December - celebrating 100 days of travel in the desert and more.
The month of December started in the desert - Tuscon, Arizona. I smiled from ear to ear the first time I took a dip in the RV parks swimming pool. I love a swim in warm water. We enjoyed hiking among the cactus in Sabino Canyon and Saguaro National Park. Also worth mentioning is Tucson has endless bike paths. We did spend lot of time looking at houses. There are a lot of lovely homes to pick from if we decide we like the view of cacti every day, (I am still not sure). We also went to The Biosphere 2 - super interesting and a lot to think about. I am the only one in this group who would volunteer for a biosphere 3, I think we as a family could do it…family disagrees.
We spent a little bit of time in Las Cruses, New Mexico. I think our main activity in this location was eating at a different Mexican restaurant every night, I do love Chili Rellenos. This was the first place we visited where Biggs got attention when we went out, normally the big dog Heiwa receives all the accolades. We did take a day trip to White Sands National Park, one of the only National Parks that allows dogs and the dogs LOVED it, they ran and ran.
We made our way to San Antonio, Texas for Christmas. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed San Antonio. Initially it looked like a big concrete city, but it is filled with beautiful hidden pockets of green, lush neighborhoods. The river walk was absolutely lovely. One of the best ways to explore this city is biking along one of their many bike paths. We enjoyed a luxurious and yummy Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant named Supper, in the Pearl District, along the river. On Christmas day we opened presents and continued our family tradition of a movie in the afternoon. We watched Spider Man at the Alamo Daft House, nothing better than food, beer, and a movie with family.
Biggs did give us a scare while in San Antonio. While out walking on a college campus he very quickly became sick. We took him to an emergency vet, where he was diagnosed with anaphylactic shock, most likely due to a bug bite. He did have to spend the night at the emergency vet but was able to go home the next day. We were very lucky to be in the city and close to a vet when this happened. I am not sure about living in a place where a bug can take out my dog.
We enjoyed a day trip to Boerne, Texas and another day trip to Corpus Christi, Texas. Ava and I splurged a little and enjoyed some alone time the last few days of the month as we headed to Pensacola, Florida to pick up Zoe on the 1st. We stopped and enjoyed food and hotels in Lake Charles, Louisiana (alligator was on the menu) and Long Beach Mississippi (the familiar feel of humidity).
We also celebrated our 100th day of travel while in Tucson. We did it, we made it to 100 days! I am amazed at all the different geographical terrain and neighborhoods we have explored, and we are not even halfway done! How different it is in Washington, near the water, where many rely on ferries to get to work versus Tucson, with cacti and bike paths. When I was younger, I would talk about wanting to travel to Europe and really had no interest in further exploration of the United States. My mother n’ law would reply about how much there is to see here in the United States, only now am I beginning to understand how correct she was (although I still plan to spend time exploring other countries). I am a lucky lady to be able to see and spend time in so much beauty. Looking forward to another 100 days!