A sea otter glides by, its sinewy tail gently snaking through the water, a stone’s throw from the floating dock where I’m eating a PB&J.  Taking a break from preening its belly fur, it looks at me with baby-doll eyes, sizing me or my sandwich up, and I realize that otters are much cuter in real life than in photos. Deciding grooming is more interesting than my snack, the otter resumes combing thick fur with its teeth and dainty paws. For more, click download button above!

It’s 3:30 in the morning and Kate Kahla unlatches a horse trailer’s door, triggering the start of another workday. She’s been awake for hours though, preparing: loading mules, horses, pack-bags, and driving miles to a dirt road’s abrupt end amongst scrubby cactus, gnarly trees, and bursage. With clangs, rattles, and “whoa there’s,” Kahla unloads and tacks up animals, continuing nearly a century’s tradition of mule packing in our National Parks. She and her husband Sid, own Elgin’s Walking S Ranch, a working cattle ranch, and supply a valued commodity to the National Park Service. They lead packed mule strings into the rugged backcountry of southern Arizona’s Saguaro National Park, Organ Pipe National Monument, and Chiricahua National Monument, and New Mexico’s Bandelier National Monument. For more, click download button above!

The Tucson Association of REALTORS Shootout celebrates its 25th anniversary this January, 2015. Organized by the Fort Lowell Soccer Club, the youth tournament for kids aged 4 to 14 has grown from matches between a few local teams to drawing 350 clubs, some as far away as England. The family-oriented event showcases individual talent as well as team spirit and skill. For more, click download button above!