The rain storm that came through while we were at Rincon Parkway turned out to be the worst storm of the season. It continued to rain for a few more days even after we left. Rather than trying to back the Mish down the narrow driveway with soggy mud, we just left it out on the street. Plus we knew it wasn’t going to be long before our next trip: Anza Borrego State Park.
A stretch of frontage road right off of the 101 freeway just north of our house is a place called Rincon Parkway that we have wanted to check out for many years. Being so close to where we live, we often take it for granted. Every time we drive by, we are always looking to see if there is vacancy. Being a first-come-first-serve campground right by the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, it is a busy spot year round.
Does this look familiar? The girls napping in their car seats in the van with the freeway zooming past us outside the window while towing the Airstream. Well, we are on another trip. And this time, we are going back to Lake Casitas.
Why is this picture blurry you ask? Well, do you ever drive down a two-lane asphalt road on a hot day and see that distorted mirage down in the distance in front of you right above the road? This is just like that. It is so hot here now we are getting the heat shimmers inside Mali Mish. OK, not really, but you get the idea.
Today is our official day to tour the Grand Canyon National Park after getting into town around dusk yesterday. The weather is definitely getting much warmer even at this high elevation so I can’t even imagine how hot it is at the base of the desert in Arizona. Ava is ready with her sunglasses and hat and even a couple of dandelions as mini-umbrellas for some much needed shade from this heat wave.
A day of climbing up and down rocks really tuckered out Ava as she slept in just a little later than usual this morning. Mila on the other hand found herself in a ripe opportunity to get her hands on some of her sister’s toys.
After dinner in Durango last night we headed west towards Mesa Verde National Park and got a spot at the Mesa Verde RV Resort just outside of the park. We looked long and hard at our options and we crossed our fingers in hoping that the RV Resort had a decent WiFi connection since our Sprint 3G card is hopelessly out of range. So far we are doing alright. The site had hookups and the WiFi signal worked well enough for us to get some work done so we could head out for some sightseeing in the morning.
Today is a very special day. It is not only special because we are heading into Oklahoma for the first time but because it is also our 8th anniversary. If you told me on the day we got married 8 years ago that we would be full timing on the road with 2 kids today, I would probably think you are crazy. It’s amazing how much things have changed for the better since then and we are happy to be where we are today.
After spending a good part of a day in town yesterday, we decided we would stay at the campground and just hangout and relax here. It is sometimes a difficult decision to make to not do any sightseeing because you are constantly nagged with the feeling that you are missing out on something. We figured since we are staying 2 more days here than we originally anticipated, we can afford to take things slow.
We woke up this morning at the Orlando Walmart parking lot ready to spend the week at Disney World. For almost the last two weeks, we have been telling Ava that we are going to Disney World. Something I do not recommend. Ever since we told her about it, she has been asking for it every day. “Can we go to Disneyland?” “I want to go to Disneyland now.” “When are we going to Disneyland?”
“Today. We will go today. And by the way, this is Disney World.”
Today we had a choice to make. Spend the day at Easterlin County Park or head out? Hmmm. What to do. What to do. Just then Ava walked out of our bedroom with a HUGE mosquito under her eye. That settles it. We are out. Of. Here! See ya Easterlin. Next stop, Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach!!! Our 2nd KOA of the trip. Finally putting some good use to that annual member discount card we bought back in New Mexico.
After 10 days and 9 nights in the Florida Keys, today is the day to go. Our original reservation at Long Key was a 1 + 2. It meant that we would have to move from one site to another after the first night. Luckily for us, when we got there, a walk-up site was open and we were able to switch to it for the entire stay. That meant that we actually have the option to stay here for up to 14 nights if we chose to. I might have considered it if we didn’t already spend my left arm and right leg on a Fort Wilderness/Disney World visit next week. To tell you the truth, we are ready to see other places. We have been in Florida for about 40 days and most of that have been in South Florida. It is time to move on.
