Monday, February 25, 2008

Sledding the White Sands





Before we left Alamogordo last week, we visited the White Sands National Monument. It's 224 square miles of 97% pure gypsum crystals that have been scratched white by the tumbling of the wind (we're not kidding, look it up. The ranger told us so!).

In the gift shop, you can buy plastic discs to slide down the dunes with. They also sell wax so you can go even faster. We bought two discs (and wax of course) and headed into the dunes. After a picnic lunch, we "hit the slopes...ahhh dunes!" It was so much fun we ended up staying six hours and watching the sunset. We like to get the Junior Ranger booklets when we go to the State and National parks so the boys had lots to do and look for while we were at the sands. They both completed the program and added White Sands to their growing list of Jr. Ranger badges!

Joss and Robby went on the ranger-led sunset stroll while Sawyer and Robert continued playing on the dunes. While Robert and Sawyer were on the dunes, they met a group of Japanese tourists who were getting some sunset pictures. Robert lent them the discs and they had a great time sliding down the dunes. They were racing each other and laughing the whole time.

While we were on one of the Nature trail hikes, Sawyer stepped on a stick and hurt his foot. He was tired, cold and hurting so Robert carried him on his shoulders the rest of the walk. We don't know how it happened but Robert turned into a "sand monster" and started chasing Robby while Sawyer laughed his head off. The "monster-face" picture is from that incident.

If you're planning a trip to New Mexico, we really recommend the White Sands just outside of Alamogordo and the Museum of Space History in town.

Friday, February 15, 2008

City of Rocks S.P. New Mexico...ROCKS!!!







Wow what a find! A fellow camper in Bisbee told us about this state park so we looked it up (don't ya' just love the Internet?). Let's see...two young boys and a campground SURROUNDED by rocks...hmmm kinda' a no brainer heh?

The volunteers in the visitor center (very helpful guys) said site 10 was a really good one "it backs into the rocks and would be protected from the wind". "Once you back in there a ways, get out and look 'cuz you can keep going". Well, the wind was BLOWING us all the way from Bisbee so we decided to check it out. It is a developed site (fire ring, bbq, trash can and picnic table) but no electricity, water or sewer hookup. That's okay with us! We have 63 gallons of fresh water and an empty holding tank, let's go!

Well once we backed the trailer up the "drive way" and got to the rocks, we got out and examined the site. At first I (Robert) didn't see what they were talking about ("you can keep going") but then I did. Nestled between two LARGE boulders, was a level spot...just wide enough for the trailer I thought. I took their proclamation ("you can keep going") to be a personal challenge so I put the dually in four wheel drive low gear and cranked the wheel. The angle was so severe that the trailer tires on the street side, were actually pushing the dirt and hopping sideways instead of turning. Thank God we have the 4x4 as it allowed me to go slow enough and with enough power to get the trailer in the spot. After a little back and forth (sure hope we can get out!), we had it where we wanted it.

Then came the sideouts! I was pretty sure we had enough room for the main slide out (dining table and couch) but it was going to be close. You can see in the pictures just how close it came. That rock outside our window is about 8 inches away. We have a couple of feet on the other side so we're good.

Now on to the City of Rocks State Park. This place was formed by a volcanic eruption 30million years ago. Over time, erosion wore away much of the rock leaving these monolithic, Stonehenge-like rocks. We've had a blast climbing all over them before the rain hit us today (sure makes the rocks slippery, gotta make a note of that as soon as the bleeding stops). Baylee has been sniffing out cottontail rabbits like crazy and we've taken over 300 pictures in 24 hours. The sunset pictures were from last night. I'll say it again, you can't beat a desert sunset! It's started to snow as I'm typing this...wow the white stuff is following us from the Northwest! Joss just told the boys it's snowing. Robby's response was "In the desert, it's snowing?" We're going to flip on the furnance and get started on dinner. Until our next adventure...

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Tombstone may be too tough to die but it's on life support!


We've been in Bisbee, Arizona since the 6th and are LOVING this old (1880) town. We are staying at the Queen Mine RV Park which overlooks the Lavender Pit (an open pit copper mine that closed in 1975) and the town of "Old Bisbee". We have taken 3 tours, listened to live music, ate some great meals out and did a Geocache.

Today however did not turn out like we hoped. We headed up to Tombstone for a little history and instead met a two ring circus with participants that seemed to mock the very tourists they rely on. I don't know if it was a period thing or just the type of crowd the place attracts but it seemed as if every fifth person walking the street was smoking. Every corner we turned, we were met with cigarette smoke, uggh!

Then there is the matter of the Six Gun City Wild West show! The wooden picnic tables were in the blazing sun and the paint on them would burn your arms. The wait staff was rude and incompetent. We ordered the boys two corn dogs that took over 30 minutes to come (and that was after 4 inquiries!). Then they came without the milk they included. Joss didn't get the drink she ordered and when the horrible show (the female lead was "medicated" almost to the point of mumbling her lines) was over, we didn't get a check and could not find our waitress! We spoke to the General Manager but were greeted with disdain once more.

Bottom line...skip tombstone (the historical places are almost all "pay for play" and they could just as well be the creation of a Hollywood set builder) and GO TO BISBEE! The residents are very friendly, the shops are bright, creative and clean and the food is delicious!

Monday, February 4, 2008

What, more snow?!!!




Well we thought we were done with the freezing temperatures and snow for a while but not quite it seems! We've been in Oro Valley, just North of Tucson Arizona for a week now and we've had temperatures in the 20's and 70's, rain, hail and snow on the local mountains. It is just beautiful!!!

We've been enjoying reuniting with friends from Chino Hills that moved here a year and a half ago and reconnecting with family we only see at reunions every three years. We're going to be sad to leave but anxious to see new places also. We're leaving Wednesday to head down to Bisbee before going into New Mexico.

Here area few pictures we took today during a break in the rain. These are the Catalina Mountains taken from within the Catalina State Park. The hail on the ground was outside our trailer. Our first hail storm!