Hey there!

Here’s what’s happening meanwhile in Arizona.

When Heather and Morgane left, I found a foam shop who was crazy enough to redo the upholstering on our back seat (the downstairs bed). It was pretty late so we agreed I would be back in the morning to remove the seat and order the foam. They assured me that it would all be done before the end of the day on Friday.

I spent the evening at a local library, writing, reading and watching a movie. Then I found a Walmart and set up for the night. They had music blaring out of exterior speakers, all night. I am glad I have earplugs…

After I left the seat in the morning, I went off to do some projects on the van. I had been wanting to install a hatch on the battery compartment for a long time. I finally did and looks good. Now I can access the compartment’s gear without having to first empty all our bins from the back. Then, it was time to go get Michelle (my sister offered to keep me company while the girls are in Vancouver).

She arrived at the airport and we went off to get her some mexican food. We then went back to the foam shop, got our seat, paid and off we went. We had some amazing sushi and went to the movies to watch a depressing movie that Oprah recommended. It was pretty good too. It was late and I needed a shower so we went to La Quinta and got a room for us and Carmanah. They had a heated pool and a hot-hot Hot tub. Nice. So nice that I booked our room there again for the girls’ return on Thursday.

In the morning, we went to the Apple store and then to Trader Joe’s to stock up for our little expedition to nowhere. It was noon when we finally hit the road. We decided to head towards a town called “Jerome” in the north. Then, maybe we would keep going north or go to Vegas or go to San Diego or go to Tucson.

We got out of the city sprawl using the highway and then took the Carefree Highway 74 for a long detour by the back roads. Are we ever glad we did it too. We made a sandwich in the Pleasant lake regional park which is definitely not worth the detour (unless you own a boat, there is no access to the water).

The highway branched off onto 89 and we headed back to the mountains.  Before we knew it, we got to 7200 feet.  It was an amazing drive through a goat path up the mountain.  The view points were both treacherous and wondrous.   When we got there, I realised I had forgotten to gas up so I cursed and we did not stop until we were in Prescott.

Prescott use to be the Arizona capital.  The streets are wide and the downtown area is very nice.  Cafes, shops and green spaces make it a nice place to slow down and have a good look around. We spotted the “Raven – Organic Café” and went in.  We would not leave until 4 hours later, filled and jolly and a little spacy.  We ate well and then a Gringo mexican band came on.  The Eric Miller Band were very entertaining and a very eclectic bunch.  Eric is the lead singer and classical-spanish guitar player.  His dad plays a mean-Santana-like electric guitar.  There was also a bass player and a very good low key drummer.  We really enjoyed them.  When they took a break, we yawned and headed to the Prescott Walmart for the night and had a good if cold night of rest.

In the morning, we packed up and left for Jerome.  We were an hour away and the road was even more spectacular than the previous day. We did not climb as high but it was smaller roads with sharper turns, up and up until we got to Jerome.  The village of Jerome is an abandoned mining town, reclaimed by artists in the 60’s.  It is now a nest in the mountain and they get a million tourists who choose the back road just to come and get lost here just like us every year.

We had breakfast at the Mile End Café.  We ate very well on their own, they are worth the detour.  After walking around town and taking a lot of pictures, we left and headed to Sedona.

The drive was ordinary and suppose to last only 30 minutes.  However, after 15 minutes, you drive to discover a drastic change in the scenery:  from desert sands and vegetation, the horizon unveils high peaks and beautiful red rocks.  We stopped in a rest area to take it all in.  We drove into Sedona and were mute with admiration at the adobe houses and surrounding Red Rock mountains.  We spent part of the afternoon driving around and then rest in a cafe.  We were directed to an Italian restaurant for dinner “The best there is!” according to the cafe personnel.  As we left the cafe, we noticed a high placed airport and decided to go up there and see if we could get a better glimpse of the sunset.

We drove down into town and headed for the restaurant.  We met Jay, the manager and he sent us in the corner, to his best table.  After sitting us, he left only to return minutes later with a hand full of rose petals.  In a hushed voiced he bent to my hear:  here, I am doing my part for you…  Michelle – my SISTER! – and I started laughing.  We had a good meal and they even were nice enough to let us set camp in their parking lot.  We had again a cold night and left to go to Flagstaff.

A few miles out of town, we came across Oak Creek Canyon.  We had a nice hike and got back in the car.  When we got to “Flag”, we were a little disappointed.  At first glimpse, the city seem to be just a bunch of houses and commercial stores all slapped together.  To be fair, we did not even gave it a chance as we discovered that we were only an hour and a half from the Grand Canyon.

We arrived at Grand Canyon at 2h30 pm.  Went to the tourist info at the IMAX theatre.  There, I discovered that our National Park pass was letting us in for free.  We caught a couple maps and drove to the very end of the south rim park.  We then drove back stopping at every vista to take in the view.  Words – mine anyway, will not do it justice so I will not even try.  Here are a few picts which don’t do much either:

Today we went for brunch at the Hotel Vancouver to celebrate my birthday. I had just stuffed myself with the perfect amount of prime rib and eggs benedict when the waitress brought me a tray of desserts with a little candle to blow out. I suspected something was up because seven-year olds have a hard time keeping a secret!

After, we drove to Kitsilano around W. 4th to visit some of my favourite stores. Morgane and I shopped for bathing suits at Swimco, the only store where I ever find something good. Then we checked out the books at Duthie’s. I grabbed a piece of my favourite Caper’s chocolate cake for later and finally we stopped at Coast Mountain Sports.

Ghis and I were both working at Coast in Vancouver when we met, but the store has changed a lot since then. I didn’t see anything I needed, like shoes. They don’t even carry Patagonia anymore!

Then we came home and got invited to my bestest friendest since highschool, Jennifer’s house. Morgane got to play with the girls and we had a good visit.

Back home, I forced my parents to watch my favourite movie of late (as I watched it for the third time): Away We Go. Luckily they liked it – I would have had trouble forgiving them otherwise.

Now I’m lying in bed, ready to sign off my blog. It’s raining again which just seems normal for Vancouver in January. Tomorrow, perhaps swimming at the wave pool.

Morgane and I flew from Phoenix, through San Francisco, to arrive in Vancouver Thursday night. We are having some good rest, especially since the rainy weather doesn’t make us feel guilty for not going outside. There isn’t even much snow on the mountains to lure us up there.

After visiting with her favourite cat, Pumpkin, Morgane unloaded all her treasures: shells, rocks and junior ranger badges. Grandma and grandpa were impressed with her fossilized shark teeth!

Here are some pictures of the cacti on the mountainsides on the way to Phoenix.

As we drove around, I didn’t see much beauty in the city of Phoenix – the buildings I saw were functional but they didn’t fit the landscape. We set the GPS for our first stop: the apple store. It was in a mall, but a southern-style mall. Instead of walking around inside the mall, there was an outdoor hallway with green grass (very rare in Phoenix) and fountains everywhere. It was very pleasant, especially with the warm temperatures.

After that, Ghis looked up the REI (outdoor sports store), so we could buy a duffle bag for the plane. Unfortunately it would only work on the shortest route setting (instead of fastest route). That meant that it made us take a turn almost every block! We finally made it downtown and then it told us to keep going. I started to wonder when we passed a small house with a horse in the backyard and then one with a donkey. It seemed we were on one of the reservations.

All this time, we were looking for somewhere to eat. We finally arrived at what the GPS said was our destination and there was nothing, no REI in sight! We don’t know what the GPS was thinking. We had to call the store to ask for directions. In the meantime, Ghis stopped at a grocery store and asked me to grab us some lunch.

Little did I know that as I crossed the threshold of the store, I’d be entering Mexico! Outside were the pretty coloured flags that are hung for special occasions. Inside the store I looked for sandwiches, but found only tons of Mexican food. Normally that would be great, but having eaten it twice the day before, I was not in the mood.

There were no sandwiches and I did not feel like tamales or tacos or anything else made with the same ingredients. Mexican music blasted in my ears. As I walked the aisles, I was impressed by the items I had never even seen in a grocery store. There was even a Jesus aisle. Instead of lunch, I bought pineapple empanadas and a piece of cake with sprinkles on it.

We ate that and I gave Morgane pasta from the fridge and we made it to REI. Then we checked into a great room at the Hampton where we will stay until it’s time to catch our flight on Thursday.

We left Silver City and figured we could drive for two hours before looking for a place to sleep. We were up pretty high and drove through the mountains. Eventually we ended up on a high plateau with beautiful ranches. A family of deer crossed the road in front of us. Ghis wanted to stop at a house and ask if we could ride horses. But we also wanted to get closer to Phoenix.

It was cold, too, and there was a bit of snow around and I hoped we’d make it somewhere warmer for the night. We entered a forest and crossed the state line from New Mexico to Arizona.

Then we turned a corner and found ourselves on an amazing lookout. It freaked me out to be suddenly so high up!

We drove down and down some more as the sun set over the mountains. We saw almost nobody on the road.

Then we saw lights and eventually met up with a larger highway and came to a larger town. We headed to the Wal Mart, but kept our eyes open for a good place to eat. We didn’t see anything that looked good. The only places that looked okay were Mexican restaurants, so we had Mexican food for the second time that day. Now we have had enough to last awhile!

The Wal Mart was nice and quiet and in the morning we set off for Phoenix. We drove through some more mountains and some flat parts and past many mines and then we saw our first super-cool cactus! Ghis saw them first. We almost didn’t believe him, but then we passed a mountainside covered with them – you know the cacti that are tall and look like they have arms? It made us laugh every time we saw some. Almost like we didn’t really believe they existed until now.

After sleeping at the Wal Mart in Las Cruces, we drove west to Deming. We stopped to get the van washed and Ghis asked the women working there if we should go down near the Mexican border. They said yes, if you want to see dead bodies or get shot at. We said that wasn’t quite the adventure we were looking for, so they recommended The City of Rock to the north of us.

When we arrived, it didn’t look like much, but up close it turned out to be a quiet place to have lunch. Afterwards Morgane and I adventured all around through the rocks – over, under, through. Ghis climbed up a big rock and had some trouble getting back down. I think he was trying to model for Morgane what not to do and why. I helped by guiding him so he could find some footholds on the way down.

After that we drove to Silver City and walked down the main street. Lots of cool shops. Many were closed including a thrift store that looked really neat.

We drove into New Mexico and stopped at the visitor centre and saw some roadrunners. I tried to take photos but they do run fast.

We drove into Las Cruces and ate lunch. Ghis had fresh pecans in his salad which made us realize that the orchards we’d passed coming into town must have been pecans.

Then we drove towards White Sands National Monument. As we drove through a huge valley, we understood why the area was chosen to test missiles.

Then we passed through a border patrol check station. He asked if we were all Americans. We said Canadians which was fine with him.

We arrived at the park’s visitor centre and watched a short video. Then, with only two hours before the gates closed, we set out on the eight mile drive through the dunes.

I couldn’t wait to get out and take a million pictures, but we drove all the way to the end. Some parts had desert plants while other parts were only sand.

We parked and started walking up and down, over the dunes. Carmanah surprised us by running. She ran like we haven’t seen her run in years! Later on while we were stopped, she ate mouthfuls of sand as if convinced it was snow. You’d think she’d have stopped after one mouthful, but no.

It did look like snow and even driving along the road felt like driving in the snow. The difference was that it wasn’t slippery at all.

Morgane slid on her jacket down the steep dunes and then would run, screaming, back up to do it again.

I felt like we were there for ages, but as the sun dipped behind the mountains and we arrived back at the van, I realized we had only been there for one hour. One great hour.

The road started climbing and soon we were all the way up at the observatory. There was even a tiny bit of snow in places. We loved the view.

Morgane and Ghis took a tour of the giant telescopes – “Great refractors,” Morgane told us. She’s learned SO much by watching Fetch on PBS. I download episodes onto my iphone and she watches while we drive. She also knows the electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to ultraviolet light.

We drove on to Van Horn and since we didn’t find a hotel we liked, we continued on to El Paso. Today: on to New Mexico!

Fort Davis was a short, stunning drive from Martha. We wanted to go horseback riding, so we visited the Prude Ranch. Unfortunately their stables are closed on Sundays and Mondays, but the lady still gave Morgane a couple of apples and let her feed the horses. She liked petting the horses and they seemed to like her as well. Maybe because she smelled like apples?

Since we have a national park pass, we decided to visit Fort Davis. It was well worth it! Morgane got to do the junior ranger program and she got a gold badge.

Ghis finally got to climb to the top of the mountain and see the view – he’s been frustrated that all of the land in Texas seems to be private and fenced.