California Christmas

It seems an age ago that we arrived in Death Valley - the lowest, hottest, driest place in the country - only to be rained upon! Thankfully it was a short-lived storm, allowing us to spend 3 days exploring the desert badlands, dunes and mountains.

We left Death Valley on Christmas Eve and found an isolated, empty campground on the banks of the Kern River near Bakersfield. Luckily Father Christmas found it too and we woke up early on Christmas Day to great excitement. After cake and presents (all small and useful!), we drove North. The thousands of nodding donkeys eventually gave way to orange groves and finally alpine meadows as we approached the Sierra Nevada. Our intention to visit the sequoia groves in the National Park was delayed due to the legal requirement for snow chains. After an overnight stay by another river, and duly equipped for the snow (Father Christmas should have thought ahead!) - we headed up into the mountains to see the biggest trees in the world, and indeed the largest living thing on the planet - the General Sherman Tree.

After a brief warm-up drive we ascended again into the mountains - and refitted our tire chains with practised ease! We rounded the corner into Yosemite Valley with perfect timing to view the late afternoon sun on El Capitan and Half Dome Mountain.

Despite the snow and largely overcast weather, we had a fabulous two days hiking around the cliffs and waterfalls before coming back to base and leaving the girls outside in the cold, equipped only with new headtorches and the incredibly useful toy dustpan, to build a family of snowmen - whilst we stayed inside making encouraging noises through the windows, equipped with a glass of wine.

Viva Las Vegas

We stopped in dusty Phoenix to check the weather and make a final decision on the North (to Grand Canyon) or West (to California) question. Forecast lows for the Canyon were all perishingly cold, so a unanimous decision was made to head West.

First stop was the Joshua Tree National Park, where we spent a couple of days scrambling amongst the huge granite rocks and namesake trees, further feeding Francesca's career aim to be "a rockclimber and a mummy"

We crossed a few more miles of desert to visit another National Park - the Mojave Desert Preserve and, in particular, the Kelso Dunes.  The impressive 700ft dunes should have given us a clue to the nature to the terrain....but apparently not.   We set off 4 miles down a dirt road and followed some tracks to a camping spot but ground to a halt in soft sand. We spent the late afternoon digging out with a toy dustpan!  Oh how we laughed...After an hour and a half, we successfully extracted ourselves (with the aid of some rusted iron sheeting) and promptly tasked ourselves with extracting the cork from a bottle of wine.  Evening guests included a kit fox and a cute little kangaroo rat who seemed particularly interested in the wine bottle.

Having clambered up the dunes and run down to make them "sing" we left the Mojave and headed for the bright lights of Vegas.  Friends from Ottawa, Steve and Debbie, made us very welcome at their new home, where we had a lovely evening, plus a night in real beds!  The following afternoon we tramped the length of the Strip watching circus acts, dancing fountains and snoozing lions.

Having seen just about all that Las Vegas Boulevard had to offer under 7s, we took a trip back to Arizona and the Hoover Dam, before taking up Debbie and Steve's great recommendation to visit Red Rock Canyon.

We are now in Parhump, NV - not a tourist destination in itself, but only 50 miles from Death Valley. Slave drivers that we are, we haven't broken up from school for the Christmas holidays yet...

Cowboys and Indians, and Cacti

Heading into Apache territory, we took a 3 mile hike to visit Fort Bowie, built in the 1860s to defend settlers against the Indians, and site of Geronimo's surrender. 

These Southern Arizona mountains are also home to the Chiracahua National Park, where the girls were surprisingly enthusiastic about yet another trek in the hills. 

 

South towards the Mexican border we visited the Victorian mining town of Bisbee. By now, we were paying the price of the "big freeze" in Gila, with a broken loo. However, a trip down the old copper mines gave us cause to be grateful for what we have...

As we arrived in Tombstone, the stiffening breeze lent authenticity to the Wild West atmosphere, rolling tumbleweed down the streets. The picture was completed by locals dressed in period costumes, complete with six-shooters, chatting on the boardwalks.  We all felt as if we were on a movie set and that at any moment John Wayne would step through the saloon doors and gallop off into the sunset.

We spent a couple of nights on the air base in Tucson, getting the various ailments of the van sorted out.  The thousands of old aircraft lined up there, in retirement, were quite a sight - as were the hundreds of RV Parks in the vicinity, seemingly home to half of America's retired population.

We bypassed the bright city lights and set out for the Saguaro National Park and Ironwood Forest, where we thoroughly enjoyed a couple of nights camping alone in the midst of these giant cacti.

The highlight for the girls was an enforced second night in the back country after 20 miles of dirt road ended in an unfordable ford. Thankfully there was still beer in the fridge!