Arizona Visit - 2026

We have visited Arizona two times now to take care of some family business.   We rented an AirB&B in Scottsdale near Old Town Scottsdale.  It was so much fun seeing family and friends.  Great food and conversation.

Since we were staying near Old Town Scottsdale, we ended up eating in that area multiple times at various restaurants.  We also enjoyed walking along the Scottsdale waterfront.  It is a scenic, walkable district along the Arizona canal near shops, restaurants, etc.  After walking the waterfront, we would sit and people watch.  

When growing up in Phoenix, and on past trips we spent more time going north to Sedona, Jerome, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, etc.  With a couple days of free time, we decided to head south to Tucson.

We went to the Sabino Canyon recreation area in Tucson and did some walking.  I saw this deer meandering through the brush.

There were lots of Saguaro cactus around.  Because they don't have annual rings like a tree, age is generally estimated by height and arm development.  While many live 150-200 years, they can survive much longer under ideal conditions.  This was an interesting one we saw on the trail in the recreation area.

We decided to take the Canyan Crawler (Shuttle) which was fun.  Going up the canyon the crawler made several stops, so I was able to take pictures.  Several people got out to walk back or hike and could be picked up by later shuttles.  We enjoyed this.

It was interesting to see the dry creek beds coming down the mountains.  I imagine it is very dangerous when flash floods occur.  It was a bit early so the cactus were not in bloom.

We also drove to the top of Mount Lemmon (9,157' elevation).  THe road was 28 miles to the top with great vistas, interesting rock formations, cool mountain forests and deep canyons.  Once at the top there wasn't much there.  It was a fun drive up but a bit disappointing at the top.

Another day we headed west of Phoenix.  Our plan was to drive the Apache Trail so up and out early.  Our first stop on the trail was the Goldfield Ghost Town.  It was truely a ghost town as we were so early no one was there!

We continued driving with lots of winding roads passing Canyon Lake to Tortilla Flat.

There was a restaurant, general store, bar, etc.  From there we wanted to continue our drive and head to Roosevelt Lake.  

We had second thoughts when we got to the dirt road part of the Apache trail.  The sign said 22 miles of dirt road with certain sections very narrow and steep.  The car I rented didn't seem to like that.  We did continue several miles on the dirt road but ended up turning around when we saw the sign saying last turn around.  We got out and walked a bit at the turn around.  Some nice views but still to early for most of the flowers.

The dirt road would have been a blast in my Jeep.  Our rental. car ... not so much ...

We headed back to Tortilla Flat and decided to take the Dolly Steamboat tour on Canyon Lake.  We didn't have reservations so we waited to see if they had enough room for us to board.  We lucked out!

The canyon walls were pretty.  The boat captain gave us the history of the lake and the area.  We spotted several desert bighorn sheep in the rocks.  I would recommend doing the tour.  It was lots of fun.

On the way back we stopped at Goldfield Ghost Town.  It was open this time.  It is the site of an old small town and the old Mammoth Gold Mine.  It was a fun place to explore.

We did take my cousins to Carefree and Cave Creek as they had never been.  The cactus flowers were just starting to bloom there too.

We had a great time.  Next visit will be connecting with more family, friends, and more exploring.

Guard Dog Training

My sister worked at a Guard Dog Training facility in Arizona before she moved to Connecticut.  I went to see her at work when I was visiting.

There was a big outer fence with barbed wire surrounding the facility, an inner fence, rows of kennel cages, and a house in the middle of it all.  I saw Dobermans, German Shepherds, Rottweiler’s, and a couple Great Danes.  As I walked around the kennel some dogs seemed to dislike my presence.  One was biting the chain linked fence and was yelled at.  I would think there have been broken teeth because of that.

Upon entering the house there were dogs in every room.  Even the bathroom!  Several of the dogs were free to roam about the house.  I was new to them so they came to greet me.  What do you do when you are told “Don’t be afraid, they can sense fear!”?? 

·         Do you put your hand out, or not? 

·         Do you make eye contact, or look away?

·         Do you stay standing, or sit down?   

·         Do you grab a towel to wipe the sweat from your brow, or just remain still? 

In any case, they didn’t harm me. 

I was told they raise and train guard dogs for individuals, businesses, etc.  They sell their own dogs and current owners will bring their dog in to have trained.  The presence of a dog can stop bad people from doing bad things.

Guard dogs are a great deterrent used in the military, law enforcement, home protection, etc.  Not all the dogs being worked with would become guard dogs.  Will the dog retreat at a raised hand?  Are they aggressive or passive?  Are they obedient?  And so on.  This Rottweiler was one of the top dogs and was going to the military.

I observed the trainers “agitate” the dogs.  The trainer will give a command and the dog will become aggressive toward the intruder.  The dogs were wagging their tails. 

When agitating these 2 German Shepards you can see one became aggressive and the other didn't engage.  The one that didn't engage did not end up becoming a guard dog. 

There were dogs that were not people friendly.  My sister said this dog did not like men but was fine around women.  She said it was a great dog but overall not a people dog so would become a “junk yard” dog that would roam free behind a fenced in area to protect whatever was behind the fence. 

My favorite dog was this one named Cowboy.  He was big and very friendly.  I watched him as they agitated him.  I learned that he would not be as expensive as many of the other dogs because of his smile …

Once given a command the demeanor of these trained guard dogs change.  The first thing I noticed was their smile.  It is intimidating when a dog becomes aggressive and smiles at you with all their pearly white teeth showing.  That smile may be all it takes to stop a bad guy so big dog smiles command more money.  I was still sold on Cowboy …  

Observation:   As these guard dogs were working and doing their job, they were smiling, wagging their tails, and seemed to enjoy their work.

Dogs are used to help protect the lives of our hero’s serving every day.  Meet this Military Working Dog (MWD) K-9 Belgian Mal Marine dog named Kevin.  He has served in Afghanistan sniffing out explosives and IED’s. On his last tour of duty, Kevin saved the lives of his handler and others in his Marine unit.  The handler now has a tattoo with Kevin’s number and will hopefully be able to adopt Kevin when he is to be retired.
 
7/23/2016 ...  MWD Kevin (L374) passed away yesterday at Camp Lejeune from complications from cancer.  What makes this really sad is that he was about to be retired to his handler.  Rest easy, Marine.  Semper Fi.

Below is K-9 police dog Boris (German Shepard) and K-9 police dog Charlie (Belgian Malinois).  Both are excellent bite dogs, trackers, and drug dogs doing a demonstration.