T ROCK!

Do you have any good friends who live out of town and run their own business and are married and have two kids and four chickens?  I do and if I dwell on the thought, it starts to bum me out that I don't get to see them as much as I would like. Or as much as I used to when I was a younger man. Trent Martin and I talk on the phone from time to time, but it's become rarer and rarer that we get to see each other.... and truly RARE that we really get to HANG OUT and seriously bro down. If there was ever a time to do so, that time was now.  I stayed the night with the MARTIN's and slept in the van in front of their house in central Phoenix. I was hoping to get the whole MARTIN clan to be able to go up to the VERDE HOT SPRINGS while I was there. As the next morning progressed, it was Trent and I on a solo mission. Laura got the kids off to school and Trent and I caught up on a little work before I rallied him onto the road. I'd been to Verde Hot Springs once before with my long time pal, LAUREN.  If I had to guess that would have been close to 10 years ago and we had a great time, but there was an element of the unknown!  In order to get to the SPRINGS you have to ford the VERDE river....this time of year the river level can fluctuate wildly. We  took the gamble and made the long bumpy drive into the springs.... total drive time ended up being close to 3hours.  hike a mile and ford the river and BAM!    naked people....

TRENT has a moment of reflection over the Verde.

 As we forded the river upstream we could hear dogs barking.... I queried to Trent, "How many people do you think are at the springs?"  His answer, 2. My answer 4 people, 2 dogs. I was right. This springs were fortified and managed by an old hotel on the property that burned down many moons ago. Now it's a seeker's destination. Clothing optional good times. I followed a local's initiative and jumped into the river to cool off after soaking for 30 minutes. Did that Twice as I recall.

Trent fords his way back across the VERDE. Totally manageable

The night before I'd gotten a hot tip about a swimming hole called FOSSIL CREEK from one of Trent's employees. Turns out we'd driven along a creek to get to the springs... so on the way out we checked that creek and were amazed at the clarity of the water....

The water was cool and crystal clear.

 So we swam at this spot for a bit then pushed on. and came to this SPOT.....


then we came to this  spot.....

Trent overlooks the deepest part of the creek that we found.

and I tried my best on the rope swing..........

and there was even a better spot further up the creek that were failed to document......needless to say this two mile stretch of creek is epic and worthy of your investigation.......Trent vows to take the family back for a camping excursion.

 It was hard to leave such refreshing beauty, but we had a meal on the make for us back in PHX and there was a wife, 2 boys, and 4 chickens awaiting our return.

Laura handled the kitchen and Trent was on grill detail.

1st home cooked meal of the TRIP! taco night at the MARTIN's!

 After the glorious meal, I brought in the Traveling Free Box. It was nice to see how generous and giving Asher and Shiloh were to the BOX.

Martin's and the BOX

The next morning I foraged a box of oranges and grapefruits then took the kids to school with LAURA then we went to the local farmer's market and loaded up! I visited Trent at work and then it was time to say so long.

{editor's note}YEARS ago when I was first getting to know Trent, I worked at a skateboard company called TUM YETO. Chad Muska used to always call Jamie Thomas, J ROCK. So for some reason, I began to call Trent, T ROCK. I don't do it as much in this day and age, but I still like to throw it out there for old times sake.