What do you do when a 16 year old, who has had his driver’s license for 3 months, wants to do some off-roading in the Arizona/California desert?
You get in the back seat…
Of another car!!! I definitely did not need a front row seat this time. An experience best left to Dad and Grandpa.
And followed at a safe distance away…
I did however enjoy the great rock art created in the desert (by some fellow Canadians!).
And quite enjoyed the new friends we made.
I can’t really tell you a lot about this next adventure. Truthfully, when Nathan said, ‘do you want to go hike up that mountain to the flag pole? It’s about a 5 hour return trip,’ I thought to myself…..I could go on a hike and start this New Year off right by hiking on January 1st OR I could enjoy the last day of Arizona sunshine and soak up some sun while I’m reading a book in the backyard…… Tough choice, kind of….but not really.
So, I opted to spend a day reading in the sun and getting tan lines on January 1, 2014.
Nathan and Jonathan went hiking up this:
There’s not exactly a path – just old waterfall trails where they had to scale up large boulders and skid down slippery shale rocks. But the views were worth it.
Every year a group of Hillcrest Bay folks take on the challenge of the hike and put a new flag up. I have to say, seeing the flag whipping in the wind from down below, it looks a lot more professional than the reality of the flag pole from the top. They hadn’t gotten to the 2014 trip yet…
They almost made it through unscathed. But then came the attack of the prickly pear.
It took them 4 hours to climb up and walk a round-about way back down. In that time, I read a book, ate Christmas leftovers and soaked up the sun to get a shade or two darker. Who had the better day?
Apparently we have an All Wheel Drive vehicle. Well, Nathan was determined to put it to the test. Where else but in the desert landscape of Arizona (technically we were on the California side, but it doesn’t seem like CA), where you can pretty much take to the dirt anywhere you want and drive through the cacti, donkey droppings and joshua trees. Just make sure you follow a trail, don’t get stuck in the sand, roll your vehicle, or back over a bush…(whoops Jerry…..) and leave some bread crumbs to find your way home.
The Subaru XV made it through and held its own next to the Toyota FJ. Not too bad…not too bad at all.
Cloudless blue skies and dust bunnies being kicked up by off road vehicles, ATV’s and possibly a few people wandering around chasing donkeys and bribing them with carrots and tasty green apples.
Father/Son Bonding
Momma and Baby were a little skittish
The Triplets
Felt like we were back in time in an Old Western
Good Morning Sunshine!
After 3 days of (almost) non-stop driving with most mornings spent waking up hours before the sun decided to show its face, it was heavenly to wake up after the sun came up. And better than that – this was the view from our hotel room at Mandalay Beach in Oxnard, CA.
Breakfast with the locals, a walk on the beach chasing sand pipers and skirting the waves. It may look warm and balmy but that water is still shockingly cold on the toes.
An afternoon soaking in the hot tub, an after-soak nap and watching the sun ease its way down beyond the horizon after the end of a relaxing day. Can’t get better than that.
From sand and surf to desert and burros – and it only took 5 hours!
Check out those fuzzy bangs!
Mom & Baby # 2
Two days after strolling the beach – Vegas….
From the Vdara Hotel – a view of the Vegas Strip and the Bellagio Fountain Show
And to enjoy the different side of Vegas – Old Vegas….and the Fremont Street Experience.
As tough as it is to leave the constant (and guaranteed) sunshine of the desert in Parker, Arizona, I’m a little bit excited to have a little moisture in the air. To be honest, I’m a little weary of drying up like a raisin in the desert air. And surprisingly I miss falling asleep to the raindrops falling outside my window. I don’t know how long that will last, but fingers crossed the clear skys and high pressure system that’s hanging out in Seattle will stick around for a little while, or at least the skies don’t try to drown me out too quickly.
A couple last images of the clear desert skies, sun-kissed mountains and the Bill Williams River.
To get a photo of one hummingbird in flight is one thing….
To get a photo of two hummingbirds fighting over sweet nectar is a feat!
It’s funny what a difference a change in scenery has on your mentality.
While trying to stay dry during a very soggy November and December in Seattle, you get used to constant cloud cover. It’s expected really. You start to make distinctions between heavy clouds, light cloud cover, and of course, rain clouds. It could be misting outside, or it could be drizzling, sprinkling, light rain, and this Fall we saw constant consecutive downpour days. This winter I was introduced to ‘Lumpy Rain’ as well, as the temperature fell and the rain clouds rolled in, it was just not cold enough to snow and instead produced raindrops with just a little bit of ice, making those raindrops fall just that much heavier.
Anyway, my point is that with so much weather that you’re trying to dodge throughout the day, it makes it difficult to get outside for that vitamin D your body craves, especially if you hate to walk around in the rain. You become obsessive about the hourly weather forecast, trying to time your outdoor activities in between the 1 – 2 hour breaks from the rain during the day. A glimpse of blue sky makes you giddy, and full out sunshine, well you barely have time to get your shoes on before your body is jumping outside and heading to the waterfront. In Seattle, you take advantage of any non-rainy weather. Period.
But what do you do when you find yourself in constant sunshine? A place where the norm is sunshine and when a couple clouds find their way in the horizon, it’s a hot topic of conversation. You find yourself indoors, that’s what! You take that sunshine for granted and when you look outside and see bright sunshine and moonscape views, you think, ‘oh – another sunny day. It looks a little cool and breezy out though. Maybe an inside day….’. And when there are a couple clouds in the sky and surprisingly a few raindrops, well, it’s a HIBERNATION DAY. Turn the fire on, grab the blankets and let’s watch a movie. Where in one place the raindrops are the norm and their absence is an opportunity you take advantage of, in the desert, a few drops are cause for hibernation.
Well, today we made a trek out into the desert in the front yard. A path of crumbling rock, sprouting cacti (and their skeletons) and the panoramic views from up above.
Adventures On the Road 