The Wild West: Goldfield Ghost Town

    Our next stop on the Apache Trail was Goldfield Ghost Town. We visited here two years ago and the kids were excited to return. Goldfield was a mining town that thrived for a mere five years in the late 1800s. It's a nice place to spend a couple of hours; there's lots of old mining equipment for the kids to play on and around, and beautiful views of the Superstition Mountains as well. 

An old mining rail cart.

Main Street, Goldfield Mining Town.

Peregrine and Raphael played on this old tractor for a long time. Peregrine was pretending it was a train engine and he was the engineer calling out "All aboard on the California Express!" 

There's a little church at the top of Main Street. Someone actually holds services there on Sundays. 

Windmill, Goldfield Ghost Town.

This ol' timer was sitting there fiddling, so we wandered over to listen. He introduced himself  as Garbanzo, and proceeded to give us a litany of bean-themed jokes. He has a wife called Chick Pea. After fishing in a little pouch he handed each of the kids a handful of dried beans and told them that now they're "Has Beans" like himself. And that he only gave those out to nice "Human Beans", and they could plant them, grow some more, eat them, and be "Full of Beans". Then he asked them each their name in turn and sang a little ditty about them, and how they like to eat buttered beans. 

The Superstition Mountains as seen from Goldfield. You can see the narrow gauge train that runs around the outskirts of town. We didn't take it this time, but last time we were there we did. These mountains are so beautiful! Erik's parents live on the other side of them and have a lovely view from their back yard.

Again, there were so many green things in the desert; it was really beautiful!

The entrance to the mine. We decided to take a tour, and descended the staircase to where we took a rickety feeling elevator down to the first level of the mine. As we walked through the tour guide told us the fascinating and sometimes horrible history of the mine. I'm not sure it was all true, but it gave us all insight into the life of a miner during that time period. Raphael really disliked being down in the mine and I had to hold onto him and keep telling him it was okay. To be honest I didn't like it either; being 35 feet below the ground in an old earthen tunnel was pretty unnerving. But I was glad we did it. There is nothing as educational for the kids as running around these places and experiencing as much "living history" as they can. 

Pearl and Raphael playing around some of the old mining equipment.

The Wild West: Tortilla Flat

While visiting Erik's parents in the Phoenix area, we ventured out one day to the historic town of Tortilla Flat, population six. It began as a stage stop on the Apache Trail, and has retained its wild west character. 

We enjoyed walking along the boardwalk and taking in a bit of the town's history.  We even got to enjoy some world famous Prickly Pear Ice Cream! 

Poppy - back in the saddle again! 

The walls of the restaurant are covered with dollar bills, signed by generous guests from all over the world.  Along with money, there is all kinds of interesting memorabilia that make it a fun place to visit. 

The view from Tortilla Flat.

Driving through these rocky desert hills one can easily imagine oneself in the wild west! The landscape is beautiful and wild, and it's easy to picture bandits, gold miners, and cowboys riding over the next hill!

I was surprised at just how much green there was in the desert in January!

Erik had to keep stopping to take more pictures. It was so different than what we're used to in Oregon.

A lovely day at Tortilla Flat! 

The Grand Canyon

    When we first planned this trip I'd hoped to include the Grand Canyon. Then, plans changed, and we didn't think we could fit it in. Then, as so often happens, things changed again and it worked out beautifully. I had visited the Grand Canyon, or the Big Ditch as Erik likes to say, when I was fourteen, but that's been a few years now. I was really excited to take the kids there. When we were packing Erik told me there'd be snow on the ground at the Big Ditch, and I argued that it would be cold, sure, but that didn't mean there would be snow. Well, my husband was right, there was snow. And it made an already amazing place even more beautiful! 

All the kids enjoyed the beauty of the Grand Canyon. I was glad for the safety rails! 

I like to take pictures of Erik taking pictures. And I like how he looks like he's standing on top of the world in this one!

Pearl's first taste of snow. I know there's pollution and all, but I still think no childhood is complete without eating a little snow. And my kids have very few opportunities, so this was fun. They've probably never seen so much snow on the ground at one time!

Raphael was a tired little grump and wouldn't look at the camera. 

Must eat snow!

Beautiful and cold... my Poppy girl!

The Hopi House.

We were excited to spot some deer by the side of the road while we were in the park.

The fireplace was designed to reflect the strata of the canyon.

Icicles! I let the kids eat those too...

The day's last light, sun setting in the west. It was a glorious day!

    I was so happy to share this beautiful place with my family. While in the gift shop we purchased Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry.  It was a great read aloud book for the rest of the journey. Both Peregrine and Poppy really enjoyed the story, and it made the history of the area come alive for them. We're not into buying a lot of souvenirs, but have decided that wherever we find the penny smashing machines we'll let the kids get a souvenir penny. They're small, lightweight, and only cost 51 cents! We also bought them each a patch to sew onto their backpacks and let them pick out a couple of postcards. Our other purchase was a small Arizona inspired Christmas ornament that will be brought out and hung on our tree each year. We enjoy having a tree full of memories and stories of places we've been together! 

    Stay tuned... next we travel south to spend several days with Erik's parents in the wild west! 

Eastward to Arizona

    We left California and headed eastward to Arizona. We got a later start than planned, and then of course had to make a stop at Intellegentsia Coffee in Pasadena so that Erik could fuel up for the long drive ahead. We parked outside of a very cool little travel bookstore, the kind of place that can get even the most settled sort of person dreaming. (Well, I'm not positive on that, as I've never been one of those settled sort of people, but it seemed to me that it could.) I popped in to use their restroom, and as I was leaving, the sales clerk asked if she could help me find anything. I said no, and that I wished I had time to stay and browse, but my family was waiting. Her reply was a snippy "I wish you could stay too, since you used our bathroom." I was pretty surprised at her response! After that the place didn't seem nearly as attractive.

We headed northeast through the Mojave Desert. It was fun to show the kids the land of Joshua Trees and Tumbleweeds, the high desert where I lived during my teen years. It was a long day of driving, and overall the kids did great. I passed out lots (and lots) of snacks. Raphael decided he needed to stop and "go pee" about every thirty minutes, but other than that we didn't have to make a lot of stops. 

We drove as far as we could before making a big stop, and then had a very late lunch at a rest stop not far from the California border. It was bleak desert, the late afternoon sun bright. 

Picnic and pit stop. In my mind rest areas are grassy places; I guess living in the Pacific Northwest all these years has spoiled me!

We spent the next few days with our friends Ryan and Katy and their family in Northern Arizona. They live in a small town on the historic Route 66. 

We enjoyed a few days of winter weather before heading south to warmer climates. Our friends put us up in this little guest house just next door to their home. It was wonderful to reconnect and for our kids to get to play with theirs.

There was a dusting of snow the first night we were there, and even though it wasn't much it was fun to see it. It reminded me of the cold but sunny days that comprised winter where I grew up in Alberta, Canada.

"Won't you get hip to this timely tip:
when you make that California trip
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six."

Keeping the driver safe and well-snacked! We logged close to 2000 miles on this trip, and Erik did a great job.

Stay tuned for the next episode, in which we visit the Grand Canyon...

California Family

    The last several years we have jetted south to sunny Mexico for a few weeks during the winter. As our plans and dreams seem to be leading us further afield, we felt it was important to use our vacation time this year to visit family. We flew to Los Angeles on January 20th and spent a few days in the company of my dad's side of the family. My Aunt Terry was a delightful hostess and the kids had a great time staying at her house full of treasures and stories. It was delightful to reconnect with aunts, an uncle, and especially to see my dear Grams. The last time we saw her was when Peregrine was a baby, so it was very special to introduce her to the rest of the children. We were blessed with a lovely, sunny day visiting with family.

Peregrine and Poppy enjoyed running around at Uncle Gerry's house.

Gerry gave us a tour of the avocado grove and the kids were excited to pick an orange straight from a tree. The avocados are so yummy!

A few of the lovely ladies in my family - my aunts Terry and Katie and Colleen, my dear Grams, and another cousin. 

Our family with Grams.

The kids called this "the camouflage tree".

Stay tuned for the next episode, in which we journey east to Arizona!