A moment to catch up

Miles behind us and many pictures to share. Let's catch up.
While in Flagstaff a month ago, we took a day trip through Oak Creek Canyon and down into Sedona, Arizona. Beauty surrounds the town that is built amongst cliffs and mesas, but one day was enough for us. The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona is well worth the trip.
Oak Creek Canyon::::
In Oak Creek Canyon is Slide Rock State Park. During the summer the canyon is packed with people sliding down the natural water slide. The day we were there was a little chilly. Kaleb was the only brave soul willing to give it a try. His outlook on it was, he might never get this chance again. Gotta love the kids attitude!!!!


As we drove into Sedona we were greeted with a thunderstorm. As we watched to clouds approach the locals assured us that it wouldn't rain. They were wrong. It poured cats and dogs. We took the opportunity to get shelter inside The Red Planet Diner. Some folks we met in Moab recommended the place. It is filled with alien and spacecraft decor. We filled up on a huge banana split and by the time we left I had Anika convinced that our server was really an alien. She watched her back as we walked out the door.

After Flagstaff we headed south to see some more cliff dwellings. First stop, Montezuma's Well. Montezuma's Well is a sinkhome, a collapsed underground limestone cavern filled with water. More than a million gallons of water a day flow continuously from the sinkhole. It is constant 70 degrees. The Sinagua's built dwellings above the sinkhole and below is an irrigation canal built by them to water the surronding lands and crops. Amazing!

Montezuma's Castle is a 5 story, 20 room castle from the Sinagua's more than 600 years ago. Early settlers to the area assumed that the "castle" was connected to the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but we now know it was actually abandoned almost a centry before Montezuma was even born.

Tuzigoot, another Sinagua ruin.
Ever been to Jerome? Located up on Cleopatra Hill between Flagsaff and Prescott its an old mining/ghost town. It is now filled with artist galleries and old saloons. We ate at a great burger joint called The Haunted Hamburger. Supposedly the ghosts still roam the building. We didn't see any but again had Ani convinced they were there. All in good fun I swear. Even knowing we were in a ghost town the older two chicklins were okay with me going into the saloon to watch Jay play the open mic there. I think I was more nervous about leaving them then they were.

After Jermoe we spent a few days in Prescott, AZ. We really liked it there but for those of you that have been following our blog know that we woke up to snow one morning and didn't think twice about splitting town. We did make it to Heritage Park Zoo, an animal sactuary before we left.
We then headed down the mountains and towards Phoenix and as the traffic got heavier we decided to keep on driving..... right on through. All I know of Phoenix is the Goodwill store and the great book selection they have. From what I hear, we're not missing much.
Our next stop...Casa Grande Ruins.
Casa Grande, meaning "the great house" was built by the Hohokam. The land surronding it was litterally littering with pottery. The kids being the great Junior Rangers that they are left them there, as hard as it was.

From here we spent a night in Picachu Peak State Park, north of Tucson. We pulled in early and spent the day exploring the desert, surronded by Saguara Cacti. This has been one of Kaleb's favorite spots. It was nice to have a day to chill in the sun, read, catch up on schoolwork, explore, watch the sunset and roast some marshallows.

I think we could've spent a few days at Picachu but it was time to catch up on laundry and find some hot showers. The next day we left for Tucson and found a RV park with a swimming pool. YIPPEE!!
During this quick stop we learned that we don't fair well in the city. The big life is just too much for us. :) We decided that we had enough. Our clothes were clean, the fridge stocked. We'd head to Bisbee, AZ. Bisbee is a town we heard about before leaving Bend. It's been somewhat of our final destination, as we haven't really looked at a map beyond this point. It's time to start researching New Mexico.
Before leaving Tucson we found a local who showed us an canal ditch to skate and spent the rest of the day having fun at the zoo.




We've been enjoying our time in Bisbee, Az for over a week. We still like it here, although one thing I'm learning on this journey is that I really like water. I haven't seen any since we left Moab. They say they have a river here, The San Jose..but i would call it a muddy creek. I think I may need to settle somewhere where there is a river or lake and some green trees would be nice. One thing I've never seen before is a pomegrante tree. I had to look twice when I walked past one. The trees grow all over town. I lost track of the number of pomegrante we've eaten weeks ago. They've been a constant in the fridge, so to be able to pick them from a tree on a walk is heaven in the kids eyes.
Now don't get me wrong, I love it here. I'm just not sure it could be forever. We'll enjoy the rest of our time here and when the time comes to hit the road again we'll be thankful for the time we've spent and the friends made.

Recycle-aholics Anonymous

Question on the day???
How the heck you recycle when you live on the road?
I'm a recycler. My husband would take it further, Im a recyclaholic! I recycle EVERYTHING! I can not throw a piece of paper in the garbage. Wasn't a problem in Bend. We had one huge container outside our door that took everything. Glass, cardboard, paper, plastic, you name it. You just chucked it all in there, put it out on your curb and every Wed. a big blue truck came and took all the goodies away.

I've been trying real hard while on the road. I've saved everything. Burned the paper goods when we stopped to camp. Pulled up to a town with buckets full of empty water bottles and cans from cooking. But what do you do if the town isn't recycle friendly? This is killing me!!!! I've actually had to throw it all in a dumpster, just to get rid of it. Yes, it was a restless night for me.

We now buy big containers of spring water and put in our own water bottles, that saves some space. But there is still a lot of recycle waste that I''m having to throw away. it's killing me!!
I wish i could compost on the road too. I bet there's a way. I need to research that.
HELP!!

nomads on the road

Let me start real quick by reminding you all that I ended my last blog with the word Snowflake. I was bragging how we always skip town just before Old Man Winter falls down. After I finished my blog we drove up to a campsite near Granite Peak in Prescott, Arizona. As we were eating dinner the dog was whining outside. She was persistent about being let in. I finally caved in only to open the door too.....SNOW! Yep, the joke was on me. We cranked up the heater, slept well and drove out of town further south the next morning.
We are now in Bisbee, Arizona. Just 6 miles from the Mexico border. Bisbee is an old, old, old mining town. It is wonderful!!!! Old houses lie on stacked up the hill. Old stairways are everywhere leading down to town. The history is great, the energy is great and the people couldn't be more welcoming. We've been here 3 days and have already been offered a driveway to live in, been invited to a birthday party, played open mics, laughed with numerous families in the park and i think tomorrow i'll go see if i can find myself a little part-time temporary job. I have a feeling we may be calling this home for awhile. At least through the holiday.

Those who know us well know how fascinated we are by the Native Americans. Those who are just meeting us, they will figure this out soon. We've spent countless hours roaming the ancient dried up lake beds of Oregon. We found proof on the ground that they were there. We felt the energy in the woods or desert. We thought we had it good. And we did.....but nothing like what we're finding here in Arizona.

Ever since we crossed the state line we've been exploring cliff dwellings and pueblos. Yes, we would be the ones drooling as we walk the trails. The ones shaking as we walk across pottery shards.


We've been learning a lot about the Sinagua. The Sinagua were a pre-Columbian cultural group occupying an area in central Arizona between approximately 500 AD and 1425 AD. Sinagua is derived from the Spanish words sin meaning "without" and agua meaning "water".
Early Sinagua sites consisted of pit-houses. At our latest outing at the Casa Grande Ruines a little south of Phoenix, Kaleb was busy completing his Junior Ranger assignments. One of the questions asked him to compare the Sinagua pit house living and the lifestyle to his own.
Well, pit houses were one room. He smirked as he realized his "current house" is in fact, ONE ROOM! Sinagua's were nomads, a community of people who move from one place to another. Now, we may not be following a herd of buffalo, but we do roam. The Sinagua's vanished. To this day we are not sure what exactly made them leave. Over the last month we have gained a habit of meeting new people and then telling them we'll see themagain in a few days and then, POOF...we're gone,vanished, on the road again. Not intentional, we're just NOMADS.

Sweet Times

Life is good. All is well.
We are just ahead of old man winter. It seems to snow within 48 hours of us leaving a town. Not bad for not following the weather reports. We've had to turn on the heater a few times at night, but so far so good.

It's crispy today. A fall chill is in the air. We're in Prescott, Arizona right now. We are falling in love. Tack another town on the list for "potential settlement". It too is a lot like Bend, OR. But milder I hear. Flagstaff and winter lie 95 miles to the north while Phoenix and it's blazing sun is 95 miles to the south. So I guess if your sick of the weather here, change is a short drive away. I'm thinking the town itself is a bit bi-polar in the weather department. Yesterday was 80. Warm for us. I got up this morning ready to put on shorts and a tank, only to find clouds and a high of 50. Brrrrr.........
We've done lots of exploring between Flagstaff and here. Native American cliff dwellings and spooky ghost towns. Cacti stingings and tarantula hunts have also filled our days.
Before we left Flagstaff, we celebrated Halloween.


I tried hard to find a pumpkin patch in Northern Arizona. You know, the kind on a farm, with spitting llamas, hay mazes and carmel corn. I failed in that department, so we settled for some pumpkins being sold in an old gravel parking lot. Not quite the same, but we still got our pumpkins. That's what matters, right.The kids couldn't wait for school to be done the next day. Carving was on their minds. ART CLASS! KK and Ani had a blast. Avery would have nothing to do with the pumpkin guts. GROSS!

(no we didn't pick up another kid, this is our friend Michael. The kids spent all week helping him build a tree house behind the RV park we stayed in)
We heard stories from the locals all week long. To put it mildly, Flag LOVES Halloween. The kids were "decorated" but Jay and I weren't. We were the ones feeling odd and left out. EVERYONE dresses up and roams the streets. We took the kids to a carnival first and then zig-zaged our way through neighborhoods to historic downtown. Every store was open with workers dressed up handing out candy. On every corner awaited huge containers stocked with sweets waiting for little hands to grab as much as they could hold. Charlie Browns Great Pumpkin was shown on a big screen in the town square. People everywhere, in every costume imaginable, in character, not skipping a beat.

We're all stocked up on candy. We've made smores with peanut butter cups, kit kats, hershey crunch and butterfingers. The kids insist the stash will last a year, i give it 3 more weeks.

We had fun in Flagstaff and will consider it "home" when the time comes. For now we journey on. Surprises await around each corner. We'll spend a few more days in Prescott before heading south a bit more. That is unless i see a snowflake.