Albuquerque

Of all the desert states we've seen, we all agree that New Mexico is the most attractive.

We spent the day on Monday seeing some of the sites in Albuquerque that Dad remembers from his previous trip here.

First, we  took the Tramway to Sandia crest.  It is a breathtaking ride up to over 10,000 feet and not good if you're scared of heights.  The views from the mountaintop were wonderful.  It was chilly and breezy up there but warm enough in the sun.

We then saw old Town Albuquerque and had some more good Mexican food.  We know the children are hungry when they start reading all the restaurant signs out loud.

At night we had a relaxing evening at "home" watching movies and playing Boggle.

On the Road Again

We left Phoenix Sunday morning, heading north towards Flagstaff.

The Arizona desert vista is the most interesting we've seen so far.  The boys were happy to finally see across the countryside the classic cactus that they had been expecting to find out here.  Apparently it only grows in Arizona.

Since we were not just heading north, but also increasing in elevation, those cactuses (cacti?) were rapidly replaced by pine forest.

We stopped in Camp Verde AZ and had a good Mexican lunch followed by really delicious churros.  We also liked the Coffeegram ad on their placemat.

As we drove, we again saw the snow capped mountain first viewed from Flagstaff on the way to the Grand Canyon.

At Flagstaff we turned eastward onto Route 40 stopping for a photo op in Winslow AZ and ending up at the Dancing Eagle Casino RV park in New Mexico for the night (not fancy but v. inexpensive).

We are about an hour outside of Albuquerque now.

Phoenix

We drove to Phoenix on Friday and were so happy to find the warm weather we had been looking for out here in the desert southwest.

We are again staying at a commercial RV park, just out of town on Lake Pleasant.  It is very nice here.

The boys spent about 2 hours in the pool Friday afternoon. There they made friends with 3 homeschooled brothers who travel with their family all over the US for their father's job.

We met up with our dear friends' daughter Mary that night.  She teaches music for a local school system.  We all had a delicious dinner at a place called Rock Bottom.

Saturday morning the boys' new friends came by at 9am for nerf gun and sword battles.  Mary and her friend came by to see the lake, have a swim with the boys and join us for grilled burgers and dogs for lunch, along with the new boys and their parents.

Later, Dad and our younger son took the truck for some preventive maintenance and then grilled some chicken for another delicious meal.

More pool time, then to bed.  Sunday we plan to start our homeward journey.

Joshua Tree

We left Las Vegas yesterday morning heading for Joshua Tree National Park in California.  It is just about due south of Vegas driving on back roads across the Mojave desert.

Joshua Tree is a desert park.  It's in its peak season now as the various species of cactus are flowering.  The Joshua tree is more like a tall branching cactus than a tree.

The park has a desolate sort of beauty.  Sunset and early morning are especially lovely, and the night sky is brilliant with stars.

We had beautiful sunshine and a clear night sky but it was breezy and a little chilly.

After driving through the park, including some unpaved roads, we camped in a desert campground here last night.

Now we are heading for Phoenix which is almost due east of here.  We expect we will finally find the warmer temperatures we have been looking for since leaving Buffalo. (Where, curiously, it was 80 degrees yesterday.)

Las Vegas Baby

The highlight of our day in Las Vegas was getting to meet and hold and cuddle our brand new baby niece Eva!  She is adorable and the boys kept begging for turns holding her.

It was wonderful to be able to be there with her parents as they start their new family.

In the afternoon we stopped at Red Rock Canyon and then visited the Hoover Dam where we saw the dam visitor's center, the dam art deco bathrooms and walked across the dam bridge but we didn't take the dam tour.  Hoover dam is as remarkable as they say.

We saw Lake Mead at sunset and then ate prime rib at a casino on the way back to town. (And drove by the Pawn Stars place.)

As you can see from the pictures we were blessed with another stunningly beautiful day.