Families on the road

Contrary to our assumption that Dan, Marlene & co would run screaming from our slow, chaotic lifestyle on the road, it turned out that they thought we were OK. At least OK enough to suggest that our families travel together across the bottom of Arizona and New Mexico towards Texas.

We were to spend the next two weeks together.

The two groups are approaching our road trips in slightly different ways: we are very much camping, while they are at home, everywhere. But we found ourselves to be very compatible.

Ava and Sophia became fast friends, united not only in their big sister-hood, but also Disney princesses, the color pink, arts and crafts activities, jewelry, DVDs, nail polish…and most importantly, the joy of running around and screaming like lunatics after a long day in the car.

With the two trailers always parked next to each other, the girls liked running back and forth between each other’s “homes”. Interestingly, each wanted to be at the other’s trailer as much as possible. The reason for Sophia’s preference was obvious: they had a TV. We were less sure why Ava liked our place so much, but it was great having her and we were able to keep her entertained with lots of coloring books, necklaces and DVDs on the computer.

Because both families had babies, no excuses were needed for the constant stops for diaper changes and feeds, the getting-the-baby-to-sleep jiggle dance, uncontrollable crying (the babies), exhaustion (the mothers) or one person doing all the driving (the fathers).

We cobbled together a joint lifestyle that seemed to work for everyone: slow mornings, fun day trips, drinks in the evening and potluck dinners. Luckily, they were very patient about our loose approach to bedtime wreaking havoc with their usual 8pm end-of-day. Although, as we moved East, I guess Ava and Mila sort of kept their routines – thinking in California time zones, that is.

It was fun having companionship on the road.

Swimming with the fishes

On the advice of Rich Luhr, Dan and Marlene were keen to visit Balmorhea State Park, not too far over the Texas border.
And a good idea it was.
Set on a natural spring whose waters are warm year-round, the park is also home to a restored desert wetland area. Here, birds abound and the endangered pupfish thrives among the tall green grasses.
I specify green because it had been a very long time since we had seen anything green – apart from agaves, saguaros and other cactuses. Here, the air felt soft, and the sun no longer burned – we were, after all, several thousand feet lower than we had been for ages.

We even detected a hint of…springtime.
But back to the spring itself: the park’s main feature is its 77,053 square foot pool fed by the San Solomon Springs (22 to 28 million gallons of water pass through it each day!). Visitors are invited to swim, snorkel and even scuba dive, cohabiting with the area’s many types of fish and turtles.
So, at the end of February, the eight of us enjoyed a day at the pool. After a picnic, the girls splashed around and the adults snorkeled.

Having grown up swimming competitively, I have always loved swimming – fast.
Learning use the snorkel was scary – breathing under water does not come naturally. But Daniel, who has his PADI license, explained how to do it, and it was great.
Swimming just below the surface, making minimal splashes, regarding the fish – teeny and tiny – working to disturb their home as little as possible, appreciating the refraction of sunlight underwater, I achieved a previously unknown calm.
Which seemed like the perfect metaphor for this trip.

Along the border

We entered Texas at El Paso, where Texas, New Mexico and Mexico itself meet.

Speeding along through the city along Interstate 10, we could plainly see Ciudad Juarez across the Rio Grande, looking very much like another country with its slanted roofed houses sitting precariously on hills traversed by dirt roads.

We had been close to the border since Arizona, listening to Mexican radio for some time and knowing that just over the mountains lay a very different place.

Having intended to spend Christmas in Baja California, we were swiftly discouraged against entering Mexico by everyone from my parents to the newspapers and fellow travelers.

Mexico is in the midst of a quasi-war between rival drug cartels based in Ciudad Juarez and Sinaloa, with additional cartels from Tijuana and the Gulf mixed in – plus the Mexican state’s own army. The battle for hegemony has led to the murders of thousands of Mexicans, many of them civilians. There have been countless muggings, beheadings and kidnappings.

So we decided not to go.

Later in Texas, we met a couple – one spouse from El Paso and the other from Ciudad Juarez. In the past, they’d just walk over the bridge between the two without a second thought. Now, they avoid going across for all but the most important family engagements. The wife spoke of her sister’s neighborhood constructing a fence around itself, her cleaner’s husband being murdered in broad daylight and the sadness she felt seeing her country destroyed.

Winter Olympics!

We didn’t have a TV, so we missed out on most of the outlandish costumes, make-up and drama of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

So we decided to hold our own Games, 60 or so miles outside Las Cruces, New Mexico, at White Sands National Monument.

Measuring 275 square miles, the dune field is made entirely of gypsum sand evaporated from nearby piles of gypsum crystals and then blown by the wind into rising meringue-like peaks.

(All you have to do is pretend you’re not next to the Missile Range, or Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was tested. The Monument closes on missile testing days). Also nearby – and less scary – are White Sands Space Harbor, a NASA Test Facility, the Sunspot Solar Observatory and the town of Truth or Consequences.

Sledding is encouraged here, so we spent the afternoon whizzing down the dunes on a plastic purple saucer purchased at the Visitor Center.

Everyone had a go, solo and with up to three riders – headfirst and feet-first, on backs and fronts. Boring a path into our favorite dune, we achieved infinite speeds, setting our own imaginary records and screaming with glee. With the world as her sandbox, Lulu had a blast.

As we were leaving, Daniel couldn’t help himself, leaping out of the car to complete an individual sand-surfing event with only the oncoming sunset to support him.

I was too worried to capture that one on video, but we did get some other events - see below.

Tombstone

Another in the series of our mining town visits was Tombstone, Arizona, one of the most notorious and violent places in the Wild West.
This place is a total tourist trap, but so well done that you don’t mind. Main Street is set up as it always was – with saloons, hotels, theaters and the OK Corral. Most of the buildings are not original, since the town burnt down a few times, but they look like they are. And thanks to the town’s enthusiastic residents – most of whom are dressed up as cowboys, shady ladies or the Wyatts and their friend Doc Holliday – you really get a sense of what life must have been like.
We watched a reenactment of the Shootout at the OK Corral, had lunch at the Crystal Palace Saloon and visited the excellent museum at Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park.
And bought a red felt cowgirl hat for Sophia. Julia has kindly sent her some hand-me-down cowgirl boots from LA, so the whole family will be ready and waiting for the next costume party.

The Shady Dell

Our Airstream has spent most of our trip being dwarfed by giant Winnebagos and supersize fifth-wheels. More often than not, our trailer has been a quarter of the size of its neighbors.
These rigs are way more comfortable than ours, but it does seem that vintage trailers are lighter, more stylish and built to last.
What would a trailer park filled with beautiful RVs look like? We had been pondering this very question for nearly a year - before leaving England - even fantasizing about how we would fashion our very own trailer park.

So it was with great joy that we discovered the trailer park of our dreams, The Shady Dell, in Bisbee, an Arizona mining town a mile up in the sky.

Jen and Justin are the proprietors of this park-cum-hotel, which is comprised exclusively of 1950s trailers and memorabilia.

Here, guests spend the night in stationary RVs, pretending that they too are a product of mid-century Modernism.

On offer are 11 restored beauties like the
- 1949 21’ Airstream
- 1957 17’ El Rey
- 1954 12’ Crown
- 1957 gold painted Airfloat
- 1951 33’ Spartan Royal Mansion

as well as wackier options including the Tiki Bus (complete with Tiki bar) and Rita D Yacht, a 38’ Chris Craft Yacht, both dating from 1947.

Lest these vehicles fail to impress, The Shady Dell even has its own 1950s restaurant, the minute Dots Diner, which is open for breakfast and lunch Friday through Tuesday. With quality ingredients, the menu is very reasonably priced.

Also in the works is a drive-in movie theater, complete with classic cars to seat viewers.

Luckily for us, there are a few spots set aside for visitors with their own trailers. Paying a very reasonable $30 plus $10 for the girls, we were parked across from our new friends Dan and Marlene’s modern Airstream and a California lady’s beautifully redone light yellow painted 60s tin can.

What prompted the young couple to take on this amazing project?

The two, who had met thanks to their shared love of all things vintage – classic cars, antiquing, music – had stayed at the park under previous management and joked that they’d love to take it over. So two years ago, when Justin, by chance, saw that it was indeed up for sale, they did just that – about a year into their relationship.

The park had declined under the prior owners, so there was a lot to fix before Justin and Jen could set about adding their own touches.

Now, all the trailers are in perfect condition, all kitted out with true-to-era fabrics, furnishings and fittings. Some even come with record players and TVs playing period music and shows.

Visitors get so swept up in the spirit of the place that they plan costume parties and even weddings there.

Most often, they hail from nearby Phoenix and Tucson, but regularly come from further afield, with European countries like the UK, Netherlands and Germany being well represented.

In addition to being one of the most pristine parks we’ve stayed in, it’s also the most fun. Jen and Justin, and their right-hand man - Ken, who preceded them as manager by 12 years – genuinely seem to enjoy running The Shady Dell, even finding time to dress the part. Because it's so darn pretty, it's hard to venture off the premises. (If you do want to, though, Bisbee is a handsome town with well maintained 1800s buildings and a mine shaft a mile deep that's open to the public.)

They all live on site: Ken, in an immaculate Spartan, and Jen and Justin in a small, beautifully decorated apartment (whose few nods to the present include a carefully hidden color TV) behind the office.

Are they RVers, too? Of course: Their own red-and-white Shasta, which sits near the entrance, still gets to go on the occasional trip or rally.

www.theshadydell.com

Just as we had imagined

Our arrival at Bisbee, Arizona marked the beginning of our Big Trip as we had imagined it. We met people like us, a family with young kids in an Airstream.

Seeing mention of Dan and Marlene Lin on another Airstreamer’s blog, I decided to get in touch. Internet dating for families. Lucky for all of us, the chemistry was good.

Like us, they have two daughters – Ava, who’s 3, and Mila, who’s five months old. Oh, and a cat named Yoda, also a girl. Dan says this is all part of his primal plan to ban males from his household.

Unlike us, they are working full-time while on the road. One-third of an internet-based start-up that helps media companies turn vouchers into cash, Dan mainly works mornings and nights but also has to be available to take calls during the day.

Managing two kids, an RV and travel plans, we have had very little time to do anything like read a book, write postcards or keep up to date with this blog. Adding real jobs to that is really hard to imagine.

Luckily, though, they do have extra space – in the form of a 25-foot Airstream, the same model we enjoyed staying in at the Las Vegas KOA. So they can put the girls to bed in their (separate!) bedroom, and then set up shop at the dinette table (which they never have to fold down into a bed).

They also have kids’ DVDs and toys aplenty, to keep the girls occupied when they need to work during the day.

The main drawback for them is the need for reliable phone coverage and internet connections, making remote stops – or visits to natural places - more difficult.

Having owned a small ‘teardrop’ trailer before having kids, they were familiar with the lifestyle, and knew that they wanted to simulate a home environment as much as possible.
So, after lots of preparation, they departed from their home in Ventura, California – just north of Los Angeles – with Key West, Florida as their destination.

A bit apprehensive about taking to the road long-term, though, they left their plans fluid – their house is empty and ready to go back to if they so decide.

If they manage to balance work, a home-on-wheels, travel and their kids, they could end up staying on the road for a year. Who knows?