Our first morning in Bisbee started out just as any other, Ava trying to drink her warm milk from the sippy cup that Mila is trying to grab while I am trying to stay asleep with Marlene using the camera to document it all.
So here we are on a cross-country road trip. A road trip that will take us to new places to see new things. And where was our next stop? A place that we have been to twice in the past five years. Because we love it so. Hello again, Shady Dell. We’ve missed the hell out of ya!
We have big plans today. It is our checkout day at Cactus Country RV Resort and time for us to move on to the next stop. But before we can get back on the road, we have a full day booked.
We packed up a lot of our gear the previous night before heading to bed so we could try to checkout of Cactus Country by 8AM. If you know how these plans typically go, you would agree that we did pretty well by finally pulling out of there at 9:30.
We had today all planned out. We were either going to go to the Collossal Caves or the Pima Air Museum. Both spots were super close to our campground and would make perfect half day trips. But no. The rain showed up. Again. Grrrrr. And since both spots involved walking outside, our sight-seeing day went down the toilet.
But look what we did instead. Wait a second! Did we go to the San Xavier Del Bac Mission again? I wish. We did what a lot of other parents do when it rains and their kids go stir crazy in the house (or in our case… the airstream). We went to the mall!
After almost a week of dilly-dallying, we finally got our act together to see some sights. If you have ever gone on a road trip of this magnitude, you would know how much work it is to just finally get out of the house. Towards the end of our preparation, we left a lot of the final tasks to be done while we are already on the road. That is pretty much what we have been doing for the last few days, and there is much more to do.
Tucson, Arizona is one of our favorite places to be during this time of year. Even though we have been here 3 other times before, we decided we wanted to come back again on our way out. It’s familiar, it’s non-intimidating, and it’s really easing our way into the journey one step at a time.
Why haven’t we started sight-seeing yet? We’ve become homebodies. I think the stress of planning this trip with all the other things that led up to us being here did a number on us. So we are in relaxation mode right now. And that is alright.
I was just peeking at some old posts on this blog and on the one I keep for the girls. Life just goes by way too fast. Ava has changed so much since our last trip to Tucson. So! Much! I keep asking her if she remembers places we are revisiting. Like the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch. And she keeps answering that this is her first time here. But at the same time, she keeps asking why David and Carrie are not here (our travel companions from our last trip here). Strange. So I am okay with being a homebody at the moment. Enjoying my kids. Staring at my kid stare. Reach baby, reach! Oh boy. We need to get out. Now.
We woke up Sunday morning to the sound of rain falling on the aluminum skin of the Airstream. It is actually quite a comforting sound if you can believe it. LA had been getting the brunt of the storm and we got out of there just in time.
Ava woke up bright and early but could not play outside because of the rain so she decided to have a tea party with Woody, Jesse, Buzz and Bullseye. Oh yeah, and her baby duckling.
Enjoy a little walk through of the Cactus Country RV Resort shortly after rain. Marlene even busted out her binoculars for a little southen Arizona bird watching.
Today felt different. Today we woke up with smiles just a little larger than yesterday. Today it felt like a weight was lifted off of our shoulders. Today was our first non-travel day. Today was a day to have fun in the sun… and cross some things off of our never ending to-do list too.
On our way to Tucson, we stopped at Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch. We stopped here last year for the first time when we visited here and we remember Ava having a good time so we wanted to stop again. We try to instill our love of animals onto our girls and places like these are great places for them to interact and learn about these beautiful creatures first hand.
Here are some photos we took during our visit. The cost is $5 for adults and kids under 7 are free. The $5 entry fee gets you a bucket of feed and a little cup of nectar for the birds.
Guess who is in charge of babysitting today.
We woke up Friday morning in the parking lot of the Walmart in Tempe, AZ. We searched last night for a safe place in Phoenix before a drive to Tucson the next day. Since we had wanted to stop by Picacho, AZ on the way to Tucson, we decided we did not want to make the drive at night.
This is how Ava ended up in the morning in her new ‘Big Girl Bed’. She no longer sleeps in the tent bed on the floor. We had to jury rig the gaucho seat so this guard rail can be fitted. We are glad we did. Now on to our exciting day…
Hi. I’m Ava. Today we are at Organ Stop Pizza out here in good ol’ Mesa, Arizona. We thought we would grab a late lunch but you know what, they are not open until 4pm. No wonder the parking lot is empty! It’s a good thing, I guess, because we needed 7 parking spots for our van and Airstream.
