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/
Thanks for doing this blog, it's a great way for us to keep up, we appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're having a great time, I bet it's going really fast.
Funny that you mentioned the cooking and supplies topic, that's exactly what I was trying to warn you about (Billie's "master supply list" and pre-made meals...). Being stocked up will come in handy when you're a half day's drive from a store or restaurant of any kind! You probably didn't believe me on that but that's the way of the world out there. There's no Walmart or McDonald's anywhere near most of the places I think you're going. I'm so relieved you got that covered!
Please keep us updated, be safe, and enjoy!