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Spending time with friends and exploring Flagstaff {Arizona}

May 232016



Flagstaff-Arizona-travel

Travel dates :: April 21 – 24, 2016

After leaving Grand Canyon National Park we headed south and east to Flagstaff, Arizona. After no electrical or water hook-ups for a few days we were ready for a full hook-up site. We found a great deal at the Flagstaff KOA for buy two nights, get one free – so that was our next stop.

Flagsaff-KOA-airstream-neighborsI love having neighbors we know!

We pulled into Flagstaff and weren’t in town more than a couples hours when we got a text message from our friends @UpInTheAirstream who said they were headed our way! What a nice surprise. They pulled their shiny Airstream (bunk model, just like ours) into the spot right next to us. The kids were THRILLED because they adore the @UpInTheAirstream boys and we hadn’t seen them since San Antonio, Texas.

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by Heather Filed Under: Arizona, Destinations

Grand Canyon National Park – Camping, hiking, educational programs {Arizona}

May 222016



Grand-Canyon-National-Park-Visit

Travel dates :: April 18 – 21, 2016

After an exciting time in the Cottonwood, Arizona area we headed north about 2.5 hours to the GRAND CANYON! Yes, the Grand Canyon. It’s been on our list of places to visit for a long time and I was really looking forward to it.

Grand-Canyon-Mather-Campground-RV

We scored a spot at Mather Campground right inside the Grand Canyon National Park! This campground has only a few RV spots (mostly tent-only sites) and if we were any longer than 30 feet, we probably wouldn’t have fit. The sites have NO hook-ups, so it’s essentially boondocking – but you can use generators (during approved hours) and there are restrooms (no showers) available in the campground.

Mather-Campground-RV-room

Our spot was a beautiful pull-through with LOTS of room for the kids to run. The minute I got out of the truck and inhaled the fresh mountain air – I knew this place was going to be a treat. It had been a LONG time since we had been up in the mountains surrounded by pine trees.

Elk-in-Mather-Campground

We weren’t there even five minutes before seeing our first elk – turns out there were a bunch in the campground!

Grand-Canyon-paved-trail-campground

The great thing about being in the Mather Campground is being so close to everything – walking distance. It’s about a mile walk (each way) to the Visitor’s Center, on a nice paved path. And it’s very short walk to laundry, grocery store, restaurant and trails.

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{ 6 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Arizona, Destinations

Verde Valley Thousands Trails Campground Review {Cottonwood, Arizona}

May 112016



Verde-Valley-RV-Resort-Review

Travel dates :: April 14 – 18, 2016

Yesterday I shared a lengthy blog post about the many things to explore in the Verde Valley (Arizona) area. We spent half of of our time in the area at the Verde Valley Thousands Trails Camping Resort.

This RV and camping resort is located in a great central location for exploring Prescott, Jerome, Sedona, Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma National Monument. Let me tell you a little about it!

Verde-Valley-Thousand-Trails-aerial

The first thing you’ll notice about Verde Valley Thousands Trails Camping Resort it’s remote location just outside of the town of Cottonwood. It’s a short drive to amenities but feels like it sits all by itself. If you’re not paying attention you could easily miss the turn off from highway 260. You’ll head back on Thousand Trails road and be greeted by a gated entrance.

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{ 3 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Arizona, RV Park Reviews

Cottonwood, Jerome, Sedona, Prescott, more {Arizona}

May 102016



Cottonwood-Verde-Valley-Arizona

Travel dates – April 11 – April 18, 2016

After staying for so long in Mesa, Arizona we headed north a couple hours to Cottonwood, Arizona to spend nearly a week. Cottonwood, Arizona is centrally located for exploring a lot of popular areas including Prescott, Jerome, Sedona, Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma National Monument. The first part of our week in the Cottonwood area we stayed at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. . . .

Dead-Horse-Ranch-State-Park-our-spot

Let’s talk a little about Dead Horse Ranch State Park – it is a very nice state park! Our spot was level, the campground was clean and there were some great trails in the area. At $30/night our back-in spot had water and 50-amp electric.

Dead-Horse-Ranch-campground-spot

This is the view from up on the hill behind our trailer and campsite at Dead Horse Ranch State Park – where there is a nice short trail with some nice views. There were 3 or 4 other Airstreams in our same loop while we were there.

Dead-Horse-Ranch-State-Park-lake

There was so much to explore in the area that we didn’t spend near enough time in the state park but we did discover a beautiful set of lakes with lots of people fishing from the shore. If we were going to spend more time in the area we would have probably paid for fishing licenses and spent many an afternoon here!

Tuzigoot-View-looking-down

Our first day in Cottonwood, we got settled into Dead Horse Ranch State Park early and we headed to the nearby Tuzigoot National Monument. It’s a short 10 minute drive away! Tuzigoot is an ancient pueblo, built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400 CE.

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{ 4 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Arizona, Destinations

Healthcare benefits on the road – We break an arm and end up in emergency room!

May 32016



Healthcare-benefits-on-road-emergency

Healthcare benefits on the road

I like to post things chronologically and lately I’ve been a few weeks behind on the blog posts (always watch our Instagram account for real-time travel updates). But I thought I’d jump ahead to talk about a big event that happened last week on the road – Hadley broke her arm! My sweet, adorable girl broke her humerus (the long bone in the upper arm). Let me tell you about it. . .

Playing-Lone-Rock-Beach-Powell

We were enjoying an amazing spot at Lone Rock Beach on Lake Powell. It was beautiful and the kids had so much room to run around and play that it made me so happy. To make things even better – we were traveling with one of our favorite families (@upintheairstream on Instagram) so not only did the kids have an epic place to play, but they had some of their best friends to play with. Things were going so well and I was so happy to see them run, smile, laugh, play and be outside. They were falling into bed exhausted and happy every night – what more could a mom ask for?

Our last night at Lone Rock Beach the kids were playing in the “fort” they created on the beach. It was a hole of sorts near the water. Liam jumped into the fort and Hadley followed closely behind – as she often does. She landed wonky – on her elbow, on harder, wet sand and was instantly in pain. I knew something wasn’t right because she’s such a tough cookie – she rarely cries when she gets hurt. . .but she was in pain and it quickly swelled up. We iced it right away and I found the nearest Urgent Care facility in Page, Arizona (about 20 minutes away). They closed at 6 p.m. and we got there at 5 p.m. – but they didn’t have an x-ray machine! So they sent us across the street to the Page Hospital Emergency Room.

Page-Hospital-waitingThe silver lining of the ER was they had cable so Hadley got to watch the Disney channel. 🙂  

The hospital in Page was amazing – they got us right in, did x-rays and quickly confirmed she had broken her humerus near the growth plate in her elbow. We explained we were headed to St. George, Utah the next day (a MUCH bigger metro center) and they referred us to an orthopedic doctor there. It was a good thing that we were already planning to head to a metro area – because Page is such a small community they had to send our x-rays to PHOENIX to get them reviewed! The emergency room staff put Hadley in a temporary cast and sent us home with after-care instructions.

Hadley-Ortho-OfficeHadley looking at a pet adoption magazine at the orthopedics office. Now she wants a dog. 🙂

We got a call from the orthopedic doctor in St. George and he recommended surgery on Friday. Before this accident I had no idea a kid could need surgery for a broken arm! But because the break was so close to the growth plate, surgery was the best care option for her. I spent a half-day on the phone calling our insurance company and considering our options. . . Do we fly home to Washington for the surgery? Do we have the surgery here? Can we drive home in time to get surgery? What was the best choice for Hadley?

[Read more…]

{ 21 Comments }

by Heather Filed Under: Arizona, Destinations, Healthcare, Utah

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