Glamis Desert Extravaganza

We had reserved our time off from work many months ago but a few things kept coming up that lead us to doubt if we were going to make it on our Glamis trip this year. A week before we decided that YES we were going to trek it to Glamis. What that means is 6 days off (yay!), camping with family (double yay!), but driving basically to Mexico (650 miles) with our trailer, the kids, and topping out at 60 mph (wah-wah)... We have done it before and we will do it again, but to be honest this trip requires some mental prep!

When you don't eat fast food and you only stop at rest stops you have to pack a lot of food. We also were going to stay for 5-6 days so we packed quite a bit. 

I made some delish chicken salad for my lunch for the road, and packed some frozen green smoothies for Ara for the week. More food was prepped, packed, and of course eaten but these were the photos to represent. On another note I'm making my first batch of homemade kefir which I am VERY excited about. But that is for another post.

The road was long. The scenery was bland. The sunsets were really spectacular the whole week, which was a highlight! 

We left around 1030am and made record time, 3 stops, and 650 miles in 13 hours. It took us 14 hours last year and we were thrilled at that. This visual was really breathtaking with all the dust and sand particles in the air. That also made for poor photo quality but the sight had me staring for minutes. Chris was looking for a good spot to camp. 

We found a spot and the kids were sleeping, dreaming of dinos and frozen waffles probably. Chris unloaded the RZR, and I bundled up and started setting up the trailer. It is really one of my favorite parts of camping, putting the house together for the days ahead. Not as much fun at midnight, with the cold wind blowing, but it was nice to sweep without kiddos running through! Once the heat was on and the beds were set up we brought them in and settled into our nest.

There was no one around us. It was so peaceful and unexpected to be the only trailer for a hundred yards on either side. Usually we are a part of a big camp group where trailers are stacked like tetris cubes.

Owen is playing on his bench that was previously a bed. My bed (and from midnight on every night, Ara's bed as well) is straight ahead, Ara started every night in the pack and play at the end of the trailer, and Chris slept on the top back bunk. Owen, Ara, and I came down with a cold and he was trying to steer clear of it by avoiding us! It worked, a bit. He just got a minor version of it.

Fashion police watchout

We went on a ride to the general store but it was closed for the day

I requested to be driven to a vista point, and yes there was one! Dunes for days.

The drag races are another highlight at glamis dunes. Friday night was pretty good, and Chris and Paul even raced each other, which was a first! I had never been in a race, let alone with my kiddos! We had a blast but never could figure out how to signal when to START!

Paul, Janet, and Mat rolled up a few hours after we woke up that first day. Owen didn't know Mat was coming, so it was the best surprise for him to hear Mat's voice!

We had 1.5 days of wind and chilly days but otherwise it was lovely weather.

Love this lil guy and his crack!

This trip was the most relaxing trip we have been on in a long time. Personally I listened to about 6 hours of mind hugging for work but I love it nutrition lectures. Finished another book on Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and started and finished another book. Read at least 5 magazines. Laid around during Ara's nap. Sat in this chair for 15 minutes at a time or more. This was relaxing, people!

One of my favorite magazines Mindful had this heart diagram. Of course I fell in love with it.

He has never been to the snow. He just knows what to do I guess. He is good at knowing what to do.

This one is my wild child of hilarity. She could be found climbing up and down the trailer stairs, repeatedly, or trying on sunglasses, dancing in the sand, playing with dinos, or asking to see pictures on nana's phone.

Riding was interesting. The RZR is like a car, she is secure and safe (maybe safer than in a vehicle) but she doesn't love it. After a few rides of her alternating between loving and hating it Chris wired her helmet into ours (for some reason it wasn't done prior). So that means that she could hear us and talk to us. This feature makes riding really fun, takes it to another level I think. Being able to talk to her and have her hear us was much better for her. The bonus of the system is that we can listen to music. Some of my favorite memories of the trip are listening to Michael Jackson and looking back and seeing Ara dancing with her eyes closed and Owen using his seatbelt strap as a guitar. SO CUTE!

Front yard

The ice cream truck got lucky in front of our trailers a couple of days!

Looking at photos of herself on Nana's phone

Cozy fire can make me fall asleep too

Crusty face sleeping sound

There's just something about sleeping photos of babies that I can't get enough of. Especially with her soft touches on me. Seriously, these moments are so so so heartwarming, feeling very blessed these days.

General store open for some overpriced sugar. But it was another adventure. And I got a new sponge for my second home!

Kinda tired looking, but we were relaxed and enjoying our days of no agenda~

Another food photo showed up, ha! Slow cooked oats with apples, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, and of course butter. mmmmmm. Not pictured: giant mess to the left and right.

One ride Ara fell asleep right before we were going to stop. She stayed asleep, let us take her helmet off, and kept snoozing for another 45 minutes. We just hung out and let her rest. That cold was catching up with her.

Parking lot

Coincidental ash marks in a hilarious manner. Don't play in the fire pit or you will look like Hitler!

Saturday's race was HUGE. We were not alone in the desert anymore. Our closest neighbors weren't too close, as we were parked in a way that they had to park a little further from the truck. Sure glad there were more people around for the races though, much more interesting with more cars and more people watching going on. It was busy, as always, as we were always keeping an eye on the kids very closely. We were over halfway down, which we try to be at the beginning usually. But there were so many people. It is for safety purposes, if someone is going too fast and loses control it is usually going to be after they have built up some speed, during the second half of a straightaway. So we had a plan if that happened (basically grab a kid and run away).  It didn't, thankfully, but it could.

The kids all eating their sugar pops.

The kids had a total blast with a great mix of old time fun and a little bit of technology mixed in as well in the form of a movie. My kids hadn't seen Peter Pan and loved it! Pictured below is Owen with his head at the end of the sleeping bag, Mat with his feet in it (probably by Owen's head, ewww) and Ara trying to get into it as well. Three peas in a pod!

My little turkey trying to escape a nap

These guys never ride together. Well until this ride they hadn't. The only way Paul would ride with Chris was if he drove Chris's... They just went on a quick ride.

Adults gotta play too, right!?

He jumped off the hill, weeee

The desert really is a spiritual, calming, grounding place. We had the best mix of family, kid time, relaxation, adventuring, and rest. I even got in a couple walks and jogs when I was feeling up to it. Chris was in bed nightly at 9 or 930 which is pretty unusual for him. The only thing lacking was some decent couple time. That seems to be the hardest thing to come by these days. We have been sneaking into the bedroom, and shutting the door to actually talk. The whole "mom and dad need to talk for a few minutes" bit just doesn't work around here!