From California to Arizona

It's been a while. As usual life got in the way and we were busy enjoying life together as a family on the end of our first road trip. Once we returned back to BC we were also enjoying seeing some great friends and catching up as best as we can! I'll have to share a post with some of those photos once I'm all caught up on this first trip. I'll do my best this next two weeks, but we'll be in Orlando and Las Vegas enjoying more sun and fun!

Leaving San Diego this time was much easier than our previous visit. Instead of boarding a plane and heading back to cold BC for Brett to go back to work, we loaded up the trailer and headed off towards the desert.

It was an interesting drive as we headed east on the 8. San Diego slowly melted away, transitioning into the rocky desolate desert. As we hit an area east of Jacumba, it appeared as if someone had just haphazardly thrown a bunch of rocks into huge piles. It was all that we could see for miles and miles. It was the complete opposite of the sights that we had taken in, in the Pacific Northwest.

As we continued further east we watched the temperature climb and the rocks were replaced with sand. Instead of the oil fields we had seen further north, we were greeted by more friendly wind farms and solar fields, a much more welcome sight for us.

When we finally arrived in El Centro to load up on groceries and other needs, the temperature soared to 37C. We spent about an hour and a half there bouncing around between stores before we hit the road again. Our goal was to make it to Ehrenberg, Arizona for the night. As we made our way through Brawley, California we had to drive pass a sugar beet processing facility. The smell that wafted from the plant assaulted all of our noses and we had to breathe through our mouths for miles down the road. I hope it’s something I never have to smell again for the rest of my life.

The next breathtaking site we encountered was the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area near Glamis, California. The rolling sand stretched for miles, and even from the truck I was able to get some decent photos of them.

From there it was roller coaster road through empty desert and practically empty towns. It was a long day of driving, but worth it once we arrived at the RV Resort in Ehrenberg. We stayed at Arizona Oasis RV Park, and that was exactly what it seemed like after a long day in the truck. Our lovely site backed directly onto the Colorado River, with plenty of grass for the kids to play on!

After a quick bite to eat, we bathed the kids and then headed down to the river for the bonfire that the park has every Tuesday. Unfortunately we missed most of the people, but we lucked out by meeting our neighbours Kevin and Susie.

We spent about an hour or so talking to them, and I wish we could've stayed longer. They were so like minded, and had retired to life in their RV, which they started only shortly before we began our adventure. Even funnier, we had all been in the same RV Park the week prior in Castaic. 

Meeting them was one of those things I loved about what we are doing. Relaxing, enjoying life out in the open, meeting and connecting with new people and having new experiences. As we said good bye to them the following morning, we all agreed that hopefully in the summer our paths would cross once again. 

Leaving Ehrenberg, we had a long day of driving ahead of us. We stopped in Lake Havasu to buy some groceries and eat lunch and then kept on driving directly to Williams. We picked Williams because of it's easy access to the Grand Canyon - especially the resort that we picked. We decided to stay at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel and RV Resort. The place was lovely, and most importantly I was impressed with the quality of their washer and dryers. We had run into some horrible one's along our travels, and for the first time I felt that our clothes were coming out truly clean. 

After a morning of some domestic duties, we took the kids out for some fun - starting with the playground on the resort. Nolan is becoming a huge fan of everything to do with playgrounds - especially after seeing how much fun his big sister has. 

After tiring the kids out, we decided to take a wander of the small town of Williams. It didn't take us long to make the rounds to all of the stores, and then with a hungry little girl we decided to settle onto the patio at Historic Brewing Company, and we were so glad that we did! The food was excellent (I could have eaten ALL of Halle's Mac n' Cheese), but the beer was even better! 

We had a wonderful first full day in Williams, but tried to call it an early night. The next day we were off for an adventure at the Grand Canyon. I'll save one post just for our day at the Grand Canyon - the most impressive thing I have ever seen in my life! I can't wait to share it!