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Armed with our books on tape and movies to keep Paden and Jase occupied for the trek across Texas, we headed out on Friday afternoon. Saturday morning we woke up in El Paso and got on the road headed for Sabino Canyon, in Tucson, Arizona, where we met up with my parents and Cami. My mother grew up in Tucson and met my father while he served in the Air Force there. Needless to say, they both have many fond memories of Tucson and where more than happy to meet us there.
Sabino Canyon had changed a lot since 1978 and we could no longer drive our cars up the mountain to find a spot to camp out and play by the river. Not knowing what to expect anymore, we got our cooler, the towels and the kids and headed a mile up the mountain. Paden was happy as a pig in sh*# when he realized that he had found a perfect spot to build a damn. This seems to be what Paden does every time we go to a river. It wasn’t long until the big boys were in on the scheme of damning off the river. What is it with men and damns? Cami and I found a flat spot on a rock and hung out like lizards in the sun. I wish this paragraph ended here, but not so. My dad decided that he wanted to take us up the mountain and show us the “slab” where he used to hang out as a young GI in the Air Force drinking beer and partaking in free love. This ended up being a seven mile hike where several times we had to take our tennis shoes off to get past the river. Don’t forget this hike was in 105 degree heat. Paden had the fortune of carrying the Camelbak and proceeded to suck it dry half way through our trip. This was almost our demise and we would have worried more except for the cell phones in each of our pockets. Nevertheless…we gave Paden sheer crap over drinking all of the water, leaving the old and feeble to die of thirst in the Sonoran Dessert. We survived and headed back to the resort. We had one of the most relaxing nights I have had in a long time. The resort was so nice and they had movie night by the pool. We watched Surfs Up while devouring pizza and drinking Bud Light poolside. The weather couldn’t have been more comfortable and I was reminded of my childhood days of amazing Tucson nights. Not to be disappointed, it happened to be Monsoon Season and the comfy night quickly turned stormy. As a kid I always thought it was so fascinating that it would lightning, thunder and rain here like crazy and be dry and beautiful in less than an hour. I would love to share pictures from this day, but I didn't have my camera at this time:(
Sunday morning we awoke and loaded back up, headed to Phoenix. We had a wonderful lunch of “Arizona” Mexican food. They use a lot more green chile and shredded beef in their dishes. Phoenix was uneventful…we worked out and drove around for two hours looking for an REI so we could buy a baby hiking back pack. I was easily amused when we were able to buy Amaretto on a Sunday night at 8:30 at Walmart of all places. You would understand why this was amusing if you have ever lived in Texas. I really didn’t want to hang out in Phoenix too long…I lived there my sophomore and junior year of high school and there really isn’t much to do in 110 degree weather. Unfortunately, my parents just bought a house there.
We slept in Monday and got on the road headed to my favorite place in the whole world...Sedona! Jason had secured us a room at a resort right in the heart of town. I was a little skeptical, but thoroughly delighted when we pulled in. The Amara Resort and Spa surpassed my expectations and we were all excited to live three whole days in luxury. I packed up the sunscreen and towels and we cruised up Oak Creek Canyon to Grasshopper Point. This is a spot on the river where I used to hang out my senior year of high school and there are several cliffs to jump from. Paden was in heaven and climbed to one of the highest points immediately. I asked him to tell me when he was ready to jump so that I could take a picture and he said he was ready. Not one bit of fear as he leapt off the 25ft. cliff. I climbed up there and sat an entire hour before I decided that it was the only way down. It took a little bit of encouragement from the kids around me and all of the adults watching me from the riverside, when I finally took the plunge. Jason decided he wanted to jump…off the 10foot cliff. Weenie! We left, cleaned up and had burgers for dinner.
Jase got to meet his great grandmother for the first time on Tuesday. Her house is full of trinkets and collectibles so I was very busy redirecting a toddler. She said that she could die happily now that she had seen him. She looked awesome, but appeared very weak and tired. We said our goodbyes…I always have to leave quickly when telling my grandmother goodbye. I will start crying thinking this could very well be the last time I will ever see her. So we basically ran to the car (I don’t like crying) and took off for Jerome. Jerome is an old ghost town about 15 miles from Cottonwood. It is full of neat novelty stores that sell things like $2000 kaleidoscopes, all kinds of crystals and yummy fudge made right in front of you. It reeks of patchouli oil because it is full of hippies that still enjoy “natural” herbs on a regular basis. I smoked my first clove cigarette in Jerome when I was 15 years old. Good times;-) We stopped by an old Indian ruin that I have visited at least 10 times. It is literally five miles from my old house. The kids always love visiting Tuzigoot and Jason always loves telling us everything he knows. He is a wealth of information and has many more teaching moments than even me. The kids love this! By the time we left we were too tired and stinky to stop and see my best friend Kami from 8th and 9th grade that happens to live in my old house. We got back to the resort, cleaned up and had a very bad dinner at a reputable restaurant. We swam and hung out at the pool and cabana for the rest of the pleasant evening drinking Amaretto Sours.
After looking through many tourist guides, Jason and I decided we wanted to hike up Bear Mountain Wednesday morning while the kids and my mom slept in. It is on the back side of Sedona, a side that I had never seen before. Not to be disappointed we loaded up Jase in the hiking back pack and started up the mountain for our five mile hike. It was a good hike with a little bit of climbing here and there, actually just perfect with a baby and a 10 pound pack on Jason’s back. I was laboring with the 5 pound Camelbak on my back…poor Jason. We made it to the top and I had to find a place to just sit and “be” for awhile. I do this every time we hike somewhere in Sedona. It helps me find my center again. Fortunately Jase was snoozing at this particular time so that I could meditate for a little bit. Ahhhh…heaven…it does exist! The red rocks are just beautiful and awe inspiring, but there is also something about the sky here. It seems to go on forever. You just want to be outdoors when you are here. It is so earthy and natural and I am not going to shave my legs or armpits for the rest of my vacation. Jason said that not shaving was not an option, ever! Dang!
We went back to the resort and picked up the kids. Slide Rock here we come!! Slide Rock is a natural slide that millions of years of erosion have created. The water is so frigid that moss grows on the rocks making them quite the playground. Paden was moody and unhappy until he found some very tall cliffs under the bridge. I have been to Slide Rock many times in my youth and have never seen these. There was one that was about 35 feet and another that was about 50 feet. Well not to be outdone, Paden jumped off of them both several times. Goodness, it makes my stomach hurt thinking about jumping off of those cliffs. And he had not one second of hesitation! He may be quiet, but he has always had grande juevos!! Cami and I did the big slide several times, being dunked and pushed under by the water. Jason and Jase stayed on the beach while Jase threw rocks. He is so easy to entertain as long as daddy is right next to him. After everyone was exhausted we went back and cleaned up for dinner. After two previous icky dinners, we decided to eat at the resort. It was fantastic and VERY expensive. It was also very “spa ish” and the other diners didn’t seem to enjoy Jase being a baby. He is wonderful when we are in loud restaurants, but maybe not so good when you need him to be ummm, dignified and mature…perhaps because he is a…baby!! Paden and Cami took turns walking Jase around for the remainder of dinner. We spent the rest of the night in the pool and hot tub.
Sadly it was time to head back to Phoenix to drop off my mom on Thursday. We took the scenic route and drove up to Flagstaff. Jason wanted to visit the Snow Bowl, so we went up the windy road to the twin peaks. The gondola ride or ski lift to the top of the mountain was nerve racking with a squirmy baby in your arms, some 30 feet from the ground! And it was a very long ride. We had to turn around and leave as soon as we got there, a scary looking storm was crossing the top of the mountain. We eventually got to Phoenix, spent the night, pigged out on ice cream, said our goodbyes and left for Carlsbad Caverns.
This whole portion of the trip was a beating. We drove all Friday finally arriving in Carlsbad, New Mexico at about 12 a.m. We had been waiting to eat and of course everything was closed. Walmart here we come!! You can gripe all you want about Walmart, but it has been a life saver many times for us. We all picked out what we wanted to eat and then tried to find a hotel. The fourth hotel we went to had rooms and we were all grossed out and sullen after our three days at a resort. We got up Saturday morning, tip toed around the room in our socks and got ready to go to the Caverns. Jason loaded Jase up in the back pack and down we went. We saw a very large centipede right away and pretty much jogged through the caverns after that. Not one of us would stand still for a minute, especially after Paden asked one of the rangers about centipedes and he told us that a girl had been bitten the week before. Eeewww! O.K., we came, we saw, let’s get the heck out of here. We all agreed that while Carlsbad was bigger, Natural Bridge Caverns is prettier, and much closer to home. Now if we could just get home…
This trip turned out to be a wonderful escape. I reconnected with myself and found my center. Jason spent a load of money and enjoyed the hiking. Jase was a trooper in the car and very good the whole time. He liked the hiking and the river too. Paden came home with a huge ego. And Cami got to spend a memorable summer with her Nana. Most importantly, we all got along. There is still no place like home. Hmmm…just maybe home in Sedona!
