Rose Canyon Lake

As I get ready for England, I find myself seeing beauty in Arizona I've never truly looked at before.

Of course, that might be because I've never really looked at it through a camera lens, but hey, y'know. Whatever the case.

So in the midst of freaking out about how to access my UEA email (which is probably not even possible at this point because I don't have a username. I assume I will get one at orientation), I managed to pack for our camping trip to Rose Canyon Lake. I love Rose Canyon for so many reasons; it's gorgeous, cool in temperature, and free from technology, but mostly because it shares my name.

Everyone came. When I say everyone, I *mean* everyone. Well, except Bee, my best friend, but she just moved here and needed to get more settled before leaving for any weekend trips. We had my Mom (Sharon), my Dad (Chuck), my little brother and his dog (Simon and Sasha), my Aunt (Claire), Uncle (Steve), cousin (Katherine), Mom's bandmate/friend (Dave), Dave's daughter/my friend (Erin), and finally, Katherine's foreign exchange sister from France (Maelle). Whew! That meant five full tents and one Volkswagon bus used as a sleeping chamber.


We tried to fit in all the "normal" camping activities despite being an abnormal group of people. After all, I'm sure most families who bring a guitar with them sing folky songs around the fire, but my family and its friends play traditional Irish music (I abstain, though). Still, we did manage to make s'mores, play in the stream, curl up in sleeping bags, hike up a mountain, almost get hit by lightning...

It's funny how I never did any of this after I graduated high school and started going to University of Arizona, despite Mt. Lemmon being less than an hour away. But now that I'm leaving, I want to soak it all in (while grabbing some photographic evidence). There are so many things about AZ that I'll miss - the sunsets, the cactus, prickly pear jelly (I don't actually like it, but it is a very Arizonan thing), spicy Mexican food (greasy kinds like Nico's bean and cheese burritos AND good kinds like chicken poblano)... I'll really miss monsoon season and the way the city smells like wet dirt and creosote.

It occurred to me today that rain is going to smell different in other places. Bee bought a candle which was supposed to smell like "Fresh Rain" but we both sniffed it and proclaimed how much like rain it didn't smell. So, maybe if I smell that candle long enough, I'll be ready for the smell of rain in England, but I doubt it. In all the lectures on culture shock, no one ever preps you for 'rain shock.'

As always, click the Facebook link on the sidebar to see more photos from this trip, including mine and my cousin's first forays into light painting!