70 degrees for Christmas

That is what they are predicting for the holiday weather here in Phoenix. Crazy! We decided to treat ourselves right for Xmas. Carl's mom also sent us some extra cash for just this purpose. So...after looking on kayak.com we found a cool place and booked two nights. Two nights spread out in a suite.  Hooray!
It is the Hilton resort in Phoenix. It is a family place, as it has a water park. There are water slides and a huge lazy river.  They warm it up to the high 80s. Can't wait. They have a bar by the pool too for the adults.
We are going to watch a shitload of TV. We are going to eat extravagant foods and swim all day.
It is going to be awesome.

Bisbee, AZ is all kinds of cool

Bisbee is one fun town. It was a big mining town in the late 19th to mid 20th century. They had a ton of copper, some silver, turquoise,  etc in them thar hills. Now the mines are closed down, but the town has revitalized itself as a cool, artsy town in the mountains. I would guess the population is about 3000 or so and I think half of those folks are artists of one kind or another. The town, which is built up a hill with meandering narrow streets,  is full with art galleries, public art installations and just some cool, wacky stuff. It also considered a haunted town, sort of like tombstone, AZ.
In the middle of town is this beautiful old hotel called the Copper Queen. It was built in the 1800s and still has its original furniture and ambience.
Coltrane and I went on a tour of the defunct bisbee copper mine. It was awesome.  We had to don slickers, hardhats and flashlights. Then we took traincars deep into the mountain. Once I got over  feeling a bit claustrophobic I had a great time. It was an hour tour, underground. We learned so much. Coltrahe was in awe.
We also ran into occupy bisbee. Although quite small, they had a lot of spunk. There was some cool sculpture art pieces and murals painted in the area where they were peacefully protesting.
Bisbee was so fun. Definitely a town with a ton of character.
Here are some pics of some bisbee sightings.

Navidad in the southwest

We are spending the most  time in the southwest on this trip.  That decision was made at first due to the fact that it is warm down here in December.  But we have found over the last few weeks that we really love it here. The people, the desert,  the food; it is all wonderful. I also love hearing Spanish spoken all the time and seeing all the diversity here.  There are so many native Americans and Mexican Americans around and with that comes so many foods and traditions that are new to our family.
Spending the holiday season down here put me off at first. I wasn't sure I could get used to Christmas without snow and trees and the like. When I stopped comparing AZ to NH is when things got better.  All the different traditional here are cool and we are trying to experience all of them.
We have gone to El nacimiento,  which is a diorama depicting the birth of Christ. It is done in bright colors that would seem garish if they weren't put together so artistically. We have also attended a few outdoor craft fests that have the most amazing arts and crafts that are southwest inspired.
Today we went to the festival of the virgen de Guadalupe. It was amazing. There were mariachi bands and dancers. There were paper flowers strewn everywhere in bright colors. The kids got to break a pinata and get a bunch of candy. It all took.place at the home and art gallery of the former AZ artist,  DeGrazia. The grounds were s beautiful and his adobe style home was awesome. Fun was had by all . Carl and I got to try our first sonoran hot dog. It is a hot dog, wrapped in Bacon in a homemade tortilla, smothered with beans, onions, salsa, sour cream, etc. It was so.good and amazingly good for your health!!!  ;)
Next weekend we will go to Las Posadas festival. Can't wait. Here are a few pics.

On to Christmas

So, we started decorating for the holidays. It is fun to do in such a small space. We have been drawing pictures and putting them up. I made some elf.pockets where the kids get treats from the elves once in awhile. We will probably make some paper chains too ( remember those?) Wont have a tree this year. Instead,  we will decorate a cactus outside or something!
It is strange to be in the southwest for Xmas. It is so different than out east. We are going go to many more Mexican traditional fests like Nacimiento, luminaria lights at the park, virgin of guadulape fest and the great tamale cook off. It is exciting. By the way, I adore tamales.  I think I could eat them every day.
I will take some pics of all the new Christmas experiences we have. For now,  here are some pics of decorations in the RV.

Thankful for hot springs

We can't get enough of all these hot springs littered out west. Just spent the last three nights at them. The first was at an AZ state park called Roper lake state park. The hot spring was free if you camped at the park. It was awesome. It was at the head of a nature trail that led through the mountains.
Then, we hit up BLM land near Safford, AZ. This time it was completely free to boondock and use the two hot spring fed tubs. I wish there were more hot springs out east.
Here are a couple of pics of us in the Roper lake tub.

U ever seen a moth this big?

Pic. Word.

When your Catholicism comes back to haunt you

We went to the most beautiful placei yesterday. It was the San Xavier de bac mission in Tucson,  AZ. I was not expecting something so gorgeous.  It was divine.
It nearly got me to reclaim my faith. What a gorgeous mission.  Unbelievable,really.  There was this huge church with pews, candles and statues. Undbelievable.
There were annexes with candles and fountains,etc. Gorgeous.
It was moving. I could tell that the kids felt it too. Awesome.
Here are some.pics.

The grand canyon is big!!!

Not too much to say about it except that it is bigger than you can ever imagine and it is "pee your pants" amazing.
Pics :

Arizona is warm, but.....

It is so difficult to find a place to put the RV each night. You see, starting around this time of year all of the Snowbirds come down to AZ to hunker down for the winter. That is fine with me. I don't blame them. It was in the 70s and sunny today. The kids swam in an outdoor pool and Thanksgiving is next week!
What stinks is that every RV park we pass is for the 55 and over crowd.  No kids allowed- anywhere. It started to tick me off a little today. We were in a town with nearly 20 campgrounds and not one of them was family friendly.  Uggggh.
I understand that folks might want a childless experience. I mean,  I am often wanting a childless experience,  but it doesn't mean that is realistic. They are part of life. I mean, with 20 different RV resorts in one town, couldn't one or two of those be family friendly?  Is that too much to ask?
Geez...

Time to get off the Colorado Plateau!

I'll admit, it is truly amazing here, and I have indeed learned a lot about the fascinating natural processes which lifted the plateau and caused things like the Grand Canyon.  However, it's freezing cold way up here!  I can't believe I spend my days higher than the peak of Mount Katahdin.

We are heading down to Sedona today, and then on to Prescott, and then working our way south.  I am excited to de-winterize the RV so we can have running water again, but of course that means we'll be doing dishes and such again.  I don't think a couple weeks of paper plates and bowls has really made that much of a difference to our carbon footprint, all things considered (9 mpg, anyone?).


Goodbye, snow!
-Carl

The RV is looking pretty ghetto these days.

We didn't buy a new or even newish RV for obvious reasons; they cost a bundle. So,  our lovely Ruby is a 1993, nearly 20 years old. We have found out that some of the posh RV Parks wont even take us because of Ruby's age. That is pure ageism,  I tell you!
We think Ruby is pretty awesome. We have adorned her with many bumper  stickers and such. She has character and a wonderful personality.  She may not win the top prize in an RV beauty contest, but no doubt she would take the Miss Congeniality prize. And, doesn't everyone like the friendly, fun girl over the overprocessed, shiny fake girl?? Ha
Well, last week Ruby's door broke in a strong wind storm. She is being held together by some hot pink duct tape. It is all good and she looks smashing.
We have no idea what shape she will be in by next spring when we return. Hopefully, there will be some ghetto RV Parks that will take in our ghetto RV!

Casinos

The funny thing about my math geek husband is that he is very smart and applies his knowledge wisely. Take casinos, for example; they are scattered all around this nation, especially out west. Carl has figured out the odds at the slots and craps. He goes into the casino while the kids and I enjoy the various amenities like hot tub, pool, bee gees cover band, and he signs up as a new member. Every casino gives out anywhere from 5 to 25 free slot play to a new member.  Then, carl plays only that money,  gets ahead and leaves the joint. He has made near 100 so far which almost fills our gas tank! ! It is really fun. We have hit up about 5 casinos so far. We do all of our sightseeing during the day and the casino at night.  Oh, they also let you park your RV overnight for free and sometimes throw in food, gas coupons, etc. Neither carl or I have a gambling addiction so our plan of taking the money and running is working out great. As I write this, carl is filling up with gas and spending the 10 dollars he just won at the sky city casino. Good stuff.

First big holiday on the road

Halloween just came and went and it went off without a hitch. I must admit that I wondered if we could pull it off. Being away from home kind.of.changes things. Usually we go to the Haverhill library and then trick or treat at night in north Haverhill.
Well, this year worked out perfectly.  We were visiting some great friends in Durango, CO and it was an amazing place to celebrate Halloween.
First,  we went to.downtown Durango where all the businesses gave out candy to the kiddos. Then, we had some local microbrew at Carvers and on to a bit more trick or treating. The kids had a blast and got lots of candy.
At midnight in Durango there was a zombie walk down.main.street, but Carl and I didn't make it. We were exhausted.
Oh, I also forgot to mention that we decorated the RV for Halloween, carved pumpkins, watched a few Halloween movies, etc. It all worked out great.
Now, on to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Two things I know.for.sure: I will not be cooking Turkey dinner in the RV and we will not be having a tree. Other than that, the sky is the limit.

Petroglyphs and pueblos

We are in the four corners area and loving it. There is so much Navajo, puebloan and Anasazi culture. The landscape is the polar opposite of new England. I love it out here. 
We went to Mesa Verde National Park where there are ancient cliff dwellings you can actually go in. So awesome. We also have seen quite a few petroglyphs, one of the biggest and best preserved being Newspaper Rock.
Here are a couple of pics.

Just a note

Just a quick note to comment on my misspellings and poor grammar. I type all of these posts on my android phone where the keyboard Is the size of emmets piggy toe. It often corrects me when I do not need correcting. On the flipsidr, it leaves some blatant mistakes alone. Put all that together with the size of my keypad and it is a wonder you can read this at all.
Alas, the only reliable way yo update the blog IA through my phone and 3G. We rarely have good wifi.
Anyway, just wanted my friends to know that I haven't lost all my intelligence since having children! !

Funny roadside attractions

Man, we have so many pictures of so many oddball places. We will have to put a slideshow when we get back and throw a party in the yard.
This sideshows are a hoot and some of my favorite parts of the trip. Too many to list right now, but here are some pics of a few. There is the gas station carved into rock. The Simpsons house.

Utah!!!!

Wow,  Utah is amazing.  We are doing the whirlwind tour of all 5 national Parks here in the south - Zion,  Bryce,  Capitol reef,  arches and canyonlands. We have been to the first three so far. Amazing!
The red rocks, cliffs, arches and hoodoos are so grandiose.  It sometimes seems like you are walking on the surface of another planet.
At the advice of one of my friends, we also went to goblin valley state park. It is known for having all these rocks that look lime monsters and people and just about everything in between. Emmett called it " heaven." You could run around all.of the goblins and climb them. There were mazes that went on and on. It was truly one of the most spectacular things we have seen thus far.
Here are some pics from the last week at the Utah Parks.

Las Vegas with kids? Sure.

We hadn't planned on going to Vegas.  It seemed too overwhelming,  crazy and expensive.  Funny how things work out. We looked quickly one day for laughs at the hotel prices on the strip. We figured we could swim.in the pools, take some much needed showers and eat some good food. Well, we found out that October must be the perfect time to go to Vegas.  The Excalibur,  where we stayed, was only 35 dollars a night! It had pools with water slides, a kids arcade, movies, etc. Woohoo!!!
So, we went for it. The kids loved it. It was still in the 80's or so, but the pool was nearly empty. I think 80 is cold for some people when you are used to 100 degree summers.
The Excalibur is right next to Luxor and Mandalay Bay. There is a monorail that goes back and forth from those three casinos.  We also were next to New York New York And MGM.  We did every free activity we could find.
Some pics.....

Joshua Tree was amazing

There was something very special about Joshua Tree Nat park. The trees are very beautiful and the rock formations are otherworldly.  The kids loved it, as they have both decided they want to be rock climbers. After our small jaunt to Palm Springs, this place was just what we needed. One funny thing that happened there was that we met the most eager ranger that we have ever met. He was kind of ADHD, I think. He was all over the place. After the kids finished their Junior ranger booklets he spent a frenetic 30 minutes or more asking them questions,  joking and just being goofy. We were tired and sore from hiking and ready to hit the road, but he had other ideas. It was funny. Needless to say, the kids eventually got their badge and patch, but we all worked our asses off for it!