Yes it is here....H O T. I think that it snowed in Maine the other day....hmmm, I wonder if there will still be a need for snow boots and fluffy jackets in the great north. For now I am sweating profusely, sitting on top of my sleeping bag. I probably won't get anywhere near the inside of my bag tonight, just lay on top. We are now in Lafayette, Louisiana. We have spent the past two nights visiting with friends in Austin and Bryan, Texas. We stayed with James's friend Geoff from his high school days. He lives with several other people in a house in East (?) Austin. Geoff is a starving musician living amongst a room full of musical instruments, which are clearly his passion and focus in life, at least right now. We had a good time hanging out there, and I know James was really excited to spend some quality time with him, he has only seen him for an hour or two here and there in the past 5 years.
We headed out the next morning for Bryan, TX, which is just about 2 hours from Austin, where Texas A&M is located in the next town over, College Station. Austin is the home of the University of Texas Longhorns, these facts are ones a person could never travel through the state of Texas without learning. If there is one thing I have learned spending 5 days traveling through Texas, it is that people there are extremely proud of where they live and have great loyalty to their state. I also learned that the slogan "don't mess with Texas" was originally a campaign to keep the side of the highways clean and prevent people from littering. This slogan has been taken to the extreme at this point now, with t-shirts and bumper stickers advertising this phrase. Everything has the star on it (part of the Texas flag)- overpass supports, bridges, license plates, buildings, etc. I have definitely never been to a place with inhabitants so outwardly proud to live there- it was actually quite refreshing to see so many smiles!
Anyway, we traveled on to Bryan after our second oil change of the trip and a coffee fill in Austin to see our friends Lesley and Jeremy who we haven't seen since their wedding in Louisiana 4 years ago! I originally met Lesley in Prescott. I was connected to her through a mutual friend who told me she would be a great person to house and dog sit for me when I lived in my little cabin in the woods, before I met James. It worked out perfectly for both of us, as I needed someone to care for my things during trip east, and she needed a temporary place to stay! We have been friends ever since.... So the last time we saw them Parula was 4 months old and it was their wedding day, and what a beautiful wedding it was! They had the entire wedding weekend at Lesley's dad's farm, the place where she grew up, in Northern Louisiana. I won't go into detail, but it is definitely a beautiful experience that will always stay in my mind. Now we were able to see them as our travel route took us close the where they live! They are living in a house they bought last year on a nice quite street with close proximity to the school. It was great to catch up with old friends, and have them meet Parula as a 4 year old, and Sorrel who they have not met before. Lesley was the first friend I had come over to see Parula after she was born. I remember her saying "I've never held a baby that is so little", and my response was "neither have I !".
The kids had a blast playing in their backyard, and we took them to a nearby playground as well. The dogs all seemed to have a good time too. Lesley and Jeremy also have a dog named Cloud Dancing who looks a lot like the dog I used to have who they both took care of, named Cirrus. Cloud Dancing and River exchanged some funny sounding growls at each other, but were able to co-exist peacefully. It was so good to see friends, and in the end I was also glad I pulled out the map and asked my southern-oriented friends advice on the road ahead. Jeremy told me there is an alligator farm near here somewhere (Lafayette), so I'm hoping we can check it out in the morning. Tomorrow we will drive to the panhandle of Florida to visit my cousin Jeremy and his family..... He has already started talking me into moving to that area, so we will have to see for ourselves what it is like. They too have fled the great northern winters, as former residents of Minnesota, so have empathy for the place we are in now.
I can't believe we are almost back to the Atlantic Ocean (yet still some thousands of miles from home). I guess getting through Texas was the biggest push, and from here Maine feels much closer all of a sudden. We shall see what happens next!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Pecans, Fountain Soda, Real Estate
This blog title is the random sign we saw just before exiting for our campground, advertising the wonders of Junction, Texas. I don't know if we would have pulled off had it not been for the KOA we were going to, the Fountain Soda is enticing, however....
This is probably one of the nicer campgrounds we've stayed at, we are right on the Llana River, which actually does have water in it, despite the very arid landscape of West Texas that we drove through all of today. Last night we actually ended up in a hotel very late in El Paso, TX. We tried to get into a campground in a small town in Demming, New Mexico, but it was just after sundown, their office was closed, and a sign posted "no sites available" on the door. The only other options in that area were campgrounds whose directions took us 10 miles down a dirt road. I didn't think we should take that chance if they might not have any spaces. It seems in these parts (ya know, the warmer winter weather of the southern states), there are quite a number of seasonal "snow birds" that set up semi-permanent "camp" in their tour bus size RVs, which doesn't leave much room for the one night guests like us. So be it, we were in desperate need of a functioning shower- we were going for the Wal-Mart parking lot to put up the top and call it a night, but the idea of putting on the same clothes for a 4th day in a row, unshowered, sounded so unappealing, so we found a cheap place to stay and showered this morning- yeah! We are now facing 5 loads of laundry to fold (yes, we did bring that much that can be washed, it is not all clothes- consider towels, pillow cases, diapers we use as dish towels, and some other random cloths). Anyway, as I have quickly learned in life, 4 people can generate lots of dirty clothes in a relatively short period of time!
Two nights ago we spent the night in Tucson, after leaving Joshua Tree area. We had planned to head straight out the next morning, but we ended up going to the Sonoran Desert Museum for a few hours in the mid-day. I just couldn't resist sharing the desert museum with the kids, I have been there a good handful of times myself and just love it! They had a good time, and got to see lots of animals they had been talking about (coatimundis, wolves, deer, and some snakes). We headed out on the interstate at around 2:30, a good late start, and made it all the way to El Paso by the end! It was a long day though, and we crossed a time zone, which ended up taking an hour out of our day. We crossed yet another time zone today, now we are in central time, and lost yet another hour. The confusing thing is that the sun didn't go down until about 8:15 here tonight, and it is still about 75 degrees outside.....
Pia has licked open her beach incident wound, which means she now wears one of James's shirts to prevent her from licking it open again and again. It is either the shirt or a lampshade collar- that wouldn't work so well in the van! Tomorrow we are headed to Austin to visit James's high school friend Geoff. I am curious to see what Austin is like as I've heard lots of things about it- an anomaly among the rest of Texas culture....? After all, their motto is "Don't Mess with Texas"- there are signs up every few miles saying that along the highway! After our stay in Austin we are going to Bryan, TX which is only a short drive from there to visit our friends Lesley and Jeremy who we haven't seen since their wedding in Louisiana some 4 years ago! Lesley was one of the first people who got to meet Parula after she was born, it will be great to see her now that Parula has grown so much and she will get to meet Sorrel. I just have remembered too that Lesley and Jeremy were Parula's first babysitters, as they stayed with her for a few hours while James and I went out to dinner on our first "date" as parents! It has been great to see old friends on this trip, amongst all of the places we have seen and experienced as well. More to come too!
This is probably one of the nicer campgrounds we've stayed at, we are right on the Llana River, which actually does have water in it, despite the very arid landscape of West Texas that we drove through all of today. Last night we actually ended up in a hotel very late in El Paso, TX. We tried to get into a campground in a small town in Demming, New Mexico, but it was just after sundown, their office was closed, and a sign posted "no sites available" on the door. The only other options in that area were campgrounds whose directions took us 10 miles down a dirt road. I didn't think we should take that chance if they might not have any spaces. It seems in these parts (ya know, the warmer winter weather of the southern states), there are quite a number of seasonal "snow birds" that set up semi-permanent "camp" in their tour bus size RVs, which doesn't leave much room for the one night guests like us. So be it, we were in desperate need of a functioning shower- we were going for the Wal-Mart parking lot to put up the top and call it a night, but the idea of putting on the same clothes for a 4th day in a row, unshowered, sounded so unappealing, so we found a cheap place to stay and showered this morning- yeah! We are now facing 5 loads of laundry to fold (yes, we did bring that much that can be washed, it is not all clothes- consider towels, pillow cases, diapers we use as dish towels, and some other random cloths). Anyway, as I have quickly learned in life, 4 people can generate lots of dirty clothes in a relatively short period of time!
Two nights ago we spent the night in Tucson, after leaving Joshua Tree area. We had planned to head straight out the next morning, but we ended up going to the Sonoran Desert Museum for a few hours in the mid-day. I just couldn't resist sharing the desert museum with the kids, I have been there a good handful of times myself and just love it! They had a good time, and got to see lots of animals they had been talking about (coatimundis, wolves, deer, and some snakes). We headed out on the interstate at around 2:30, a good late start, and made it all the way to El Paso by the end! It was a long day though, and we crossed a time zone, which ended up taking an hour out of our day. We crossed yet another time zone today, now we are in central time, and lost yet another hour. The confusing thing is that the sun didn't go down until about 8:15 here tonight, and it is still about 75 degrees outside.....
Pia has licked open her beach incident wound, which means she now wears one of James's shirts to prevent her from licking it open again and again. It is either the shirt or a lampshade collar- that wouldn't work so well in the van! Tomorrow we are headed to Austin to visit James's high school friend Geoff. I am curious to see what Austin is like as I've heard lots of things about it- an anomaly among the rest of Texas culture....? After all, their motto is "Don't Mess with Texas"- there are signs up every few miles saying that along the highway! After our stay in Austin we are going to Bryan, TX which is only a short drive from there to visit our friends Lesley and Jeremy who we haven't seen since their wedding in Louisiana some 4 years ago! Lesley was one of the first people who got to meet Parula after she was born, it will be great to see her now that Parula has grown so much and she will get to meet Sorrel. I just have remembered too that Lesley and Jeremy were Parula's first babysitters, as they stayed with her for a few hours while James and I went out to dinner on our first "date" as parents! It has been great to see old friends on this trip, amongst all of the places we have seen and experienced as well. More to come too!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
cruzin
I am writing tonight from somewhere....near Joshua Tree National Park, off of I-10. We are at an "RV Resort", whatever that means I am not sure, except I think this is a place lots of retired folks come to for the winter in their RVs to escape the coldness where they live the rest of the year.... It is not extremely warm here right now though. Most of the drive today was spent driving about 45 mph through rain that was coming down so hard it was very difficult to see the cars around us. I'm sure you have heard that CA is getting hit real hard with this crazy storm, the coastal regions are getting lots of rain and the Sierra Nevada are getting lots of snow. We decided to take a southern route to avoid any encounters with snow....I've had enough of that this winter, bring on the warmth!
So, to backtrack a bit, I haven't written in some time now. We left Newberry Springs and drove to Santa Cruz, where we met up with our friend, Ryan, who first introduced James and I in Prescott in 2005. We had dinner with him right on the Harbor, got to see the boats that were sunken in the Tsunami wave that came into the Santa Cruz coastline- 5 boats that looked pretty well trashed. The news reported over 5 million dollars in damage to the harbor there, but the 5 boats we saw were the only damage that was apparent. We spent our first night in Santa Cruz in Ryan's studio apartment next to the beach. The next morning we went down to the beach for a couple of hours. Parula was completely amazed by the power of the waves and both kids had a great time playing with the kelp and driftwood on the sand. We drove around a bit, up into the redwoods to Bonny Doon, past the driveway to the house I lived at the summer I was in Santa Cruz (3960 Empire Grade) and down to the UCSC campus to have lunch with Faye, my mom's friend from college, and her 95 year old father. We ate in the dining hall, and Faye told us afterwards that we should stay in her house in her room as she would be leaving early the next morning for the week to go back east to Massachussetts. It was a hard offer to pass up, so we gladly accepted and went on with the rest of our day. We went back to the beach we went to in the morning, near Ryan's apartment. The dogs played with sticks in the sand, James ventured at getting Pia into the waves, although there was a slight mishap which involved Pia getting stabbed by a stick in her mouth as she was pushed by a wave and into River, so we had to take her to an animal hospital nearby to get repaired, as her skin was torn open and flesh oozing out. She is healing nicely now, but has a square shaved out of her fur in her side which looks rather ridiculous.
Anyway, we stayed in Santa Cruz until Saturday, when it started raining hard, and I don't think has stopped there yet. Friday we took the kids to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They absolutely loved it! There was a great Sea Horse exhibit with about 20 different tanks with different species of sea horses and sea dragons. It was quite amazing. They also really loved the kelp forest. I was hoping they'd like the jellies more, as I find them so relaxing and mesmerizing to watch, but for some reason they weren't as thrilled with them as they were the sea horses. The last time I was there was in 2003 and they have added some great stuff about overfishing and global climate change, it was really nice to see.
We also talked to a really nice woman we met at a playground one day. She gave us some good inside views of living in Santa Cruz, as a mother of a 2 year old and stepmom of 2 older kids. Going to a playground was a great idea to get a feel for the people around with kids....I hadn't thought anything of it but to get Parula and Sorrel to release some energy, but it turned out really great for all of us! It was really nice to be back in SC, I had a really great summer there, although it was a long time ago, and I was a single college student, now I have a family and life is much different, it still feels like a really great place to raise kids. There is also a really great Waldorf school nestled amongst the redwoods that sounds oh-so appealing. The idea of going to some fabulous coastline to watch the waves crash everyday makes my soul smile....and the BIRDS! ah, so many wading and shorebirds that I have missed watching.... although I know there are birds in Maine, there are not all THESE birds, migrating from South America up to Alaskan tundra to nest every summer. These are the birds I have watched for so many years in the past and have learned about..... it is so very exciting!
We decided to leave Santa Cruz, as it would be raining and raining for many days on end, and we thought it would be a good time to head back towards the easterly directly. First we headed south, in the rain. We drove down the 101 to Cambria, south of the Big Sur coast, it was a funky small town. The ocean was wild there, as we got out of the van for a brief rest and bathroom break. We drove as far as we could go, which ended in Ventura. We decided to stay in a hotel for the night, as the van had been leaking (yeah, something I forgot to mention earlier), and we wanted to stay dry. So we checked into a hotel by the beach, and incidentally right by the train tracks that has many trains pass through the night, tooting their loud train whistle. There was a reason they put earplugs in the room..... Between the trains and the snoring man next door and the kids running through the hallway in the night (not our kids) we did not sleep much last night. We found a nice place for breakfast in Ventura this morning and drove on our way through L.A. and the downpour. I don't know how we got here, but we are in the desert and it is not raining (knock on wood). I shall write again when I get another chance. I am hoping tomorrow we will get to Tucson and take the kids to the Sonoran Desert Museum. I know a great place to camp nearby there too, just on the edge of the Saguaro National Park. So, here we are headed east, but we still have quite some time until we get back home! We are planning to drive on I-10 all the way to Jacksonville, FL and then up the coast on I-95 all the way to Maine!
So, to backtrack a bit, I haven't written in some time now. We left Newberry Springs and drove to Santa Cruz, where we met up with our friend, Ryan, who first introduced James and I in Prescott in 2005. We had dinner with him right on the Harbor, got to see the boats that were sunken in the Tsunami wave that came into the Santa Cruz coastline- 5 boats that looked pretty well trashed. The news reported over 5 million dollars in damage to the harbor there, but the 5 boats we saw were the only damage that was apparent. We spent our first night in Santa Cruz in Ryan's studio apartment next to the beach. The next morning we went down to the beach for a couple of hours. Parula was completely amazed by the power of the waves and both kids had a great time playing with the kelp and driftwood on the sand. We drove around a bit, up into the redwoods to Bonny Doon, past the driveway to the house I lived at the summer I was in Santa Cruz (3960 Empire Grade) and down to the UCSC campus to have lunch with Faye, my mom's friend from college, and her 95 year old father. We ate in the dining hall, and Faye told us afterwards that we should stay in her house in her room as she would be leaving early the next morning for the week to go back east to Massachussetts. It was a hard offer to pass up, so we gladly accepted and went on with the rest of our day. We went back to the beach we went to in the morning, near Ryan's apartment. The dogs played with sticks in the sand, James ventured at getting Pia into the waves, although there was a slight mishap which involved Pia getting stabbed by a stick in her mouth as she was pushed by a wave and into River, so we had to take her to an animal hospital nearby to get repaired, as her skin was torn open and flesh oozing out. She is healing nicely now, but has a square shaved out of her fur in her side which looks rather ridiculous.
Anyway, we stayed in Santa Cruz until Saturday, when it started raining hard, and I don't think has stopped there yet. Friday we took the kids to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They absolutely loved it! There was a great Sea Horse exhibit with about 20 different tanks with different species of sea horses and sea dragons. It was quite amazing. They also really loved the kelp forest. I was hoping they'd like the jellies more, as I find them so relaxing and mesmerizing to watch, but for some reason they weren't as thrilled with them as they were the sea horses. The last time I was there was in 2003 and they have added some great stuff about overfishing and global climate change, it was really nice to see.
We also talked to a really nice woman we met at a playground one day. She gave us some good inside views of living in Santa Cruz, as a mother of a 2 year old and stepmom of 2 older kids. Going to a playground was a great idea to get a feel for the people around with kids....I hadn't thought anything of it but to get Parula and Sorrel to release some energy, but it turned out really great for all of us! It was really nice to be back in SC, I had a really great summer there, although it was a long time ago, and I was a single college student, now I have a family and life is much different, it still feels like a really great place to raise kids. There is also a really great Waldorf school nestled amongst the redwoods that sounds oh-so appealing. The idea of going to some fabulous coastline to watch the waves crash everyday makes my soul smile....and the BIRDS! ah, so many wading and shorebirds that I have missed watching.... although I know there are birds in Maine, there are not all THESE birds, migrating from South America up to Alaskan tundra to nest every summer. These are the birds I have watched for so many years in the past and have learned about..... it is so very exciting!
We decided to leave Santa Cruz, as it would be raining and raining for many days on end, and we thought it would be a good time to head back towards the easterly directly. First we headed south, in the rain. We drove down the 101 to Cambria, south of the Big Sur coast, it was a funky small town. The ocean was wild there, as we got out of the van for a brief rest and bathroom break. We drove as far as we could go, which ended in Ventura. We decided to stay in a hotel for the night, as the van had been leaking (yeah, something I forgot to mention earlier), and we wanted to stay dry. So we checked into a hotel by the beach, and incidentally right by the train tracks that has many trains pass through the night, tooting their loud train whistle. There was a reason they put earplugs in the room..... Between the trains and the snoring man next door and the kids running through the hallway in the night (not our kids) we did not sleep much last night. We found a nice place for breakfast in Ventura this morning and drove on our way through L.A. and the downpour. I don't know how we got here, but we are in the desert and it is not raining (knock on wood). I shall write again when I get another chance. I am hoping tomorrow we will get to Tucson and take the kids to the Sonoran Desert Museum. I know a great place to camp nearby there too, just on the edge of the Saguaro National Park. So, here we are headed east, but we still have quite some time until we get back home! We are planning to drive on I-10 all the way to Jacksonville, FL and then up the coast on I-95 all the way to Maine!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Desert to Desert
I once again have been reminded how much I love the desert. We are at a really odd campground in Newberry Springs, CA tonight, which is just east of Barstow- and it may or may not be on the map- there is really NOTHING going on here, not even a gas station at the exit off of I-40. We pulled into camp at about 6:30 after a late start leaving Prescott around 1pm. We realized we needed to have our oil changed, as we've already driven over 3,000 miles on our trip so far!
This weekend was great- we visited with friends in Prescott- Geoff, Lisa and their 10 year old daughter, Aless. It was great to see them, and the last time we saw Aless she was just 6, lots has changed in those 4 years! Parula and Sorrel both adored Aless and they all played very nicely together; Aless had a chance to be a big sister for the weekend. The unfortunate thing is that Parula has been sick for the past 2 days, it seems a lot like what Sorrel had, only she has been lethargic and says her stomach hurts for two days straight now, and Sorrel was over it, or appeared to be, much faster. Poor little girl!
Being back in Prescott reminded me of how much I love it! But, I was also reminded of the things that I just don't want in my life anymore, like how little water there is, and how pedestrian and bicycle UNfriendly the town is.....but it was nice to be in a very familiar landscape and visit some of my favorite places- like Flynn Park, Maya's Mexican food and the Dinner Bell for breakfast! James and me and the kids visited with Carl Tomoff, my mentor when I was in college, and we also visited with his wife, Joanie, and it was so good to see them! He says students are still trying to keep up with him, and has no vision of ending his teaching in sight, which is so great (I think he may be getting close to his 40th year of teaching?). He has been such an inspirational person for me, and still has the same twinkle in his eyes, and magically calls birds to appear to sing goodbye, it was so uplifting and inspiring to share some time with them while we were in Prescott!
Today we drove west on I-40 across the Colorado River past Kingman into California, and entered into the Mojave Desert. I absolutely love this place! At a rest stop that we made to switch James driving to me driving, to stretch our legs and walk the dogs, there were some amazing sights and sounds. I heard Cactus Wrens chortling as soon as I stepped out of the car. There were Joshua Trees, Barrel cactus, cholla, prickly pear and palo verde all in the same place- a small bit of the Sonoran Desert mixed in with the Mojave- it was amazing! The smell of the desert is also another element that I have missed so much, and was reminded of while I walked the dogs along a 4x4 trail next to the gas station. River and Pia both seem to know to beware of cactus, and have been doing a good job of avoiding the spines.
Tomorrow we will head over to Santa Cruz to visit with Faye, my mom's friend from college, she now teaches at UCSC and I have visited with her several times over the years, and the last time I saw her she actually came to visit us in Maine! We are also going to see Ryan Moses, who was both my friend and James's friend, and the reason we met each other! He now lives in SC and works in Carmel, and he will get to meet Parula and Sorrel for the first time. His dog, Harmen, and Pia played together a lot when they were back in Prescott together before we all moved away. We talk to Ryan quite frequently, but haven't seen him in about 4 1/2 years.
Today we discovered a new town that we want to check out in CA, which is Ojai. Does anyone know anything about this place? We read some stuff about it online today, and it sounds really great, but we shall see what we actually think of it! All of CA is much more expensive than Maine, so we shall see if we like it enough to make some other sacrifices in life, and what that will be exactly....
This weekend was great- we visited with friends in Prescott- Geoff, Lisa and their 10 year old daughter, Aless. It was great to see them, and the last time we saw Aless she was just 6, lots has changed in those 4 years! Parula and Sorrel both adored Aless and they all played very nicely together; Aless had a chance to be a big sister for the weekend. The unfortunate thing is that Parula has been sick for the past 2 days, it seems a lot like what Sorrel had, only she has been lethargic and says her stomach hurts for two days straight now, and Sorrel was over it, or appeared to be, much faster. Poor little girl!
Being back in Prescott reminded me of how much I love it! But, I was also reminded of the things that I just don't want in my life anymore, like how little water there is, and how pedestrian and bicycle UNfriendly the town is.....but it was nice to be in a very familiar landscape and visit some of my favorite places- like Flynn Park, Maya's Mexican food and the Dinner Bell for breakfast! James and me and the kids visited with Carl Tomoff, my mentor when I was in college, and we also visited with his wife, Joanie, and it was so good to see them! He says students are still trying to keep up with him, and has no vision of ending his teaching in sight, which is so great (I think he may be getting close to his 40th year of teaching?). He has been such an inspirational person for me, and still has the same twinkle in his eyes, and magically calls birds to appear to sing goodbye, it was so uplifting and inspiring to share some time with them while we were in Prescott!
Today we drove west on I-40 across the Colorado River past Kingman into California, and entered into the Mojave Desert. I absolutely love this place! At a rest stop that we made to switch James driving to me driving, to stretch our legs and walk the dogs, there were some amazing sights and sounds. I heard Cactus Wrens chortling as soon as I stepped out of the car. There were Joshua Trees, Barrel cactus, cholla, prickly pear and palo verde all in the same place- a small bit of the Sonoran Desert mixed in with the Mojave- it was amazing! The smell of the desert is also another element that I have missed so much, and was reminded of while I walked the dogs along a 4x4 trail next to the gas station. River and Pia both seem to know to beware of cactus, and have been doing a good job of avoiding the spines.
Tomorrow we will head over to Santa Cruz to visit with Faye, my mom's friend from college, she now teaches at UCSC and I have visited with her several times over the years, and the last time I saw her she actually came to visit us in Maine! We are also going to see Ryan Moses, who was both my friend and James's friend, and the reason we met each other! He now lives in SC and works in Carmel, and he will get to meet Parula and Sorrel for the first time. His dog, Harmen, and Pia played together a lot when they were back in Prescott together before we all moved away. We talk to Ryan quite frequently, but haven't seen him in about 4 1/2 years.
Today we discovered a new town that we want to check out in CA, which is Ojai. Does anyone know anything about this place? We read some stuff about it online today, and it sounds really great, but we shall see what we actually think of it! All of CA is much more expensive than Maine, so we shall see if we like it enough to make some other sacrifices in life, and what that will be exactly....
Friday, March 11, 2011
Arizona Sunset
We have finally made our departure from Taos! We are currently staying in the Meteor Crater RV park, just off of Highway 40, the San Fransisco Peaks are in the (near) distance, and the sunset this evening was spectacular! I was reminded of how many evenings (almost every night of the year) I watched the sunset in Prescott when I lived there. I can think of about 5 favorite spots to watch the sun go down over distant mountain ranges. How much I have missed that. I can probably count the number on one hand of great sunsets I've seen since living in Maine. There are lots of tall trees that get in the way, and the sky just doesn't feel as vast and accessible for viewing. It is not a bad thing....just different. The endless sky and distant mountain ranges are something I've really missed. It was a great sight to see the amazing transition from night into day as we drove west this evening.
So the conclusion with our van is that we had a bad ball bearing (?) and bushing on the front left side, the A/C has a leak that hasn't been fixed, but is working for the time being, and our catalytic converter was clogged and needs to be replaced. The last thing is something (well, they all are) I knew nothing about, but it turns out it has to do with emissions. New Mexico being the low density populated state that it is actually has no emissions standards, so we had a muffler man ram out the clogged parts of our cat con (I am sure you can guess that is the mechanic's lingo for the part), and we will have to get a new (and expensive) one once we get back to Maine, or sooner. SO, that is the story with the van, it is running, still making some weird noises, some squeeks, but we are running smoothly and the kids are sleeping in the "penthouse" as I type.
Tomorrow we will drive down 89A from Flagstaff through Sedona and up over Mingus Mountain, through Jerome and on to Prescott. We know several people that are still there, so we will have some good visiting time to catch up with old friends. I definitely felt a level of comfort (mentally) when we started driving into AZ, but as James's friend we will see in Prescott told him today as they talked on the phone- New Mexico is like Arizona's cousin, Arizona is the right wing conservative cousin and New Mexico is the liberal leftist one- they are from the same family but have different views to offer. I thought that was a great analogy. Now we just need to feel out of we can live inland, or if the coast and oceanside place is really what our hearts are needing. We asked the kids about this when we were in Taos, and they both said "the ocean!", (Sorrel tends to say whatever Parula says no matter what), so we shall see!
Well it is getting late, James just informed me that the stars are amazing, but I don't think I will venture outside as I just want to lay down in my sleeping bag and go to sleep!
So the conclusion with our van is that we had a bad ball bearing (?) and bushing on the front left side, the A/C has a leak that hasn't been fixed, but is working for the time being, and our catalytic converter was clogged and needs to be replaced. The last thing is something (well, they all are) I knew nothing about, but it turns out it has to do with emissions. New Mexico being the low density populated state that it is actually has no emissions standards, so we had a muffler man ram out the clogged parts of our cat con (I am sure you can guess that is the mechanic's lingo for the part), and we will have to get a new (and expensive) one once we get back to Maine, or sooner. SO, that is the story with the van, it is running, still making some weird noises, some squeeks, but we are running smoothly and the kids are sleeping in the "penthouse" as I type.
Tomorrow we will drive down 89A from Flagstaff through Sedona and up over Mingus Mountain, through Jerome and on to Prescott. We know several people that are still there, so we will have some good visiting time to catch up with old friends. I definitely felt a level of comfort (mentally) when we started driving into AZ, but as James's friend we will see in Prescott told him today as they talked on the phone- New Mexico is like Arizona's cousin, Arizona is the right wing conservative cousin and New Mexico is the liberal leftist one- they are from the same family but have different views to offer. I thought that was a great analogy. Now we just need to feel out of we can live inland, or if the coast and oceanside place is really what our hearts are needing. We asked the kids about this when we were in Taos, and they both said "the ocean!", (Sorrel tends to say whatever Parula says no matter what), so we shall see!
Well it is getting late, James just informed me that the stars are amazing, but I don't think I will venture outside as I just want to lay down in my sleeping bag and go to sleep!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
I love capers
I really do. They are so salty. And I love salty food. I had capers on my pizza tonight and it was delicious!
Anyway, so we are still in Taos. The van is getting new ball bearings and things like that today. The mechanic is very busy, so they have not been able to get our van in and out like we were hoping. That is a good and bad thing- they are popular and do good work, therefor well thought of in this town, but we are ready to move on!
It was actually good to be sedentary today, Sorrel was like a furnace last night with a fever, and ended up puking twice this morning. He and I spent the morning laying in bed, he napped and we watched "Babe", still one of my favorite movies. Parula and James went and did some errands around town, groceries, new cell phone case to protect James's replacement phone, that kinda stuff. Sorrel seemed to have a burst of energy after two pieces of plain toast, some crackers and a small amount of ginger ale. He asked to go outside for a while, so we got in the car and drove up the road to a trail we have gone on once already. He rode on James's back in the ergo the whole way, but I think it was good for him to get some fresh air. Parula is learning how to walk up mountains, this being her second time on a fairly steep trail. The trails we've been on in Maine are more likely to have roots sticking out as a tripping hazard than steep grades with loose rocks, like the ones we have been encountering here. With the hike up, there is always a nice view to be seen on the way there, and lots of cacti and familiar plants! I have been realizing how much I really have missed the southwest as we walk along in the mountains here- so many great plants, birds, and astounding sky scapes, I really do love it!
Although we are not going anywhere yet, James and I are trying to solidify in our minds our next step. We encountered a really nice couple staying at the "lodge" that we are at this morning. They are from Santa Rosa, CA and had lots of great things to say about the California coast, enough to convince us that it should be our next place of exploration. We may just skip over AZ and the rest of NM, I am really yearning to be back next to the ocean, and James is as well. I think I have been taking for granted living right on the coast in Maine, and if we are to move from there, I am feeling that we should be relocating to a place that is also on the coast, but with MORE SUN! We shall see what happens....
One thing that has been really sweet on this trip is that the kids and the dogs have been bonding so beautifully. Parula has taken a huge responsibility off of James and I by consistently throwing sticks for Pia. As we have said many times, Pia would still try to fetch a ball or stick even if she had all of her legs cut off- this is how determined she is. Parula is always eager and willing to help Pia get the fetching going, and they both seem to have a great time. Pia also rests her head on Parula's leg in the car, and often Parula will stroke her ears while doing so. Sorrel has been cuddling with River quite a bit as well, giving her hugs and telling her how much he loves her. It is so sweet.
Hopefully next time I write I will have something to say about travels and not that we are still in Taos. I am feeling ready to move on and see some new things. I do like this town, I am just feeling anxious to feel the sand in my toes and hear waves crashing and visit with old friends!
Anyway, so we are still in Taos. The van is getting new ball bearings and things like that today. The mechanic is very busy, so they have not been able to get our van in and out like we were hoping. That is a good and bad thing- they are popular and do good work, therefor well thought of in this town, but we are ready to move on!
It was actually good to be sedentary today, Sorrel was like a furnace last night with a fever, and ended up puking twice this morning. He and I spent the morning laying in bed, he napped and we watched "Babe", still one of my favorite movies. Parula and James went and did some errands around town, groceries, new cell phone case to protect James's replacement phone, that kinda stuff. Sorrel seemed to have a burst of energy after two pieces of plain toast, some crackers and a small amount of ginger ale. He asked to go outside for a while, so we got in the car and drove up the road to a trail we have gone on once already. He rode on James's back in the ergo the whole way, but I think it was good for him to get some fresh air. Parula is learning how to walk up mountains, this being her second time on a fairly steep trail. The trails we've been on in Maine are more likely to have roots sticking out as a tripping hazard than steep grades with loose rocks, like the ones we have been encountering here. With the hike up, there is always a nice view to be seen on the way there, and lots of cacti and familiar plants! I have been realizing how much I really have missed the southwest as we walk along in the mountains here- so many great plants, birds, and astounding sky scapes, I really do love it!
Although we are not going anywhere yet, James and I are trying to solidify in our minds our next step. We encountered a really nice couple staying at the "lodge" that we are at this morning. They are from Santa Rosa, CA and had lots of great things to say about the California coast, enough to convince us that it should be our next place of exploration. We may just skip over AZ and the rest of NM, I am really yearning to be back next to the ocean, and James is as well. I think I have been taking for granted living right on the coast in Maine, and if we are to move from there, I am feeling that we should be relocating to a place that is also on the coast, but with MORE SUN! We shall see what happens....
One thing that has been really sweet on this trip is that the kids and the dogs have been bonding so beautifully. Parula has taken a huge responsibility off of James and I by consistently throwing sticks for Pia. As we have said many times, Pia would still try to fetch a ball or stick even if she had all of her legs cut off- this is how determined she is. Parula is always eager and willing to help Pia get the fetching going, and they both seem to have a great time. Pia also rests her head on Parula's leg in the car, and often Parula will stroke her ears while doing so. Sorrel has been cuddling with River quite a bit as well, giving her hugs and telling her how much he loves her. It is so sweet.
Hopefully next time I write I will have something to say about travels and not that we are still in Taos. I am feeling ready to move on and see some new things. I do like this town, I am just feeling anxious to feel the sand in my toes and hear waves crashing and visit with old friends!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Taos Outback
The only reason I am calling this entry "Taos Outback" is because we ate dinner at a really great place called "Taos Out Back Pizza" for dinner tonight. It is literally out-back, behind another business and hidden behind. I had a really great salad and then we had some gourmet-style pizzas to follow. The bathroom is decorated with the table crayon drawings from customers, clearly not the ones who have spilled a cup of water on the paper like Sorrel did (quick reflexes let me escape dry as the water came rolling toward my lap across the table). This was clearly a local favorite, as well as a good spot for tourists to chow down, like us.
This is our 4th day in Taos, the van is still getting fixed, no word on what is going on exactly. The shop just re-opened today, after a weekend of no work, so we have been left hanging on for a diagnosis, hopefully will find out tomorrow. This weekend we explored the town and some of the surroundings. On Saturday we checked out the local laundromat to do some laundry, and met a woman who is a genuine Taos native, who lives in the Taos Pueblo, which is an historic site where people have been living for the past 1,000 years. She was in a wheelchair, slowly using her legs. James talked to her a bit and found out she was paralyzed during a c-section of one of her children. The anesthesiologist was intoxicated and hooked her up to an oxygen tank that was empty, which damaged her brain and she has been in a wheelchair ever since. What an awful story, but still not surprising to me at all. Ah if I could write a book of medical mishaps that I have personally encountered and stories from the people I have met.....
After our trip to the laundromat we were getting ready to drive away in the car and saw someone that James and I both knew from Prescott College. I called out his name as he was walking by (not 100% positive that it was the person), and sure enough, it was! He said he'd been living in Taos with his girlfriend for about 2 1/2 years, living just across from where we were. He gave us his number and said to give him a call. We did try to call yesterday, but haven't heard back. It's all good though, as we have had plenty to keep us busy. It is quite ironic that there is at least one person here that we know from PC, and I have a feeling there are more around....
Sunday we went to visit the Earthship community located just outside of Taos, across the Rio Grande gorge. The bridge over the gorge provided some great views, at which time we realized James had left his camera at the hotel....oops! The Earthship concept is awesome, a realization of something James and I have been talking about for some time now. The idea is that the house is made almost completely of recycled materials that can be found anywhere (as in anywhere on the planet, therefor accessible to all). The structure is mostly rammed earth, but instead of creating a form for the rammed earth, discarded car tires are used as the form. Then cob type material (mud, sand, and straw) is packed around the tires and seals in the rubber (so there is no off-gassing) and it can then be plastered for an adobe style appearance. They also use glass bottles to allow light into the space, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, recycled appliance parts, really anything. There is beauty in so much of our "trash", it is much easier to realize this once you see it in practice. You can visit their website to get the idea www.earthship.com
They also orient the buildings to the south, of which the south side is completely composed of a greenhouse space attached to the rest of the building, which is all that is needed to heat the house, and feed the people inside. One can grow all the fruit and vegetables you'd need to live off of in this space, year round. The water system uses each drop of water 4 times, through a well thought out water redemption and recycling system. There is a small septic system for the black water from the toilet. Please don't ask me exactly how all of this works, there are many books and seminars written and presented by the experts and creators of the first earthship ideas, there was so much information to take in, this is just the tip of the iceberg! It was a really amazing place, and the backdrop was quite spectacular as well.
Later that day we took the kids to a really great playspace called "Twirl" which is a toy store that has a huge outside play structure that is totally netted and self-contained. They can also play inside on a train table and upstairs in an art room. After they played there for a good long while we went to a cafe and the kids got smoothies. The woman there was convinced that we were going to be moving to Taos. There was also another guy at a place called "Raw to go" which makes vegan raw food (really great!) that we met the other day who was also convinced we are going to be moving to Taos.....hmmmm.
I do really like it here, and the "lodge" we've been staying at is really great as well. The owners, Pam and Charles, have been really kind to us, giving us a great discount for the rest of our stay here. The kids love playing in the outdoor space here, as well as the dogs. Hopefully tomorrow we will find out more about the status of the van, I do miss it quite a bit. We are planning to head to Silver City, NM when we can get our house on wheels back. In the mean time, I am hoping we can check out more of the mountains around town and keep getting a feel for this place. There are lots of young people around, some really great restaurants, nice people, and some amazing natural beauty. I am feeling really good about Taos, but we do have some more places to see.....
One more thing. For those who know about James and his luck with phones- today as he was running to save hotel property from destruction by Sorrel, his phone fell out of his pocket and the screen got shattered when it landed on the ground! The solar light that Sorrel was about to smash was saved, but the phone is not so happy looking. So, another phone destroyed (this one lasted a whole 4 months!) but thank goodness for insurance and another is on its way, being sent to our hotel and supposed to arrive tomorrow. He really does have some crazy phone juju!
This is our 4th day in Taos, the van is still getting fixed, no word on what is going on exactly. The shop just re-opened today, after a weekend of no work, so we have been left hanging on for a diagnosis, hopefully will find out tomorrow. This weekend we explored the town and some of the surroundings. On Saturday we checked out the local laundromat to do some laundry, and met a woman who is a genuine Taos native, who lives in the Taos Pueblo, which is an historic site where people have been living for the past 1,000 years. She was in a wheelchair, slowly using her legs. James talked to her a bit and found out she was paralyzed during a c-section of one of her children. The anesthesiologist was intoxicated and hooked her up to an oxygen tank that was empty, which damaged her brain and she has been in a wheelchair ever since. What an awful story, but still not surprising to me at all. Ah if I could write a book of medical mishaps that I have personally encountered and stories from the people I have met.....
After our trip to the laundromat we were getting ready to drive away in the car and saw someone that James and I both knew from Prescott College. I called out his name as he was walking by (not 100% positive that it was the person), and sure enough, it was! He said he'd been living in Taos with his girlfriend for about 2 1/2 years, living just across from where we were. He gave us his number and said to give him a call. We did try to call yesterday, but haven't heard back. It's all good though, as we have had plenty to keep us busy. It is quite ironic that there is at least one person here that we know from PC, and I have a feeling there are more around....
Sunday we went to visit the Earthship community located just outside of Taos, across the Rio Grande gorge. The bridge over the gorge provided some great views, at which time we realized James had left his camera at the hotel....oops! The Earthship concept is awesome, a realization of something James and I have been talking about for some time now. The idea is that the house is made almost completely of recycled materials that can be found anywhere (as in anywhere on the planet, therefor accessible to all). The structure is mostly rammed earth, but instead of creating a form for the rammed earth, discarded car tires are used as the form. Then cob type material (mud, sand, and straw) is packed around the tires and seals in the rubber (so there is no off-gassing) and it can then be plastered for an adobe style appearance. They also use glass bottles to allow light into the space, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, recycled appliance parts, really anything. There is beauty in so much of our "trash", it is much easier to realize this once you see it in practice. You can visit their website to get the idea www.earthship.com
They also orient the buildings to the south, of which the south side is completely composed of a greenhouse space attached to the rest of the building, which is all that is needed to heat the house, and feed the people inside. One can grow all the fruit and vegetables you'd need to live off of in this space, year round. The water system uses each drop of water 4 times, through a well thought out water redemption and recycling system. There is a small septic system for the black water from the toilet. Please don't ask me exactly how all of this works, there are many books and seminars written and presented by the experts and creators of the first earthship ideas, there was so much information to take in, this is just the tip of the iceberg! It was a really amazing place, and the backdrop was quite spectacular as well.
Later that day we took the kids to a really great playspace called "Twirl" which is a toy store that has a huge outside play structure that is totally netted and self-contained. They can also play inside on a train table and upstairs in an art room. After they played there for a good long while we went to a cafe and the kids got smoothies. The woman there was convinced that we were going to be moving to Taos. There was also another guy at a place called "Raw to go" which makes vegan raw food (really great!) that we met the other day who was also convinced we are going to be moving to Taos.....hmmmm.
I do really like it here, and the "lodge" we've been staying at is really great as well. The owners, Pam and Charles, have been really kind to us, giving us a great discount for the rest of our stay here. The kids love playing in the outdoor space here, as well as the dogs. Hopefully tomorrow we will find out more about the status of the van, I do miss it quite a bit. We are planning to head to Silver City, NM when we can get our house on wheels back. In the mean time, I am hoping we can check out more of the mountains around town and keep getting a feel for this place. There are lots of young people around, some really great restaurants, nice people, and some amazing natural beauty. I am feeling really good about Taos, but we do have some more places to see.....
One more thing. For those who know about James and his luck with phones- today as he was running to save hotel property from destruction by Sorrel, his phone fell out of his pocket and the screen got shattered when it landed on the ground! The solar light that Sorrel was about to smash was saved, but the phone is not so happy looking. So, another phone destroyed (this one lasted a whole 4 months!) but thank goodness for insurance and another is on its way, being sent to our hotel and supposed to arrive tomorrow. He really does have some crazy phone juju!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Taos
It is Friday night and we are staying in an historic hotel in Taos for the weekend. Our van is currently in the shop getting a cozy rest and check-in starting Monday. We have been hearing rattling sounds coming from various places that have been getting progressively worse, so have decided to get it checked out and ultimately fixed. We are also hoping that this garage can get our A/C up and running too, as we will be driving through some warm places in the near future. But in the mean time we have rented a car and are staying at the San Geronimo Inn, which is almost 100 years old, original adobe construction. It is set up against a canyon and mountain range overlooking the larger Sangre de Cristo mountains. It is a magnificent setting.
I woke up this morning to walk to dogs at the RV campground, with amazing sunrise light and there were clouds capped over the high peaks and dark clouds in the distance beyond. Later in the morning we caught some flurries in the midst of mostly sunny skies, and then later the dark clouds passed through the valley and brought some brief snow showers. It was quite dramatic! I have been told that just 3 weeks ago it was negative 25 degrees here, and last week it was 60 degrees (above zero). I hear it has been snowy and cold back in Maine, and I am so happy thinking that I am missing that (sorry Mainers!). I don't have much else to say about our day, but hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have some interesting things to report about our exploration of Taos. I am definitely glad we are (slightly) stranded here, and very curious to explore it as much as possible....
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Arid, ah yes!
Today was different from the past two days in that we didn't pack up camp and drive for 9 hours. Instead we woke up to the doves calling and had a slow start. We ate the last dozen eggs from our chickens, which now belong to our neighbor in Belfast, Alex. They were quite yummy, and it was nice to get the space in the fridge for other things. Sorrel had his first interaction with the less-inviting insects of the southwest, introduced by an ant bite on his shoulder. It must have crawled under his shirt from a stick he was playing with. There was a really cute little dog that lived next to our site, his one-armed owner could not keep up with him to get him behind the fence and just left for the morning. The dog got a riot out of playing with River and Pia, it was about 1/10 the size of River, and the two dogs played really great together. But, River got over the dog's high energy real quick and went in the van to get away. Pia had a competitor for the stick, which was being thrown endlessly by Ru and another little girl that lives in the RV Park.
After all of the dog excitement we drove a short distance to the dinosaur museum. It was actually really well done and quite interesting. The kids found it real exciting as well, that is until Parula decided that asking for food was the next thing to focus on. Each kid got to pick out a dinosaur from the gift shop, Parula got a Euoplocephalus, which is an armored dinosaur with a club-like tail. Sorrel got a Tylosoraus, which looks like a cross between a fish, snake, and crocodile. It has paddle-like flippers and a long tail, clearly a water creature. They played with them the rest of the day in the car, and unfortunately Sorrel discovered his dinosaur's long tail can make a great weapon to reach his sister in the next seat over..... oops.
After all of the museum excitement ended, we hit the road to Taos. We only had to drive on the interstate for about 30 minutes, the other 4 hours was on smaller roads and part of the "Santa Fe Trail" which is the same route the settlers in covered wagons took a couple hundred years ago when leaving the plains to come to the mountains of northern New Mexico ( I think they were traveling from North to South at first though). It was an amazing drive! We went from grassland and sparse shrubs to short tree woodland (Junipers) to mixes with riparian areas lined with Cottonwoods and then higher in elevation into the Ponderosa Pines and scrub oak, all the way into the snow SNOW which was so beautiful with the huge pines, then sagebrush started to come back once we passed on the other side of the mountains and saw the most amazing site- the Sangre de Cristo Mountains- which reach over 13,000 feet in elevation! It was spectacular! Taos is located in a valley between the smaller mountain range we passed over, which is part of the Carson National Forest, and the Sangre de Cristo mountains, which are part of the Rocky Mountain formation and share their dynamic vistas with Colorado as well. I have driven through Taos before, on my way from Boulder, CO to Prescott, AZ, but did not remember much of the town. I do remember how beautiful the mountains here are, but was still in awe of their beauty today, as if it were the first time I'd seen this place. We will stay here a couple of days and check things out.
We found a great natural food store in town (again thanks to the help of "Healthy Highways"), and then got to the campground, which is definitely a huge step above the past 2 we have stayed in. It is really nice to have some "home" (van?) cooked meals at the end of a long day, we had some nice veggies and polenta tonight. I have been using a single burner induction stove that we got for this trip. It plugs into our van, works perfectly, as we are plugged into 30 amp service at the campsite, otherwise we would drain our battery. Water boils in a couple of minutes, and food cooks fast, almost too fast for me to keep up with sometimes. It is small and stores away easily. Bedtime has still been a bit tricky, as Sorrel has been WIRED recently, not wanting to go to sleep, but wanting to undress his doll, stick his fingers down the holes from the pop-top were they sleep, and play with buttons and zippers. Ah, but thus is life as a 2 year old!
We need to take the van into a mechanic tomorrow, there are some funny rattling noises coming out of the car, and the A/C doesn't work. Hopefully it will be nothing major, as this is not only our mode of transport, but our home, so we will be S.O.L if it is going to take a while to fix. I am keeping my fingers crossed though. We will try to post more pictures of the last few days of the trip, there are some great pictures from the Mississippi River site as well as many others, so keep checking in on the picture posting at the top of the blog!
After all of the dog excitement we drove a short distance to the dinosaur museum. It was actually really well done and quite interesting. The kids found it real exciting as well, that is until Parula decided that asking for food was the next thing to focus on. Each kid got to pick out a dinosaur from the gift shop, Parula got a Euoplocephalus, which is an armored dinosaur with a club-like tail. Sorrel got a Tylosoraus, which looks like a cross between a fish, snake, and crocodile. It has paddle-like flippers and a long tail, clearly a water creature. They played with them the rest of the day in the car, and unfortunately Sorrel discovered his dinosaur's long tail can make a great weapon to reach his sister in the next seat over..... oops.
After all of the museum excitement ended, we hit the road to Taos. We only had to drive on the interstate for about 30 minutes, the other 4 hours was on smaller roads and part of the "Santa Fe Trail" which is the same route the settlers in covered wagons took a couple hundred years ago when leaving the plains to come to the mountains of northern New Mexico ( I think they were traveling from North to South at first though). It was an amazing drive! We went from grassland and sparse shrubs to short tree woodland (Junipers) to mixes with riparian areas lined with Cottonwoods and then higher in elevation into the Ponderosa Pines and scrub oak, all the way into the snow SNOW which was so beautiful with the huge pines, then sagebrush started to come back once we passed on the other side of the mountains and saw the most amazing site- the Sangre de Cristo Mountains- which reach over 13,000 feet in elevation! It was spectacular! Taos is located in a valley between the smaller mountain range we passed over, which is part of the Carson National Forest, and the Sangre de Cristo mountains, which are part of the Rocky Mountain formation and share their dynamic vistas with Colorado as well. I have driven through Taos before, on my way from Boulder, CO to Prescott, AZ, but did not remember much of the town. I do remember how beautiful the mountains here are, but was still in awe of their beauty today, as if it were the first time I'd seen this place. We will stay here a couple of days and check things out.
We found a great natural food store in town (again thanks to the help of "Healthy Highways"), and then got to the campground, which is definitely a huge step above the past 2 we have stayed in. It is really nice to have some "home" (van?) cooked meals at the end of a long day, we had some nice veggies and polenta tonight. I have been using a single burner induction stove that we got for this trip. It plugs into our van, works perfectly, as we are plugged into 30 amp service at the campsite, otherwise we would drain our battery. Water boils in a couple of minutes, and food cooks fast, almost too fast for me to keep up with sometimes. It is small and stores away easily. Bedtime has still been a bit tricky, as Sorrel has been WIRED recently, not wanting to go to sleep, but wanting to undress his doll, stick his fingers down the holes from the pop-top were they sleep, and play with buttons and zippers. Ah, but thus is life as a 2 year old!
We need to take the van into a mechanic tomorrow, there are some funny rattling noises coming out of the car, and the A/C doesn't work. Hopefully it will be nothing major, as this is not only our mode of transport, but our home, so we will be S.O.L if it is going to take a while to fix. I am keeping my fingers crossed though. We will try to post more pictures of the last few days of the trip, there are some great pictures from the Mississippi River site as well as many others, so keep checking in on the picture posting at the top of the blog!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Land of Enchantment
We have finally made it to New Mexico, after a long flat ride across Oklahoma and Texas. We stayed in a very beautiful, yet very run down and ghost-town like place in Oklahoma last night. The most happenin' and well kept looking place in town was "Tease: a Gentleman's Club". That speaks for itself and I have nothing more to say about that.
Our drive the previous day through Arkansas was quite pretty, a nice surprise, as I didn't know what to expect from Arkansas. We had a stop at a Whole Foods in Little Rock, on the way to which I saw a swamp with cyprus along the banks of the Arkansas River. Oh, and something I have been wanting to mention, is the 7th member of our van trip, VANessa, the lady who gives us directions on our GPS unit that is part of the van. She is quite helpful and annoying all at the same time, just like every other member of this adventure (hehehehe). But we really have all been getting along quite nicely so far, the kids are not super psyched about the long (9 hour) days of being in the van, but we will stop sooner tomorrow and take it easy for the next few days to avoid total burnout.
We are currently staying in Tucumcari, NM, which is closer to Amarillo, TX than Albuquerque, a rather dusty town along I-40. I am already feeling at ease in this landscape, with the flat grasslands of Texas dropping off and giving way to the short tree woodland and then arid shrubs of eastern New Mexico. I saw so many dead deer on the side of I-40 in Texas today, it was quite eerie, there were actually about 10 within the first mile of being in Texas...very bizzar. Yesterday I saw many raptors perched in trees on the side of the highway in Arkansas, and a few today as well. There were also hundreds of Turkey Vultures riding the rising heat waves over the highway yesterday, it was quite a sight!
Tomorrow morning we are going to check out a dinosaur museum that the local community college has opened in this town and then head on out to check out some places in New Mexico, perhaps Santa Fe, Taos, Silver City, or others? We have come all this way, so why not! It is starting to get warmer and warmer the further west we get, I have stored the snow boots, hats and down jackets in a harder-to-access spot, and am realizing now that we are all going to be sweating profusely if we don't find ourselves some t-shirts and shorts to wear! We got the kids some sandals today, and I have been wearing my sandals for a few days now. Ah how nice it is not to be bundled up to go outside.....
Our drive the previous day through Arkansas was quite pretty, a nice surprise, as I didn't know what to expect from Arkansas. We had a stop at a Whole Foods in Little Rock, on the way to which I saw a swamp with cyprus along the banks of the Arkansas River. Oh, and something I have been wanting to mention, is the 7th member of our van trip, VANessa, the lady who gives us directions on our GPS unit that is part of the van. She is quite helpful and annoying all at the same time, just like every other member of this adventure (hehehehe). But we really have all been getting along quite nicely so far, the kids are not super psyched about the long (9 hour) days of being in the van, but we will stop sooner tomorrow and take it easy for the next few days to avoid total burnout.
We are currently staying in Tucumcari, NM, which is closer to Amarillo, TX than Albuquerque, a rather dusty town along I-40. I am already feeling at ease in this landscape, with the flat grasslands of Texas dropping off and giving way to the short tree woodland and then arid shrubs of eastern New Mexico. I saw so many dead deer on the side of I-40 in Texas today, it was quite eerie, there were actually about 10 within the first mile of being in Texas...very bizzar. Yesterday I saw many raptors perched in trees on the side of the highway in Arkansas, and a few today as well. There were also hundreds of Turkey Vultures riding the rising heat waves over the highway yesterday, it was quite a sight!
Tomorrow morning we are going to check out a dinosaur museum that the local community college has opened in this town and then head on out to check out some places in New Mexico, perhaps Santa Fe, Taos, Silver City, or others? We have come all this way, so why not! It is starting to get warmer and warmer the further west we get, I have stored the snow boots, hats and down jackets in a harder-to-access spot, and am realizing now that we are all going to be sweating profusely if we don't find ourselves some t-shirts and shorts to wear! We got the kids some sandals today, and I have been wearing my sandals for a few days now. Ah how nice it is not to be bundled up to go outside.....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)