Year End Vacation 2007

Year End Vacation 2007

One of the best features of my new job is that I get ample vacation right off the bat. It was past time for a visit to Carol's parents in Tucson, so we planned a Christmas visit there with a sub-trip for a few days to Palm Desert, CA for my parents' 50th anniversary party.

On Christmas Eve we flew from Seattle to Phoenix, where Carol's father Dennis retrieved us. If you've never done it, Christmas Eve is a great day to travel. No lines whatsoever at the airport.

We had a wonderful mellow Christmas with Dennis and Mary Jane. I woke up at 5am for some reason, but the girls slept until 6:30 and we started with presents at 7. I fell asleep on the sofa during the second half of the opening and slept for an hour and a half. But I woke up in time for hot cinnamon rolls (a Christmas tradition Carol and I have).

On the 27th we drove from Tucson to Palm Desert. We left after breakfast and drove all day, arriving about 5pm. We took a slightly longer route because I had never seen the Salton Sea. The girls were a little restless but did very well. The longest they had ever been in a car before this was 4 hours. Toward the end of the trip, we thought we'd stop and stretch our legs at a town on the Salton Sea called Bombay Beach. We imagined getting something to drink there and maybe there would be a real beach. No such luck. The town was kinda creepy. Like a ghost town that isn't quite dead yet but very close. But I got some great photos of Audrey.

In Palm Desert it was barely warm enough to get in the pool. Audrey spent an hour or two in the pool every day. At first she used floating toys, but later in the trip we bought her some water wings. She loved them. It was very hard to get her out of the pool, even though she was hypothermic.

A favorite place to go in Palm Desert is The Living Desert, which is a desert zoo. We saw great exhibits of ostriches and giraffes and warthogs. The Living Desert also has a permanent model train "world" that is fascinating. It covers an acre! The girls love it.

Our plan was to drive back to Tuscon after breakfast on the 30th. But after the party on the 29th Charlotte had a little stomach trouble on the way back to our lodgings. Carol joked that we should just drive back to Tucson through the night. We didn't do that, but it made us realize we could drive back the next night. That worked much better. We had another day relaxing with my parents and sister and left at 5pm. By 7pm the girls were asleep. Carol and I had a peaceful remaining 4 1/2 hours to Tucson, arriving at 11:30.

Back in Tucson the weather was warming up into the mid-60s. I rented a bike for four days and had great rides. Tucson was having unusual winds, so I got some good workouts riding into headwinds for 20 miles. 3 of my 4 rides I did in the right order so that I had a tailwind on the way home. The other ride was on New Years Day when I joined GABA for a ride out to Saguaro National Park (West). We had very strong headwinds on the return trip. So strong that at times I was in the easiest gear (on a triple crank) and barely maintaining forward momentum. It was still fun. It was great to come home in better shape instead of not having ridden for two weeks.

Audrey swam for an hour or two every day back in Tucson. On the last day she even agreed to try it without her water wings. She loved that even more and felt a great sense of accomplishment. I had a lot of fun playing in the pool with Audrey and other kids who were there.

On January 4th we flew home. We are always stressed out that we are going to be the parents on the plane with the kid who screams all the way. But the girls did well (thanks to lollipops, Chips Ahoy and Disney DVDs) and we had a pleasant journey.

The vacation was very relaxing. We learned that Charlotte gets homesick. Some days she would moan "Home" several times. When we walked in the door of our house Charlotte let out a joyful whoop.