between mt. graham, gila box, and chiricahua

there are things i love about jakarta/indonesia, but there are many things i can't get from sweet old jakarta. and luckily i can get them here quite easily. national parks, clear deep blue sky, fresh air, clean environment (i haven't seen a single litter, at all!), and traffic jam free roads. :D

di hari pertama sampai di tucson kami berdua langsung jalan2 ke target untuk belanja baju dingin (for me). i looovveee target. you can find really good fashionable clothes with just a minimum amount of money. setelah itu pergi ke tucson mall. luasnya paling cuma segede pim1-2 tapi 2 lantai doang but it has 4 big department stores: jc penney, dillards, macy's, sama satu lagi lupa. gosh i've never shopped so much in my entire life before. of course, it's more fun when it's not your money. :D

di hari ke dua suami langsung ngajak jalan2 ke mt. graham. ini adalah gunung yang keliatan dari backyard rumah. kira2 1 jam perjalanan sampai ke basenya, lalu 1 jam lagi untuk naik ke atas. beruntung kita pergi hari itu, karena ternyata hari minggu road ke atas sudah ditutup untuk umum, karena winter (yes, it snowed up there). the view was magnificent. the weather, although freezing cold, was so fresh that it makes you wanna curse jakarta's polluted air. :p

di hari berikutnya suami, saya dan max si anjing/kuda pergi menjelajah gila box (baca: hi-le box, it's spanish for hi-le canyon). ini jadi sebetulnya adalah national park yang mencakup sepanjang sungai gila tadi. ada banyak stops along the park, but we only went to a few of them. berhubung lagi winter, airnya gak banyak. so max can waddle and play in the water (yup, he's not a natural born swimmer). kalau summer ternyata kita bisa canooing / kayaking dari atas sampai bawah. i'll definitely try that.

lalu besokannya kami berdua (kali ini minus max) pergi ke chiricahua national park. biarpun isinya 'cuma' bebatuan, tapi tempat ini buagusssss banget loh. breath-takingly spectacular. i can't believe ada tempat kayak gini di dunia, let alone noting the fact that it's only about 1-2 hour drive from my house. very interesting.

untuk masuk kita harus bayar $5 per person, and get a member card. (i don't know how to get the member card, but it's valid for a year). i think, eventhough we have to pay, it's worth every penny. di sana kita juga bisa piknik dan camping. it's fun.

setelah itu on the way back home we saw a full rainbow. bright shiny colors, end to end. at one point we could even see 1 1/2 rainbow. lovely. i think it's God's promise that my life's gonna be good here, so i don't need to worry or be homesick. (iya, masih dikit nih..).

oh, and i just found out my parents are gonna be here to celebrate christmas!! YAY! and my sis's probably gonna be here too, cos hubby has to work during xmas. but that's ok, cos i'm gonna be busy anyway, with mom, dad, sister, max and the new baby boy brady in the house. oh yeah did i tell you, hubby's getting me a puppy. we're gonna name him brady and we're gonna pick him up when we got back from florida. yaaay. max's gonna have someone to play with, so he won't be so bored.

ok i better take max out for a walk. he's bored.