Getting Cozy in Boise

Massive (in spirit anyways)

Clark's sister Kelly, and her husband Craig moved from St. Louis to Boise, Idaho about 15 years ago, and started their family there. In all that time, Clark and Jenny have visited one time, and the girls, not at all. So, here was yet another destination that we were long overdue for. What better time than Christmas to spend with our family, the Drivers. Luckily, our hosts moved into a new house earlier this year, and there was ample space for us to stay. The 'bonus room' as they call it, or the 'Fonzie apartment' as Clark calls it, sits above the garage, and has been our home for the last few weeks. With four kids of their own (8,9,11,14) it makes for a busy house. We settled right in, and started getting ready for the holidays. It was important for us to make the girls feel like Christmas on the road didn't lack what they were used to at home. First up was getting our own little tree, and decorating it. Since we didn't travel with any decorations, it was up to the girls to make their own. Needless to say, they were up for the challenge.

Prancer.... I think.

 Without our usual stomping grounds to peruse, we had to find some places to go admire Christmas lights. Luckily, the Idaho Botanical Gardens puts on the Winter Garden aGlow for just such a purpose. We bundled up, and took a chilly walk through the lit up park, with occasional stops by the fires, and for hot cocoa. As a bonus, Santa was there too, so we got to knock that out as well.

 

The Drivers: (L to R) Kelly, Elise, Sebastian, Grant, Craig, and Cory

What would the holidays be without sugary goodies to snack on every day? With so many kids craving some sweet goodness, baking cookies seemed like the obvious solution. Six dozen cookies, four tubes of icing, and tons of leftover Halloween candy later, we were set. Enough cookies to last us awhile, right? Wrong. They were all gone by the next morning.  

Teenage Mutant Gingabread Turtle

Clark's Mom's life work. All 11 made with love, by her (the only one missing is Haley's)

The Zion in Winter

Zion National Park in southern Utah was another stunning example of Mother Nature at her finest. Instead of views from above, at this stop, we got to experience the bottom of this narrow slot canyon. It's massive sandstone cliffs of cream, pink, and red soared up into a brilliant blue sky. With snow and ice covering much of the park, hiking any of it's numerous trails was not an option. Instead, we took a scenic drive through the canyon, stopping often to soak in this magnificent place.
















The snow did, however, turn this already sublime place even more beautiful. We are already discussing our plans to return (when it's warm) and experience more of this awesome place.

Where's Nadia? ... In the car, of course.

Something about black and white photos of National Parks just elicits one's inner Ansel Adams

Viva Las Circus

With old man winter in full display, we were forced to alter our travel plans. Originally, following the Grand Canyon, we were going to drive up to the picturesque Bryce Canyon in Utah. The night before, we checked the forecast there. -14 degrees with a windchill of -40. That's 40 BELOW zero. Needless to say, we had to punt. What else was nearby, and largely indoors, with fun stuff to do? That's right..... Vegas, baby!!! So, off we went, to Nevada.


Now you ask, what is there to do in Sin City with a bunch of small kids? Gambling? The Sports Book? Elvis impersonators? Maybe we could catch Wayne Newton in concert..? No, there's really only one thing to do there, on a limited budget, with little kids:  the circus.

Flying trapeze artistry

Circus Circus Hotel and Casino is a perfect microcosm of Las Vegas, but for children. Bright, flashing lights. Cool, over the top shows. Noisy. Shiny. Awesome. Besides just a hotel and a casino inside this sprawling complex, there's also an indoor amusement park, tons of stores and restaurants, and of course, a circus. With free shows every half hour, the kids were enthralled. Trapeze artists. Foot jugglers. Hula hoopers. Acrobats. Clowns. Everything you could want in a circus. Also, there was a Midway area attached with tons of carnival games for the kids to play. Large stuffed animals were there to be won, if only you could get the ball in the hoop, the rings around the jar, the dart in the balloon. Seems like easy pickings, right? Dollar after dollar was spent, with very little to be shown for it. Just like the adult version of Vegas.

As if a free circus wasn't enough, a good sized indoor amusement park is also part of the Circus Circus experience. The Adventuredome, as it's called, features lots of rides, including a decent sized roller coaster. The girls enjoyed a competitive round of putt-putt golf, and some rides all in the comfort of this warm, indoor playground. Nina and Clark rode 'The Canyon Blaster', a looping roller coaster that twists and turns throughout the place. Norah and Nadia opted for the much calmer airplane ride, but had just as much fun in doing so.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...

Here is where our adventure really began.

After a tour of 'The Strip' to see all the lights of Vegas, we took the girls by a place dear to our hearts. Fourteen years ago, Jenny and Clark were married in a chapel here in Vegas. The Little Chapel of the Flowers sits right off the strip, in the shadow of the massive Stratosphere. It has changed a bit since our wedding, with a couple new buildings added on, and the 'Little' no longer part of their title. While there, we saw a bride and groom posing for pictures outside, just as we had done years before. Hopefully their journey will be as memorable as ours has been.

The One Great Sight Which Every American Should See

The Grand Canyon. If you've been there, you get it. You know. If you haven't, nothing I can say or write can even come close to describing it. So I won't even try. Pictures do not do it justice. It is, quite simply, the most amazing spectacle I've ever seen. If you haven't witnessed it for yourself, you need to. Jenny and the girls had never been, so cold weather or not, we headed off the one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.

The cold weather only put a slight damper on our plans. The already treacherous hike down into the canyon was now covered with snow and ice. We weren't even going to attempt it. They sell a book at all the gift shops titled 'Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon'. It chronicled all the people that have died in the canyon over the years. It was a thick book. We didn't feel like making them update it on account of us. So, instead, we walked around the rim, and took shuttles to several of the best overlooks.

Canyon-schooling

The Grand Canyon is 'only' 6 millions years old, which in relationship to the Earth, is not that old at all. In that time, the Colorado River has carved out layers and layers of sedimentary rock to form the canyon. The layers were formed when the area was covered by ocean water, millions of years earlier. Then tectonic plate upheaval formed mountains, and the river did the rest. To this day, the canyon is ever changing, as the waters continue to carve it deeper and deeper.

"It's tiny." proclaimed Norah. Yes, tiny indeed...

Adios Arizona, Hello Winter

We were thankful for good friends.

Thanksgivin' groovin'

This is how vegetarians do Thanksgiving turkey

Our stay in Phoenix ended all too soon. The sunny, warm days were truly a blessing for us. Being able to run around outside, in shorts and t-shirts in November was awesome for everyone. But, alas, we couldn't stay there forever. The road was beckoning us. So, after a busy Thanksgiving weekend, that included tons and tons of delicious food, we packed it up, and sadly said goodbye to our friends the Murphy's. Goodbye warm desert days. Goodbye casita. Goodbye Murphy family.

Amanda, John, Clark & Jenny

Literally parked on the interstate for 4 hrs due to icy conditions

Almost immediately once we left the valley of the sun, the weather changed. It wasn't just due to our geographical change, however. Coincidentally, the day we left Phoenix, was the day that a major winter storm blanketed most of the western United States. And it hit us with full force. Cold, windy, icy conditions were everywhere. We had to alter some of our stops, due to the arctic conditions. Morning temps sunk below zero in some places. Roads were closed. Hiking trails covered in ice. It was frigid. Winter was here, and here with a vengeance. Sigh... Why can't it be like Phoenix everywhere?

Graffiti Loving Apartment Dwellers

Signs of the Native American culture are abundant throughout the southwestern United States. Everywhere we went, there was evidence of their rich and storied history. Roadside stands selling jewelry. Their influence in the local artwork. Casinos. Their impact could be felt all over the region. While in Arizona, we took several different day trips to check out some of the ancient ruins left by the Native Americans.


The different tribes of the region are collectively called the Ancient Pueblo Indians. A pueblo, as we learned is essentially an ancient apartment building. Made in the adobe mud-style, or with rocks and stones, these large buildings housed many families. Sometimes built into cliffs, and other times up high in the mountains, groups of these structures formed small cities. At one time, there were hundreds of these villages throughout the region.

Montezuma did not live here. Sinaguans did.

Our first stop was the inappropriately named Montezuma Castle. When discovered by Europeans, it reminded them of similar looking Aztec structures, so they named it after their ruler. It was not Aztec, and Montezuma was never even in Arizona. It also wasn't a castle, but a pueblo, built for the Sinaguan tribe to live in. But, as a park ranger told us, Montezuma Castle National Monument sounds a lot cooler than 'Ancient Native American Apartment Building National Monument.' She was right. The Sinaguan people lived peacefully there, along a major trading route, for hundreds of years. Then, for some unexplained reason, they up and vanished. What they left behind, was an awesome example of pueblo construction. Nestled up high in a cliff, they had to climb ladders to reach their homes. This not only protected the residents from invaders, but also protected the structures from Mother Nature. We learned that as recently as the 1950s , people were allowed to climb inside these ruins and explore all over. Once hearing this, that's all the girls wanted to do. I can't blame them. I did too.
















Next up, was the awesomely named Tuzigoot. (too-zee-goot....kinda rolls off the tongue doesn't it?) Located in the Verde Valley, north of Phoenix, this archaeological site was yet another example of pueblo construction. This excavated site was also once home to the Sinaguan people. Sitting high upon a plateau, these buildings once housed over a hundred people at its peak. Here, we were allowed to walk throughout the place, exploring and imagining what it was like to live there. Throughout the valley were once dozens of villages similar to Tuzigoot. This remains the only one to be excavated and open to the public. Tuzigoot!

In addition to leaving cool structures for generations to explore, the Native Americans of the southwest also left behind rock carvings, known as petroglyphs. Specifically in Arizona, the Hohokam tribes made lots and lots of these artifacts. Several different parks and hikes lead us right by some really cool examples of this ancient artwork.


There is still much that we don't know about petroglyphs. Mainly, historians don't really understand what their purpose was. They do know that petroglyphs, unlike hieroglyphics, do not represent certain words or letters. Were they emblematic of different clans? Were they directions to specific locations? Or, were they just graffiti? It remains a mystery. We know they looked cool, though. The girls sat and copied their favorite ones onto paper, and tried to come up with meanings for them. Some were obvious. A human shape. Water. Animals with antlers. Others though, were more abstract. Squiggly lines. Swirls. Scribbles. It was pretty cool to imagine a Native American carving them a thousand years ago, as the girls sat there, in the same exact spot they once did, copying them onto their art pads. Awesome stuff.

Saguaro National Park petroglyphs