Then, another strange creature tried to stow away in my suitcase. Luckily, her snoring gave her away and I was able to extract Pandi from my luggage.
Now for our trip to Arizona. Almost two years ago, Nathan, Kim, Joseph, Benjamin, and Calista moved from California to Prescott Valley, Arizona. Most people think of Arizona as a blazing hot desert. And it sure is, down in Phoenix and Tucson. This time of year, it was 106 degrees in Phoenix. Prescott Valley is 85 miles north of Phoenix and is 5100 feet in elevation. So, the climate there is much milder - the hottest month is July, averaging 89 degrees. During our stay, it was around 82 or so, just perfect.
Prescott Valley was developed in the mid-1960s, when a real estate development company from Phoenix called Prescott Valley Incorporated purchased land then called Lonesome Valley. The first homes were available for sale in 1966.
It took us 8 hours to drive to Prescott Valley from Huntington Beach. We were very fortunate to not hit any traffic jams both coming and going.
We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Prescott, about 10 miles away from Prescott Valley. The hotel was really nice and had a marvelous indoor pool. There was a kiddie pool, a jacuzzi, and an elephant that spouted water from his trunk.
Mimi got lots of gifts for the kids. Here is Calista opening hers. She got a couple of dolls, a stuffed animal, and a lot of art supplies.
Here are Benjy and Joseph - they got Nerf guns, a Nerf shield, and some more art things, like sidewalk chalk and a sand demolition derby kit.
Joseph showed us some of his pet lizards and frogs.
Then we looked around their property - they have 10 acres. Here are their trampolines.
They have about 16 chickens - we brought home a bunch of eggs, as you will see later. Here is Calista holding one of the chickens that they raised from a baby chick.
They also have three goats - Mama, Silver, and Gingy, who is Mama's baby. Here they are!
Gingy has horns while the other two do not. The horn nubs need to be burned off, or otherwise removed early in the goat's life, but Nathan didn't do that when Gingy was a baby. Personally, I like the little horns.
This is her mom, Mama. See the resemblance?
Doc and Mimi fed the goats leftover Matzoh.
The goats have a little shed that they can go in, but they didn't seem to be in there too much while we were there. People mean food, and goats like food.
Here's Joseph with some chickens and Silver.
Here's Nathan with Silver.
More chickens!
Here is another view of the shed.
Mimi feeding Mama, then Mimi and Benjy feeding Gingy and Silver. Then Doc gave them more. They got a lot of food that day !
The shed also contains the chicken coop. They lay a lot of eggs, and Nathan and Kim made 27 egg burritos with the bounty. There were still many eggs left for us to take home.
Silver is the friendliest of the three goats.
The goats roam about the property and chew on weeds and grass. They also ate all the rose bushes that were in the front of the house.
On Friday, we went down to the town of Dewey-Humboldt. It looks like a man-made version of an Old West town.
Here is the replica schoolhouse, with the gang out front.
There was a gift shop, an antique shop, a gun shop, a barber shop, and a Subway. These rusty farm gadgets were on display. We all got something at Wild Willy's Trading Post - I will show you what I got at the end of this post.
There was a covered wagon there, so we all took turns climbing in it and on top of it.
Then we had sushi at a restaurant nearby. We got a couple of rolls, some jalapeno boats, and a giant sushi and sashimi boat.
On Saturday, we went to the neighboring town of Prescott. It is also located in Yavapai County, about 10 miles from Prescott Valley. It has a rich history as a frontier gold and silver mining town. There are Yavapai and Apache tribes nearby, and those native peoples featured in many battles in the 1800s.
Our first stop was Prescott Antiques. Doc and I love to browse antique shops. I got a couple of things there, which I will show you later. We had brought 4 rolls of quarters for the kids to dive for in the pool, but Doc ended up buying 20 antique coins at this shop. Most were British one-pence coins, with the oldest one dated 1890.
I tried on a German Pickelhaube WWI helmet, but it didn't do much for me.
There was one room entirely filled with gems and semi-precious tumbled stones. It was fantastic.
My mom had a bunch of this white Corning Ware with the blue flowers. We got it when she died. It just so happens that these are now collector's items. They were priced at $30 apiece.
Kim and Nathan have a secret panel in their house. Kim told me that it reminded her of the Hardy Boys book, and I saw one at the antique shop.
Here are a couple of views if the outside of the shop. These buildings were mostly antique cars and car parts.
Here's a look down one of the main streets. Courthouse Plaza was surrounded on all four sides by restaurants and shops.
This is the courthouse. Prescott is the Yavapai County Seat. It was founded in 1864 and named for William Hickling Prescott. A fire started by a miner's candle destroyed four blocks of downtown Prescott in 1900.
The Centennial Tree was planted on February 14, 2012.
The courtyard has a colonnade topped by many replicas of the Arizona state flag, and ending with the Rough Rider Monument, created by Solon Borglum. It is an equestrian sculpture of a cowboy named Buckey O'Neill and honors a group of men who gallantly served their country during the Spanish-American War in 1898.
The cement colonnade has a line for every year in which a major event occurred.
We took a lot of family pictures there.
There was a very cute gazebo. This Victorian structure has been the backdrop for many weddings and concerts.
There was also a Statue dedicated to the Yavapai County Fallen Officers. It was built in 2021 and had 19 names. Now two more have been added. It is a bronze statue done by Prescott artist Bill Nebeker.
After that, we had lunch at the Lone Star Cafe.
Then we went back to the Hampton Inn to use the pool and watch the kids dive for the coins.
On Sunday, we decided to do a nature tour. The area is a major stop for those who enjoy the outdoors. The first stop was Lynx Lake, another lake close to Prescott in a tall ponderosa pine forest. The 55-acre lake offers visitors many recreational activities, such as boating, camping, fishing, hiking, and picnicking.
We went on a little hike, but first, Benjy caught a crawdad.
The lake was very shallow - look how far out Joseph and Benjy are. You could literally walk across the lake.
This baby girl enjoyed paddle boarding.
Watson and Willow Lakes are man-made reservoirs that have many hiking trails. Both lakes were made by the damming of local creeks, done from 1916 to 1935. They offer water sports, although we did not see anyone in the water. Some of my research material said that the water quality is occasionally poor, prohibiting swimming. I don't know if that was the case on this day.
Then we went to the Dells, an area of granite outcroppings whose boulders have eroded into spectacular features.
Calista posed on the little footbridge that spanned the creek.
Up ahead, I saw this unique rock feature. To me, it looks like a hand, or maybe a rooster's comb.
When we hiked up to it, the kids showed us a little iron door leading to a small cave.
Inside, there was a journal that you could write in. I wrote "Rosie was here. May 2, 2024."
Then we went back to the house and had hot dogs and hamburgers. We played some word games, and then Joseph showed us his cowboy outfit. He got the hat at Wild Willy's Trading Post.
On Monday, June 3rd, we drove home, once again not hitting much traffic, which was fabulous.
So now I will show you all the treasures that I got there. First, this can that used to contain Riley's Toffee, and came from Halifax England.
One of the boys picked this colorful grasshopper out of the front grill of their car, so I added him to my butterfly memorial display.
Doc got a cookbook.
I found a pale blue perfume bottle for my collection.
I also got these cool red dangling earrings.
Here are the eggs that we brought home. The chickens that you saw earlier laid them.
I got duck feet for the dogs to munch on.
The best thing I purchased was also from Wild Willy's - this wooden box was originally a humidor, but I repurposed it as a jewelry box. It's huge and very well made.
I filled the tray and the interior space, and then put bracelets in the two drawers.
We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the kids very much. Now we have a good idea of what they are talking about when they tell us about their adventures. Prescott Valley is a beautiful place to live, and I am sure that the kids will enjoy their growing-up years there.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
