Gallup to Wimberley

Grand Canyon Sunset 10.31.11

In Gallup we stayed at a famous hotel called El Rancho right off of Route 66.  Many old Hollywood stars have stayed there, and a famous Italian rock band was there while we were.   We ate breakfast and headed off for Santa Fe. 

 The drive was again pretty.  We pulled off a few times for Lila to use the potty but made good time and were to our destination around 1.  We stayed in a beautiful guest house of a Joanna's parents.

  It is about 15 minutes from the town, up on a hill, with views of every direction.  Susan gave us a wonderful dinner suggestion and directions into town.  After Lila took a nap we headed to town.  The Indian market was already closed so we went to dinner at a place called The Shed.  It was New Mexican style and petty dang good.  Lila sat in a highchair(for the first time at a restaurant).  She had fun banging on the table and playing with the spoon.  We watched another beautiful sunset on the drive back to the Miller's home.  

Daddy read Lila her bedtime books, then mommy put her to bed.  It was so nice to have a relaxing night in a beautiful comfortable place.  Lila woke mommy up just in time to see an amazing sunrise over the snow and cloud covered mountains.  Mommy and Lila danced and played and took a shower, then lila napped.  The house was so nice and comfortable we wanted to just relax and take our time before starting the 13 hours of driving in front of us.

  It was in the mid 30s and very windy.  We attempted to go to the Indian market because mommy wanted a price of jewelry by Lila had other plans.... We parked, twice, walked around in a circle until we realized the way to go, got to the market and Lila wasn't having it... So we walked back to the car and went to Trader Joes one last time.  

We will miss Trader Joes A LOT!! But the cashier said they plan to open one in Austin next year.  I sure hope so.  Lila loves TJ too!  The people watching is good there.  We gassed up and hit the road.      We sang songs and mommy made funny faces and daddy waved to Lila in the mirror.  We pulled over to use the potty a few times too.  We saw a beautiful sunset just after we drove across the Texas state line.  Lila had a bit of trouble falling asleep, who wants to be in a weird re lies position strapped down? Not Lila... With a pit stop to get out some energy and some help she eventually fell asleep and let daddy drive all the way to Coleman, TX aka the hunting Capitol of Texas.

  We stayed in a little motel that kind of smelled.  But the bed did its job just fine.  Lila woke everyone up at 7:40 so we were able to get on the road at a decent time.  The drive through the hill country was beautiful, cacti, fall leaves and hills full of green trees.  We decided to stop in Fredricksburg for some coffee, a diaper change and some stretching. 

 We were looking for an antique shop but didn't see one so looked in a few stores.  We walked by a horse ride so we popped in 50 cents and Lila has a blast riding the little pony.  

We were about an hour and a half from Wimberley and took a back back way.  It was neat to see the ranches and livestock on the farm to market roads.  We pulled into the Shelton zoo at 12:30 (daddy was right in with his prediction).   Gigi greeted  us soon after, Lilanwas happy to be in a familiar place, with a familiar face.  The trailer is unpacked and clean, the car is clean too... Now we live in Texas.  

v.31

Today Lila is 31 weeks old.  This week has been a big one.  The family packed and packed and said goodbye to Santa Barbara.  Lila has been playing with all the different ways she an use her fingers and hands.  Since mommy uses some sign language, Lila tries to talk with her hands too.  Her wave  has evolved from just her hand and arm up and down to now she goes side to side and holds it up.  During our trip this week Lila has gotten the chance to practice her wave to many people.  Some wave back and this makes her very very happy.  

On Wednesday night, after a day of driving, Lila was no longer consolable with any of mommy's games or faces or even milk... So mommy pulled out the comb and started brushing Lila's hair.  She loves it... But them mommy showed Lila how to brush her hair.  Lila grabbed the comb and had a blast brushing mommy's bangs.  

This week Lila learned all about camping.  She really enjoyed it.  She watched daddy build fires.   Got to play and sleep in a tent, and watch the leaves blow in the trees all day long.   Lila likes hiking too.  She got to hike and play in sand dunes.  She also took a hike to one of Sedona's vortexs.  She also just enjoyed strolls around the campground and sleeping in the ergo when she wanted to.  

One of Lilas new favorite things to do is hold daddy or mommy's hands and jump jump jump!  It is the standing version of her rocking before she started crawling.  She is closer then ever to her goal for the past 7 months... walking! 

Sedona and the Grand Canyon

We enjoyed the hotel on Friday night but not game 7.   Daddy went and picked up some Thai food.  Lila went to bed pretty early due to skipping a couple of naps and not being able to get in any good sleep in the car.  The next morning Lila woke up before the sun, we got to see an amazing Arizona sunrise out of the hotel window while Lila took her morning nap.  

After breakfast we set out for a short easy hike.  We took a detour due to terrible directions from a website but every view in Sedona  seems beautiful and Lila got the chance to take another nap.  We found the trailhead, got a recreation pass, and Lila woke up.  Mommy popped her in the ergo and off we went.  It was a fairly easy hike, the rocks almost create steps for you to walk to the top.  Everyone we passed awed and oohed over Lila.  We made it to the twisted juniper trees.  A man was playing a wooden flute on the very top, Lila really enjoyed his tunes and almost fell asleep.

  When the man came down from the rock he told us a little more about the vortex and gave mommy a heart rock before heading down the trail.  

The views were amazing and so different in oppisite directions.  Lila had a small meltdown but was feeling better as we got away from the vortex.  

We stopped at the grocery store to stock up for camping and then grabbed lunch before going to our site.  We found a nice park and a pretty perfect spot.  We strolled around  the camp and Lila fell asleep in the ergo. 

 Daddy built a fire and the temperature started to drop.  We were in the forest in the cut of mountain so we lost sunlight quickly.  We ate dinner and went to the camp store to get s'mores.  We made snores while Lila slept on mommy, then daddy's chest.  The tent was cold when we got in and got even colder as the night went on.  We found out the next morning it was freezing!  The car read 33 around 8am.  Seriously so cold.  

We decided to go check out the touristy little town of Sedona.  We strolled through several gift shops and sat and watched the rocks for a bit. 

 Lila fell asleep in the ergo so we walked through a few more shops then went and had lunch.  The food was okay but our view was so pretty.  Lila loved the fans and mirror do she had a blast too.  

We headed back to camp and explored around the park.  It was October 30 and a cold front had blown through the previous week bringing fall.  The colors of the leafs were so beautiful, and so many different colors.  

Lila loves leaves, to crunch them in her hands, watch them blow in the wind, and most of all watching the leaves fall from the trees. 

 Daddy build a very nice fire and kept the family warm while he made dinner.  We called the night early because it was getting pretty cold again.  We all cuddled in the tent and did manage to stay mostly warm.  Lila was pretty cozy all night nestled in between her two favorite people.   We did have a monster skunk situation which daddy had to take care of several times (burrr!) Apparently Cave Springs Campground has very intelligent skunks.  They opened the cooler that has a zipper.  They even opened Lila's picnic basket, but I guess I didn't take them long to realize the food was just plastic.  They hissed at our tent and dug lots of holes we found in the ground the next morning. 

 Monday, it is Halloween, and for us, the day to see the Grand Canyon.  We were up early, before the sun so we all took a nap and waited for the sun to come up.  We packed up.... So cold...

 Our fingers were frozen, Lila was the smart one with her mittens on.  Daddy found the perfect little diner in Flagstaff to have breakfast.  We filled up and headed 80 miles north to the Grand Canyon.  The scenery was again pretty we even saw a mountain with snow. 

 We paid and parked and walked to the buster center that has an overlook.  We watched a short film in a movie theater.  This was Lila's first movie experience ad first time she was allowed to watch tv. (and the last for a long while :)  We only watched for a few minutes and then went to get some tips on how to best see the park with a baby and where to watch the sunset.   We then walked to the overlook and WOW!!!  

It is pretty neat.  We decided to do the Rim trail to the Grand Canyon Village (restaurants, hotels, homes, a museum, etc)  the trial was nice and mostly flat.  We just strolled along and enjoyed the amazing views.  

Each angle and turn revealed something new and beautiful. 

 Lila enjoyed the "hike" hanging out on daddy for the first half then napping on mommy the second.   

When Lila woke up we grabbed a bite, there wasn't anything too appealing so we settled for chicken fingers...  We hopped on a bus and headed back to the car.  

We drove to a spot suggested by the ranger and bundled up to watch the show.  We  saw a few elk on the way but (to the regret of daddy) did not turn around to get a closer look.  As the sun went down the canyon looked so different every minute.  

The changing light brought out the depth and textures in the rock.  We snapped a few pictures but they can't capture how beautiful it was.  

Mommy read Lila her bedtime stories in the car and nursed her to sleep.  She slept until we reached our destination, Gallup, NM.  We were happy to find a good place to stay and everyone had a good night sleep. 

SBA->MJD->SED





Daddy driving.  Mommy in rear passenger seat. Lila in middle rear.

Santa Barbara to the Mojave desert.  We woke up on Wedneaday morning just after Lila turned 7 months old.  We planned to take care of a few things and go to the Santa Monica farmers market on the way to the Mojave Desert but we had too much to do.  It takes a lot to work to move across the country. 

We headed out of Santa Barbara at 1:00 and enjoyed the last views of the pacific we will have for a while.  We even saw a couple of dolphins...  Google estimated drive time 6 hours 22 minutes.  320 miles to our destination. 

Mommy and Lila had so much fun in between naps and a bit of whining about being in the car seat.  They sung, mommy danced in her seat and made as many silly faces and sounds as she could think of.  Lila can see daddy in her car mirror and had lots of laughs waving to him.  

We enjoyed spectacular views and colors as the sunset  about an hour away from our campsite.  Lila was ready to get out of the car when we turned into the preserve but still had 20 miles to go.  Mommy broke out the comb and showed Lila how to comb hair.  She really enjoyed combing mommy's hair and it did the trick.  Daddy spotted a few cows on the road and then our site.  

Daddy set up the tent while mommy and Lila waited in the car. Lila had fun exploring the tent before falling alseep.  Burrr rabbits! It was very cold that night, in the low 30s with extreme wind.  Everyone snuggled pretty close that night. 

Lila loved waking up in the tent.  And snuggling with daddy of course. 

The next morning we drive through a beautiful joshua tree forrest while Lila took a little nap.  We grabbed some warm drinks and bagels at the Kelso Depot and headed to the Kelso Dunes. New were told sidewinders have been in the dunes lately so keep a look out. Yikes! 

 We got to the dunes, which are the third largest in the county, and started our hike.  We quickly realized walking in sand is hard and we wouldn't  make it to the top.  we walked a bit and then played in the sand.  Lila loved the giant sand box. 

We took the rest of the day to organize our stuff and just enjoy the beautiful scenery around our tent.   Daddy made hotdogs for lunch and Lila played on her park quilt and then in the tent, she even hung out in her highchair a bit.  She was having so much fun she couldn't nap.  Being outside is her favorite thing after all.   Around 4:30 as the sun was making its way down Lila finally took a little snooze.  After a family photo and the sun set we changed into our warm pjs and listened to game 6 in the car. 

Lila and mommy took a break from the game and played in the tent and read a book.  Then we joined daddy again in the car.  Lila nursed to sleep sometime during the 5th inning and mommy fell asleep t the end of the 10th.  After the game was over we went to the tent and had a much much warmer night. 
We woke up on Friday morning and packed up the tent, and headed back to Sedona via I40.   296 miles estimated time 5 hours and 13 minutes. 

On the way to Sedona we climbed up a few mountains and coasted down a couple with really amazing views.  We could see so far.  The highest elevation was 7000 feet, we saw lots of desert (all different types of desert) , we saw a huge mountain with snow on top, then dropped down into a beautiful forrest and ended in a town surrounded with  beautiful red rocks.  Tonight Lila fell asleep early, poor baby was ready to get out of the car.  She had fun exploring the hotel room and taking a bath with mommy.  Tomorrow we will explore Sedona and set up camp for the next two nights.