Fear & Loathing in Las Vagas

If I were to tell you that we have had an eventful last couple weeks that would be a huge understatement. From Lake Mojave to Laughlin to Las Vegas we are exhausted!
Lake Mohave was the most gorgeous lake that I have ever seen in my life. The water is as blue as the Caribbean and clear as glass all the way to the bottom. In fact, clear enough that we could see the friendly fish swimming right underneath our feet, so Chad leaned over & caught a Carpe with his bare hands! As if the water isn’t pretty enough, the lake is also surrounded by breath-taking views of mountains. Lake Mojave is fed by the Colorado River so it is also ice cold, which was just fine with us because after all we were in the desert and it is a thousand times hotter than what you hear & that’s coming from a native Texan! At 7:00 in the morning you can get sunburned and sweat completely through your clothes if you are outside for more than 20 minutes. The “dry heat” definitely will take a toll on your body, we could not drink enough water and get enough AC, we even bought a window unit for the motor home so we could get cool enough!

Caught with his bare hands!!

Lucas enjoyed the water too

Laughlin is very much like a mini Las Vegas except a lot cheaper and you can go from to casino to casino by riverboat on the Colorado River! I think we were the youngest people in most of the casinos which made for some great conversations.


Antique Slot machine

Chad was in heavan when we got to eat at the famous In-n-Out Burger that Matt & Kelly told us about


Before we knew it, it was time to pick up Ryan up from the airport for his first trip to Las Vegas. Everything was on track until we got about 20 miles outside of Las Vegas when our Humpty Dumpty (Chad’s latest name for the motor home) ka-put on us! We had it towed to the shop, but of course the holiday weekend put the maintenance on hold so we has to come up with a plan B, quick!

We jumped in the Honda & went on our way to Treasure Island were we had reserved a room & met Ryan just in time to get ready to paint the town red! We had so much fun going to ALL the casinos, gambling, eating great food, going to the craziest clubs every night and of course doing some great people watching! We had to make sure that Ryan got the most out of his vacation so we went all out, but I think the vacation ended up getting the most out of him! The Ghostbar, the Hard Rock Casino & going backstage to visit Ryan’s friends who worked in the show “LOVE” were just of few of our favorite things that we did.


Our Plan B ended up not being so bad afterall!



I think if this was the only thing he got to do in Vegas, he would be just fine.....


One of my favorite artists Dale Chihuly's pieces of blown glass


Bellagio Water Show


By the time the last few days came around we were getting both tired and broke, pretty much at the same rate. We all were thoroughly annoyed by the noises of the casino slot machines, especially because they seemed to be going off for everyone except us! The three of us decided to take a breather and go for a drive. We took a road off the beaten path and found a great honey hole on the Colorado River right outside the Hoover Dam so we decided to rent a boat. Since we were so close to the Dam the water in the river was about 50 degrees, so even though it was scorching hot outside and the water looked super refreshing none of us would even get close to getting in. It was nice and relaxing to be on the water saving money and listening to nothing but our voices echoing off the canyons around us for a little while. I was also glad that my brother got to see such a pretty spot outside of Texas on his trip.






The day Ryan left they called to say that Humpty Dumpy was ready to leave, by this time the feeling was mutual. We had an incredible time when Ryan was visiting us, but it was time to move on.


We got one mile out of the dealership for it to do the exact same thing, no joke….really. We had to get towed back to the dealership & wait until the next morning for them to fix it since they were now closed. The next day was Saturday so they told us that no mechanics would be coming in until Monday. We started to think about the movie Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, & that this town will make you crazy if you spend too much time here. We wanted so bad to be back in the comfort of our house on wheels & away from the noise. Not to mention we wanted to get back the way we spent money before we got to Vegas! Needless to say, after this emotional rollercoaster,we were in dire need for some down time and some cooler weather!

By the grace of god a mechanic came in that day & fixed what they should have fixed in the first place, which ended up just being an electrical wire and we were back on road. So to sum it all up, we fear Las Vegas because it is the city that never sleeps and we loath Las Vegas because of the desert heat.

California here we come!

To see the rest of our pictures go to
http://tamispictures28.shutterfly.com/

On the road again..

Yes, we do feel like a band on gypsies flyin' down the highway...
It has been an adjustment getting used to the rules of the road that's for sure. Grocery shopping used to be so easy, now a strategic shopping is a must due to lack of space & necessity. For instance ranch dressing and franks hot sauce used to be a staple in our fridge but now there is no need for them since we don't order pizza and it is to much of a pain to make salad in a tight space & not enough room to keep the leftovers. For those who are concerned about our eating habits, we have been eating very well. I very much enjoy cooking on the grill, it just has to be very planned out since we can not always just run to the store & the fridge limits the option to stock up. There have been a lot of sandwiches & chef boyardi nights! We do like to go out to eat at least once in every new spot just so we can go into town & have some local food. Of course it doesn't matter where we go, Chad gets a cheeseburger any where he can! Ha ha "Cheeseburger in paradise" should be his theme song.


See, proof! I can cook! Steaks & Veggies

On another note, we also realized that living in the motor home forces you notice the impact you have on the environment. For example, when the HUGE water tanks are full after taking a few navy showers (turning the water off and on between scrubbings) and the trash has to be taken out at least once a day you can't help but think about your carbon footprint and the small things you can do to reduce it. We bought a special water hose that filters the water so we can say goodbye to bottled water which means hello saving money, freeing up more space for treasures & being green!

Ok, now I'll pick up where I left off after we packed our bags in New Mexico. Arizona was next on our list and thankfully one of the spots we wanted to stop in was right on the other side of the the state. The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest are actually two different areas but they are very close together & you can see them both on the same tour. The Painted Desert looks exactly like it sounds, the mountains are full of vibrant contrasting colors due to the different minerals and the way they react to the environment at the time.
This same philosophy also applies to the Petrified forest, which is no longer a forest by the way. It once was a forest, but after a flood knocked down all the trees and buried them under ground the logs turned to stone. See the logs were deprived of oxygen so they could not decompose, instead the absorbed all of the minerals and were naturally preserved as colorful stones.This is also where I learned to drive the Honda! Through all the twists and turns & ups and downs I finally go the hang of it and the transmission is still in tact!




Petrified Wood, it is SO pretty & colorful!

Learning to drive! Today a stick shift, tomorrow the world! j/k


If I was going to pick a spot to live so far (besides Plano) it would be Sedona, hands down for sure!!! That is if we could afford it & bring everyone with us. The huge mountains and red rocks are breath-taking! For a state that averages only seven inches of rain a YEAR there was quite a lot of trees and greenery which made me happy. There were a lot of tourists so it was another pretty expensive city, but every one seems extremely laid back and happy.



Sedona
The beautiful red rocks and cacti are everywhere!


Outside of Sedona we traveled to our favorite small town so far. Jerome was once a town occupied by gold miners at the time of the rush, but soon after it was abandoned and became a ghost town. Now it is thriving with new restaurants & shops, but still has plenty of it's originality with the historic sites & picturesque views. Chad said it reminded him of Italy because of all the tight hairpin roads that just barely hung on to the mountains. Since the town is so small & quaint most of the people that reside in here just ride around town on there four wheelers. I couldn't help but think how much fun that would be to ride a four wheeler not only in town, but on those incredible roads! It was amazing, we sat outside at a cafe and overlooked the valley way down below where our camp site was. It was neat to see both perspectives of the mountains along with new perspectives of life all together.



This donkey followed us about 10 yards down the road. I think he would have come home with us if we let him.

The only picture we have of both of us. Bad picture of me, but good memories!




Stay tuned for Lake Mohave, the Grand Canyon & Ryan's' visit to Vegas!!!
Here is the link to the rest of our pictures

http://tamispictures28.shutterfly.com/

First Stop...New Mexico

Well before I write about New Mexico I have to tell you about a couple spots that we stopped at along the way.
We stayed in Palo Duro Canyon, which is similar to a mini grand canyon located East of Amarillo. It being a state park made it the perfect stop for our first night because it was very clean, very quiet & the scenery was breath taking!
I guess I might have had reservations about the trip if we started off staying at a scary trucker stop or some where equally unsafe & stinky...



These turkeys were our wake up call about 10 yards from our campsite!


Palo Duro Canyon

This is the view from the road leading in


On the way to Santa Fe we also saw a very peculiar siting along I-40 right outside Amarillo, when we got closer I realized that this was the famed Cadillac Ranch that I heard about a long time ago. It is one of the wildest forms of art that I have ever come across. The Cadillacs are buried nose down into the ground so the tail lights are exposed. After they were vandalized time and time again the artist began to encourage the graffiti. Unfortunately we didn't have any spray paint.I could tell you more about it, but I'll give you the link so all of the accuracy will stay in tact :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch




Ok now, about New Mexico! I always always new that I would love it, but of course it surpassed all of my expectations. There is something about this place that makes you feel so different, so free. It seems like everyone here has a story, you can almost see it in their eyes, it seems they know something that you don't....The Native American culture here is very mysterious and respected at the same time. It appears to me that all of the tourists here want so bad to be apart of the culture & the culture here is definitely aware of that. There are artists here from all over the world seeking the inspiration that New Mexico has given so many artists over time.
One of my personal favorite artists included, Georgia O'Keeffe spent many years in the New Mexico area painting desert scenes but mainly large scale flowers. The Georgia O'Keeffe museum is located in Santa Fe & I was ever so lucky to be able to spend some time there and learn more about her.
http://www.georgia-okeeffe.com/

As much as we enjoyed staying in Santa Fe, it was time to move on to Albuquerque.
We spent the majority of our one night stay visiting the old town down town area where I could shop and listening to some great live music outside in the middle of all the shops.
All in all it was a great place to catch up on some sleep and get inspired!

Ten reasons why we love New Mexico (In no order)

1. Green Chili sauce on EVERYTHING!!
2. The scenery of the mountains
3. Cool Cowgirls & there amazing style
4. Turquoise Jewelry
5. The Weather, it is warm but always with a cool breeze
6. speed limit on the highway is 75, we were passed several times going 80!
7. The Georgia O'Keeffe museum
8. The art and the eccentric artists that make people watching extremely amusing!
9. Shopping, er I guess just window shopping since everything costs an arm & a leg here, but it is fun to look around
10. The Architecture, all of the homes & commercial buildings are adobe style so they blend in with the scenery instead of sticking out like a sore thumb


Heading into town...

Standing outside of the oldest building in Albuquerque, High Noon restaurant & saloon


The band was full of great energy


A small garden walkway in Santa Fe


Local artists selling jewelry


Arizona here we come!
For more pictures please visit
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It's GO time!

So much has changed since the last time I made a post! I'll sum the up last 2 weeks for you guys since you already know some of it ;)
After the house sold we started the massive project of packing, thanks to all of our great friends & family it went by pretty fast. It would have taken us a lot more red bull & 2 more weeks if we didn't have so much help! In the mean time we also found an incredible deal on a 33' Winnebago that we could not pass up! You couldn't find a decent car for what we bought the motor home for...seriousley!!! Not to mention that the couple that we bought it from jsut got back from taking the same adventure that we were about to take on. It was a sign!I t needed lots of TLC butChad saw the potential right away, it took me a little longer...
Speaking of signs, I has a ton of built up anxiety b/c I still had to break the news to work. I thought for sure they were going to let me go, I mean I was about to tell them that I was going to take a extremely long vacation while trying to not seem expendable at the same time! Not only did they let me take a leave of absence with out pay, they also agreed to keep our insurance benifuts current! I could not ask for a better deal! If that isn't a sign I don't know what is.
The house was completely empty and we were both to tired & busy to be sad & say good bye to our first home that we made so many great memories in, including all the things we learned about being a home owner & the wild parties! The door was always rotating at that house & I loved it! Before we knew it we were at the closing & there were strangers moving in our house! It really was a great first house, I guess with it selling in 6 days we are not the only ones that think that! I am probably wishful thinking but I really hope they appreciate all the small details that we worked so hard on and not turn it into a dump. It was a good home....

Anyways, after all that was said & done we shacked up with Keith and Kris while we got ready for our trip. They were oh so generous and hospitable especially after we stayed a week longer than we planned to! The guys really worked hard on making our house on wheels a home on wheels. As far as I am concerned, this is just as much of a labor of love for everyone else as it is ours. The outside of the motorhome was stripped of the oxidation it had from Florida, the inside was painted, cleaned and refurbished. They installed new TVs, AC, satellite, upholstery (still a work in progress by me) and I added many other girly touches to make it feel more comforting. We also traded Chad's rickety truck in for a Honda civic that we could easily tow. This was WAY over due if you ask me.
Needless to say I have some driving lessons ahead of me since I don't know how to drive the manual transmission car nor the huge motorhome. Yikes!


After all of this we were finally ready to hit the road!


Stay tuned to for the updates on adjusting to the road and where where we are headed.....


here is the link to our pics
http://tamispictures28.shutterfly.com/