But you are in good company. The van is just as dirty as you.

I’m so sorry about the streak marks, by the way. At least these stripes are vertical… and quite slimming on you.

Oh, I know. The windows. Your poor windows. They might be the worst part of all of this.

Who’s the blame? Don’t you dare say the quickly growing bump that has eaten my seat belt! Don’t you dare.

the end,
marlene

We tried our best to be Mr. and Mrs. Conservative on this two-night trip.

Water
Water-wise, we did great. We washed our dishes and brushed our teeth in gentle streams of water and we didn’t take showers in the Airstream. But we did take showers at home. No, we did not go home just to take showers. Geez. We aren’t huge wussies. We went home because we forgot to pack Ava’s sleeping tent and I could no longer take her sleep kicks and punches at night… and Dan was sad that he was banished to the couch. So, I guess, that makes us little wussies. I’m okay with that. Our gray water tank was still empty after three days according to our usage indicator. I think I may pat myself of the back right now.

Power
Electricity-wise, we didn’t do as great. I did my very best to not turn on lights. We used Ava’s mini-lantern when we could and I even washed our dishes in the dark. I must have really looked ridiculous because our new friend David stopped by and offered his generator so I can wash dishes with the lights on… like normal people.  I kindly refused because I was on a mission to see how long we could last on our own. By the end of the second night, our usage indicator was flashing red. Bad news.

Summary
The overall experience was great. I think we can last a long time water-wise but our two batteries will only allow us to boondock for two nights before we need a recharge from the van… or those generators and solar panels that Dan keeps sending me links to from Craigslist.

The next time we need to boondock for more than a night, we won’t be as apprehensive. I just hope the view from our Airstream is just as nice.

the end,
marlene

Hi there! Welcome back. It’s Day 6 of our road trip and we are still at The Shady Dell in Bisbee, Arizona with our Airstream, the Mali Mish.

Here is a little sneak peek for you of the awesome vintage trailers that they have here. This will have to keep you satisfied until we create a “special post” just for this place. David and Carrie stayed in the little one with the red stripe on the far right. I love how each trailer has its own artificial lawn, pink flamingos and white picket fence.

The gazebo area separates the vintage trailer section from the RV parking section. Ava got really into throwing leaves up in the air with her Uncle David.

When Dan and I were planning this trip at home, we planned on staying only one night in Bisbee. Now that we are on the actual trip, we realized that wasn’t going to work for us. Picking up and traveling every day is just too much trouble. Plus, we weren’t going to have enough time to enjoy the places we were in if we stuck to that plan. So we cut the Chiricahua Mountains and a few other recommended places to our dismay but we’ll catch those places the next time we hit the road for the longer trek across the States.

We decided to take it slow today. Real slow. We spent the day in downtown Bisbee. Walking around. Checking out the little boutiques.

Riding in explosive mine carts.

Boom!

Having a toddler with you means that sometimes your sight-seeing trips will be cut in two halves because of nap time. So we left David and Carrie in town while we headed back to The Shady Dell. While in town, they decided to take the Queen Mine Tour. The tour takes visitors deep into the old mine that was once extremely rich in copper ore.

They got to don hard hats, miner lamps, yellow rain coats and all… just as the signs required. Back in the mining days, they supposedly kept mules down there for 5 years at a time. After those 5 years in living in complete darkness, they had to completely cover the mule’s eyes the first day out of the mine and in the actual sunlight. And each day after that, they would poke a small hole in the cover… and continue that process every day until the mule’s eyes were readjusted to the light.

After nap time, we rejoined the miners. I got the bright idea to actually put money into a gumball machine to get a couple toys for Ava. Pablo the Penguin and a Go Diego Go. Up to this point, she had been fine with just “window shopping” the gumball machines. Oh great. I might have released a monster. I guess I’ll find out the next time we pass one of these again. Who am I joking? Of course I released the gumball monster! I better start keeping more quarters in my wallet from now on.

We stopped at the Bisbee Grill for some dinner. I usually don’t blog about what we eat for each meal because it would be too exciting for you to read and you might explode or something. But check out the soup Carrie ordered. It’s three times the size of her head! It still makes me giggle. We almost had to sit at another table so we could have some space for our normal sized plates.

That’s all for today. Gotta run.

the end,
marlene

After three nights at Catalina State park, it was time for us to head to our next destination… Bisbee, Arizona. It took a bit longer that expected to pack up and get the Airstream ready for the road again. I’m sure after a few more times, we will become old pros.

Our gray water tank, that holds our sink water, was full since yesterday. Because the dump station was located down the road, we decided not let any more water down the drain instead of attaching the trailer to the van and dragging it back and forth. It was going to be way too much work, especially since we would be dumping all of the gray water out in the morning before we headed out to Bisbee.

We try to plan the longer parts of our drives during Ava’s nap time. For some reason, she was really fighting it today. Whatever I did to try to calm her down was the wrong thing to do. I could not win. But I refused to give up. Especially since I had a secret weapon with me in the car today.

As you can see, the secret weapon worked like a charm.

Ava’s Uncle David was here! He couldn’t join us at the start of our road trip because of a show. But he took the bus for 12 hours to meet up with us in Tucson. And whenever Ava is upset in the car, we just put in her favorite CD (Pink in the Sink by Novi Split… aka Uncle David) and she calms down within seconds. I’m sure he just LOVES listening to himself over and over again but we had to do it for the sake of some peace and quiet and for a happier baby in the afternoon.

After about 90 miles or so, we reached The Shady Dell in Bisbee. The Shady Dell has about 10 restored vintage aluminum travel trailers that you can rent out. They also have a boat and a bus you can rent out too. On top of that, they have a section for those who are pulling their own trailers, like us, with full hook-ups and wi-fi too.

David and Carrie decided to rent out the Crown trailer for a couple nights. As soon as they unlocked the door to it, Ava was inside playing tea party. More pictures of The Shady Dell tomorrow. More CLEAR pictures.

By the time we settled in, we were more than ready for dinner. We tried to call a couple pizza places in town but they were closed for the night. So it was up to Chef Boy R Dan to make us some dinner. He whipped up salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and candied pecans, bread, polenta with tomato sauce, and leftover sauerkraut. Yumm. After that feast, I guess I can forgive him for the blurry pictures.

the end,
marlene

It never fails. Whenever we start a road trip, we can never get the inside temperature just right while we are sleeping. It takes us about three days to finally settle on a temperature that is neither too hot nor too cold, but just right. We sound like the Three Little Bears every morning. Once we all agreed that 65 degrees was just right, Yoda began being a bit happier. A bit like her old self. She even started bird watching outside of our bedroom window. She can now officially add the Gila Woodpecker to her Bird Life List. Whaaat? I’m not the bird dork. Yoda is!

Our first stop of the day was the historic Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson. The hotel is famous for its authentic 1920s beauty and for the fire which led to the capture of one of the country’s most notorious criminals — John Dillinger.

It’s also famous with those interested in a bit of ghost hunting. There is supposedly a woman smelling of roses that graces the lobby and stairwell…

…and a man on the second floor that was killed in a gunfight over a card game gone wrong. I asked Ava if she saw a man in the hallway and she pointed to this male statue lamp. How could I not agree? She was obviously correct. Let’s try this again. We then walked the halls with her and I asked her if she saw a man. Her answer was “yes”. I then asked if he was wearing a hat. She answered “No yes”. And shoes? “No yes”. And then I heard someone say “You’re leading the witness.” And then I said ” Shut up Dan”.

We also couldn’t resist visiting San Xavier Del Bac Mission just a few miles from downtown Tucson. It is said to be the finest example of mission architecture in the entire U.S. of A. I’m no expert in mission architecture but it made a believer out of me.

The interior will take your breath away. As soon as you step past the massive wooden doors, you are struck by the graceful blend of Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance architecture. It’s truly amazing.

As soon as Ava walked into the mission, she got a twinkle in her eye. You know, the kind that will get her, and all of us, in big big trouble. She was a split second from screaming the word ECHO into the domes above with all of her might. I got down on my knees and started praying for forgiveness told her that this was not the time for echoing but a time for whispering. And by golly, it worked. She spent her entire visit whispering and putting her finger over her nose. Hehe. She has yet to master the shhhh. But I find her version much cuter if I don’t say so myself.

We ended up dropping Carrie off back at Hotel Congress to meet a friend after our mission visit. The city of Tucson decided that it was a good idea to close all of the freeway ramps on Interstate 10 for a 20 miles stretch right next to downtown without any warnings on the freeway on-ramps. We drove over 10 miles each way up and down the freeway before we were able to find an exit near downtown!

Carrie and her friend from Tucson were going to pick up my brother David from the Greyhound station that night so he could join us for the second leg of our journey. So it was back to Catalina State Park for Dan, Ava and me. With all the wonderful site seeing we tried to cram in just a short few days, we really didn’t have a chance to enjoy the park’s surroundings as much as we would of liked. It was nice to have a free afternoon to do just that.

After dinner, we noticed that our gray water tank was almost filled to the brim… which meant that we no longer could wash dishes in the trailer. Damn! So it was off the the facilities to use their sink. On our dark and spooky walk to wash dishes, Ava decided that she didn’t want to walk close to us. I casually mentioned that she had to stay close because there might be coyotes lingering about. Oh man was that a bad idea. She bolted up into Dan’s arms before I could even recall if she even knew what a coyote was in the first place.

Doesn’t our Mali Mish look divine in a desert sunset? We were one of three Airstreams at the park.

Alright. Yoda is trying to rush me off of the computer so she can steal my warm seat.

the end,
marlene