FR 525: Our Great Escape

Sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself.

Our plans for the day-- park, plug in, run some errands-- had evaporated.

           

It was past 2:00pm, we had pulled in and immediately back out of the only RV park with a space available in Flagstaff for the weekend (had a "gross factor" off the charts), and we were hungry and getting grumpy. Our only plan was to go to Target, where we could have lunch in the trailer and get our groceries and other necessities as planned, though we had no idea where we'd be settling in for the night, yet.

           

Brent managed to find a corner of the busy lot to park our truck and behemoth trailer and he rounded up Evelyn to walk with him to Chipotle a couple of blocks away while I checked the campground apps on the tablet and chilled out. In Brent's words: "Just hang out here with Kailyn and have a glass of wine". So I did. Kailyn slept on the couch and I sipped wine and tried to ignore the frustrated knot in my stomach made worse by my hunger and the uncertainty that comes with not having a plan.

           

By the time Brent and Evelyn returned with lunch (she rode her scooter the entire mile and a half round trip!), I felt more relaxed but not better about our situation. He was calm and collected. That's the beauty of our relationship. We always manage to balance each other out. When he's steaming, I keep the calm and humor and when I'm about to blow, he turns the heat down with his confidence and patience. After lunch, I left the family behind me in the Target parking lot, Evelyn riding her scooter around our trailer, dogs tied to the steps laying on their huge comfy bed, and Brent checking under the truck's hood just because.

           

It's strange how a Target trip can be something to look forward to-- something familiar in light of all unknown. I felt my nerves calming a bit as I shopped Halloween decorations (I couldn't wait to cozy up our home with a more festive flair!) and I momentarily forgot about our current situation as I filled our cart.

Evelyn says the Halloween decorations make her happy. :)

           

When I returned, Brent said he had a plan. He figured we could head toward Cottonwood, which would mean we travel south past Sedona and then up north again in the upward stroke of a "v" on the map. He had found a single night's reservation in an RV park in Cottonwood. It wouldn't help us the next night but gave us somewhere to go that night, so it was the best we had. We would be traveling about 50 miles from our current location but it would get us close to Sedona all the same, and that was where I wanted to visit, so there it was.

          

As the sun began to set, we'd been back on the road for some time. Evelyn finally closed her eyes and started in on a late nap. Brent pulled over at a scenic vista and he and I got out and breathed in the cool air of dusk, snapping pictures of purple mountains and distant rocky hilltops and deep canyons of Sedona. Our journey continued and darkness set upon us.

A panoramic inspiration to keep on truckin'

It was well after 8:00PM when we arrived at the RV park in Cottonwood where we had a spot waiting for us for one night. It was dark. Brent eyed the low hanging mature trees that hung over the narrow driveway and road of the little trailer park. We rolled slowly in past 12 or so RVs, all of which were obviously permanent fixtures of the park. They had likely been there since before the trees were so mature as I couldn't imagine how some of them would even pull out now. We arrived at a tight left turn with even lower trees and not enough room to make the turn without causing some damage or running something over. This wasn't going to work. Brent announced we couldn't stay here, but our biggest problem now was getting out. There was no moon and there were no street lights in the tiny park. We were nearly blind but had no option but to back out the way we'd come in. I walked behind with a lantern and Brent did his best to avoid swiping low hanging trees and get us back out of the park, which he did without incident.

           

We were out, but we still had nowhere to go and it was now after 9:00PM.

           

We were parked in a dirt lot near the entrance of the RV park where a food truck retiring for the evening had been parked when we arrived an hour earlier. Brent went back into the trailer to get us some snacks. I dove into the tablet again while Evelyn chattered away, asking where we were going to park and when we'd get there. I opened an app my dad had told us about: Ultimate Campgrounds. Though we'd used it a bit to this point, most of its listings are "dispersed" camping-- free but primitive and on Forestry Service or BLM land. I started tapping on those nearest us and after some exploring and further research through the old reliable, Google Images, I showed Brent some pictures of people camping off of FR 525 (Fire Road 525), also known as Loy Butte Rd. Brent was on board. It was about 5 miles up the highway on which we were currently sitting motionless.

           

This was our best choice at this point. We hung a left off the dark highway and found ourselves on a washboard gravel road in total darkness. After about 100 feet, our headlights illuminated a slumbering motor home on the right side of the dirt road: "Well, other people are staying here too, right?" We continued on at a rattling crawl, Brent navigating the washboard as best he could without vibrating everything off their hinges in the home trailing behind us. We began to glimpse the glittering of campfires off to our left and Brent consulted the satellite image of Google Earth to concur that there was a circle of a dirt clearing on the other side of a gateway through the brush to our left. Brent got out with the lantern and checked it out only to return with eyes aglow. He was thrilled! This was his thing!

           

We pulled in to the large dirt clearing where two other parties were already camped for the night: an older model Class C motor home and a car with tent pitched behind some bushes. Theirs was the campfire we had seen. It wasn't hard to find somewhere to park. We had plenty of room. We had found home for the night.

Our camp off of FR 525

Running free outside our camp

           

While we were setting up, a Ranger truck pulled up next to Brent outside. I heard the Ranger ask Brent, "What's up?" My stomach sank. In California, when a Ranger pulls up to the campsite, it is never good news. My ears went into eavesdrop mode. Inside, I continued to unpack and get a late dinner together but had a sinking feeling we would not be allowed to stay here for the night. Brent's tone of voice revealed he felt the same way I did at the Ranger's presence-- unsure. It didn't take long, though, for me to hear that his tone had changed and there was pleasant chat coming from outside the windows.

           

The Ranger, Mike, was super nice! He praised our choice for place to camp and told us we could stay up to 14 days totally free. He gave us a heads up that with the holiday weekend came the beginning of riding season. He told us we'd have company and that it wouldn't exactly be quiet here on FR 525 with so many people likely to come out with their ATVs to ride for the day. He looked over Brent's truck and told him that he had a great truck for exploring the dirt roads in the area. He told Brent to avoid the highway going into Sedona. He said we'd have amazing views if we took the dirt roads into Sedona from where we were. He also recommended a few casual restaurants in Sedona to go to and wished us well on our Big Adventure (Brent had filled him in on what we were up to and Mike the Ranger was terribly envious).

           

When the sun rose the next morning, we let the dogs out to play in the open area and threw tennis balls for them to fetch. Evelyn played in the dirt. A few locals arrived with their trucks and trailers toting ATVs. Brent made jovial small talk with them before they set off and when they returned, wishing more than ever that he had brought his own dirt bike with us. We ate and enjoyed the morning and grew giddy over rumbling thunder approaching. The skies were darkening and a moisture was in the air, a wonderful reprieve and a symbolic rejuvenation for us all. We were awestruck by lightening flashing through the clouds of the approaching storm and breathed in the unmistakable smell of oncoming rain. We could see the storm and then the light beyond it-- this was not lasting or threatening weather-- so we prepared ourselves for our dirt road expedition.

           

We had seen and heard hobby airplanes flying overhead about a half mile in from our campsite, so we followed the dirt roads in toward where we'd seen them, finding a fenced area cleared out with a flat and well-groomed red clay runway and a couple dozen enthusiasts inside. A few large RVs and a few cars and trucks were parked near the runway. We found a place to park, ourselves, and we could see some of the planes now, all grounded from the light rain while their pilots made small talk in clusters around them.

 

Brent carried Evelyn in toward the planes (she didn't feel like putting shoes on) and they were warmly welcomed. Evelyn was admiring the largest of the planes, a yellow and red one with a little pilot figure seated in the cockpit. The plane was a good ten feet tall when stood on its nose and was impressively sporty-looking to say the least. The owner explained that they had been waiting for the runway to dry from the brief rain, but asked if Evelyn would like to see it fly. After a resounding "Yea!!" in response, the owner navigated the plane in reverse from its resting position and taxied it out to the runway.

 

It took off! We marveled as it climbed high into the sky, spiraled back down toward earth, recovered itself into a swift flight above the runway and back into the sky. It soared, barrel-rolled, and rocketed upside down, leaving jet streams behind in an impressive show for Evelyn.

 

The owner of a second plane offered to take off next for us and his blue plane did just as many tricks, leaving us all smiling like kids. A man sitting next to us explained that this plane belonged to his brother and that he had built it from scratch. It had a chainsaw motor in it. Besides this, everything on the plane was made by hand-- even the screws holding it together!

Watching hobby planes fly off FR525

Meeting the planes and doggie host, Gemini, up close.

Everyone was so welcoming!

We watched scaled down planes play in the sky above us for quite some time, enjoying the company of a friendly old dog, Gemini, who clearly knew the company and the routine here well. Dark clouds continued to move over the sky and all the while we enjoyed the flickering of lightening, the rumbling of thunder, and the occasional large raindrop touching down around us. A competition was about to begin, which we were told included fun events like releasing balloons and competing to see which plane could pop the most. We were invited to stay; a man nearby called out that we were all welcome to hot coffee and that burgers and hot dogs were on the grill for everyone. We were tempted to stay, but there were still lots of dirt roads awaiting us with Sedona at the end of the trail. We thanked everyone and climbed back in the car where the dogs sat patiently waiting.

 

Back out on the dirt roads, we marveled at local vegetation and the stickiness of the red clay. We could see impressive red hills in the distance and headed in their direction. Each time we crested a hill, the red hills before us were even more striking and we just smiled all the while. At one crest, we stopped to take pictures and Evelyn asked about the fruits growing on the cacti nearby. Brent picked a prickly pear and took a bite. Why not make this a multi-sensory experience? Any guesses at how it tasted? Sweet, he says! I wouldn't go as far as to sink my teeth into this experience in a literal sense, so I took his word on its flavor!

Brent getting a taste of the glory

 We weren't alone on the road. We waved at several other travelers in everything from ATVs to pink Jeep tours to Honda Accords.

 

We discovered even better places to stop and camp along the road, but there was no way our RV could have made it the 8-10 miles in to these optimal locations.  Still, others had hauled their rigs in and what views they had! The red hills were simply radiant against the darkened skies. They appeared massive and stood up over the desert greenery in soft pillows that reached for the heavens.

Someone else's camp deep into the dirt roads. Totally cute and what great views!

Brent offering up a little something for Aunt Patty's rock collection.

The view that emerged and grew more impressive with each mile we crept near.

 

At a fork in the dirt road, we kept left, heading for Palatki Ruins, a cliff dwelling spectacle to be explored in the red rock mountains ahead. We neared the base of the mountains and enjoyed what this rainy day provided-- waterfalls cascading over the slick red rock of the massive rounded cliffs towering above us. We parked with a dozen other cars at this discovered destination while the storm finally blanketed over from above. We waited in the truck with the dogs while rain pounded down on the metal roof and we gaped at the elevated red formations before us hoping the rain would stop so we could explore. The rain did let up, but a fellow explorer returning to his car warned us that they were considering closing the trail to the ruins. We hoped for the best and walked the short walk to the visitor's center, where the attendant confirmed they were worried about lightening and didn't want to send anyone up. We were happy all the same-- this had been a wonderful voyage and it's not like we had planned or counted on anything! We took pictures outside at the base of the hills and agreed we were ready for lunch, anyway. Sedona, here we come!

Waiting for the rain to stop.

Evelyn was soaking up some raindrops.

The Palatki Red Rock Hills

Emmy wasn't nearly as impressed as we were with our dirt road adventure.

Waterfalls off the red rock from the rain.

 

The dirt road into Sedona was more of a dirt thoroughfare-- lots of Pink Jeep Tours and off-roaders. We waved and smiled at everyone.

 

The dirt finally turned to asphalt and the personality of Sedona presented itself. Houses were built to blend into the landscape, their colors the colors of the hills and dirt around them, and roofs were barely visible below the tree lines of the neighborhoods-- beauty preserved and respected. The town, its commerce and its retail, was all built with the same respect for the beauty of the landscape in mind. This was a bustling city surrounded by majestic red, yellow, and orange rockscape, a hilly orange paradise frosted in green forestry.

 

Mike the Ranger's recommendation for lunch was a great one. We ate at Gerardo's, a casual but luxurious Italian restaurant with a patio and bar where dogs were more than welcome. We enjoyed the best pizza we've ever had (yes, really) and even splurged on dessert-- cinnamon donut holes for Evelyn and lemon tiramisu for me (delightful!).

 

We took a scenic loop through Red Rock country after dinner and again stopped to marvel at the poetry of nature. Honestly, The Grand Canyon didn't compare to the beauty of what we had seen throughout our day of adventure this day. Simply amazing...

Red Rock Country

 

We returned via highway to our home in the dirt lot off of a fire road. Brent started a campfire with some free lumber he had cajoled from an employee at Cottonwood's Home Depot. We star-gazed and played with praying mantises that were drawn to the fire and giggled while Evelyn danced to Weird Al songs.

We had our first campfire since being out on the road.

 

The next morning, we had plans to meet up with Brock, a friend attending school at Embry Riddle in Prescott. He suggested we meet in Jerome, which he fondly described as his favorite place. We knew nothing of Jerome. Signs on the way suggested it was a place of history, that much we gathered. It wasn't until we started hugging hillsides on our way to the town that we began to see what Brock was so impressed with. Jerome was once a copper mining town. It is built into the hillside as if someone had thrown the entire community at the hill from a distance and it just kind of stuck there in its own perfection. From a distance, the town appears a painting of a community that someone hung on the side of the mountain.

We visited an old mining rig. At the monument, visitors can stand on a piece of glass and look straight down into the 1900 foot deep elevator shaft that plunges down to the mines below. Can you imagine being a worker there who spent his days nearly 2000 feet below the surface? My fears of heights and enclosed spaces combined, I felt woozy just standing near the glass-covered hole in the ground.

We met Brock for lunch at The Mine Shaft, where I had a jackfruit and veggie fajita burrito-- awesome! We explored the town together after lunch, spending time on a playground, enjoying baked goodies, and discussing the history and quirkiness of the town. The views were amazing! Homes and shops were built on top of each other, clinging to the hillsides however they could. Plenty of local arts and trades were to be found and a character survived on this hillside the likes of which I could have never imagined. It was a real joy to visit Brock, who is tolerating Arizona another two months (63 days!) before he graduates. We've missed him back in California, so visiting him on his temporary turf was pretty special. Evelyn made him play with her on everything there was in the playground.

Lunch at The Mine Shaft

Cookies and Brownies!

Brock and Evelyn at the playground

 

A view of part of the town and playground



I would have loved to hang out here with a glass of wine!

This quirky place was my favorite

We hugged Brock goodbye and went home for another campfire, aiming our sights the next day on Slide Rock Park. The drive there the next day was gorgeous. Every hillside we scaled as we weaved through the forest and mountain highway there was simply stunning. The park was also a sight to be seen with towering red rock covered in pine trees soaring up in a spectacular backdrop. The slides in the canyon were fun, but it was a popular place and crawling with people. Evelyn had fun, though, and I even got in a little hike down an easy trail with the baby and the dogs to snap some pictures of the canyon from above.

In the canyon at Slide Rock Park

This is how you roll (and hike) with a baby and three dogs when you've backed over your stroller at a previous stop!

The backdrop at Slide Rock Park

We wound up spending four nights off of Fire Road 525. It was, so far, the highlight of our trip, and staying off the beaten path saved us close to $200 in camping fees! We woke the final morning there to hot air balloons rising up over the very dirt roads we had explored a few days prior. It was quite a finale.

We gave each other high fives as we buckled up and pointed ourselves once again in the direction of Flagstaff. This time, we had a night reserved at a reputable RV park and we were looking forward to a few luxuries for a change. Though primitive camping had brought with it some priceless memories, we all needed a good shower without worrying about emptying the tanks and were looking forward to NOT going anywhere for a day or two.

We enjoyed those two days in Flagstaff not exploring the town at all. A trip to Michael's and Sprouts felt a welcome routine. This time we visited the Flagstaff Target in much better spirits. We rested two days and were ready for more.

On to the next!

Evelyn enjoying some down time in Flagstaff.

 

 

Our Adventure Begins!



Balloons from our primitive campsite outside of Sedona

It's hard to believe it's been only a week since we left Ontario and finally hit the road. The experiences of the last week are more than most pack into a month. Today, we awoke to hot air balloons rising up over the red rocks and hills of Sedona and threw tennis balls for the dogs in the open dirt space of our off-road campsite. Brent is making breakfast while Evelyn tries on kitty cat ears and tiaras under the orange glow of Halloween lights adorning the cabinets above her. We have all the comforts of home in a gorgeous and exciting new location... and have the same wherever we roam. How incredibly lucky are we?

 

We left Ontario the morning of October 1, a bit behind our original deadline and two and half months after selling our house and moving into our fifth wheel, "Sayla". Brent left ahead of me with Evelyn, the dogs, and the RV and I stayed behind to nurse the baby and squeak in one last half hour with my parents. We watched as our new home rolled down the street and off on its adventure... and as its tires rubbed the curb with a turn that proved a little short. Oops.

 

When Kailyn was done nursing, I hopped in my car and left Ontario, myself, feeling a strange glow and buoyancy knowing I was really finally doing this. I drove a side route to the freeway, following the same routine path I once took each week when I would  drive Evelyn to my mom's house for the day before work and head back home. The time of day, the old routine path all rang familiar of a routine I would no longer live. As I passed the freeway exits of Rancho Cucamonga on my way out of town, I looked north and felt jubilation: we are free! We are free of our house, free of all the same routines, free of the former home to all of our former obligations... free. Wow. I never thought I'd be so happy to know I would never live in our house again and strangely enough even happy to know I would no longer frequent the Target store by our house I had known so well. Weird? Yes, I know! But hey, it's what I was feeling.

 

I felt I was rolling on air as I ascended the Cajon Pass, knowing it would be the last time for a long time I'd drive this path. My joy was unmatched... and then I got a call from Brent. His morning was not going as well. His dark mood began when I had chuckled earlier at his rubbing the curb on his momentous grand exit; he hadn't realized he'd done it. Oops. It got darker when he hit traffic on the freeway route he had chosen and had to navigate side streets getting to the high desert. It got even worse when he had to take an alternate route around Hesperia getting to a friend's house where we would be storing my car. He was cursing the obscene condition of the streets and what it was doing to the RV. By the time I arrived at our friend's house with my car to meet Brent, there was practically steam spouting from his ears-- the bike rack had broken from all the rattling (and maybe a little user error).

 

We finagled a temporary fix to hold the bike trailer up behind the RV and headed for our final high desert stop at Brent's parents house, preparing for our final goodbyes before heading north and then east. Brent's spirits began to lift when he and his dad were able to fix the bike rack, but it could  have been the giddiness that comes with beating something with a sledgehammer. We bid our farewells and left the desert and Brent began to feel the same sense of release I had earlier. Freedom.

 

Our first destination was the KOA at the Avi Casino in Laughlin, where we would stay one night on our way to Kingman, AZ. It proved an obtainable destination and a good gauge of the distance we could feasibly cover at our traveling speed (average 60 MPH) and with an infant on board (lots of nursing stops). We stopped in Barstow to grab some grilled cheeses and shakes from In N Out on our way. We arrived at the KOA and set up our first real "home away from home" on our grand adventure. It was hot. Yuck. Like I had expected different from Laughlin? Still, my mood went south after the bumpy drive in to Laughlin and setting up camp in the heat. We wanted to go to the pool. Evelyn was really excited to have a park for the night that had a cool pool to play in. We arrived around 5pm. It had been a long day in the car since our departure at 8am and we needed time to clean the home and get comfortable. We finally made our way to the pool around 9pm.

We had reached our first destination!

 

I had freshly nursed Kailyn and was looking forward to a glass of wine by the pool. When Evelyn and  Brent got into the pool, I pushed the stroller through the casino looking for a bar. Yes, I realize how trashy that sounds and was actually feeling a pang of guilt over the inappropriateness at simply having a baby in a casino, but I pushed that feeling aside. I mean, it's Laughlin-- and the day totally justified the treat. I found a bar and ordered a glass of red wine. The bartender looked at me and at the stroller and then directly at Kailyn. He said, "We don't serve anyone with children in the bar." I actually laughed. I thought he was kidding. His flat expression wiped the smile from my face. I had a baby in a bar. No wine for you (Soup Nazi voice here... use your imagination)! Wow, have I ever felt trashier?? He must have noticed the punch-in-the-stomach expression on my face and attempted to make me feel better: "You can come back without the baby and I can serve you."  I shook my head; the baby really had her heart set on ordering it herself (if only I had been that witty in the moment!). No wine for me. The craving had been killed.  I'm not gonna lie-- I was fighting back tears as I walked back to the pool. It hardly mattered that a half dozen people on the way smiled at me and complimented Kailyn's cuteness (I mean, she is super cute) and held doors for me without any judgment whatsoever. I had had a baby in a bar. I did manage to shake the guilt enough to enjoy myself but it took a while. By the time we reached the trailer, we were wiped out. We slept well that night, though a glass of wine still would have been nice.

 

The next morning, we packed what little we had gotten out and set our sights on our first destination: Kingman, Arizona. On the way, we stopped to visit Brent's aunt and uncle in Bullhead City. We lugged our gigantic fifth wheel up into their beautiful neighborhood and miraculously had room in their cul-de-sac to pull a tight U-Turn and park on the curb across the street from their house without blocking anyone's driveway. We had a lovely visit with Aunt Patty, Uncle Dennis, and Dennis's mom Isabelle. Patty had planned heartily packed veggie burgers with sweet potato fries and had even bought a Halloween cookie decorating kit for Evelyn to work on for dessert and she and Isabelle worked together to make for a memorable project. A neighbor had brought over a box of toys and books and Evelyn was even welcome to pick one to take home with her. We ate on their patio overlooking the neighboring hillsides and valleys and enjoyed spending time with family we hadn't seen in years.

Decorating Halloween cookies with Isabelle

Lunch on the patio with Dennis, Patty, and Isabelle

 

After lunch, we left for Kingman. We arrived at the KOA Journey in Kingman late in the afternoon and within minutes of arrival, we were surrounded by family again. Brent's brother, Bruce (Uncle Moose), arrived with Evelyn's cousins Hannah and Symon. Uncle Bruce and Symon rode bikes around the campground with Evelyn and we watched a stunning sunset together. The clouds to the east of us looked like tangerine cotton candy resting around the crown of the rocky hills. We all had dinner together at Chili's to top the night off. Evelyn was overjoyed to have cousins around her once again.

Dinner at Chili's

Symon and Evelyn hanging out in the trailer

 

The next day, we decided to drive Route 66 to Peach Springs. We enjoyed some of the charming scenery along the way, including train tracks and trains and homesteads from America's history. Peach Springs, however, was a terribly anticlimactic destination as it turns out. I actually logged is as "ghastly" in my notepad! Though we could see some distant plateaus of the Grand Canyon, the neighborhoods we drove through were dilapidated and homes were barely holding themselves upright. There was trash and broken down bits of everything imaginable lying around and it looked a terrible tragedy of a place to live, let alone visit. I felt sorry for a dog sitting on a front porch surrounded by trash and tall, dried weeds. But people lived there, too. I guess we had expected to see a real life version of old Radiator Springs from Evelyn's beloved Cars movie, but this town-- aside from one boarded up old garage made of rocks-- bared no resemblance. It had truly been bypassed by I-40 to the point of complete ruin. No happy ending here and seemingly no charming history still evident as it stood.

 

We did, though, stop in to a gift shop, Hackberry Route 66 store, which reminded us of a real life "Lizzy's Curio Shop". Route 66 relics, lots of old rusty cars, an Indian statue or two, and a friendly cat on the porch to complete the package made it impossible not to smile. A diorama of sorts in a nearby shed housed an old pick-up and an aged mannequin dressed as a cowboy. Evelyn had walked all the way up to the scene before discovering the cowboy wasn't real and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her! We took lots of pictures in and around the shop and pieced together some of the history of the Route, imagining what it had been before the highway was built.

Evelyn's feet carrying her as fast as they can away from the scary mannequin!

When you gotta go...

 

That evening, we topped our Kingman visit by watching Uncle Moose play softball with his company's team at the sports park and Evelyn played with some kids in the playground. It was a perfect finale to a brief visit through the area.

 

The next day was Moving Day. We planned on Flagstaff as our next destination, where we figured we would plant ourselves and make a daytrip to Sedona. At some point along the path, Kailyn began complaining of a hungry baby tummy, so we found a large dirt pull-off of a gas station to stop and Brent let the dogs out to stretch their legs. Kailyn's empty tummy turned out to be quite fortuitous; Brent discovered a running kitchen sink when he opened the trailer and a stream of water that had run off the counter and pooled into the padding of the carpet and couch. One thing we've discovered is that traveling causes the kitchen faucet's handle to raise itself. In foreshadowing that had been ignored to this point, I had discovered this issue previously when I'd gone in to use the bathroom at a pit stop somewhere and heard the water pump running while doing my business. What I would discover is that a ghost had seemingly turned on the kitchen faucet while en route so that when the pump was turned on, we got water running on its own over the kitchen counter. Well, this time someone had left the pump on before we locked up shop for the road. Needless to say, we had a longer pit stop than we had planned and lots of towels were sacrificed for the clean up (I never regret overpacking in the towel department!).

 

When we finally climbed back into the truck, the day was turning to afternoon. We still planned to get to Flagstaff and had even called to book a reservation at an RV park, though we wouldn't get there until well after dark and were warned that it would be freezing there that night (and here I was in flip flops still sweating from our hot and sunny dirt lot kitchen sink overflow cleanup).

 

Evelyn crashed out and Brent and I enjoyed the view as the scenery shifted from dry desert to pine tree hilltop. The sun was getting low in the sky and we smiled at the charm of the town we were passing from the highway. Trains peeked through the trees on their trail cresting the mountain top and another train passed under the highway, resting at a flat ground neighboring homes and an RV park. A white steeple poked out from the trees over a church nestled down below. Brent and I smiled and then realized: an RV park by train tracks? How cool is that? Evelyn would love that! Abandoning our sights of Flagstaff-- because, hey, we can!-- we exited and navigated small town streets in search of the RV park we had seen by the tracks.

Our site at Railside RV Ranch




Hey, I can see our house from here!
Our view of our house from the train to the Grand Canyon.

We didn't know what we had stumbled upon but our highway find turned into three days of absolute awesomeness. Williams, Arizona, the town we had come upon by chance, is the home of the Grand Canyon Railway. It seems most I talk to now knew this, but we sure didn't! We parked at the office of the Railside RV Ranch and I hopped out to take pictures, already charmed by the glow of the sunset on the tree lined hilltops of the town and the historic-looking trains resting only 100 feet away.

Brent was in the office for some time as he enjoyed the small talk and recommendations for exploration from the owner of the park. THIS was where he learned of the train to the Grand Canyon. And how cool is this-- the park offered pet sitting! While guests were out for the day, staff would come walk the dogs and be sure they were happy and got out for the day! We booked two nights at the park and three tickets for the train the next morning.

 

A shuttle driven by an affable man who lives in the park and his small black poodle mix as co-pilot took us to the train the next morning. We enjoyed the scenery on the way out and made small talk with our car's PSA, Dennis. Evelyn charmed the marshal who walked the train in order to protect us from bandits.

Evelyn with the marshal

 We walked the small village of our destination and took the requisite pictures of The Grand Canyon. Evelyn filled out what she could in her Junior Ranger book in order to earn a badge, which was ALL she was concerned with for the visit. We marveled at the canyon. Can you imagine being the explorer who stumbled across this thing? Even from the one view we were observing from the village, it was breath-taking. Because the mind can't wrap itself around its enormity, it appears the grandest of all photo backdrops imaginable. It doesn't look real. And yet, it seems to live and breathe on its own as shadows move over it and the sun sets color aglow in a majestic kaleidoscope that shifts through each passing minute.

Working on her Junior Ranger book

 

As illustrious as it is, The Grand Canyon is what it is-- a giant hole in the ground and if truth be told there is only so long you can stare and marvel before you've quite simply seen it. Evelyn fell asleep in our new gargantuan double stroller (seemed an appropriate place for our debut use of it) and we sat around waiting for time to pass and the train to be ready to take us back.

 

I decided to take Evelyn's partially completed Junior Ranger book to the visitor's center to try for a badge. She'd had her heart set on it and what is a plastic badge or sticker of a badge to give if a book is incomplete? A lot, it turns out! The woman in the visitor center expressed her immense disappointment that the book wasn't completed. We hadn't even attended a Ranger program (the only one we could have attended that day was a half hour before the train departed and even still-- the kid's asleep)! The woman told me that these badges are a privilege and that the Rangers take them very seriously. The book must be complete to get that badge! I showed her pictures of Evelyn working on the book and of her asleep in the stroller with the open book and a pen in hand. She finally relented because, and I quote, "I don't want to make a four year old cry." Sheesh. You'd think the badge was made of gold. That little plastic badge was the pride of Evelyn's Grand Canyon visit, though, and it was the first thing she asked to finish earning when she woke up on our way down to the train.

 

The train ride back was the highlight of the day. We made small talk with several people around us and Evelyn made friends with nearly half the car we were riding. The marshal passed through several times and chatted with Evelyn. At 5:15 we saw what the marshal had warned us of: robbers! Several robbers on horseback stood amongst the landscape and aimed their guns at us. Some rode alongside the train. Evelyn planted herself against the window and looked something between curious, amused, and scared at what was happening. The train stopped and we were informed the robbers were on board. I have to share the expression on Evelyn's face when we could see them in the car ahead of us-- priceless!

They're on the train?? They're coming?!

We got robbed. Our car host told us they would use our money to go to McDonald's later back in town. It was hilarious. Evelyn handed over some money we had given her and she took pictures with one of the robbers. We all laughed after they moved on to the next train and giggled with the new friends in seats around us at the experience. Then, the marshal appeared, throwing the doors open and shouting, "Which way did they go?!" I'll let the videos of the experience speak for themselves here. Evelyn was ever so helpful, and you can clearly see that she had made friends in our car.

Evelyn getting robbed:

Evelyn offering help to the marshal:

Soon after returning from the train ride, we watched one of the train robbers pull into the RV park in his old, rusty Ford pick-up truck. Evelyn waved at him. He parked and took off his hat and bandana after a hard day's work before disappearing into his luxury model 38 foot motor home. Evelyn was excited that one of the robbers lived in our RV park, but was a little concerned he would come ask us for more money so he could go to McDonald's again.

 

We explored the town of Williams a bit that night. Neon signs, mom and pop shops, original buildings restored, "Made in America" signs proudly displayed in windows, streets that disappear into tree-filled hilltops, and friendly people every way we looked. This town is Charming, yes with a capital "C". We chose a pizza/brewery for dinner, Historic Brewing Company. It was a restored barrel house, designed with a modern flair. They sold their own craft brew and wine. I actually ordered a pint of beer: Piehole Porter. It was a cherry vanilla porter and was absolutely amazing. I'm ashamed to say I left half a glass on the table, but a nursing mom has to cut a few corners in the vice department. I had also sampled a cucumber beer and a light lemony beer. I loved them all.

On the main strip in Williams, AZ



The beer selection at Historic Brewing Co.

My samples at Historic Brewing Co.

We stayed one more night so that we could visit Bearizona the next day. We had heard it was worth the stop and it sure was. It was a quiet sort of amusement park with maybe only 50 other visitors there when we arrived that afternoon. We paid our car's fee to enjoy its two attractions: a walk-through mini-zoo complete with petting zoo and informational shows (we watched the Birds of Prey show) and a drive through wilderness area where animals like bears and wolves can approach your vehicle (and a wolf did follow us as we rolled through). It was a great finale to our visit to Williams. The cherry on top was backing over our stroller in the Bearizona parking lot (no one was in it!). Brent and I don't exactly have the program of working together dialed.

Our poor, mangled stroller...

I snapped pictures of Williams the next morning because I just couldn't get enough of the town. From a tangible pride and sense of community to a former brothel-turned-coffee/pastry shop with its very own haunting, I wanted to sink in and get to know the town better. Brent chatted with a man at the gas station (window wiping service included with fill!) who was the only concrete contractor for miles. He said he was busy and couldn't find good help. Brent's eyes lit up at an opportunity. We chatted about possibilities here and debated whether we could really handle the small town as transplants. Evelyn would go to school in a one room elementary school! We couldn't help but fantasize, but we were hardly going to settle down in the first town we met. I'll admit, though, it was a little hard to leave!

Williams, AZ

 

The next morning while Brent cleaned and prepared for moving, Evelyn made friends in the playground area. We met two homeschool families, both of whom were traveling from Missouri to Northern California for the husbands' work as pipe fitters. Then, while we were about to pull out, another full time family made small talk with us. They were from Florida and were traveling with their two grandchildren. Evelyn played hide-and-go-seek with the two young girls and left with gifts they had given her: a pink little pony pegasus and a necklace. Evelyn asked when she could see her new friends again. This is the hardest part of this journey: helping Evelyn enjoy herself while she misses her friends and family and can't establish routine with her new friends.

It's tough to be a traveling pioneer

We waved farewell to Williams and three days after we had stumbled upon it finally resumed our path to Flagstaff. Moving Day from Williams to Flagstaff proved a mess with a fortuitous finish. We hadn't planned our move and felt confident after our first adventitious discovery for lodging we would have no troubles finding a place and felt we might even get lucky again. Such was not the case. We weren't keeping track of the days and Moving Day was a Friday... Friday of a three day weekend, Columbus Day. We called park after park and couldn't find a spot. We tried campgrounds in the area. They had either closed October 1st or couldn't accommodate a rig our size.

 

We finally settled on a low rated RV park, the only with a spot available, Black Bart's RV Park/Steakhouse/Saloon. Sounds charming, right? It was gross to say the least. There isn't a better word to describe it. We had paid for two nights and attempted to park but we hesitated. There were lots of permanent residents and many of those permanent sites had a dilapidated creep factor I couldn't shake. This wasn't a detail that couldn't be ignored, but the site we'd been assigned appeared to be sinking. Our tires were in a huge dip in the pad that seemed to get worse no matter the direction we moved to attempt level. The concrete pads had 3-5 inch wide cracks in them, the picnic tables were a strong breeze away from falling to the ground in a pile of rubble. I was hungry, the time of day was right for parking and exploring, but we exchanged looks that revealed neither of us wanted to stay here. There were few options left we hadn't tried and we knew it would be difficult, but we got our money back and opted to forge into the unknown in hopes of better options. Little did we know where this decision would lead us...

Stay tuned! 

T Minus 24 Hours

The Home is parked at the curb and awaiting departure!

We have a launch date!


We've been staying with my parents for the last two weeks. We've been here seeking refuge while the home has been in at the RV dealer for repairs. Since we arrived September 15, we've nearly taken over the house. With a baby and a four year old around, there are lots of things strewn around the house. And, before we took our trailer in for repair we had to empty our residential size fridge somewhere, so we took over my parents' fridge. When they got home from camping for the week last week, they returned to a full fridge, leaving them to continue storing their own food in the motorhome fridge out in the driveway (we're an RV kind of family!).


They've also been more than understanding and hospitable with five dogs roaming around the house. In addition to their two Golden Retrievers, they've been playing host to our pitbull, maltese/poodle mix, and itchy greaseball Shih Tzu mix. All the dogs get along wonderfully, but I never thought I'd see the day five (six before their Golden foster was adopted out a few days into our stay here) dogs lounged around the living room at my parents' house!

Memaw and Papa and the best pose you get with five dogs in on the mix!

Thank goodness for family. We've enjoyed spending the last week and a half packing in time with my mom and step-dad. We've packed in a few extra visits with my sister and her family, as well. Evelyn got to have a sleepover with her cousins last weekend and was over the moon. We've been squeezing in what we can, not knowing how much time we'd have.

Memaw with all the grand-daughters

Aunt Shelby with Kailyn



Me enjoying the comforts of a house without wheels for now.

Evelyn has been creating her own adventure every day, playing on her swing set and running her dad and dogs ragged all over the yard. If she has dirt, she has plenty to do! Plus, Memaw and Papa's house is like a second home to her.

It's also been nice to have a bit more room for photos and cuddling.

We've checked off all the boxes for repair and errand running we had remaining: getting our taxes done before our extension ran out, getting the brakes fixed on the trailer, getting the truck's power upgraded, getting new tires on the trailer, and even getting new cell phones since Brent's was completely out of commission.

We're ready to roll!

We're off tomorrow morning to Arizona, where we'll see some more family for the weekend. Then, it's off to the Grand Canyon an on to Utah, where we have a list so long of places we want to see we may spend most of October making the rounds.

It's hard to believe that since we left our house in July, we're finally at a point where we can start exploring other states!

Thank you, Memaw and Papa, for having us share your home for these weeks. It is bittersweet to leave, but I consider us pretty lucky to managed to squeeze in such a wonderful visit before we leave!

Holding Pattern

This may end up being a more emotional entry, so bear with me, friends.

We have been living in the new home for nearly two months already. Where has that time gone? we've survived the hottest months of the year living in a trailer all while either super pregnant, giving birth, or nursing a newborn. We've bounced from Doheny to Prado to Jurupa to Yucaipa back to Prado. Our plan was to leave on our adventure of traveling this Thursday, but wow... is there still a lot to take care of!

We've discovered a lot of loose ends need attending to before we leave. What with our plan to stay local the way we have until after the baby was born, we stored a lot of items that we knew we wouldn't need for the hot summer months before we set out. We now need to sort through our warm weather clothes already in the trailer and bring in some colder weather clothes from storage. We're somewhat (well, maybe considerably) ill prepared as Southern Californians for the types of weather we'll be experiencing out there, and I'm pretty sure I'll need something more than flip flops for most places we'll visit. It ought to be interesting learning whether I'll fit in my pre-pregnancy cold weather clothes with this post-pregnancy body. A trip to storage is in order; luckily Brent stored those boxes near the front of the storage unit.

We've discovered a few vehicle maintenance items that need our attention before we can set off safely. When I was following Brent from Yucaipa to Prado last weekend, I gasped when a cloud of brown smoke came wafting out from beneath the driver side tires of the trailer. We pulled over before hitting the freeway only to discover that we've only had one good trailer brake this entire time. Of the four tires on the trailer, only one brake had anything left (and it is very little!) while the other three have been worn down to the metal. This isn't our doing. It was likely towed with brakes engaged across the country from the factory to the dealer and then dragged this way around the dealer lot. We don't trust the dealer to fix this for us, so Brent is opting to address it himself.

In making small talk with a woman I met in the laundry room at Jurupa, I learned of her story towing their fifth wheel and experiencing a blow out. We had experienced a blow out in our other trailer and it resulted in some damage to the exterior skirting where the tire shredded it from underneath.  Our damage wasn't bad. Her story involved a terrifying ordeal on a crowded Southern California freeway and a discovery that no one would help them in the moment despite multiple forms of road side assistance insurance. Her biggest advice was not to let the tires get low and to drive slowly. I started paying more attention to our trailer tires and for four month old tires, they are looking uncomfortably worn and disturbingly low despite being filled to capacity. Brent studied them more carefully only to announce that they are made in China. Enough worry over the inevitable behind us, we decided we would go ahead and replace the tires before hitting the open road.

We also discovered that the truck was struggling considerably. It's a hefty workhorse truck: a one ton diesel Chevrolet. All the same, it was time to research ways to make it more of a Clydesdale over quarterhorse and Brent upgraded its power train with a Banks system which will improve our brakes (Jake brake!), towing power, and mileage.

Add to the vehicle chores things like pediatrician visits, birth certificate acquisition, financial tasks, doctor appointments, and final visits with friends and family... well, we haven't left the local area yet and will not be ready to by our initial deadline.

Living local while not technically having a home has been a bit of a struggle. It's one thing to look forward to seeing the country and having a new baby. It's another to add the responsibility that comes with the new baby to living in a trailer and still be stuck local while weighed down with loose ends and obligations to attend to, all with no technical home base we normally rely on for stability. We spend our days in the car running errands spanning the width from Chino to Yucaipa. The dogs are stuck in the trailer for long days at a time waiting for us or are toted around with us in the car, waiting in a locked and air conditioned vehicle while we run into one place or another. With the baby on board now, we're stopping 2-3 times (though we set a record of 5 times the other day) for nursing pit stops during errands, adding hours to our time in the car all in all. Going to the grocery store is squeezed in at odd hours of the night and anything resembling routine is more of a wistful wish than anything of a reality.

I worry endlessly about Evelyn. She's given up her home with her yard and all the space that came with it; her friends at school and home; many of her toys (in storage); her cat (who we agreed was not happy with this lifestyle); and now her only child status. She is soon to say goodbye to her cousins and grandparents and she is anticipating this and is immensely sad over it. We're finding ourselves telling her "no" all the time because there is more to worry about living in a campground. She can't just go outside by herself or take off and play; we can't always go with her. We can't always play with her when he asks us to. She's expressing more anger and becoming more defiant. She's opting not to talk when I sit down to ask her what's wrong. She's biting her nails even worse than before and she's added to it more worried and nervous habits like chewing her hair or her shirt. She worries about Heidi going to Doggy Heaven someday-- should a 4 year old be this worried over what more she can lose?? Brent and I fear this was a bad choice for her. I cry a lot over it.

Whoever said that living this lifestyle is easier and more carefree was lying. We are always washing dishes, cleaning, or putting things away. Dog poop has to be picked up immediately. Going outside means latching dogs to leashes and leads while also juggling kid and baby locations and plans. Getting ready to go anywhere is a task, digging for clothes now lumped together in jumbled piles from a closet space we never found time to organize. Getting online to take care of obligations or to shop for necessities we discover we need before we leave means taking the laptop from its storage place and digging out the wireless jet pack and powering it up, as well. Trying to fit in time to do my hair or put on make up is even more of a challenge than it was in a home what with sharing one little bathroom and having to tell Evelyn I'm busy as soon as I sit down to make myself look less tired because she's asking me to play with her or help her with something again. There is no sitting around in lawn chairs sipping lemonade and taking in the sights... at least not yet. Will it ever be that way?

The most emotional part of this situation comes with the inevitable-- saying goodbye to friends and family. We've sold everything in California and have uprooted our real estate obligations in this state. We are about to go see the country. It's likely we'll see places we like more than where we've always lived. A result of this journey may likely be that we find a new home elsewhere in the country with nicer people, greener pastures, and better communities. We may  not return to life as we knew it in California. While this sounds like a wonderful opportunity for our small family, it's immeasurably sad and immensely bittersweet that this holding pattern life we're living now is perhaps the last taste of normalcy we'll have for the life we've always known. We're packing in visits and sleepovers and trying simply to not think about how significantly this journey will change our lives and our accessibility to the friends and family we love here.

We plan to return for Christmas. We're focusing on this to add an element of comfort to what we're doing. The fact is, though, Kailyn will be four months old then and Evelyn will be closer to five years old. The family and friends who have been an active part of Evelyn's life and seen her grow will not experience the same for Kailyn. We plan to return again in April but as we're planning the January-April leg of our trip, we're finding we'll be too far east to get back to California, realistically. Because I need to return in April for work, it's looking more like it will be just me and Kailyn flying back at that time... or depending on what we can work out, maybe we won't need to return at all in April, meaning we won't return to friends and family until after Kailyn is walking!  This is where it gets to be too much reality...

I told Brent yesterday, "I expected this experience to be more carefree." And then I wiped more tears away. I'm worn thin right now. I'm tired, I'm worried, I'm exhausted by my own emotions. Maybe it will get better once we're finally out of California. Maybe, in other ways, it'll get worse. Either way, we're committed. We're circling in a holding pattern and waiting for the runway to clear. The runway always does clear, eventually.