Life is a journey not a destination...

...and this is certainly the case with Needles (in case you didn't get the point with the last posting).  So, with that said (again), we thought we'd post about the journey, which was a little more interesting:

By traveling from the Grand Canyon to Needles, we crossed from Arizona, straight into California, this time not entering Nevada at all due to the intersection of the state lines in this area...  see, I told you this would be interesting!  No?  OK, OK, so what else can we mention...

Top quote:  "Boo Hiss" (Accompanied by much wailing and gnashing of teeth.  This was from the boys and was due to us having to switch over from 'Star Wars II' - during a particularly exciting part - to a much more Mae-friendly 'Barbie:  A Christmas Carol' when she woke up - a special "no really, thanks" goes out to Sue and Dar for that one)

Traveling such a long way, eventually into the night, and on the last day of 2008, had us thinking about the year behind us, as well as what is ahead of us for 2009.  I'll admit that we had a few reflective moments, aided significantly by a couple of factors:  The scenery rolling by under a late winter sun, the buzz of Rosey's boxer engine, listening to old tunes (other than bl**dy CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!), the satisfying tiredness that comes from over two weeks of camping, traveling and lodging, and last but not least, the 'company' of some nice notes and e-mails:  Liz, Matt and Pete made us think of distant family and their respective adventures, an e-mail from Christoph and Hannah made us remember a lovely new years eve 2006 and Michelle reminded us of friends we've made here in California.

Below are a few images from the journey today, roughly in chronological order.  To enjoy the scenes the way we did, sit close to some noisy, vibrating mechanical device (like a washing machine on full spin) to replicate Rosey, and then, on top of that din, play 'A Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis as loud as you need to to hear it (but only for about three minutes, because after that the kids complain that "there aren't any words, Daddy!").  Am I entitled to call that the top tune if nobody else appreciated it?  

Got character...?

...because Needles in California appears to need some, URGENTLY!

Photo is Mae, posing in the local Domino's Pizza, in front of signed
Needles' high-school 2005 and 2006 vintage football shirts (American
football of course). It really begs the question as to which lucky
establishment earnt the honour of receiving the 2007 and 2008 shirts?
And why didn't Domino's get them?

Will post a less cynical entry soon...

The scale of the canyon

...is not shown as effectively as I'd like here, but it really is
incredible - perhaps deservedly called one of the seven natural
wonders of the world (who decides? I believe the Greeks decided it
had to be seven). Certainly a grand way to see out 2008.

Theo regularly displayed his awe for the view of the canyon with the
following request: "Can we have a snow ball fight now!?"

We're on the road again now. We're on our way to Needles, just
outside Mojave Desert Preserve. We wonder what they do in this small
town to celebrate new years eve - we will investigate and report back!!

Top quote of the journey so far: "Hurrah!!!" (from both boys, as we
play Star Wars II while Mae has a nap - thankfully they didn't shout
it loud enough to wake her).

Over and out...

We made a snow dude!

Lodging at the Grand Canyon

A recent comment (thanks Michelle) reminds us that we haven't been
completely open about our accomodation over that last few days...

Since the night temperatures are down to 17 F at night we chose to
stay at the Yavapai Lodge, which is simple but splendid with heating
et al. Of course, Rosey has still been utilized in her other roles as
transportation, cafe, tea maker, roof etc.

Today we dined out at the El Tovar Hotel which has a very cosy dining
room - see photo.

Photos: Tower at Desert View

Mary Jane Colter shaped the architecture for tourism at the Grand
Canyon in the 1900's, including this viewing tower. It fits into the
landscape in a way that puts other, more recent efforts to shame.

Stuck for lunch

We had lunch in this picnic area, overlooking the canyon today (great,
toasted cheese sandwiches from the Rosey Cafe pictured here), which
was all well and good, but then we tried to leave... and got stuck in
the snow!! Luckily we managed to dig Rosey out and we broke free.

The GRAND Canyon

We've arrived!!! Rosey did great, hauling us up nearly 7000ft
(however we were passed by full sized coaches occasionally up the
hills), and just in time to see the sun's last rays hitting the canyon
walls.

After 5 to 17 million years (depending which scientists you believe)
of erosion of the Colorado Plataeu, the Colorado River has exposed
rock between 230 million years old (near the rim) and 2 billion years
old (near the bottom). My photo, that took 1/200th of a second to
expose, really doesn't do the scale of the canyon any justice.

I believe the kids felt like they were traveling for about 5 million
years today, and were happy to be out of the bus. They were impressed
with how much snow and ice there was on the rim trail - scaring us by
skating along near the precipitous edge!

Top, or most often used, quotes: "Stay away from the edge!" and "Hold
my hand!"

It is a LONG way to the Grand Canyon

Once we've crossed and looked at the Hoover Dam again, exhuasted the
breakfast supplies, sung songs, sung along to music, just listened to
music, looked at the wikipedia entry for the Grand Canyon, had rest
stops, bickered and had a fight or four... THEN it's time for the
pictures to come to Rosey (by wiring the laptop to the stereo we
almost have surround sound!). To be fair, this is the first time on
the whole trip we've had movie time, so the boys and girls have done
very well.

Top song: Felix Navidad (our 3 year old does not want Christmas to end)

Top movie: Horton Hears a Who (Mae says a big thank you to Uncle
James and Auntie Carolyn and Cousin William!).

The Hoover Dam!

Today we left Las Vegas and traveled east to see the Hoover Dam.  It isn't far from LV, but the last few miles were slow and tortuous in single file traffic.  This is obviously what Las Vegan's do when they want to escape the bright lights.  However the end result was worth the journey.  We drove over the dam, parked up and then took a walk over it.  Taking four years to build (1931-1935), the vision of Herbert Hoover particularly, it is an awesome, vertigo-inducing piece of engineering (as is the bridge currently being built next to it).  We particularly liked the art-deco touches.  The resulting water mass, Lake Mead was impressive also.  

Top tune : (for the kids, not us!!!!) - Alvin and the Chipmonks got a lot of air time today! - oh dear.

 

Photo: Observation deck of the Stratosphere

Last of the big spenders

OK, since Vegas is a very, er, individual place, it needs its own
style of entry - how about a blog by numbers:

Most number of floors climbed: 109 (to get to the top of the
Stratosphere - which has the lofty title of 'tallest building in Vegas')

Total of budget consumed with gambling: $1 (by Kay, for four turns on
a 25c slot machine - won 10 more turns then lost)

Time it took Sam to change his mind about which was a nicer experience
(vs. Death Valley): 1 day

Time before we felt all 5 of our souls had been stripped raw, and we
needed to leave: 2 days

Number 1 quote (Theo, observing a truck with 'hot babes' plastered on
it): "Hot Baby's??! What does that mean?"

Number of shows seen: 1. The Tournament of Kings, which was actually
reasonably splendid, especially for the young'n's.

Percent of show heard by Theo: 10% (because he covered his ears for
most of it due to fear of fire works - which probably took up 0.001%
of it).

Photo: Tonight's accomodation...

...not quite up to the same standard as the Rosey inn, but it will
have to do...

...hello Las Vegas!

Wow, what a lot of lights!

When asked, Sam said he prefers Las Vegas to Death Valley because the
lights are pretty! Have we failed as parents!? Just 10 minutes in
M&M World (4 floors!!!) sucked the soul out of us.

Still, it is a lively, fascinating place, the lights are quite
mesmerizing and it is soooo nice to have a good shower in a hotel
room. We're staying on the Strip at the Excalibur, and tomorrow we
watch their 'Tournament of King's' show.

Top quote reflects how used to traveling the kids have become. This
is Theo, after a three and a half hour drive: "Are we there already?!"

Goodbye Death Valley...

It's good to be on the road again! Since we have a little reception,
here is a post from Rosey as we beast along NV 160:

Top quote is Kay (as we pass through first town en route): "Oooh
look, Starbucks"

Top tune (as Vegas comes into view): "New Slang" by the Shins.

Signing out since... WE'RE AT VEGAS BABY!!!

Tomorrow, Vegas

Rosey ready for the next leg of our journey.

Photo: Sand dunes in late Christmas eve sun

Photo: Sand Angel!

Believe it or not, Mae did this with no prompting at all.

Photo: Exploring the sand dunes

A festive message to you all...!

See the photo for your message!

Today we have (1) opened presents (Santa was very kind) (2) hidden
from the wind which started this morning and (3) had occasional light-
saber battles in the resulting sand-storm (so THAT'S how those sand
dunes were made!)

We would be calling family and friends, however there isn't any phone
service here - just occasional wifi via sneaking around outside the
lodge.

I asked everyone in the van what their message to the blog is, so here
goes, in no particular order:
Sam: "Merry Christmas everybody and a happy new year!"
Mae: "Twenty three!"
Theo: "I got the movie for Star Wars, and it was 1, 2 and 3, for
Christmas. We made our own stockings out of paper bags!"
Kay: "Looking forward to wishing you a merry Christmas when we reach
the civilization(!) of Las Vegas!"
Paul: "With that, I'm not sure there's much else to say!"

Since more qoutes have been requested, here is one from Theo, as we
sit inside Rosey, enjoying sandwiches for lunch:

'Do you know what the best sandwich of my life is? Pickle and cheese!'

Hope you're all having a jolly day!

Today we have mostly been rolling down sand dunes

Top quote: "look at my tongue" (Theo, after rolling down first sand
dune with his mouth open - and it sounded more like "looth ad my
thung!")

Mae also managed to gain a nice moustache due to adhesion of sand to a
running nose.

Earlier in the day we had lunch at the Furnace Creek lodge. There was
a conversation between Kay and Mae which was a bit a la Little
Britain, I quote here:
K: now would you like a grilled cheese sandwich or hot dog?
M: hot dog
K: are you sure?
M: I want a hot dog!
K: are you sure, you didn't enjoy it last time?
M: I want it!
K: Sam is having a sandwich, I think you'ld enjoy that more..
M: Hot dog!!!
(...a few minutes later, waitress comes with hot dog...)
M: I want a sandwich!

Top tune: 'Santa Claus is coming to town' (and tonight's the night,
so sing it Jacko!!!)

Photo is of Rosey parked up at Furnace Creek campground (haven't
downloaded dune shots yet).

Photo: Salt crystals at Badwater

Christmas is coming to Death Valley too...

Photo: Mae running free descending from Natural Bridge

Photo: Natural Bridge

Photo: Theo at Badwater Salt Flats

This trip was actually yesterday (not 'today' as posted in the text -
we couldn't get online at the time!)

Today we are going to try to get to the sand dunes and then prepare
for Christmas day...

Photo: At Titus Canyon (we're still pals despite camping in a confined space for days!)

Driving up to Artist's Palette

Photo: Exploring the nooks of Golden Canyon

Photo: Hiking the rim of Ubehebe Crater

Guiding Santa's Sleigh to Death Valley

OK, so getting a little behind with the blog - but we've been busy!
Got some help from Kay and Sam with this entry. Since our first day
at DV we have:

Day 2: Visited the Golden Canyon (we understand the geological
significance of alluvial fans now) and Artist's Palette (super
colourful mineral deposits) and all the boys took a bike ride.

Day 3: The tall, narrow and winding Titus Canyon, then on to Ubehebe
Crater (with little Hebe Crater too) - probably the most impressive
feature of the park for the young'n's - they hiked miles - and,
finally, ate out for a change. We had an interesting night too: Sam
managed to fall from the pop-top bunk in his sleep - thankfully
suffering only a minor bump to the head - our tiny Christmas tree took
the brunt of the fall!

Today: Badwater salt flats, the lowest place in North America -
where, after a hike through 3" thick slabs of crystalized salt we had
Heinz Baked Beans on toast for lunch, then another hike up a canyon to
Natural Bridge, then Devil's Golf Course where we saw spikes of salt
that had been shaped by wind and water, and then we ended the day with
milkshakes all round! Marvellous!

After all the dirt roads Rosey has an impressive layer of dust on her
paint. Our clothes have a similar appearance, so an exciting trip to
the laundramat planned next! Rosey will have to wait.

Will post some more pretty photos of our sights soon.

Top song (both on radio and sung by all): Jingle Bell Rock

Top quote: Mae randomly saying "not too shabby!" (having picked it up
from Adam Sandlers Chanukah song)

Photo here is Rosey setup on our first night at Furnace Creek with
colourful lights (LED, so they can run off our little inverter and not
deplete the little 12v marine battery) to help guide Santa to us on
Christmas day...

Death Valley

Here is some text to go with the photo's posted previously:

As we descend down from the Panamint range, entering the park from the
west, it strikes us that the landscape is like nothing we've ever seen
before. For some reason (despite being better informed) I was still
expecting flat sandy emptiness. Within a day's exploration you
realise how varied a desert can be. Make no mistake though, while it
is very pleasant in winter, it is evidently a harsh place in the
summer - we saw occasional road-burn marks where some unfortunate
soul's car had packed in under the heat.

Since we're at DV a day early (Kern River was TOO cold), we stay in
Stovepipe Wells first - which is nothing to write home about - and the
campsite looked like it was once a mall car park - ugh!

The next morning (Saturday? We're losing track..) we take a leasurely
approach to introducing ourselves to the park and making our way to
Furnace Creek, where we'll stay 6 nights... (4 more to go as I write
this):

We start with Mosaic Canyon (not Marble Canyon as I posted earlier)
which is a scramble up an intricate, visually stunning, tall and
narrow Canyon that appears to be made of a mosaic of marble and other
polished stones. It feels like the scene in Star Wars where Luke is
trying to find Obi-Wan, so we pretend be Sand people!

Next is Salt Creek, pictured here, and shows amazingly that there is
life (pup fish and plants) despite the elements.

We finally get to the campground at Furnace Creek and are pleased to
find it's a pleasent place. We lash the Chistmas lights to Rosey and
settle down for a nights rest before lots of sight seeing...

More soon.

Pretending to be 'Sand People' from Star Wars

Marble Canyon

Marble Canyon Hike

Road into Death Valley