Thane Time

Today my Dad took Thane and I to the Hall of Flame, a really great fire fighting museum in Tempe.  This very cool (or should I say hot?!) place houses 100 fire fighting vehicles dating from 1725 to the present. 

The collection is quite impressive.  There were early horse pulled fire wagons and huge modern trucks.  Also featured was fire fighting paraphernalia from all over the world, including this early Japanese uniform.

There's a great children's section on fire safety with a lot of interactive things to do including sliding down a small fire pole.

The museum has an impressive display of helmets from all the world, in addition to a badge collection that numbers in the thousands.  Perhaps most moving was a tribute to firefighters who have perished in the line of duty.  In fact the museum is proud to house an engine that was partially destroyed during the morning of September 11th.  It has since been restored.

After a long morning at the museum we headed over to the Bass Pro Shop, one of Thane's favorite places on the planet.  There he got a new high score at the shooting range and help feed the fish in the pond.

We topped off the day with lunch and a hot chocolate from Starbucks.  It was a good day!

More Randomness

We continue to witness unique sights on a regular basis during our travels.  For instance on Sunday we traveled behind 4 of Toby Keith's concert trucks on their way from one venue to another.

Throughout mid- to southern California, we often passed trucks carrying large open loads of tomatoes heading to processing plants (remember THAT before you put an unwashed tomatoe in your salad!).  In fact several sharp curves in the highways there are stained red from spills.

One thing that we have seen in numerous states has been Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues.  Maine, Minnesota, Wyoming, Washington and California have all laid claim to Paul Bunyan lore.

We've also seen hundreds of silly t shirt designs, but this one from the San Diego Zoo is a personal favorite:

After a particularly rough day pulling the trailer (lots of crazy traffic and mechanical issues), Jordan is in full agreement with a message that Ronald Reagan telegrammed to Nancy in 1965:
"I have finally solved argument over best way to travel.  DON'T!"

Ha!  It's good to keep a sense of humor during a trip like this.

Sedona and Montezuma's Castle

Yesterday my parents watched Annabel & Thane so that we could get away for some much needed alone time.  We decided to drive up to Sedona.  There's a reason that this area is known as one of the most beautiful places in the world!  We spent the morning sightseeing, and then we stopped for lunch at a nice little Thai place.

Later we drove north toward Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon, which was also very scenic.  The topography here is just stunning.

On the way back to Phoenix we stopped at Montezuma's Castle National Monument.  The castle is one of the only remaining parts of a thriving Sinaguan settlement that was built into the cliffs from 1100 to 1425 A.D.

The name of this site is a misnomor - it was built by Native Americans (not Aztecs) before Montezuma was even born AND it more of a high rise apartment complex than a castle.  While we couldn't get inside the dwelling, we were able to study a model of what it may have looked like during its heyday.

Ingenious!

We're Not in Maine Anymore...

When we originally planned this trip, we were scheduled to be gone for 10 months.  For various reasons we shortened that time to 3 months which had two significant repercussions.  The first is that we had to truncate 10 months of gas costs into 3 months.  Ouch!  The second is that we are in the southwest during the hottest month of the year.  Double ouch! I don't know why I'm being such a baby - it was only 112 degrees out yesterday!

 

Still, I wasn't expecting the summer dessert to be as pretty as it is.  Truly, there are some beautiful sites here in Arizona.

We didn't realize that we would be in the southwest during monsoon season, with its nightly storms and clouds.  There's been no rain yet, but the evening skies have been brilliant.

We are definitely missing our perfect Maine summer weather, and we may even enviously look back on these days during the coming winter months.  But probably not!

Mount Baden Powell

Last Saturday we went on our most difficult hike yet.  Mt. Baden Powell (named after the Boy Scouts founder) is 8.9 miles round trip with a 2600+ elevation gain.  We took our time on this trek, which was so much more enjoyable as we got to share the slog with the Attwoods.

At the top you could see both sides of the mountain range.  First was the Mojave Desert side, with Palmdale and Lancaster in the back (and the tip of the old lake bed where Edwards Airforce Base pilots test new aircraft):

On the other side you can see Hollywood.  If you look closely through the smog, you can just make out the city's skyscrapers:

The whole family made it to the top, despite the arduous last steep mile.  At 9406 ft, it was quite an accomplishment!

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Last Friday we drove to Simi to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  Whether or not you are a Reagan fan, this is a must see.  It was truly inspiring.

The first part of the exhibit focused on the Gipper's early days, his college years and his career as a radio announcer and actor.  The museum has numerous interactive exhibits, including one where you can use a teleprompter to broadcast different programs.  Then they play a recording back.  Thane thought this was exceptionally cool.

As you move through the museum, there are portions dedicated to Reagan's years as Governor of California and his Presidential campaigns.  There is film coverage of the assassination attempt, and you can see the suit coat he was wearing when he was shot.  One display featured things he wrote in the hospital while he was intubated.  Even at such a stressful time, Reagan kept his sense of humor:  "If I had this much attention in Hollywood I'd have stayed there."

There is even an exact replica of the oval office during his tenure.

One of the coolest parts of the museum is the presence of the actual Air Force One that was used during the Reagan years.  You can stroll through the aircraft to see what it looked like inside.

One of Annabel's favorite parts was the display of some of Nancy Reagan's dresses.

The remainder of the Library focused on Reagan's impact on the world.  He was truly one of the last true Statesmen that our nation has known.  One of the docents mentioned that Reagan stood out because he played on people's hopes instead of their fears - something missing in today's vitriolic political landscape. We were so grateful that we were able to share this special place with the kids.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park

On our second day in the San Diego area, we visited the Safari Park in nearby Escondido.  What an amazing place!  The park is divided into different geographical areas.  We first visited the Australian section, where we were allowed to walk inside the kangaroo cage.  These cool animals were too busy eating breakfast to pay us any mind, but we would have been allowed to pet them if they bounced their way over to us.

Then we walked through the Asian exhibit.  There we found this beautiful adolescent tiger who was new to the park.  We loved watching her gamble in her little pond.

Next we went on an open bus ride through the African safari exhibit.  We got fairly close to numerous giraffes, rhinos, gazelles, flamingos, wildebeasts and others. 

Notice the hot air balloon in the background of the photo above?  Well Annabel & Thane sure did!  After some cajoling, we were persuaded to purchase tickets for this thrill.  Jordan and the kids LOVED this little adventure.  I, on the other hand, stood by a support beam and hung on white knuckled while we ascended and descended 400 feet!

Back on terra firme, we headed over to the elephant and gorilla enclosures.

Toward the end of the afternoon the kids discovered the carousel featuring animals located in the park. 

 

All you can ride for $6.  The kids went around 4 times and could have continued all day.

San Diego Zoo

We have been on a fairly tight budget for most of this trip.  Many of the places we have visited are either free or covered under our $80 National Park pass.  But last week we splurged and got 2 day passes to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. 

We opted to go to the Zoo on Wednesday, which was a fortuitous move since the Zoo was closed down on Thursday due to a gas leak.  We are so glad that we didn't miss this amazing place.  We got to see hundreds of cool animals, many of which showed their quirky personalities.

 

Thane even got to ride a hippo, something he was hoping to do!

Joe Davies Heritage Airpark

We spent last week with our dear friends the Attwoods.  They live on the edge of the Mojave Desert in southern California.  While everyone was at work one day, we took a drive to nearby Palmdale to see the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark.  The park is free and displays numerous Air Force craft that have been manufactured nearby.

The biggest plane there carried the space shuttle to Cape Canaveral.  Here are Jordan and the kids at the wheel base:

Also on display were numerous fighter jets sporting ominous messages for the enemy.  My personal favorite was this rather pragmatic warning:

Good to know!

Kings Canyon National Park

On day 2 of our Sequoia/King's Canyon tour, we traveled to the rugged King's Canyon.  King's Canyon is the deepest canyon in the U.S., and it is beautiful!  This canyon section of the park can only be accessed from a 32 mile drive down narrow, winding roads defined by sheer cliffs above and below. 

Once in the park we opted to do a 9.2 mile hike to Mist Falls.  This hike followed the swift moving King's River up to a beautiful waterfall.  After 4.6 miles in the 96 degree heat, the mist from the falls felt very refreshing.

Our hike was dramatically scenic - and definitely worth the drive!

Sequoia National Park

After a harrowing drive up a mountain on an extremely windy road with tight hair pin turns, we ended up in the southern tip of Sequoia National Park where we walked around groves of these majestic trees.  We even stopped for a photo op at General Sherman, the largest tree in the world.  As we were out goggling at the enormity of these trees, we stumbled across this not-so-little but tiny-in-comparison guy:

The size of these trees is hard to explain.  To get an idea, you can see the root ball of one of the smaller sequoia trees in the grove: 

Our large F250 truck was even able to drive through one of these monstrosities:

Toward the end of the day, the four of us climbed up 400 steps to the top of Moro Rock.  The view was spectacular.