July 9th - Joshua Tree National Park. We entered Joshua Tree at the southern Cottonwood entrance and drove all the way through the park, stopping at many of the incredible vistas. To say that you are in the middle of the desert-no-where is an understatement - it is extremely hot, extremely dry, extremely barren...yet incredibly gorgeous. It is almost mind blowing that anything survives out in this harsh harsh environment. As you drive through the first 45 minutes through the southern end of the park you question how this ended up as a national park - then you reach the spectacular Joshua Tree forests and incredible boulders - and you no longer question why.
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Saguaro National Park on the edge of Tuscon, Arizona proves to be one of the most incredible desert spaces I have ever experienced. We consider ourselves desert rats and have spent countless hours exploring all that this amazing environment has to offer. Saguaro, however, is a place all of its own. The park is broken up into 2 sections - we spent our time on the eastern side and we were not disappointed. The saguaro cactus grow to 40 feet tall and live for over 150 years. They are a source of food and shelter for many animals that call the desert home, including the native Americans who used to live in this part of the US. I think of all the parks we have visited thus far, this one stands out the most in my mind.
What is every little princess’s dream? To meet the “real” princesses in their castles! As we would speak about Disneyland, Dylan would argue that she has already been there as she was sure the Disney Story at the mall was Disneyland. After spending a week exploring the natural wonders of the unique and harsh environment of the southern deserts of Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona; heading into the complete human chaos that is Disneyland was a huge shock to us mentally and emotionally. We were ecstatic to join Dylan in experiencing this wonderland while she was the perfect age to feel the magic, yet Will and I were a little overwhelmed with the amount of stimuli. Dylan, however, had a blast. We decided that we would take things slow and enjoy every aspect of things as they came up. This allowed us to meet Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and have an extended conversation with Anna from Frozen. Although it was extremely hot both days and I think that ¾ of the U.S. was in the park with us, we managed to get on every ride that Dylan was tall enough to go on.
A few things that I noticed while at the park… 1. Many many families are nerdy enough to get matching shirts to wear while at the park – I was impressed as to the number of dads who joined in on the “fun”. 2. Although everyone was hot and tired I rarely heard any child complaining or parents get upset at their children. 3. Because you are constantly thinking about which ride you need to be at next it was very easy to forget to take the time sit down to a meal. 4. Taking a backpack is a pain in the neck but so necessary. Day one we walked the park all together but by day two we ended up renting a stroller that we used for Dylan as well as a place to leave our back pack. 5. Time kind of disappears. Before we knew it on day one it was 7pm. 6. Evening shows are just as popular as the rides. We missed out on the evening shows because we didn’t arrive earlier enough to get a space worth fighting the crowds to see the shows. Some tips for going with a four-year-old…. 1. If your child is under 40 inches, Disneyland is a much better choice than California Adventure. Dylan could ride nearly every attraction in the former park but only about 10% of the attractions in the latter. She did love the Little Mermaid ride in California Adventure, however, so if you have a park-hopper, this is one to see. It also seemed as though there were more princess interactions in California Adventure. 2. Download the Disneyland App. It informs you of wait times for every ride and you can order food from vendors rather than wait in long lines. 3. Spend $10 extra for the MaxPass. It allows you to make “reservations” for the most popular of the attractions so your wait time is 15 minutes rather than an hour. You will be able to make a reservation every hour and a half. Do so at every opportunity and plan for the ones you really want to do first. 4. Start the day at Fantasyland. Specifically, the Peter Pan ride. These rides are often the most popular and lines get longer throughout the day. These are all the “classic” Disneyland rides for children. We didn’t preempt Dylan’s knowledge of these classics before going but she still enjoyed each ride. 5. Take a lot of snacks with you. While you wait through some of the longer lines, it helps distract children and avoids “hangriness”. 6. Get there as early as possible. The parking structure opens at 6:30 a.m. and the park itself opens at 8 a.m. Lines in the morning were fairly short but by noon, every line was at least 45 minutes long. As thunderstorms loomed over the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, we toured the town of Santa Fe. Parking spots were scarce, so we kept driving around. Suddenly, the cloud burst sending quarter-sized rivulets of rain splattering on our windshield. Deciding not to play the tourists in the downpour, we made our way south. Our goal was to hit White Sands National Monument before sunset as we had been advised that there was no better time to be there.
Three and a half hours of driving through stark, desert landscape with nothing but dust, creosote, and a smattering of one-horse towns, brought us over a crest and into a large agricultural valley. We were amazed at the abundance of orchards compiled of trees that we did not recognize. To our right materialized the largest pistachio we had ever seen. Of course, loving pistachios the way we do, we felt compelled to stop. The store was just about to close its doors, but they let us in for a quick wine and ice cream sample. As we devoured our pistachio ice cream, the host at the front door took us outside and gave us some pertinent information about how pistachios grow and are harvested. He even picked up a small bunch from the ground and handed them over to us as a gift. Back in the car, we began down a highway that is often closed due to missile testing. We were in the area just south of where the first atomic bomb was tested in 1944 (hopefully we don’t suffer any unusual mutations as a result). Through the desert landscape we continued until contrasting dunes of white gypsum sand appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Driving into the park we felt so out of place, like we would drive into the ocean around the next bend. We found a spot relatively free of people and parked the van. The sand felt soft and cool under our feet with the rain having chilled it hours before. Dylan ran up the dunes leaving her little footprints behind and spreading sand behind her with every step. With the GoPro set up to take a time-lapse exposure of the sunset, we played around in the sand – flying from the tops of the dunes to land and slide halfway down, making “sand angels”, and sledding on our backsides. Today happened to be Carolyn and my anniversary. As the sun set over the dunes, the landscape appeared nearly as beautiful as Carolyn. I couldn’t take my eyes off either. Things we have learned thus far in our 5 days on the road…
1. How startling it can be while driving, when your 4 year old is watching Dora with headphones and yells “backpack” at the top of her lungs. 2. We MUST return to Santa Fe New Mexico as it is a gorgeous town that we weren’t able to explore enough. 3. An Earthship on our property is a MUST. The Earthship Biotecture community outside Taos New Mexico was incredible to explore and learn in depth all the concepts. We had a lovely conversation with Sean at the welcome center about the future of making it a reality once we land in Nova Scotia. 4. Black bears are very curious and very stealthy when they sneak up on you at 7 a.m. while you are getting in the van. He was literally within reaching distance as I got into the van in the morning before I even realized he was there. 5. Ordering breakfast burritos in New Mexico “Christmas Style” is a thing. The green chili at Tecolote Cafe in Santa Fe was to die for (of course Carolyn and Dylan thought it was a little too zippy). 6. Spiritual (hippie) communities do still exist and feel absolutely refreshing. We spent our first night in the lovely high desert/foothill town of Crestone, Colorado (populations 150) in a campground along the river. The town smells of pine reason and patchouli and the people were friendly and calming. We woke the next morning to a black bear walking within reach of our van as we were leaving our site. After exploring a few of the many dozens of temples/shrines in the area we felt as though we would love to do a retreat here in the future. 7. The US must have many, many “world records”. In our first 3 days we have already stopped at the worlds biggest rocking chair in Colorado, the world’s highest suspension bridge (Royal Gorge bridge in Colorado that held the record from 1920-2001 and is now considered the highest suspension in the US), and the world’s largest pistachio in Alamorosa, New Mexico. We also stopped at the oldest church in Colorado located in Conejos. A few thoughts on all of these… roadside attraction signs really do work as that is how we were attracted to all of them… how closely are these records truly monitored – I hate to play the skeptic, but that’s a lot of record breaking things in just 3 short days… and we need to be find the balance of where to stop and what to push through or our time on the road will take significantly longer then we had planned. 8. Bandelier National Monument is definitely worth seeing. We would suggest spending the night in the campground and getting an early start to avoid the crowds that begin arriving on the 9 a.m. shuttle. Having the park basically to ourselves allowed us to explore each dwelling and truly allow ourselves to picture how life must have been for the Ancestral Pueblo people 1000’s of years earlier. 9. Bring guide books - bring guide books. For us, we wish we had more in-depth guide books on plants, insects and birds for these southern regions. The landscape is ever changing, and it has sparked our curiosity about the plants and birds that we are passing at 70 miles an hour. The cactus along I-10 through NM and AZ are INCREDIBLE. 10. Try not to hold too strongly to your expectations while on your journey. Plans change constantly, a lot more then we had anticipated, and areas we thought we would enjoy deeply just didn’t hold our soul. Although a lovely small town, Taos did not call us to return the same way Santa Fe did. For years, Carolyn and I have dreamed of running our own Sustainable Bed and Breakfast. Every time we asked ourselves when we would do so, the answer was always, "In a few years". At some point, that answer wasn't good enough so we decided to set a date. We began talking to family and friends and made the decision that we would leave Utah in April of 2019. During a conversation with her sister, Carolyn was asked, "What are you waiting for?". We honestly didn't have an answer to that question. The truth is, the market in Utah is hot right now. We had no reason to wait. We called up our friend, Kellen Perkins, who happens to be a Real Estate Agent and asked how to get started on selling the house. A couple weeks later, our house was on the market. It was a challenge to pack up nearly 20 years of memories and collectible items but it was also a great opportunity to purge things. We made countless trips to donate items at the local thrift store, sold nearly $2000 worth of higher quality items, and took two pickup truck loads to the dump. Boy, did that feel good. The hardest part was deciding what was worth keeping to take on the 4000 mile trip up to Canada. On June 27th, we rented a 16 foot moving truck and loaded up. We said our goodbyes to family and friends and hit the road. We had an adventure on our way to drop off our items in Colorado, but that is a story for another day. As of today, our house is under contract with the intent to close by the end of this month and we are safely at Will's parents in Black Forest prepping for the next step in our adventure, scheduled to start in the next few days. |
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |