Well, the last of the National Park visits is behind us on this trip…
We took only pictures, and left only footprints. We didn’t even leave a trail doodie this time!
We made it to our massive campground in Vegas, where we were absolutely surrounded by RV’s of every make and style, from tiny tin cans holding ten people with enough cooking equipment to feed ten families, to the Ultimate Behemoth mega Class A campers with fifteen slides, a fold down dance floor, and a separate trailer full of ATV’s and bikes.
However, after ten days in the desert and on rocky outcroppings, the kids (and us) were primarily interested in the pool and hot tub at the resort!
And of course…
The long discussed…
Promised land of Mexican food…
Fausto’s!!!
And their world famous salsa bar, with spicy carrots yum!
We dug into the burritos with reckless abandon! Maya was in her element! Those burritos, let me tell you, there was no conversation for a few minutes there. Those were fantastic burritos! Well worth the hype and the wait! (Not sponsored by Fausto’s, but we are open to discussion)
Not that we should quickly transition from burritos to rv sewer connections, but, actually, that’s not a bad way to change the subject!
Chris and Maya also got their turn at doing the hookups, including wrangling the dreaded stinky slinky to and from its den in the bumper, so all three have now earned their RV merit badges!
The Leveling Badge
The Electric Badge
The Water Hook Up Badge
The PoopChute Badge
And, someday, after years of practice, maybe they will get the coveted:
The We Did All Of The Above Without An Argument Badge
That’s a tough one to earn…
We settled in for a quiet of evening of feverish camper cleaning and packing, and in the morning, we returned the camper to its owners, and dropped everyone off at the airport.
Ann and I headed out of town, on to our Palm Springs, CA to meet up with Phil and Deb Webster and to explore the Joshua Tree National Park area as well as Palm Springs!
As we drove away, we both realized that it is going to be a lot quieter around here after such an incredible ten days spent with our adult kids.
We are so very blessed to have a great relationship within our little family.
We are also so very blessed and thankful that we were able to pull together this trip and that the kids were able to make it, that they were able to be mostly fully present in the moment, experiencing time together as a family and time in our beautiful country and in it’s national and state parks.
The weather was fantastic!
The food preparation was delicious, and appreciated, and well-enjoyed.
The rental rv, the airstream, and the truck all performed without issue, other than drinking $2300 worth of fuel over 1331 miles between the two drivers.
The driving was safe, if not harrowing at times anyway (I have never seen so many dust devils in my whole life, we even drove right through a few!)
The campsites were clean and mostly quiet and had nice pools and showers (which came in very handy for Hannah and Chris and Maya, as three people sharing a bathroom in an RV is very very cramped).
Smore’s were very frequently on the menu and they were exquisitely prepared, perfectly toasted, and stickilylyly consumed.
Every meal and every hike and every night around the campfire and every truck or bike ride was peppered with laughter, and conversation, and “us-ies” (and some selfies) and community, and family, and awe for the surroundings and scenery, and reverence for those special areas that just felt bigger, and with just the joy that comes from being able to do something like this with people that you love.
So, yes, it will be a little quieter in the camper at night, but we have a lot to write about now! And so many great pictures!
TaterTotTales 