FOSSIL CREEK

To celebrate my birthday we decided to head to Fossil Creek.  We figured it wasn’t kid friendly and we were right, at least the hiking we did, so Shawn’s parents took them up north with them.  We were planning to do just one over night trip so Friday after work we headed to Pizzaria Bianco in downtown Phoenix.  We have been wanting to try it for years.  We got there at an early time and even for a Friday there was no wait.  The pizza was amazing!!! Very fresh and the closest to Italy I could imagine. 

 

The pizza’s are cooked in this oven literally right next to where you’re sitting.  The restaurant had a very authentic feel to it. 

The pizza’s aren’t huge so if you have an appetite I would recommend two and maybe take a little home for leftovers.  After we were done eating we headed next door to the Bianco Bar.  Very cozy little place and again very authentic-historical looking. Walking inside the floors are all original and creek.  LOVED IT!!!  We sat on the patio and enjoyed the live band, well he was a solo artist but very talented, while talking and people watching, one our favorite past times.  People are very interesting to watch.

We really enjoyed ourselves. 

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Fossil Creek.  The closest road was closed so we had to take the long way, which we know going up, but would have been nice to take the short cut.  We made it to the creek at a decent time so we loaded our camelbaks with the essentials and headed on our way.  We hiked for at least 5 miles.  We sat down for breaks a couple of times to enjoy our surroundings and have a beer.  Abby came with us and surprised us at how well she did.  The hike was rather difficult more areas than others.  Some spots you grab a boulder and there it goes rolling down the hill. 

This was taken from the bridge.

We were amazed how clear the water was.  You could easily see the bottom even in the deepest parts.  The water was going to be really cold so we didn’t bother bringing our suits but after our hike we easily could have.  A couple people were brave enough to jump in but no one stayed in longer than just jumping in.  I look forward to bringing the girls there, just for swimming not hiking, this summer. 

On the top the his horrible hill to climb as I mentioned before where all the boulders were falling behind you.  We found this old house or remains of a house.  It was cool to see.  I can’t believe how simple some people lived or some who still do. 

After a couple mile hike we decided to head the other direction.  We stopped at the bridge we parked above and chilled listening to the water and had some lunch with more drinks.

This was our view to the left of where we were sitting under the bridge.

After we were done relaxing we got in the truck and parked as close as we could to to the waterfall.  We had to walk the rest of the way which was probably another 2-3 miles.  That part of the hike was saturated with lots of people. 

We passed over a couple of these hand made bridges.

And there it is… the waterfall.  It was very cool and beautiful.  We were so exhausted that we didn’t stay long.  I would love to go back in the summer months and dive into this amazing water.

After we got back to the truck we headed to place for camp.

 

You’re allowed to camp 100 feet from the creek but camp fires are restricted unless you’re a few miles away.  We made it here with this amazing view.  We were so exhausted we could barely move.  We had a drink and relaxed but the wind picked up to about 20 hour mile winds which made us think a fire would be difficult to safely maintain and well it was not fun to hang out in especially after our day.  So we decided to head home and just call it a day trip.  On our way we stopped by THAT Brewery.

It was a cool place.  They had a huge patio, two actually, with a huge fire pit for cooking.  Would love to go back some day. 

Shawn and I both got a flight to sample some beers.  We both thought the beer itself could be colder in temperature but they were all good beers.  I enjoyed the Southwest burger.

Very very good!  It had a pretzel bun with green chilies.

After we indulged and watch the drunk girl entertain us at the bar while her boyfriend was getting pissed for her flashing one of the owners we decided to head home.

I LOVED our trip!  I’m glad we can still do these things even while balancing being parents.  Thank you to Shawn’s parents for watching our munchkins.  You may need to take a double take but this picture above is supposed to spell out LOVE.  These pictures were taken all of fossil creek.