San Diego- 1st time Rv'ing in the Golden State

SAN DIEGO

After leaving Flagstaff and overnighting in Phoenix, we headed out through the desert to our next stop, San Diego! I love San Diego.  I have been there many times in the past for work stuff but never had the chance to do some RV'ing there.  We started out California adventures here and planned 5 nights to do some family activities and see some old friends.  

One of the things you have to do in San Diego is the zoo! So Rory and I coughed up the insane ticket prices and took the family for a day of animal adventure.  There were many different attractions as you can imagine and the weather was just great for animal watching.  The zoo itself is very nice but I would have to say in terms of comparison the KC Zoo was just as good.  We saw the typical array of animals and the exhibits were pretty close up to the animals so the kids had lots of fun, learned many cool facts, and enjoyed the day together.  We saw hippos, elephants, giraffes, lots of different birds and giant tortoises!  

We visited La Jolla cove the following day.  After eating at a pretty crafty buger joint called "Burger Lounge" we took a walk and did the typical tourist thing.  The cove was just gorgeous and it was a really pleasant day with the weather.  We allowed the kids to play in the sand and gave them instructions not to get wet.  Guess what happened? Yep they got wet.  Here is a video of the cove if you have never seen it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27aU4Tyfv4

     We visited some old friends with our time there as well.  I got to see an old friend John Cressler.  John and I have been friends for around 10 years and met at a sushi joint in Wilmington.  He now lives out in San Diego and is married to a wonderful woman Odette and has a beautiful baby girl named Sienna.  It was a blessing to have them see the kids since John only never met Owen or Sophia.  We spent time together at our RV and it was a joy.

     Rory got to see an old friend as well. Trista Montero.  Trista has lived out here quite a while as well and is married to Brian and they have a little boy named Mattie.  Rory and Trista were pretty inseparable back in high school.  

Some of the other things we did were visiting Hotel Del Coronado and taking a stroll on the beach.  We drank some local brew. Enjoyed the awesome traffic.  Got our oil pan replaced at the Firestone because the guys in Phoenix changed the oil incorrectly.  We rode out bikes.  Enjoyed the hot tub and swimming pool.  Met a family travelling in a RV from Australia.  Saw some crazy house architecture and finally enjoyed the 75 degree weather.  I also busted my head open on the RV while hooking up the water hose.  All in all I would return to San Diego to RV again with the family.  We had a great time and it was a blast!

Flagstaff AZ------ GRAND CANYON!

Panorama of the Grand Canyon, stunning!

 Grand Canyon

Miss Sophia playing around.

There are those times in life when you see something to unique, so beautiful and different that you are left stunned in admiration! The Grand Canyon is one of those places.  I could sit and stare at the wonder of the creation of the Grand Canyon for days and never get bored.  What an absolute marvel.  This is one of those places that you deeply appreciate the creative nature and power of the Lord almighty.  This is the second time I have visited here, the last being in 2008.  This is the first time for Sophia and the other kids did not remember so it was special for them as well.  We took the whole day to drive on the South Rim of the canyon on roads that are normally blocked to public traffic.  Every stop was a stop of unique and intense reflection for me.  

If you ever have a chance to see the Grand Canyon, explore or hike in the over 1 mile depth of the place please do! It is an experience that you will never forget and something that you will appreciate forever.

another panorama of the south rim

Sedona AZ- Red River Canyon

Here are some photos of us taking a drive through Red River Canyon north of Sedona.  What a beautiful place!  This was part of our time in Flagstaff AZ.  We planned a day to go to a couple of educational places and took this drive going south from Flagstaff and returning home that evening.  We visited a Pueblo, old mining town and Montezuma's castle.  This was a dwelling built by indians in the side of a cliff!

Two weeks since last blog...... sorry family!

Albuquerque NM 

On my last post we had just left Amarillo and we were on our way to Albuquerque.  That was a little more than two weeks ago so I apologize.  While we were in Albuquerque we really had a great time at the science center called, Explora!  It was one of those places that you could stay all day and never realize the whole day has gone by.  The kids had a blast learning and playing and we had fun with some good down time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9iMkatbyj8

We also were able to go to an authentic Mexican grocery store that was playing music so loud you really had not choice but to dance!  Rory was laughed at for busting a move on isle 5 by the locals but I loved watching her shake it to the authentic music.

On another note we got gas for the van in Albuquerque and we paid $1.62 a gallon! Diesel was $2.25 a gallon and it was nice to fill the rig up on the cheap. We stayed 2 days in Albuquerque and moved on to Flagstaff AZ.

Ethan learning about X and Y axis at Explora!

Left Amarillo onward to Albuquerque New Mexico!

Well we made it to Albuquerque New Mexico last night around 5pm.  We pulled into our RV park and got settled down for the night and made plans for today.  We had a really nice spot in a newer end of the American RV Park right off the highway outside of town.  This is a nicer than average park with a pool and spa but we have not had a chance to use either because well it snowed today! No kidding! 2 inches of snow on the ground and it was 30 degrees outside in New Mexico! nutso. The snow melted quickly when the sun came out but heck I am not braving the weather to try to swim.

The kids had a chance to play and explore at a science museum called Explora! The last time we were in Albuquerque back in 2008 we did the Natural Science museum and this was right next door.  Needless to say it was AMAZING! I mean the kids played right through lunch because they were having so much fun.  The only one complaining about not getting food was Rory. We actually left around 1pm went and had pizza and came back for another hour of playtime.  I thought it was a great time because the kids learned about electricity, wind, magnetism, water separation and such.  It was quite educational and beat any other science exploration place we have ever been before.  When we got home Rory put them through a few hours of schooling and that was our day.

Tomorrow we are heading out to Flagstaff AZ.  I hear that it is around 60 there.  Thank you Jesus! We are hoping to warm up sooner than later.  You know this global warming is doing wonders these days!

Here are some pics of the last 2 days.  We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch on our way out of Amarillo so there are some pics there.  As well there is a video of a great experience we had in a grocery store last night when we pulled into Albuquerque.  You should get a laugh......

Amarillo by morning.................

panorama of the Palo Duro Canyone

This was our beautiful sight for the day.  This is Palo Duro Canyon, 20 miles south of Amarillo TX.  What an absolutely beautiful place to visit! If you ever have a chance to see the "mini Grand Canyon", I implore you to go!  We drove all the way through the public access roads in the canyon and had fun hiking and climbing the beautiful rocks.  The kids did the Junior Ranger program and each recieved a badge when their work was accomplished.  This is something that I and they as well want to do at every park during our trip.  

Last night Rory and I went to dinner at the Big Texan.  It was good to get a little time to ourselves and we got to enjoy a great steak together!  No we did not do the challenge of eating a 72 OZ steak Kyle Nagy!

We are currently staying at the Amarillo RV Ranch.  It's OK, we have stayed at much better.   They do have an indoor swimming pool that the kids are going to try out after dinner.  Tomorrow we are heading out to the Cadillac Ranch to tag our names on the cars then off to Albuquerque!  Below are some more of the pics today of the canyon. I love being a Daddy to these beautiful faces and a husband to my beloved wife! They will always remember how much we have given to them of ourselves and there is nothing greater than I want for them than to grow in the Lord.  Pray this trip is a gigantic leap forward in their faith to the Lord and we lead them in wisdom. We are loving the trip so far!

A new adventure!

Well it has almost been one year since my last blog post.  Around this time last year we were leaving the Florida Keys and heading back to Missouri to start renovating a beautiful home outside Kansas City.  Since then we lived through a 7 month renovation, in our motor-home, moved into our new (old) home, got chickens, planted an orchard, built a garden, had lots of fun and planned another RV adventure! Two days ago we left for our first destination, Dallas TX! Now, we have been to Dallas before and the main reason for the trip was to spend some time with some old friends, however it has been nice to get out of the -10 degrees to slightly warmer 40 degrees.
Our adventure this time will last for 10 weeks, 2 1/2  months, and will take us from MO to San Diego zig zagging our way through California on our way to Seattle WA.  Once in Seattle we will take a week drive and return back to Kansas City.  Our main focus of our trip we be exploring California.  I have many great stops planned along the way and hopefully we will get the "chill" out of our bones before we return to MO to start spring planting!
Right now we will be in Dallas until tomorrow morning, then off to Amarillo.  Last night we ate at the Rooster's Roadhouse. Pretty cool! Here is a pic of us. It was great food if you ever get the chance. Please continue to follow the blog for more of our adventures!

First family dining at this great place!