When we started planning this trip it was so that we could go spend some time with Erik's parents in the Phoenix area. One thing led to another, and we added in several other places in southern California and Baja, making a big loop. We've really missed Claud and Michele since they moved away three years ago, and this was the second time we've been able to visit them in Arizona. They've come to see us a number of times as well, but it's just not the same as having them close! We want the kids to have lots of fun memories of visiting their Nana and Papa in the desert.
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| Peregrine and his Papa out hiking near their home. Isn't it beautiful! |
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| The Superstition Mountains. |
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| Giant Siguaro cactus. They are so cool! |
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| Saying goodbye to Nana and Papa. This was before all the sadness of leaving. |
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| Walking on the desert path right behind Claud and Michele's home. The January sunshine was sure a treat to our Pacific Northwest blood! |
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| Sister Love! |
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| Peregrine built this radio tower as part of the Mojave Airport! |
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| Poppy hanging out in the sun. |
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| Sunset from their backyard... amazing! The Superstitions look gorgeous in the light of the setting sun. |
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| Another shot of the hikers! Peregrine will have special memories of desert hikes and birdwatching with his Papa! |
A number of these pictures were taken by Michele. Somehow I didn't get my camera out as much as I should have while we were there. I'm glad you did, Michele!
So many amazing pictures...seems like you travel a lot. How can you do that? I would love to do more, not just for "vacations" once a year, mainly to learn and discover in person what this beautiful earth is like...
ReplyDeleteMarfa, we don't travel as much as we would like to either! We are working towards selling our home and leaving on an open ended trip/pilgrimage, hopefully in the next year. One of the things that has helped us to be able to get away is to get an airline credit card and put everything on it through the year. This usually gives us a couple of tickets, plus the card we use (Alaska Airlines) offers companion fares. So we've paid as little as around $500 to fly our whole family to Mexico. I also scour lots of options to find inexpensive accommodation and we don't do a lot of tourist attractions... just try to hang out and spend a lot of time together. We always stay in places with a kitchen so we can eat a lot of our meals in too. So all of those things help to make it more affordable, and we try to put away some money each month toward travel.
DeleteI like what you said about learning and discovering the world in person! That is one of the reasons we want to embark on a longer journey, to expose our kids to different cultures, climates, geography, etc.
I hope you're able to do it too! Blessings....