Day #11 - Homeward Bound

The big drive.  The exact reason that I planned all the stops I did, so we did NOT have to have a big drive, but we're ready to be home.  The weather really isn't the best for us to see some of the originally planned spots, so we'll stop quick for a few and work our way up to Northern California.  We're not looking forward to the drive, but excited to see our house for the first time.


Stop #1 - Salvation Mountain - Calipatria, CA -  The desert sun was so bright and hot that we all had to wear sunglasses and Addie needed her boots to walk around. Puppy is not a fan of her footwear, but the ground was burning.  No matter your religious affiliation, this place is an amazing work of art. Hard to believe that it is made out of old trees, recycled materials, and visitors' donated latex paint.

Sweet Addie.

Stop #2 - Slab City - Calipatria, CA - Aidan informed me that there is currently a Slab City challenge, where you spend 24 hours in Slab City - a known "free" self-governed/self-policed area that is completely off the grid.  While mostly attracting hippies and artists, Slab City is also known for attracting heavy drug users and those "on the run" from law enforcement or who are interested in living in a lawless society. We really didn't see much on our drive through the camps, but from what I've read, it is a lot more active during the cooler months. There are a few art installations such as east Jesus, but we had to get back on the road. 

Not sure of the context as we just came across this with little markings. There is a pet cemetery, but that is marked along with the art exhibits.  Obviously, the memorial below meant a great deal to someone. Whether an actual grave or a memorial, I paid my respects and walked back to the car, careful not to disturb any of the other spots nearby.

Stop #3 - International Banana Museum - Mecca, CA - Located on the edge of the Salton Sea, this is such a fun, silly place to visit.  

Banana ice cream, of course!

Banana treats for Addie.  She wasn't sure about them at first, but loved them in the end. 

Stop #4 - Random Sand Dunes - Somewhere in Southern CA - Knowing that we were on a tight schedule, I got a groan from the kids as I quickly pulled off to visit the dunes, but how can anyone not stop when seeing this through the car window. Like some of the sites in Arizona, this just seemed fake. Giant sand dunes in the middle of nowhere, like the deserts of Saudi Arabia had just been dropped off in the bottom of California. If we had more time, we would have walked the dunes, but we still had a long way to go. 

Stop #5 - In N Out Burger - Somewhere in CA - Because when in Cali...  I mean, how could we not.

Stop #6 - Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch - Oro Grande, CA - Our last official stop from our trip list. Located just off the side of the road, you could hear it before you could see it.  The little breeze that we had made the bottles clink against the metal of the bottle tree branches creating a very different version of wind-chimes. The sun was setting, but was still very bright. I can only imagine what this place is like right at sunset - all the different colored glass bottles sending rainbow reflections all around. 

Stop #7 - HOME - Roseville, CA. - our arrival time was 0010. Late and tired, I didn't think to take a picture.  We just wanted to get out of the car and see our new house for the first time. Kevin had arrived ahead of us, meeting the movers and doing his best to set it up for our homecoming. He had tied balloons to the outside lights, bought a card and my favorite wine and had them out on the counter waiting for my arrival.  Each of the kids had a pool toy/float placed on their bed to use in our pool (a first for us).  What a great way to "meet" my new home. Now the real adventure begins as we all adjust to our new life so far away from our old one. 

___

Places missed on this trip and aside from a few, most are back on our "to see" list:
Windsor Ruins

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site

Smokey Bear's Grave

Gila Cliff Dwellings

Musical Road on Route 66

Picture Canyon

Roadkill Cafe (we saw the outside, but didn't stop to see the inside or to eat there)

Blythe Intaglios

Vasquez Rocks

Pegleg Smith Monument

Galleta Meadows Metal Sculptures

Giant Metal Roadrunner

Love Signs of Twentynine Palms

Joshua Tree Wonderland Ranch and Petroglyphs

Cabazon Dinosaurs

Tio's Tacos

McWay Falls and Waterfall House Ruins

Lone Cypress

Kissing Rock

Day #10 Still in, you guessed it... Arizona

Oh. My. God. It is hot. So hot. Dry heat is better, yada, yada, yada... I agree to an extent, but only when it isn't 6 billion degrees and hotter than the devil's butthole. We have leather seats in the car, and we're melting into the seats even with the AC on full blast. It felt like I had died and my hell had gone to hell.

Stop #1: Oatman, AZ - Through a winding road into the Arizona mountains and lots of prayers that the dog wouldn't puke, we arrived in Oatman.  An old abandoned mining town turned tourist stopping point. Us included and I'm not ashamed to say that we went purely for the fact that we read that there are wild burros winding the street.  We started seeing burros standing on the hills and side of the road about 10 miles before our destination so we knew we were getting close.  We got there and parked. I put Addie's shoes on her feet (because it's hot enough to burn Satan on summer vacation), got everyone else out of the car and we started walking. It wasn't long until the burros started approaching. And then a man quickly stepped out of nowhere, tapped me on the shoulder, and told me that the burros hate and expressed that again, *hate*, dogs.  He said we could take our chances, but that the burros will typically approach from behind and bite the dog. So back in the car (with AC blaring) Addie went.  We took turns walking through town.  Kailynn and I went first, and then all three kids walked the second time.  I think each group only took 20 minutes, because just in case I had forgotten to mention - it was hot.

::giggle::

Stop #2 - Area 66 - Yucca, AZ - Quick stop here as the museum was closed, but we walked around for a few minutes and took s couple pictures. No aliens were spotted. 

My two favorite desert "trees." The Saguaro and the Joshua Tree. 

Stop #3 - London Bridge (the original) and a family visit - Lake Havasu, AZ - When we lived in Europe, we visited London and walked across the London bridge only to see a plaque stating that we were not walking on the original. The original had been taken apart piece by piece and rebuilt in Arizona.  I mentioned to the kids that one day we might have to take a family trip to visit, not realizing that my aunt and uncle would later move to Lake Havasu, AZ, home to the London Bridge.  This visit was incredibly special to me since not only was I able to check an item off the bucket list, but living so far from family for the last 20 years, any visit with family means a ton. 

Stop #4 - Blythe Intaglios - Blythe, CA - We are finally in California!  Of course, it's still hot.  We got to the site and the intaglios were a bit of a walk away.  There was no way I could walk miles and miles in search of them.  This made me sad, but I really didn't want to turn this into a dying wish.  

Literally in the middle of nowhere in the hot desert.  Don't want to get lost out here.

With it being so hot - the car read 121 degrees when sitting in the sun, and cooled to 108 only after driving - we were ready to get to our new home.  Finally being in California after a long 10 days of traveling only pushed this desire. Our trip has been amazing, but most of the rest of the things we want to see require walking a distance into the desert and we all agree that maybe we should save those for a cooler time of year.  We figure that we'll see a few stops tomorrow and then keep on driving cutting three days off our trip.  Tomorrow night we'll be home!

Day #9 - Yep, We Are Still in Arizona...

Seriously.  Yes, we are still in Arizona.

Stop #1 - Bearizona - Williams, AZ - The most expensive stop of our trip, but one we had to do.  Growing up watching Yogi the bear, I had images of bears walking up to the car asking for picnic baskets.  Yes, I know that this isn't Jellystone, and yes, I know that Yogi the bear isn't real, but one can dream, right?  Bearizona is a drive-through "safari" where you drive through and can see the animals up close.  You're not allowed to stop and when in the sections with the wolves and bears, you are not allowed to drive with the windows down.  So no picnic basket trade-offs and not a lot of really good pictures, unfortunately.  I didn't want to go down as the lady who ran over Booboo the bear while trying to take a picture.

Maybe one of the best parts of the drive-through area was watching Addie.  She's like, WTF kind of dogs are these???  I think the wolves were a wee bit jealous of Addie's air-conditioned ride and kept giving her the stink eye. 

Finally, the bears.  Arizona is hot like hell in a heatwave, so they weren't doing much except for melting in the sun. 

Stop #2 - Delgadios Snow Cap Drive-inn - Seligman, AZ - 

What I couldn't photograph is the fake "mustard" that had been squirted on my shirt or the "small" coke (filled into a little paper ketchup bowl) or the trick doors.  Jokes everywhere at Delgadios.

Never missing a photo-op - we're making memories, people!

Sweet Addie. Everyone who stopped by to chat during our trip remarked about how calm and well-behaved she is.  We are so lucky!

I blame route 66 alone for the extra 10 pounds I now have on my ass and thighs. However, it was Worth. Every. Bite.

Stop #3 - Hackberry General Store - Kingman, AZ -

Stop #4 - Atares Visitor's Center and Giganticus Headicus - Kingman, AZ - 

Since vandalism is apparently a strong theme during this trip, we made sure to sign the "guestbook."