2011 - Road Trip - American Southwest

DAYS 1 & 2 - Grand Canyon

We left home at 6:15 am and began the trek towards the Grand Canyon. For the first time, we are taking a friend with us on the annual road trip, and I am very glad that Bonnie can share the journey with her best friend Cassie.

Thankfully, the first leg of this journey (between Barstow and Needles, CA) is the drive I dislike the most – I call it THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. The first time I drove it, I determined that it was entirely possible that the moon landing was faked. To make matters worse, we started out listening to TWILIGHT [If you’ve followed my posts, you know that the insipid writing of the novels drove me to despair since I really, really want to enjoy them with Bonnie, and I was hoping the audio versions would be more captivating.] But by track 5 even the girls were bored, so we switched to a book written by Michael Scott… THE ALCHEMYST: THE SECRETS OF THE IMMORTAL NICHOLAS FLAMEL. Right up the alley for the Harry Potter fans in the car J There are 4 more books in the series (The Sorceress, The Magician, The Necromancer, and The Warlock) so we’re set for the entire trip.

When we hit Kingman, AZ, we HAD to eat at Cracker Barrel since Cassie had never been there. (Shock! I know, right?) And from there we drove to the Grand Canyon. We are staying at The Bright Angel Lodge, so we walked the Rim Trail before dinner. There are so many adjectives that just fall short in describing this place: Breathtaking, visually stunning, awesome grandeur… are all somewhat inadequate but they’ll have to do for now. After dinner we went to bed early since we had a fun day of hiking planned.

This morning I woke up at 4:30 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. On all my previous trips, I had only hiked the rim, and I was really excited about hiking down into the canyon today. I opted to go with a ranger-led hike of Hermit Trail, and I’m so glad I did! He pointed out fossils, petroglyphs, plants, etc., that I’m sure we would have never noticed. We ended up going about ½ mile down, then turned around and headed back up. The girls completely surprised me by practically racing back up (we were the first team back out of our group – not that it was a competition)! I’m not sure if the quick ascent contributed to Cassie’s nose bleed, but she was a trooper and we made it back to the cabin for some rest.

After resting, we headed down the Bright Angel Trail for a ways, then came back to get cleaned up and really rest before dinner. We ate at the El Tovar Restaurant (the “fancy” place) and frankly, it was just “okay.” Of course, we’re all tired, and the girls are ready to move on to Albuquerque tomorrow. So far… it’s been a blast!

DAY 3 - METEOR CRATER

We left the Grand Canyon at 6:00 am in search of decent food. I’m not a food snob, and I realize that one doesn’t go to the Grand Canyon to enjoy fine cuisine, but if the park is going to advertise the restaurants as fine cuisine, and charge you for it, then the food should really be more than overcooked protein and tasteless carbohydrates.

Anyway, we left early to head into Flagstaff to eat breakfast at Wildflower Bread Company. The food was FANTASTIC, and got the day off to a great start! From there we stocked up on healthy snacks and began our trek towards Albuquerque. Along the way we stopped at the Meteor Crater and enjoyed some science J

We are all tucked into our hotel for the night and will be getting up at 5:00 am for our special treat… a hot air balloon ride over Albuquerque. I’m hesitant to tell the girls about it because a high wind or wild fire will cancel the outing at a moment’s notice. But that’s the plan!

Day 4 - Albuquerque

The day began early with a hot air balloon ride over Albuquerque! The girls and I loved being able to help get the balloon set up, and sailing over the city and desert. When we sailed low we saw coyotes and jackrabbits; and when we sailed high we could see the mountains against the desert landscape. It was truly an awesome experience.

Afterwards we began our 10-hour trek towards Decatur, Texas. We listened to the book, to music, and had a nice time traveling. Once we hit Texas, Bonnie excitedly told strangers at gas stations that she was born in Texas and is a “Texas Girl” -- even though she lives in CA now.

Cassie has made me laugh, too. As we were driving through the country, she yelled, “ARE THOSE COWS?!!!” with the same enthusiasm I would ask, “Is that a REAL medieval castle?”

As we drover deeper into Texas, I nervously watched the temperature climb to 107* in Childress, TX – and it stayed between 104-107 until we reached Decatur. At one rest area, Bonnie got out of the car, threw her hands back, raised her face to the sun and declared, “I LOVE THE HEAT!!” Spoken like a girl who has adjusted well to “hot” days of 84* in California. I’m curious to see if she still loves the heat after two weeks here.

We ended the day having dinner with Keith’s parents at their favorite local Tex-Mex restaurant, and the girls are looking forward to a day at the mall with Mamaw tomorrow.

Days 5 & 6 - Dallas & East Texas

5 - We left Decatur early to pick Julie and Joey up at DFW. First stop was WHATABURGER for taquitos… the meal of our youth :) Then we headed over to the SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM. What a wonderful museum! Although it was surprisingly busy (I thought everyone would be on the lake!), the girls still learned a lot and will always know the story of JFK.

From there we decided to get to East Texas and begin our fun at the ranch. It was hot, so when we got there Brenda took the kids swimming while Julie and I ran to the grocery store.

Had a nice, fun evening playing games and being with family.

6 - The day began with the kids building a fort at Vicky’s house, then back to Dad and Brenda’s for breakfast. The rest of the lazy day included feeding horses, jumping on the trampoline, playing games, swimming, and a pizza dinner. Good times!

Day 7 - East Texas - July 4th

Up at 6 am so the girls could ride horses before it got too hot. They had a great time, and it was beautiful to watch them ride in the beauty: green pastures, blue skies, white clouds… gorgeous.

Once they finished, I decided to go for a run. Didn't start until 8:30... complete newbie mistake. Normally I'm dodging hikers, cyclists, runners and walkers -- but it was just big pickups and me this morning. And 30 minutes later I knew why the passengers in those trucks were shaking their heads. If I ever live in TX again, I'll have to get out much earlier to meet up with the others :)

We then headed to The Cliffs to do some cliff jumping (video of kids jumping off the 10' cliff). What a blast! Bonnie and Cassie jumped from the 10’ and 15’ cliffs, then Bonnie did the 35’. I did the 10’ – and that was enough for me. I’ve never had the “risk gene,” so I was proud of that single jump.

The rest of the day was filled with playing Spades, napping, a family cook-out, and watching fireworks. We sat in the beds of pickups while Robbie and Amanda put on the firework show in the corral – beautiful!! The lightning in the background added a touch of splendor. It was a beautiful 4th of July!

Tomorrow we head towards Fredericksburg, with a stop in Austin. A friend of a friend is setting up a private tour of the Capitol… we’ll see if that works out.

Days 8 & 9 - Texas State Capitol and Fredericksburg

We left East Texas and enjoyed a beautiful drive down to Austin where we toured the State Capitol. It’s a gorgeous building, and the staff was so friendly. Bonnie carried in a piece of paper hoping to get the governor’s autograph…? Of course, he wasn’t in the building, but I told her it was no big loss – it’s not like it was Ann Richards or anything.

From the Capitol, I wanted to explore Austin a little more – maybe find a neat place to eat and people-watch. But the girls wanted to meet up with the rest of my family in Fredericksburg. I desperately want to come back and explore the city more with Keith, but I’m going to try to get back for one more day here with the girls before we head back to CA.

For the last two days, we’ve just relaxed here at mom’s house and enjoyed meeting up with extended family, and exploring some of the Fredericksburg tourist attractions like the Pioneer Museum and the city pool (it's SO HOT!). On Thursday we will go to the Schlitterbahn.

Days 10, 11 & 12 - Schlitterbahn, Fredericksburg, & San Antonio

The Schlitterbahn is my favorite water park because it uses the Comal River in its slides and has a cadre of old trees that provide plenty of shade while waiting in line. We spent most of the day there, then returned to Fredericksburg for a fun family dinner.

On Friday we had a day of beauty: pedicures, and we let the kids experiment with temporary hair color. Afterwards we went to the private home/museum of a western antiquities collector (1850 - 1930) -- it was so cool to step right into the wild west. While there, we let the kids have a gun lesson and shoot at cans on a woodpile. Frankly, it was too hot to do much else. I really hate to complain about things over which I have no control, so I’m only going to say this about the heat: It is either an extraordinarily hot summer, or I’ve just become unaccustomed to the heat. It’s almost too miserable to be here – even with the family that I love – and I’m desperately hoping that my family members will take me up on my offer to spend some of NEXT summer with me in California. Okay… moving on.

Yesterday we spent the day in San Antonio. Bonnie and Cassie had read a book about the Alamo and really enjoyed seeing it in person. We then took the boat cruise along the River Walk -- informational and beautiful. On the way back we stopped at Po Po Family Restaurant in Boerne, and had fantastic fried chicken and southern cooking.

We’ll spend today inside and at a movie theater in an effort to cool our skin and treat the sunburns (yes, we used sun block, it’s just so unbelievably hot). Then, tomorrow we begin our trek home via Carlsbad Caverns and Phoenix.

Days 13 & 14 - Fredericksburg & Carlsbad Caverns

On our last day in Fredericksburg, we just stayed at Mom’s house and relaxed. She and I read books and watched movies while Bonnie and Cassie spent the day using their creative imaginations to enter the world of American Girl.

This morning we left at 6:30 in order to get to Carlsbad Caverns at a decent hour. We arrived around Noon, had lunch then began exploring. We hiked down into the cave via the Natural Entrance, and the girls absolutely LOVED it! Honestly, they enjoyed the caverns much more than the Grand Canyon (probably because the sun wasn’t beating down on their heads). After making it through the bat cave, we toured the Big Room and listened to every stop on the audio tour. Once we hit the “Fairyland” area, though, their imaginations took off! For the next 1.5 hours they talked non-stop about where the cavern fairies eat, drink, dance, bathe, party, rescue others, go to jail, etc. At one point I had to say, “Okay, girls, let’s just enjoy looking at all the formations, and we can talk about fairies in the car.” But that didn’t last too long because they are going to write a book about these cavern fairies, and it’s just impossible to stop the creative juices from flowing.

After we left there, we drove 3.5 hours to Las Cruces, NM, and that’s where we are staying the night. Tomorrow we have reservations at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, which supposedly has a great pool area – so we’ll have a relaxing afternoon/evening before we drive home on Wednesday.

Day 15 - Phoenix

We left Las Cruces, NM early in order to arrive at the Arizona Grand Resort early enough to play in the water park. And boy did we play!! We all enjoyed the smaller slide (the very tall slides scared us!), and the girls enjoyed bouncing around in the wave pool. All-in-all, a wonderful afternoon and a great way to end the road trip. Tomorrow we’ll enjoy a nice breakfast here at the resort, then we’ll drive home.

Hopefully, wonderful memories have been made – and now I’ll start thinking about next year’s road trip!