Our adventures in the Wild West!

So, we're finally back in the U.S. and there were loads of things for us to do.  Settling into our new home aside, we had three years worth of family and friend visiting to catch up on.  Our family and friends are spread out all over the place, and there was no way we could see it all in such a short amount of time, even though that's exactly what we truly wanted to do.  Instead, because it had been literally three years since we had visited everyone out west, that was on our agenda.  It definitely helped that Big R's parents had recently relocated to the Sedona area. (That part was exciting, too, because we got to explore somewhere brand spankin new!)

One thing we had either forgotten or chose to ignore was how much it cost to travel within the U.S. Seriously, my sister and her husband visited us in Germany for Christmas last year cheaper than it was going to cost for us to fly from Nashville to Las Vegas.  I understand there are a million reasons for airline prices to be what they are, but it's just unfortunate how expensive it can be to fly now.  We somehow finagled our flights through our frequent flyer miles, but since Big R had a million more miles than the boys and I had (because of flying back to the US for work), we had a wild schedule that involved us flying separately to make the most out of our miles and our dollars.  We were proud of what we worked out, even if it made for some interesting travel stories at the end of the day.  (This is where I tell you about how traveling with a toddler and a 4-year old on a red-eye alone is not probably the greatest idea in the world - HA!).

Our fist stop was Phoenix where we were picked up by Big R's mom and whisked out to their new abode just outside of Sedona.  Wow, what a breathtaking place to live, and their new home is absolutely adorable.  We had just shy of a week full of visiting "Africa" (I got to *kiss* a giraffe!!!), exploring ghost towns and old mines, watching thunderstorms light up the sky and fireworks from the rooftop, and dodging flash floods.  It was such an awesome time.

These are a couple pictures of their cozy adobe home and its surroundings...

a view from the front entrance... just love her stone oven

the backyard... and no, i'm not kidding!

We were there to celebrate the 4th of July!  Our first one in the U.S. in three years!  It was so fun, and we enjoyed it with an awesome neighborhood parade and a breakfast with the community where even Big R's parents were meeting folks for the first time.

the little man showing his American pride

the family "float" for the parade!

We took a drive to go exploring the area around Sedona.  It's gorgeous!

Goofy picture, but it captures our family and that moment perfectly!

this is the view we were trying to stand in front of - breathtaking!

the view was so inspiring, i just couldn't help myself! lol

Then we went to "Africa" - it's a place just south of Sedona called "Out of Africa" and it is a very neat animal park.  They take you on a safari-like ride to view many of the animals, and they let you "feed" the giraffes!  If you put the celery in your mouth, the giraffe will take it with his tongue and give you a huge kiss. Being that giraffes are by far my favorite animal, this was nothing shy of AWESOME!

baby c thought the kiss was hilarious!

...and little r was beside himself excited, too!

We were visiting at the start of monsoon season, so we got to experience and witness several incredible lightning storms while we were there. Big R is crazy talented with his camera and caught many awesome photographs of the storms.

one of the best photos of the storm

 Desert sunsets are also pretty spectacular.  Big R caught many awesome moments on camera with the sun setting as well.

a sunset in the Senoran desert

Our last day there we explored an old mining town called Jerome, and a nearby "ghost town" junk shop.  Sounds weird, but it's actually a really cool place with vintage everything! 

vintage pick up truck

an old mine and gear

their political preference was pretty clear at every turn as well - look closely at the label on the "soup" can

One thing I didn't realize was how large the winery business is in Arizona, and also how incredible the wines are!  Big R's parents live a mere 5 minutes away from the heart of wine country.  You know me, we had to do our fair share of tasting.  We were even given the night off to go enjoy Page Springs Winery - an absolutely incredible place with the coolest atmosphere and employees that are really passionate about their wine - while Big R's parents stayed back to watch the kids.  It was heaven :)

enjoying date night to the fullest!

It was time to say adieu to the beautiful red rocks of Sedona, and head to the Mojave desert to visit my family and friends.  A hop from one gorgeous part of the country to another.  We were feeling crazy spoiled.

these red rocks will definitely be calling our names!

A quick Southwest flight later, and we were in Las Vegas with my mom.  We planned the visit with my sister and her husband, and we had a couple hours to kill before their flights arrived.  So, what does any sensible crew do in Vegas for a couple hours?  Buy cowboy boots, of course. Haha, you thought I was going to say something much more interesting, didn't you? We had a lot of horsing around to do on this trip and no boots to enjoy it with. It was time to load up on some proper gear!

this pictures cracks me up

After our insane first night out on the ranch (where a lightning strike started a fire just up the hill from the house), we didn't waste any time horsing around.  (The fire started up again the next afternoon, so Big R and I hiked back up to try to keep it contained until BLM showed up again.  We grabbed a couple of pictures this time!)

hiking up to the juniper tree that is ablaze from the lightening strike

burning hot, but we caught it well before it was a severe problem

it still took the BLM crew a good hour to make sure the fire was out for good

There was a lot of horseback riding, mucking stalls, tractor driving, hiking and desert exploring, yoga, reading, piano playing, wine drinking, and relaxing.  Can't forget the child wrangling, screeching and playing either, can we mom?  My kids have a way of keeping you entertained and completely exhausted! Overall we had a pretty fantastically awesome time!

little r is a natural cowboy - he just loves horses

he has a great seat and so much ease around a horse

my beautiful sister and Smoke - who we used to ride when we were in high school!

Big R and little r on Stella

panoramic view of the valley after a hike to the top of a peak

streams formed after a day of good rain

sun setting on the rocks

Ryan was proud of his climb to the top!

baby c was super curious about the big animals...

...but he's not quite the horse lover yet that his brother is

heading for the trails on Stella

quick family shot (less baby c) on Rustler and Stella

Papa Tom let little r drive the tractor - he STILL talks about it!

views from another hike - this valley is gorgeous at every turn

love these old trees

Jess and I taking it all in...

...and striking a pose on the rocks

This trip also included a weekend in Las Vegas where we were able to visit with our friends.  I was beyond excited to spend time with my closest friends that I hadn't seen in three years.  I had no idea how much I was missing home and my friends until we were there.  The feeling was incredible and I savored every last single solitary second of it.

We spent the fist day poolside with Lacey and her kiddos.  The boys were in heaven.  I even got to spend some uninterrupted time with my best friend catching up - absolutely priceless!  Little r and Lacey's oldest, Ryland, are only 4 months apart, and they were literally instant best friends. It was too much fun watching them bond as if they had grown up together.  

Lacey and my little man

his love for the water is uncanny - this kid is like a fish!

Our next day we met up with my close friend and partner in crime, Monica.  She's an assistant curator at the Shark Reef in Las Vegas, but she and I also met when we worked together at the dolphin habitat at the Mirage.  We still have connections there, even after all of these years, so we took the kiddos to see some dolphins and then she brought us all "behind the scenes" at the Shark Reef.  It was pure awesome!

best pals watching the dolphins

 

did I mention we still had connections?  yep, the boys got to feed the dolphins and do a little bit of training...

...and they snuck in a pet or two.  

baby c watching the big shark tank from up above!

its too dangerous for the boys to feed the sharks, but the sea turtles loved the attention and the snack!

Monica has the coolest pets, and this snake was little r's fave!

Another amazing adventure to log into our book.  This might not have been southern France, the Alps, or Tuscan wine country, but it was just as awesome and incredible in every way.  We've been going nonstop for quite awhile, so I'm going to do my best to contain this adventurous crew and get us settled and into a routine.  Knowing us though, it's not likely to be long before we have more to write home about.

Love you all, and I hope you had fun reading about our western adventures as much as we loved having them. 

xoxoxoxo

Rest In Peace, Cheryl...

Receiving the news that Cheryl Hanna had suddenly passed away left me broken hearted.  Cheryl was a brilliant woman that was influential to so many lives through her classes at Vermont Law School, her well-known legal comments on NPR and other Vermont media, and her numerous publications.  Many amazing things will be written about Cheryl.  Her resume is long and distinguished with all of her publications and accomplishments.  Her role in the Vermont Law community is arguably unmatched, and I think many students and alumni would agree that very few professors left a mark on their legal careers the way she did.  There is no doubt that the legal community lost someone irreplaceable.

Those many articles about Cheryl probably won't mention those things that made her special to me and to others that were fortunate enough to know her on a personal level.  As a professor she inspired me to strive harder and realize my true potential.  She knew what I was capable of long before I knew to even try.  Most people do not know that I almost failed her class.  Seems impossible to think of now, but an office visit later and not only was I on my way to acing Constitutional Law, but I had made a friend of a lifetime.  At the end of the semester, we contacted each other about doing legal research together, the next three years of law school and beyond, I was fortunate enough to work side by side professionally with one of my closest friends.

I spent many afternoons and evenings laughing over articles and research, sharing a glass of wine, and discussing the nuances of the latest Supreme Court case with this incredible person.  She could read people extremely well, and she saw the best in everyone.  Her loss is devastating not only to me, but to the legal community, her family, and to Vermont.  Vermont Law School will never be the same.

Thank you, Cheryl, for sharing your wonderment with us all, and for helping so many of us fall in love with the law and go after the passions and dreams inside of us.   

I never expected cars to be so complicated...

It's true, you know, I really never thought that moving overseas with our vehicles would cause so many headaches and so much stress. It has really been ridiculous. Not all of it has been bad. There are parts of the process that have gone smoothly, and for that I'm thankful, but I could really do without all the other silly beeswax, I honestly could...

You heard me mention before that Big R's race car was not waiting for us in Atlanta as it was supposed to be. Well, I'm happy to say that it finally broke free of its three weeks in customs' hell and found its way to Atlanta. We were in the middle of a much needed vacation with family and friends out west when Big R got the news, so plans had to be changed so he could fly back to Atlanta and bring his beloved race car home. Aside from an extremely long wait, the pick up process was relatively painless compared to the awaiting its arrival. We spent over two weeks calling every other day to be told that two weeks stuck in customs was the "norm" for vehicles coming overseas. Ha! Yeah, right. We knew better, but there was little to nothing we could do about it except rejoice when it made its way to Atlanta.

I stayed behind to hang out with my mom on the ranch. There was more horsin' around to be had, and I was enjoying the bonding time. The next auto madness was related to the tracking and arrival of our BMW. The whole process was a huge mess, but I had no idea how bad it would finally get before we had the car in our possession. BMW has hired a contractor to handle the shipments. My contact started out fantastically helpful, only to have that assistance fall to the wayside. We had been told by others that they send you your invoice (yes, the hidden fees are marvelous - they pay the large chunk of shipment costs, but don't be fooled by the customs and handling fees), and provide a tracking database to you within that first week or so of shipment. We somehow didn't get any of this information until the BMW was ETA into port.

The data tracker made me feel like the hugest idiot. Don't you hate that? Maybe I am missing a few marbles, but you'd think a couple of attorneys could figure this stuff out. The mere fact that the instructions state we would have a 9 digit number linked to all the information, and a 7 digit number for customs, was compounded by a few extraneous digits and inconsistent information across both of them. I was making myself blind trying to read the thing. My mom defintely thought I was losing it. I made sure to fill out the paperwork to pay the invoice with the hope the BMW would arrive any day. The hope work, but the payment did not. When the BMW was released, we weren't any closer to having our payment processed nor did we have any clearance documents. I felt like I was constantly on the phone and emailing these folks and it was getting us no where.

I know you are wondering how this got all crazy balls on us at the last minute, because it exploded into a mess of colossal proportions. Big R is buried in in-processing appointments and a need to expedite things to get to work. The army doesn't mess around when it decides it needs its lawyers. I have two kids - enough said, this lady wasn't heading to port to collect a vehicle with these crazy bears.

I called to check on the status and our contact informed me the documents and payment would be wrapped up in the next hour. Big R made his arrangements and noticed the flight was $75 cheaper than it had been the last two days, so he bought his ticket to Charleston to get the BMW out of port. We knew better, we really did because nothing in this process has gone as it's supposed to. By the next morning, the credit card hadn't even been charged yet. Not a good sign. Big R was long on his way. Turns out the card was denied (thanks a million USAA, your timing was impeccable on this one), and yet no one informed us despite our sharing the plan that we were heading to port the following day to collect the car. Oy... It gets better... I know, your thinking, dumb, how could we go without documents, but the afterthought is much more hasty than the reality at the time.

I'll make this part of the story quick, despite our rep being MIA, we managed to get updated credit card info to the company and our clearance papers were released. Big R grabbed a cab to downtown Charleston from the airport (which was built before the civil war and is apparently an old disaster of an airport), and walked to the port.

Let me back up just a tiny half beat of a second to let you in on what I was doing while Big R was handling this side of the arrangements. I was packing up to leave Vegas and my mom after an amazing vacation. We used frequent flyer miles because is has gotten painfully expensive to fly in the US (I had no idea how spoiled we were in Europe), and it was a red eye flight... Kind of... It left at 1am PST, stopped in Houston for a super fast layover, and then went on to Nashville to arrive at 9am CST. That sounds painful even to the most able of moms, and to add insult to injury, baby c decided to wake us all up at 5am and then refuse to let any of us nap later in the day. Needless to say, I was seeking Wonder Woman strength to make it through.

We beat the rush at the airport, just in time for the boys to melt down at the gate. We walked onto a very full flight to find out we were sitting next to "that guy." You know, the one you always pray is not sharing your seat. He looked liked the guy from American Choppers (you know the show, I know you do), covered all over in tattoos, and reeking of booze. At several points during the flight I was certain he was going to ralph, but he managed to hold it together. He was a huge person, and my boys could contain themselves no more. Until 20 minutes into the flight when they both decided to give into the exhaustion, I was seriously having an out of body experience. Pure mayhem. But it ended. I had to pull poor little r to our connecting flight on the opposite end of the terminal while he cried from exhaustion, only to collapse in a chair and fall back asleep.

We were crazy tired when we got home, so I wasn't ready for the afternoon to up the anty on me. Let's flash forward again.. Big R is walking to the port from a Kinkos downtown (yes, he walked because he's nuts like that), and he gets to the port only to find out he's missing some critical number. This stupid number is so important, they won't even let him into the port without it. This is when things started getting really fun. Our rep remained MIA, so I had to do all the coordinating with an employee that was trying her best. Big R was in the meantime negotiating with the port staff to first get inside the gates and then to lower the military boom that sets the urgency clock in motion. Whether we like it or not, duty calls, right? Well, between that and his charm it somehow worked. He won them over. This was a good thing because the company I was working with was clueless. She had me convinced for awhile this whole deal was our fault because we really had them in a bind. Well, hey, try informing your clients when payments don't go through and then disappearing with the laptop that contains all the necessary information, and then tell me again it was us that caused the bind. Yeah, I'm not even going there...

I probably would have been more calm except that we were about 45 minutes now from the port closing on a Friday. Baby c had thankfully been napping, but he woke up with a crap-loaded diaper about 15 minutes before our deadline. How do that do that?! It's uncanny!

I'm mid-wipe on a screaming child when she calls to tell me she can get the much needed number but it'll cost us $100 and there is no guarantee we'll get the port to stay open to get our car out that day. I'm sure you can picture how I took that. She said she thinks it would be best if we waited until Monday to go back when her coworker was back in the office. Obviously she was in way over her head and had no idea what to do. But yes, we live down the street from this place and can effortlessly hang out until Monday. The woman hadn't thought this through nor was she aware of the repercussions of her suggestion. I'm racing from room to room doing that horrible thing mothers do and never like to admit it when they are trying super hard to handle business on the phone with a screaming child attached to my ankles, poor baby c. Didn't help that little r was being a maniac. It was pure mayhem in my house, and the timing was horrible.

At this point Big R's phone had died. Yes, seriously, it was dead as a door nail. I had to call the dock office to try to find him. Turns out Big R's charm had the entire port staff working to get his car out of hock. Nicely played, honey. The dock supervisor was livid and could not believe the shipping company was going to charge us to do their job. Ah, hell, I just wanted my car! Long story short, the port staff found us a freaking number and got our car out of port without charging us a penny. We're sending them at least one fruit basket and a crap load of chocolate. I mean seriously, what a colossal mess!

Ok, so we now have both cars, we are still waiting on two shipments that will start this week. I'm down one glass of wine with my body half into bed, and Big R is refueling with old friends stationed a short drive from Charleston. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I could really use a few less surprises and I'm ok with not having any more days like this one anytime soon.

Here's to more stories and madness to share because my life is never a full moment!

Cheers!

xoxoxo

 

 

 

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Seriously?! We can't make this stuff up...

And here you thought that our family leaving Europe meant the adventures were over and my blog was going to be nothing but a collection of mediocre stories.  I really have been thinking that my blog is going to get insanely boring in comparison.  I suppose that would be a pretty normal expectation, but those that know me know that adventure has a way of finding me.

My mom lives on 40 acres in the Mojave Desert - literally in the middle of nowhere.  Our last visit to their ranch was the spring before we left for Germany, and we had a ton of fun adventures that visit as well, including a desert hike with rattlesnakes and a fun visitor in my mom's jeep, but nothing like the way we kicked off this trip.  Everything actually started off pretty chill.  The flight for us from Phoenix where we were visiting Big R's mom was easy as pie.  (Although we managed to pick the one flight that was scheduled during the World Cup game only to land and discover that Germany beat Brazil 7-1, what?!  so crazy...)  After collecting us all, including my sister and her husband, we had delicious BBQ and then got on the road to head out to the ranch.  It takes about an hour and a half with a large portion of the drive being on gravel road.

An absolutely amazing storm was making the sky an incredible sight.  We even stopped to grab some pictures and then hit the road to race the storm home (because you never know if a good storm will wash the road out - exciting, right?).

The New York Mountains in the Mojave Preserve

It rained, but not hard.  There was a decent show of thunder and lightning and the air felt clean and crisp.  Big R disappeared outside to take pictures of the lightning, of course, and as he was walking back inside, the sky lit up and a lightning bolt struck so close the house shook and Big R's hair was standing up when he walked in the door.  That'll get your attention!  We knew it was a stone's throw away, although none of us saw the actual lightning bolt strike the ground.  We all chuckled and caught our breath through sighs of laughter and went about our business.  Ignorance is bliss :)

About five or so minutes later, Big R wandered outside again, and he returned rather quickly and quite casually said, "you guys have fire."  My husband is a wonderful man, but he's also a jokester. I could tell by the look in my mom's face that she wasn't sure whether or not to believe him.  My stepdad, Tom, hopped up immediately to look outside, and Big R repeated, "I'm dead serious, we have a fire on the hill!"  Sure enough, the lightning bolt had struck a juniper on the hill near the house and was flaming.  YIKES!!!  I hate the way I react to these things.  Panic is not my best friend, and two things terrify me to no end:  tornadoes and fire.  My heart was literally in my throat.

Big R is thankfully a leader in crisis situations, and the next thing we know he is gearing up to head out in the "ranger" with a shovel in hand.  The hill is a mini-mountain and quite steep, but that flame was too close for comfort and BLM can only get here so fast.  In his mind, there was no time to waste.  My brother-in-law, Ryan, jumped right in, and despite protests from both Big R and Ryan, my sister insisted she go as well.  Her response?  "If it's safe enough for you, it's safe enough for me. I'm going."  Just love that girl.

Rain picked up and the flame died out.  They couldn't find where the lightning strike hit the tree, so they came back and we chilled out on the porch watching with relief as we saw the flame so much as disappear with the rain storm. We got the boys into bed (finally) after poor little r shook himself to sleep.  Baby c couldn't be happier to fall into bed, but I for some reason couldn't let him go during all the excitement as I kept picturing in my mind us loading up the horses in the trailer and packing up the car in record time. We were momentarily relieved that the fire died down and hoped it would fizzle out naturally.  BLM told us to call if it flamed up again, otherwise they would be out by morning.  Tom and I were already discussing shifts because there was no way this crew was going to sleep with a potential fire in our backyard.

Sure enough, about an hour or so later, the rain stopped, the wind picked up at the start of another storm front, and the blaze rekindled.  In a matter of minutes it went from seemingly dormant to being ablaze!  We decided not to mess around, and after eyeing the location with the telescope and binoculars, Big R was even more comfortable this time with reaching the blaze.  Honestly, the fire was picking up so quickly, we were afraid not to respond especially knowing it could take BLM upwards of an hour or longer to get the blaze.

They parked the mule at the base of the hill, and climbed up.  I was amazed at how quickly they reached the fire.  They were able to contain the embers, but the tree was like hot coal all the way to the core and they didn't have the equipment they needed to put it out.  Needless to say, we were happy knowing BLM was on their way.  Sleep was not going to be had among this group until this fire was completely put out.  Jokes were flying on the radio, and Big R, Ryan and my sister were chillin with the fire until BLM arrived.

BLM showed up with a big 'ol fire truck that was never going to make it anywhere near the hill. So, they packed up water bladders and other equipment, and Tom used the "mule" to bring them closer to the sight to save some energy.  Because this wasn't enough of an adventure, the mule decided to get caught in a ditch and bottom out.  I couldn't figure out what was taking Tom so long to get back, and thought maybe he had decided to join the firefighters on their hike up the hill until I finally saw him walking up from the barn at the base of the property.  What the heck?!  Yep, he wandered his way back in the dark - no flashlight, no radio, and only the porch light to show him his way - only to grab the tractor and my mom to head right back out to tow the thing out of the way.

My parents made it back with tractor and mule in tow, and thankfully both in one piece, right around the time my sister informed me that they were in a mad search for the ranger because they parked it in the dark and had no clue where they put it.  I'm happy to report they finally found it and made their way home.  We all sighed a huge sigh of relief, and Big R had a grin from ear to ear.  I'm about ready to pass out from all the adrenaline and he's having a ball.  Guess I'm glad I have him as a life partner to make it through any life crisis!

Phew... I think after it was all said and done, it was about 1:30 in the morning.  Bed was a welcomed sight for all.  Thanks, mom, for planning an outrageously exciting start to our vacation on the ranch :)

Despite the crazy beginning, we are already having a blast.  The boys had us up early, and we've ridden horses, played with tractors, gone on hiking adventures discovering bobcats, and I even managed to get in a yoga practice during one of baby c's naps. The ranch is an absolutely beautiful place in every way imaginable.


Here are a few pictures to share the fun we are having.  Hopefully we've left the wildest adventures behind us for this trip!!!

that smile says it all!!!

Papa Tom and little r - one happy boy and his grandpa

Big R having a ball training Stella