Hopi Dogs

In Hopi, dogs are let loose. I met two black and brown dogs that would not stop following my dad. (well, that's a bit of a stretch.) Then at night I saw tons of dogs gathered in the parking lot. The next day, I met a moms dog and her baby pup.
I fed the mom roast beef (because the pup was still breastfeeding I think) and I felt really good about it. The pup loved me but the mom was pretty skittish. But after I fed her, she almost came up to me and licked my hand. That moment, I felt something warm glow inside me. I love the mom just as much as the pup.

Today...

Today we drove. Last night we stayed USA RV park in Gallop, NM. Me and mom took the first showers we had taken on this trip... Ok, we were not as smelly as you may think. The hole night was filled with train sounds, train sounds, and more sounds of trains. When we got up,  we waited for a little while and then started driving. We saw old school stuff in Gallop. We reached ABQ and ate at a COOP place. We then walked for what seemed like hours.
We got to a museum called Pueblo Culture center and looked around. Then we walked again. We stopped halfway through at Walgreens. Then we walked again. I fell and almost Spained my finger. Ow. Then we drove all the way to a old ZOO called Wildlife West. Tomorrow we will take a tour of this place. By the way, we are camping in a Prarie Dog town. P.D zing!!!

Hopiland

Our tour of Hopiland was amazing. We walked among ancient petroglyphs and pottery shards, visited some of the oldest continuously inhabited villages in North America, had conversations with friendly Hopi people, heard a refreshingly real spiritual perspective, bought art directly from the artists and learned so much!  There are no photos allowed in the villages, but here's some we had permission to take.

Meteor Crater and Hopi Lands

We set out from our "off the grid" campsite and headed back toward civilization temporarily to find an rv dumpsite and to stock up on water since we were heading deep into Indian country and weren't sure what to expect. We planned on stopping to check out Meteor Crater on the way. A quick 6 mile detour and we arrived at the freshly paved parking lot and what looked to be a brand new reception building/ticket booth. We wandered around the museum for a bit while we waited for the "movie" to start on the half hour. The movie was a dud. Felt like a commercial for some b16somethingrather .org that repeatedly reassured us that they are going to save the earth from the next meteor strike. We were surprised when there were no solicititations for donations afterward. We took the brief guided tour out to the rim and learned several cool facts about the crater. The crater itself is simply awesome. To stand there on the edge looking down into the crater really invokes a state of wonder. It was a wothwhile detour, but the whole privately owned and run by corporation factor was a little offputting.


Now on to the Hopi reservation. It was about an hour of driving on the straightest road I've ever driven on flanked by dozens of magical buttes rising from the desert floor. As we approached, we could clearly make out the 3 distinct mesas that make up the central Hopi community. We pulled in to the Hopi Cultural Center parking lot and were greeted by several stray dogs laying in the middle of the road.
We had read online and called about parking our RV (trailer) there and staying the night but details were skerchy so we inquired inside just to be sure. We were directed next door to the cultural center where there is a dirt area surrounded by juniper trees for camping. There are a couple of run down picnic tables and bbqs... nothing fancy but a free place to camp for the night and pretty well secluded from the road and parking lot.

The next morning we met up with our guide Gary Tso of Left Handed Hunter tours. Gary treated us to a wonderful half day tour of the 3 mesas, where we got to meet some of the locals and see their handicrafts. The day was topped of with a visit to a remote ancient petroglyph site. Pretty amazing stuff.

Sunset Crater

I woke up this morning and I was thinking of the hike we took yesterday. I think it was amazing. The ground was black. There was a sea of big lava bombs surrounding us. I like to stare
at the mighty lump which spouted it. Its amazing that people, civilisation, was there when Sunset Crater went BOOM. This morning, I thought all about it. Awestruck, I write this.

BoonDockin' ... take 1

This is only like our third trip or so with the trailer, and thusfar we've only stayed in established campgrounds. We heard about this thing called "boondocking", where you basically just find a place to park your rig and sleep for the night. Last night we were just outside Flagstaff visiting Sunset Crater and had read about some US Forest Service land just across the road that allows "disbursed camping". So we wandered down the dusty gravel Forest Service road for a bit and found a place to pull off for the night. I have this ocd thing about having the trailer be perfectly level, but kinda had to let that go this time, as the turnout was a bit uneven and bumpy. After a good 1/2 hour of trying, it was close enough. We whipped up a quick dinner in the "galley", played a couple of games of NP Uno, then it was off to bed. Had a great restful night's sleep out here in BFE! So quiet and DARK!
Overall a success with our first attempt at boondocking/disbursed camping. Oh and the FREE part is nice too!

Flagstaff, AZ

We stayed in the desert this morning, ran errands in Phoenix, drove past some cool Saguaros, and drove up to Flagstaff. There, we explored the Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument. It was a gorgeous day, the surroundings were unusual and pretty. We hiked up a cinder cone and were the only people on the trail. Tonite, we are doing dispersed camping in the national forest, free! This land is your land, this land is my land....

On the way to Santa Fe

With the new green stripe freshly painted, we've made it through our first night of camper travel. We're heading up to Flagstaff today to hike a cinder cone volcano.

Heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!

After lots of trailer redecorating, we are taking it back out for a short Father's Day trip to the North Rim. We are meeting some friends there and we have some sweet campsites with views reserved. It's been a hectic few days leading up to this trip, we weren't sure we were going to make it but as we head out this morning, things are looking good for a lovely trip.

Spring Snow in Virginia

Happy Spring from our Spring Snow Lady!

My view waking up this morning, so pretty!

me and mom

Two months ago....

Two months ago...
And still there!!!
We still have'ent unpacked the odds and ends with "made in Thailand" stickers on them.
Ha ha!
We' ll get to it soon.

Away we go again! First time with the TRAILER!!

We're taking our "new" trailer for a test run...just camping locally at William Heise park.

Last trip down Crazy St.

Our last day in Bangkok. Both the girls are laid up in the hotel room sick today.

I set out on another trek afoot thru the city, this time to find an extra suitcase to cart home all our souvenirs and booty in.

This will be my last trip down Kraisi Street.

I have to stop for one last Pad Thai from one of the street vendors.

I have her "super size it" for an extra 10 for a total of 40 bhat (about $1.31).

I cringe as she scoops the raw chicken from a plastic bag just behind her on the hood of a car, but she tosses it into a vat of boiling water. Meh, okay... I eat it anyway: that's how much I love Pad Thai.

To (hopefully) counteract the lack of sanitation I add a generous portion of Prig Bpon (chili pepper), a splash of oyster sauce, and a smidgeon of Farang dust (sugar). Funny thing is: When planning this trip I pictured myself eating Pad Thai for every meal and it being available on every corner. Turns out Thai people don't really eat the stuff and it's usually only found in the really touristy areas catering to the Farang (foreigners).

Mmmm. So good. Gonna miss this.

I hope I have more intestinal fortitude than the girls... (so far so good, knock on wood).

Maybe having it with a large Leo will help...

We leave for the airport at noon tomorrow. I hope the girls are ready to fly by then.

It's been a great trip so far, minus the recent digestive developments.

I think it's safe to say we are ready to come home.

Tasty Legs

Take a gander at the back of my leg. Yummy.

This picture is a few days old now, but somewhere along the way an army of some kind of bugs had a field day on my legs. I'm not sure if it was mosquitoes or what, but I ended up with hundreds of small itchy bites all over my legs. 

Luckily, someone turned me on to this stuff:

called "Poi Sian Balm Oil". It works great to stop the itching, although I was a little skeptical at first to put something called Poi Sen on my skin... but not to worry, is just:

Pim-Saen 30.34% - Menthol 67.41% - Eucalyptus oil 8.5% - Camphor 2.25%

Apparently this is the same stuff you see people sticking up their noses in inhaler form on the streets.

With claims like this that I found online it's no wonder:

"Relief of dizzy, giddy, or in a whirl of your head."

Thai People LOVE Amanda!

Amanda has lots of adoring fans in Thailand. Even the Thai equivalent of the TSA at the airport stopped scanning luggage to check out her hair and adore her!! She is always making friends. She receives gifts and free things shopping. She also gets many deals offered to her when bargaining. If I hand her the money when shopping at a market, it is often a winning strategy because the prices go way lower for her! She's soaking it up, except for one thing: She doesn't like that she's referred to as "baby"! But it does work wonderfully for her independent spirit when she can find new friends and choose to sit with them instead of always mom and dad. 

On our boat ride to Ko Surin, she made new friends. She rode over sitting with them. 

A student visiting the Bangkok Art and Culture Center loved Amanda

Amanda ordering food at a night market, they were delighted that she could do it herself....people would admire her hair, smile at her and if she actually spoke a few words in Thai they would go absolutely nuts!!

More admirers...

Farewell Joy's House Chiang Mai

27 December, 2012

We have had an absolutely wonderful week staying here at Joy's House. By far the pinnacle of our trip. Amanda made a bunch of new friends from around the world and had such a fun time playing with them and the 5 newly adopted kittens that live here. The staff here has been so welcoming and really made us feel like part of the family.

Thanks to Neab and Ruta for being our shopping guides and leading the cooking class, especially fun was making our own curry from scratch. We will miss the after dinner jam sessions with Pee Bee, Pee Akka, and the rest of the boy band crew, Pee Jack for driving us all over the place, Pee Dao and Pee Pah for entertaining and taking good care of Amanda. Pee Do the bartender for keeping the cold Singhas flowing, and the many others who made our stay here pleasant. And of course, Joy and Ulli, who make it all possible.


Being here over Christmas and being included in their celebrations was a uniquely special experience. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to all the new friends we have made here, but we must move on to the final phase of our trip: back to Bangkok for a few days before flying home on New Year's Eve. Going back to the big busy city after spending a week in the tranquility and relaxing atmosphere at Joy's House is going to be a bit of a shock but this is the way we planned it.

We would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone visiting Chiang Mai to stay at Joy's House for a unique and fulfilling experience. They are amazing people and the work they are doing with the children is great.