Thursday, January 19, 2017

Chiricahua National Monument and a Little Surprise

As 2016 was coming to a close, we made our way from the deserts of Baja to the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. Winter started to slap us in the face with temps near freezing. We hastily spent many days getting El Tigre ready for the upcoming winter months, while parked in Tuscon, Arizona.

Our eventual goal was to arrive in Denver where our friends, Melissa and Dave, had our winter toys stored in their basement. On the way, we hit Chiricahua National Monument.


This national monument protects the amazing rock formations that formed over the past 27 million years (!!!) due to erosion. Erosion is pretty cool.







Heather getting ready for a failed attempt of a head stand



We were amused with all of the "named" rock formations. Try to guess what these formations are named - some of them are more obvious than others (answers follow the set of pics):






Answers: Old Maid, Camel, Punch and Judy, Duck on a Rock

On to Denver we went, where we spent a couple of nights with Melissa and Dave. We ate yummy food, played cards, and enjoyed their cute pets.

Scott and Oscar enjoying their beds

My buddy Melissa making us some delicious dinner!


Cody finally got his bed back

YUMMY dinner! Thanks Melissa and Dave


Prior to arriving to Denver, I checked flights to Detroit and found an amazing deal. Soooo, we flew back to Michigan on Christmas day to surprise my (Heather's) family in Ann Arbor. I am a horrible liar so it took a lot out of me to pull this surprise off.

The surprise worked! We arrived just in time for dinner (although this picture was taken before dessert)!

Winter is tough for us in Michigan because we can't spend as much time outdoors as we are accustomed to.

Aunt Heather and Braxson jumping away the winter blues

Uncle Scott and Braxson playing football during a frigid Michigan winter

My sister introduced us to the art of selfies with a "photo booth" app. We promised we wouldn't share the pics of anyone.

This is how we entertain ourselves in Michigan during the winter

After quality time with friends and family, we headed back to Denver. Next blog post - The Planny Plan Part IV!