Day: February 6, 2010

Ghis and Louise headed off for a last day of sightseeing and Morgane and I headed to the zoo! I got us a pass, so we can go as much as we want, which is a lot.

From the first bird to the last wombat, there wasn’t one exhibit I didn’t have to drag Morgane away from.

I wanted to see the baby panda who is six months old, so I dragged Morgane along in that direction since you can only visit in the morning. Luckily the line was short. On our first pass, he was sleeping in a tree and his mother was sitting eating big branches of bamboo.

On the second pass, he had woken up and was investigating his surroundings and trying to figure out how to get his toy from up high. Then he had a snack of honeysuckle flowers. Too cute!

We also loved seeing all kinds of monkeys – Morgane loved their double-decker treehouses. There were young monkeys driving their parents nuts. We loved the gorillas – there was a baby, too. While we were there, lettuce starting raining down on them, so they all gathered it up and ate it.

What is great about this zoo is that it’s like a park. There are trees everywhere and not much cement. The animal habitats are large and natural looking. As well, they often mix several types of animals together in one habitat.

We rode a tram over top of the zoo from one end to the other. This was a problem because I didn’t feel very good up so high in the air. Morgane loved it, but I closed my eyes most of the way. I wasn’t going to get back on, so we had to walk across the zoo to get back to the children’s zoo again. We did pass elephants and lions and wallabies and lots of other interesting animals on the way.

We finally ended the day at the children’s zoo where Morgane made a little friend. We didn’t see everything, but we’ll be going back soon.

We entered Joshua Tree Park from the south for our second visit. We passed an area filled with a strange type of cacti.

Then we stopped at the campsite and since we were all exhausted, we decided to stay right there. There were only two other couples there, so it was very quiet. There isn’t any water though – and only outhouses – but they are clean.

We walked along a path to see Arch Rock and then Morgane and I followed a little stream of water for awhile before finding our way back.

We ate pasta and the sun went down and it got cool out. The big, round rocks felt friendly and protective, even in the dark. Ghis and I slept in the tent for the first time in a long time. The stars were amazing!

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t sleep anymore so I got up early – it was still dark! I got my camera and the took pictures of the rocks and the moon and our van. The sun started to come up as I snapped photos. I stood and chatted with a man from Wyoming who was also up until going back to the van to warm up.

We stopped at the lookout and this time it was clear and there was snow on the mountains. Beautiful!

In the day, we drove to another spot and did a short walk to a dam and a little pond. On the way, an animal ran across the road. Ghis shouted, “Wolf!”

I looked and looked and finally saw a dog-like animal running between the bushes. No photos though. I said it was a coyote.

Ghis hurt his back, so he didn’t come on the walk with us. While he was sitting in the van, three coyotes came walking right through the parking lot! I was so mad.

We left the park and sped all the way back to San Diego so Louise could spend one day there before going home.

Just before the California border, we stopped in Quartzsite to see the famous swap meets (flea markets). Ghis was not very keen on it, but in the end he likes the assortment of nuts and bolts and other handy items for sale.

I didn’t find anything interesting although I liked looking at the whirligigs.

Everyone loved Carmanah and Morgane was busy answering questions like “Is she a coyote?” and “Is she a wolf?” Someone at a food stand gave her a bone with a lot of meat on it and she loved it but has had the runs ever since!

Prescott is a town full of outdoor enthusiasts. My guidebook said it is a good place to live, but a hard place to find work.

We were tired and so we stopped right away at The Raven, a cafe that Ghis and Michelle discovered when they passed through.

It felt more like a pub inside. They had a huge selection of beer and it was happy hour. It was also DJ night, so the music was a bit loud. We did enjoy having a place to sit and hang out and the pizza was good, too.

There was a bit of snow lying around in Prescott, but we slept in the Wal Mart parking lot and weren’t cold at night.

In the morning, we drove another very windy road. I got a bit car sick from riding in the back, and Louise switched places with me for a bit. We descended for a long time until we reached the flat, cactus-filled part of Arizona again. We showed Louise the saguaros, those cacti that we love, and we even climbed under a fence to get close to some.

Jerome is a ghost town high up on a mountainside. It was a mining town, but part of the mountain broke away after being mined and eventually artists took over the town and made it the lively place it is today.

There are lots of places to shop, but the best part is the view. Also, I found that Jerome residents have a good sense of humour.

The most fun we had here was tossing coins into a toilet and an outhouse. It’s a fundraiser for – I don’t know what – but it worked. We threw, or tried to throw, all our spare change down there.

The road out of town was very curvy and a bit nerve-wracking in spots. It took us through some mountains on the way to Prescott.

I fell in love with Sedona from the moment I saw its red rocks. Sedona is surrounded by mountains and hills made of this red dirt. They sell t-shirts there that are dyed with the dirt.

The town has a lot of tourism and it is also very new age. Louise and I shopped at a Mexican-style shopping centre that had a lot of arts and crafts stores. They also had a great toy store and I really love those!

We slept at a hotel that had a pool that Morgane loved and a hot tub that Ghis and I loved. We stayed out late in it and met a great mother and son from Maryland. We had a lot of fun and they didn’t even kick us out of the hot tub until pretty late. We love the Hampton Hotel!

In the morning, we went for a short hike up a steep trail and after only five minutes, we were at a lookout where we could see Sedona below and mountains all around.

After that we tried to hike up a neighbouring peak, but only Morgane and Ghis made it to the top. I stopped when it became scrambling more than hiking.

I met a nice couple back at the lookout when I enquired about their musical instruments. It turned out that they were Native American flutes that he had made. He played both of them and I fell in love! There were beautiful to look at and to hear. They had just been at an instrument-making gathering.

The last thing we did before leaving Sedona was shop at the Natural Foods Store. I loved it and found all my favourites and some new stuff, too. I specialize in healthy junk food. We filled up the van with good stuff for the next few days.