. It was NOT the best camping trip in the world. Hopefully we’ll do better in the future, but hey, not every adventure and spontaneous trip is going to be golden. Despite some loud neighbors (who arrived after we did and left before us as well—what a whirlwind!) the camp site was great. You can rent boats at the lake, go fishing, or even swimming. It seems like a great way to spend the weekend, honestly! Next time we’ll arrive earlier, bring fire wood and coffee, and it will be ten times better.

Any suggestions for whirlwind camping trips? I’d love to hear some easy ideas! I’m used to tent trailers and campers, so tent camping as an adult is new to me! I need all your advice in the comments!

If you enjoyed this post, give it a like and don’t forget to join the family by hitting that subscribe button below.

Much love,
Jamie out.

a very old castle

Published on October 4, 2018 by Jamie ShugartLeave a comment

Labor Day Weekend Part IV

Let’s be honest, Will and I had a very successful weekend trip. We visited the site of a volcano, witnessed the sun rising over the Grand Canyon, and hiked almost thirteen miles along its rim. Come Sunday morning, we were beat and ready to go home.

We ate breakfast at the hotel, packed up, and then took some quick shots in the wild flowers beside the parking lot because we forgot to take our traditional selfies with our National Parks Passports that weekend.

We got on the road pretty early but encountered a detour as we searched for Starbucks and my Pumpkin Spiced Latte fix. We enjoyed the first part of our drive through Flagstaff as we discussed the future and what life is going to be like once we are back in North Carolina.

What we did not anticipate or plan for was almost being out of gas, but then deciding to push it and drive thirty more miles to get cheaper gas, and then seeing a sign right beside that gas station for a National Monument just six miles down the road.

“Let’s do it!” We were so excited.

We decided early on in our trip planning that we didn’t want to go to a National Park because “we might as well since it’s right there.” If we aren’t feeling it, we aren’t going to go—the passports aren’t an obligation. But this castle opportunity was just too good to pass up.

Montezuma Castle National Monument

Structures like this capture my heart. I absolutely love learning about and exploring places where people actually lived. Old houses, forts, castles—you name it, I would probably love to explore it. Case and point—Will and I met at an outing where we explored an abandoned school house (read about it here).

In order to see the castle, you have to go through the Visitor Center, which was ridiculously busy on Labor Day. We patiently waded through the crowds to stamp our passports and then to read about the history of the 800 year old cliff dwelling and its inhabitants. The diagram above is a map of the castle floor plans, which the public is not allowed to explore any more. Back in the day a lot of vandalism occurred and visitors would take pieces of the castle as souvenirs, so in an effort to preserve the history, we can only look at it from afar these days.

Montezuma Castle was named one of the first four National Monuments in 1906 by President Roosevelt. He called it a place “of the greatest ethnological value and scientific interest.” The well preserved site has been protected ever since. Early visitors could actually climb up to the castle using ladders (I’m so jealous), but as of 1951 we can now only gaze at it from paved paths.

What is super interesting about the site is 1) why the inhabitants built so high up into the cliff, and 2) why they randomly disappeared and moved on after living there for several hundred years. Learning about the people who once made this place home is the benefit of spending some time in the Visitor Center before jumping outside to see the structure.

It was super interesting to see up close. It made us wonder about older generations who had to climb ladders to get home and what inspired them to build in the cliff face in the first place.

As you can see, it’s pretty high up from the ground. At least this would offer protection from elements and predators.

To the left of Montezuma Castle is another structure, “Castle A” that was excavated. Because a lot of artifacts were lost when Montezuma was looted, the second dwelling offered a lot of information and understanding for anthropologists.

This diorama was another cool picture into what life would have been like living in a cliff 800 years ago. Check out their website here for more information and photos.

We headed straight home after the castle to get some much needed rest and relaxation before heading back to work that week.

Next up in our adventures—our first camping trip together! Join the family and hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss the next post. If you liked those castle photos, give this post a like and let us know in the comments the favorite historical site you’ve ever visited!

Until next time,
Jamie out