beach number two on our california state beach tour was leo carrillo in malibu (which meant we got to do a bit of l.a. traffic driving on our way north). we got in pretty late, and got set up, and then derek had to pack for a morning flight back to north carolina for the […]
food
random stuff from cottonwood, az.

we kept really busy during our cottonwood, az stay. when we weren’t exploring local monuments or at the grand canyon, we were driving back and forth to the dentist. we had gone probably a little too long without some proper professional dental care, so derek found us a spot and we got all the lidbom […]
ajo, arizona.

after our camping trip to organ pipe cactus national monument, i was super excited to stop and visit the tiny little town of ajo, arizona, on our way to the next campground. i had read a bit about the politics and economy of the area, but i was most looking forward to all of the […]
valley vista rv resortbenson, arizona.

after our stay in an unofficial 55+ community in mesa and hearing about how arizona is just chock full of snowbirds in the winter, i wasn’t super excited to head to benson, arizona. i was expected all the retirees to be grumpy about kids being in “their” park, and benson isn’t near a whole lot […]
tombstone tourists.

our current campground in benson is only about a half hour away from the iconic, old western town of tombstone, arizona. we figured it was worth a trip, so off we went…. our first stop was to watch a gunfight reenactment, complete with historical details. here we are, the full posse, waiting for the show […]
mesa miscellany. (plus some yuma).

when we parted ways with the grandlidboms, they headed back to nc, and we made our way to arizona. our first stop was in yuma, just across the border. we had a quick little stay in the front yard of a random strangers house, who we found via boondockerswelcome.com. (basically, it’s a subscription service that […]
san diego christmas day.
(with grandlidboms!)

after three days of activities and being on the gogogo, we really slowed down for christmas eve. there were a couple of shopping trips. and some cooking. and mostly just hanging out. derek brought my little walmart christmas tree over to the hotel, so it would feel more christmassy because i was mildly depressed about […]
grandlidbom san diego christmas, days 2 & 3.

after our action packed first day with the grandlidboms, the lidkids spent the night with them, and since we didn’t have anything planned until lunchtime on day two, our morning at the camper was lazy and glorious. i savored a delicious cup of coffee outside by the lake, with no bickering, whining or cartoon sounds […]
grandlidbom san diego christmas, day 1.

finally. the day was here. the grandlidboms arrived in san diego. we woke up, ate a quick breakfast, and then headed out the door to meet them at the birch aquarium. we had our happy greetings and then started exploring… while the whole place was pretty educational, the first bit that we walked around in […]
san diego, pre-grandlidbom christmas visit.

after our little stay in menifee, we moved on to san diego, where we would be meeting derek’s parents for an epic christmas extravaganza. but, first, we had a few days to settle in before they would arrive. once we were all set up and good to go at our site, we headed off to […]