Pinetop Part 2: The Cabin

Late Saturday afternoon, we arrived back at Ben's home from our backpacking excursion (see Part 1). We showered and changed into clean clothes. In the spirit of adventure and outdoors (and packing light) I wore my only clean pants: cargo pants from 7th grade. Gotta love that 2005 style.
Not to mention, before we even arrived home, we stopped at a sweet thrift shop and an equally nifty pawn shop and looked at goodies. I found some jewelry I really liked (didn't buy it, though. I left my wallet at his house, where we had not yet been that day) and a floral print hat which Liz bought for me (yeah, I washed it before I wore it. Don't freak out.)
Ben also showed us one of his only remaining pieces of street art. It's on a dumpster by the pawn shop, indoor archery range, and closed-down bank. It's of two wolves, and I'm pretty sure it used multiple layers of stencils. It was never finished because two cops drove by as Ben was working on it, and the danger was just a little too real for his comfort zone. I think it looks rather awesome, anyway.

After we got home, we all lounged around and watched the ed of Gladiator then The Book of Eli while everyone else showered (we had one shower to share).
Ben's mom (Betsy) and dad (Bruce) made veggie packets for dinner (4 or 5 different vegetables cut up, seasoned, oiled and wrapped into aluminum foil pouches then grilled) and his grandma made us chocolate drop cookies. It was the perfect dinner for the returning adventurers.
(Back story: It was really nice to see Ben's parents! I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen them in over five years. His mom seemed especially pleased to see us all, and she was very welcoming and accommodating.  She wins hostess points.)
After dinner, Liz and I sat and talked to grandma and Betsy while the boys continued watching The Book of Eli. Soon everyone else left for church, and Liz and I cleaned up the kitchen a little bit before we left for church (we're a messy bunch of kids, but we sure do know how to clean up after ourselves.)
Church was good. It met at Blue Ridge High School (the only one in the Pinteop-Lakeside area) and reminded me of what a small-town non-denominational church would be like, if it met up with a bit of a younger crowd. It was enjoyable.

The cabin.

After, we booked it to the grocery store and bought $36 worth of breakfast foods and headed up to the cabin through back roads.
The roads were dusty and dark. I was skeptical when Ben said that the cabin was in the forest--all of Pinetop that I had seen was rather developed. But after snaking through block after block of fancy vacation homes (as they became farther and farther apart) he made a quick right hand turn into a driveway, and I did the logical thing--I followed.
Soon we were in front of what looked like a log cabin, but I could hardly tell. It was pitch black outside. Ben opened the front door and turned a light on--it was most definitely a log cabin.
Upon entering, I noticed the quaint furniture, antique fire stove and perfectly sized kitchen. It is absolutely darling. We began unloading the car and then toured the upstairs area--two separated bedrooms and a common sleeping area with 5 twin beds. Downstairs, the living area, eating area, kitchen, extra bedroom and single restroom.
I really enjoyed reading the "Brenna was here! 2000" and other time-stamped markings written on the twin bunk beds upstairs. Betsy had warned us that spot-markers were there, and had told us not to add more unless we "do it on a plank of wood." And we respected her wishes.
Once the car was unloaded, it was time to chill. Liz and Ben and Jon worked on the fire for making s'mores while I took copious amounts of photographs. My favorite vantage point is from the second story looking down, because you can see the entire living room from there.
Soon after the fire was built, we sat down and began playing music. Ben brought his banjo (a birthday present from his parents) and his guitar (a 3/4 size steel-stringed thang). Having no experience on the banjo, I picked up the guitar.
Soon, we were playing a Sufjan Stevens song and singing at the top of our lungs. Liz and Jon seemed to be enjoying listening, and I was certainly enjoying playing guitar with Ben on banjo. Before we knew it, it was 1 am, and our friends Cassie and Sydney were arriving from Phoenix.
In a whirlwind of excitement, they unloaded their car and Ben set out to make more granola. Feeling utterly exhausted, I decided to pick up a knife and focus the energy I had left on dicing apricots to put in the granola. Once we stuck the oats in the oven for 50 minutes, Ben and I picked up the instruments once more, and we sat and played music until we were nearly ready for bed.
3 am, we all fell asleep. 6:30 am, I woke up when Ben woke up to go downstairs. I stayed awake once I realized it was light out, and finally got out of bed at 9 am when Liz decided it was time to get up as well.
To not rudely wake everyone else up, we turned on the coffee pot and left the building for a morning stroll. There were areas in the neighborhood where we could see a ridge of trees in the distance, between the pine trees already surrounding the houses.
When we returned, Cassie and Sydney were headed out for a walk as well, and Jon followed suit. Just as Liz and I decided to wake up Ben, he came strolling out as well.

Good food. Good friends. Good time.

Being the hungry woman Liz is (breakfast is her favorite meal, which is one of the reasons we get along so well) we set out to cook. Half an hour and half a Destroyer album later, we were all seated around the breakfast table with scrambled eggs/veggies, cut fruit, fresh granola, honey, coffee, orange juice and hash browns to fill our stomachs. We said a prayer of thanks for food, free time, nature and each other, and dished out the delicious meal that was about to ensue.
We sat and talked as and after we ate, discussing dream living situations. A good amount of us would eventually enjoy ending up in Portland some day, while the other half of us would love to stay in Phoenix. I'm divided.
After breakfast, we lounged around, did dishes, played music, and decided to go on a walk. The Apache Indian Reservation is walking distance from the cabin, so we decided to go check it out. Granted, it's kinda trespassing, but we weren't harming anything. In fact, I'm rather sure the walk harmed me more than anything. I got a really gnarly sunburn (all I wore over the weekend was tank tops, sans sunscreen) and every twig I stepped on stabbed me in the foot (I decided to wear my new hiking sandals.)
Nonetheless, it was a beautiful hike. And by that, I mean we found plenty of beautiful rocks and enjoyed the danger of being on Native American land, where "They can take any of your property and it would be totally legal." Or at least that's what Ben kept telling us. Other than that, the walk on their land was not particularly noteworthy.

The first horned lizard I've seen in real life!

One thing I noticed is that the trees were far more sparse on the reservation than they were in Pinetop. We found a few clearing areas with what logs fashioned into a rectangle on the ground, almost like a seating area.
We soon grew bored and climbed back through the fence to Pinetop. The forest on that side of the road was denser and greener, it seemed. We adventured a little bit more around the woods and found a horny toad lizard. That's right, folks. Two wild animals in one trip! I'd never seen one before, but he hissed at us just like my turtle hisses at me when I pick him up too quickly. We didn't corner him very quickly, but in an effort to get a good photo (and an effort on Ben and Cassie's part to catch him) he ran under a bush. Ultimately, this made him even more photogenic, as the shade from the bush  made it easier to see him.
We returned to the cabin around 2 pm and made sandwiches with some local bread, apricot preserves, bananas, honey and peanut butter. As usual, we tossed some veggies and/or yogurt on the side for a complete meal. (I really enjoy how healthy I eat when I'm with all these people!)
The aim of the day was to leave by 4 or 5 pm, as Cassie, Sydney and Ben had a night of backpacking ahead of them because they couldn't join us Friday night, and we had to leave Sunday night. Eventually, we got around to getting a few planks of wood to decorate and commemorate the weekend. Once we had successfully collaged one and signed the other, we placed them up against the wall on the second level of the cabin, packed our bags and said our goodbyes. By the time we left, it was 5pm. Liz slept most of the way while Jon and I discussed how we really enjoy Phoenix.
I could not have asked for a more perfect weekend spent outside in God's nature with a group of friends who enjoy healthy food, fresh air, backpacking and rest. I look forward to when I am finished with my summer classes and can go back with even more friends.