Run Out and BUY This Thing!!!

Yesterday we drove down to Tucson for the day to do some sightseeing. Before we left I carefully looked up the places we wanted to visit, and wrote down the addresses. Then I went to mapquest (of course) to get directions, an approximate driving time, and figure out a logical itinerary. I remembered that we have GPS in the truck, so instead of wasting paper, I didn't bother to print out the directions or even write them down.

When we got to Nettie's townhouse, we switched from our big, gas-guzzling truck to her (our old) minivan, so we had enough seats for all six of us. (No...a MINIVAN is not what you need to run out and buy...if you really wanted one of these for the large hauling capacity, you already have one...) This was pre-planned, so switching cars was NOT a surprise to me, much as I might like to pretend otherwise...

As we drove, we switched CDs occasionally, so nobody got too bored with what was playing. (I agree that the 6-CD Changer we have in the truck is really nice...and Satellite Radio is a really nice option, as well, but, NO, neither of those extras are what you must run out and buy...)

As we got closer to Tucson, I suddenly realized that we are in ARIZONA, meaning it is HOT and very sunny in the middle of the day. So, I decided we should switch the order of our sight-seeing and go to the further away but nice, cool, shady, adobe mission church first. Suddenly, I realized I had made a BIG mistake. I had the address written down...but no directions. I seemed to remember we needed to switch to another interstate near Tucson, but couldn't remember the details.

...NO directions...NO GPS...looking for someplace most people probably had never heard of (unless they were interested in old architecture/churches)... What should we do?

Randy mumbled about having decided not to bring his laptop this time because the car might get too hot for it when parked. (This is a bit of a hot-button topic for us---I see no reason to drag that infernal laptop with us everywhere we go...Randy figures we might want to look something up with it...OOPS! He was right this time!!)

I thought of calling someone to ask them to look up the directions on the internet and dictate them to me over the phone. (NO, you do not need to run out and buy a cell-phone...I assume you probably already have one of those...)

Then Randy came up with a MARVELOUS idea, a miraculous idea, an awesome product, (can you feel the build-up? Yes, THIS is the product you absoulutely MUST run out and buy!!!) Someone has actually come up with the wonderful idea of printing out all sorts of maps you might someday use and making them into a BOOK!! It can be stored underneath the seat of the car and pulled out when you most need it. WOW! You absolutely MUST go get one of these astonishing products for those times when you don't have instant internet contact to get to mapquest or google maps...

Yep, we were saved by an ATLAS! And, imagine, it even had little squares marked on the Tucson map and labeled with the exact places we wanted to visit!!

(PS...just for your info...the photo above was of a "road" that was marked as paved in the atlas...obviously wrong! But we used that same atlas and found a different way to get to where we were going using better roads.)

More Views from My Window

We stayed for almost a week at an old RV park in Central Arizona, south of Sedona. (Rio Verde RV Park in Cottonwood AZ) My first thoughts were that it was pretty beat up and many of the RVs were quite decrepit, but we discovered the people made up for it. Many of them were full-time residents. Our kids quickly made friends and hung out in the picnic pavilion in the center of the park. Honestly, there really weren't many views from the windows of the RV: mostly just dust and rocks and a few trees. Our lovely "picture window" at the back of the RV looked out about 2 feet to the side wall of the shower building...sigh... However, we had a nice, shady tree next to our patio, which was encouragement to sit outside in our lawn chairs and relax awhile. Jakob even did some reading up in the branches of that tree! Most evenings I took time to keep an eye out the door to watch the edge of the nightly sunset over the mountains in the distance. So...at least THIS view (from the door) was definitely a good one!

Now we are parked at an RV park on the far east side of the Phoenix area. (The Arizona Maverick in Apache Junction AZ.) As I had read in many RVer blogs, it was a challenge finding a family friendly RV park anywhere in the Valley of the Sun. (Most are age restricted--55 & up--where even WE are too young to stay there!!) This one is quite a drive to get to Nettie and even farther to visit our friends (who live to the north of Phoenix). But, again, people are friendly here and there are lots of full-time residents with lots of kids for Jakob and Anna to play with. These spaces have nice patios (where I spend alot of time, sitting under our awning), gravel all around (instead of dust), and palm trees scattered around the sites. Unfortunately, we are surrounded on every side with rows of other RVs so, again, the views from the windows aren't all that great. The far back of the park has views of mountains on the horizon, but I can't really even see that from the patio. This photo is of the view through the small window behind the dining bench. (I can see it while lounging on the couch.) During daytime it's pretty boring since the power lines are so shiny from the sunlight. But, each night at sunset, the view is worth noticing.

a traveling house...

If you remember, in an earlier blog I whined about the hassles of packing up everything and securing it to handle the bumps and jiggles of driving down the road. I questioned WHY anyone would think this was a good idea?!!

Well, besides the obvious of an RV being cheaper lodging than staying in hotels, more weather-proof lodging than tent-camping, and feeling more like "home" when surrounded by your own things, there IS one other big advantage of a moving house...always changing views out the windows!!

For a person like me who not only likes change but NEEDS it, having new views every time we move to a new location saves a lot of hassles. It saves money and energy when compared with rearranging furniture, repainting, re-wallpapering, re-tiling floors, or other forms of changing a "stick house." Maybe this will end up being a good compromise between me (and Anna) who thrive on change and Randy (and Jakob) who get stressed out by it. At least this still looks and feels like "home" while the window views are changing...

As a summary, here are some of the views we have had so far...

The view out our bedroom window (at the back of the RV), looking at the ever changing sights of the Clear Creek in Golden, CO.

The views in Glenwood Canyon, CO were wonderful because there were mountains in every direction we could look. This is out the front door---I kept it open to watch the rosy sunset gradually move across the mountains in that direction.

The views toward the back of the RV at the Spanish Trail RV Park in Moab, Utah were beautiful---facing the red rock wall that runs beside the road for miles. I spent time lounging on the couch, watching out this window as the shadows changed and moved along the wall with the sun's movement.

I must confess, however, that I didn't bother to take any photos of the views out the windows while at the Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon. They had worked hard to angle the sites so we didn't actually look directly into any other RV's windows...but all we could see out our windows was views of other RVs. But...we spent most of our time either at the canyon itself, tiredly eating in the RV, or SLEEPING (to recover from that day's walking and recharge for the next day's exertions :-)

Scrambling...fear? or fun?

Okay, I'm as happy as anyone in my family when there is freedom to fool around on the rocks at a park. After being frustrated at Garden of the Gods, CO when no one was allowed within touching distance of most of the walls, Jakob was quite pleased at Arches National Park to find out scrambling is allowed, as long as you can get to the rocks via either slick-rock or sand (not the crypto-biotic ground covering that takes hundreds of years to form but has covered much of the park).

It seems to me that Jakob still has a healthy respect for the dangers of climbing while still being interested in trying out his skills. He had fun challenging himself on a variety of ledges and vertical cracks, while staying relatively close to the ground.

My HUSBAND, on the other hand, scares me silly at times! I know, I know, so far he has not gotten stuck nor fallen...BUT...it is nerve-wracking (for ME, not him) just the same! (In these photos, he was trying to get up into the base of the arch, towering far above us. He finally quit---deciding that while he could probably get UP there, he was less certain about getting safely DOWN.)

I'm trying REALLY HARD to follow the advice given to me years ago by a friend who had 4 active boys. She trusted her husband to make wise decisions about acceptable risk in various activities, then stayed out of the way if those activities made her nervous. That's all well and good when it's risk-taking SONS...but she never told me what to do when I'm afraid of the possible damage that might befall my husband!

So...I try not to watch, try not to talk about my fears TOO much in front of the kids (I want them to enjoy being adventuresome, after all!) , and sneak occasional pictures!!

Glenwood Hot Springs

After resting in the afternoon at our new RV site, we drove the 3 miles into Glenwood Springs and spent the evening at the Hot Springs Pool. It was beautiful, fascinating, relaxing, and fun---is that enough adjectives yet??

The total length of the "therapy pool" (104 degrees) and the leisure pool (93 degrees) is 529 FEET!! In other words, the pool you see near the parking lot and the pool you see at the other end of the reeaaallllyyy long building...are all the SAME pool! (to get a better idea of it...it is 100 feet wide!) We all enjoyed a long evening there...Jakob found a similar aged boy to dive with and kid around with (and both stayed in their comfort zones by not bothering with actual names but just calling each other "dude" all evening!), Anna found a number of "friends" and I found two different moms to get acquainted with. Randy wandered off on his own, dove with Jakob, swam with Anna, and gave me a little time as well. His "gimpy" arm is now achy---hot mineral water felt good, but all the diving and swimming apparently exercised it a bit too much!

The story of how we found this place is kind of humorous: friends from Cleveland spent Christmas in Colorado and spent some time here in Glenwood Springs. They told Randy how much they enjoyed this place. Before we left Golden, we had asked a number of new friends from Denver area if there was anywhere in particular we should stop as we travelled toward Utah. No one had any ideas. But later, when we told them we were planning to stop at the Glenwood Hot Springs, everyone agreed that was a WONDERFUL place to go! (Good thing our OHIO friends told us about it!)

Travel Day

We finally got out of Golden not too far behind what we were aiming for. The Honda scooter Randy bought from his brother was easily strapped down on the pull-out tray behind. The weather was clear (even sunny at times), warm, and little winds once we got past the front range (foot-hills).

The drive was beautiful--getting glimpses of snowy peaks ahead of us, then eventually being among the high mountains. It was fun passing a number of ski resorts that are right along the freeway. One of the places literally skis down over top of the long Eisenhower Tunnel! Reminded me of one of the ski runs in Chile which did a similar thing (although that road was NOT a full interstate!) Vail looked like a hoity-toity town with mega mansions everywhere---definitely NOT a place we ever plan to visit! (Now I'm curious what Aspen is like...but we don't plan to go out of the way to see.)

It was strange to see the mountains changing as we passed over the continental divide...much drier and rockier, eventually looking far more like high desert than the mountains we have seen so far.

Glenwood Canyon is GORGEOUS...and that is before the aspen trees are even leafy! We had never heard of it before...but I-70 runs right through its 16 mile length. According to my aunt, it used to narrow down to a one lane road each direction, beside the Colorado "River" (looks far more like a CREEK along here!), with the train tracks immediately on the other side of the water and canyon walls sheer to both the railroad tracks and the road. Because it is supposed to be an INTERSTATE freeway...it is now a double decker roadway through the canyon, with each direction getting two lanes (sometime close beside each other like in this photo, sometimes westbound on TOP of eastbound!!!) Pretty amazing!

Brainless??

I think my brain went journeying before we were packed up and ready to leave...

Here's a short email I sent a friend (in frustration) right before I shut down my laptop and packed it up to travel earlier today:

"Awwkkkkk! I'm having problems sticking to any given task right now. There
is chaos all around as we try to get all the last stuff stowed so we can drive
our house down the road---who ever came up with this idea of a MOVING house
anyways??!! (Don't worry---we are making good progress...and so far all are in
good temper.) I thought about calling you this morning...but that would be a HUGE distraction from moving out!"

I would like to think all my list-making actually helped in the packing-up-and-moving-out process. Or I would like to excuse my distractibility by stating that I was sick the day before. But I suspect the truth is...I was just temporarily brainless!!

Oh well, my family put up with me (and even laughed a little) and we finally got packed up and pulled out somewhere within time frame we were hoping for so I guess no harm was done!

(Here we are, pulling out of Golden Colorado...with the butte, symbol of Golden, in the background.)