Thursday, September 18, 2014

Grand Finale

We're only a day away from returning to our home in New Hampshire where we'll recharge and repack for our third and final chapter in our sabbatical journey. The end of chapter two--our U.S. tour--reached two climaxes in Nevada and Arizona.

Nevada

Though most of our travel in North America has focused on the beautiful natural resources we went to Nevada specifically to see the man-made wonder of Las Vegas. Still enjoying the company of Shelly's mother, Shelly and I took everyone to see a show as an early 15th anniversary gift to ourselves. Cirque du Soleil's "O" mesmerized all of us and kept us talking about it for days afterwards. It is a worthy highlight from our domestic experience.


The lights of The Strip at night were also a crowd pleaser:


We drove The Strip a couple times in our stay just to marvel at the opulence.

The Hoover Dam and resultant Lake Mead got a quick look on the drive, but that was about it for our Nevada visit.


Arizona

The capstone to our National Park tour was the bucket-list destination of Arizona's Grand Canyon. 


Our south rim exploration gave us a feast for our eyes. 




Each of us engaged the canyon in his own way.





Postscript

With some power driving including a 22-hour stretch with stops only for gas, we made our way from the Southwest to Colorado and to Pennsylvania. In Colorado, we stayed with my brother's family while we emptied and cleaned our trailer in preparation for its sale. After delivering the trailer to the dealer for consignment, we settled into enjoying family time.


In Pittsburgh, Baxter celebrated his 8th birthday with his aunt, uncle, and cousins at Nana's house. It's hard to believe the five year-old and seven year-old we started our sabbatical with have grown into these six and eight year-old boys.



Chapter 1: 14 Weeks in Latin America
Chapter 2: 15 Weeks in North America
Coming Soon--Chapter 3: 8 Weeks Homesteading in Maine

Stay tuned for the next leg of this adventure!

Saturday, September 6, 2014

The Red Carpet

We arrived in Los Angeles just in time for the Emmys. Our version of the Southern California red carpet of attractions included the sunny desert of Palm Springs, the massive trees at Sequoia National Park, and beachside camping in Playa del Rey.

Palm Springs

Our trip to Palm Springs was prompted by a visit from Shelly's mom. She flew out to join us for a portion of our tour and wanted to visit her brother in the Palm Springs area. We found a palm tree lined RV park three minutes from Shelly's uncle's house and took advantage of the off-season rates. 


The mercury peaked around 114 degrees during our stay, so outside time mainly consisted of swimming.


Our family of four got to meet Shelly's uncle Frank for the first time.

Uncle Frank, Aunt Laurie, and Shelly's mom with the boys.
Additionally, Shelly met her first cousins Bear and Barbie for the first time. Barbie thrilled the boys by bringing her two little dogs over to visit and planning a desert egg hunt in Uncle Frank's back yard.

Also in Palm Springs, we were introduced to Shelly's first cousin Don--the son of Shelly's mom's sister. A lovely brunch was a great setting for getting to know Don and his wife Yvonne. 



Sequoia

Though we had previously visited the Redwoods in Northern California, it was a treat to take Shelly's mom to the most massive living things on Earth at Sequoia National Park.





It was a little challenging to explain the concept of the the most massive and largest by volume when the boys had already visited the tallest trees on the planet. Nevertheless, it was fun to visit the tree that is considered number one in mass and volume: General Sherman. 




Los Angeles

But it was in Los Angeles at Playa del Rey that we enjoyed an experience we had pictured as typical of Southern California. We were lucky to camp right at the edge of the sand at Dockweiler State Beach.

Our campsite's picnic table three feet from the sandy beach.
This allowed us to stay barefoot for a few days while we took advantage of what the beach could offer.

Reminiscent of Ecuador.

Learning to fly the two line stunt kite.
Playing with other kids from the campground.
Campfires on the beach.
Some of these experiences are likely once-in-a-lifetime for us. We've been fortunate to travel. To see beautiful scenery. To spend moments enjoying. Perhaps more than a red carpet of experiences, this sabbatical has been a magic carpet ride.


Magical indeed.