Currency on the Walls

We added our own dollar to the walls here, but they won't tell you where they put it. Every night the maintenance crew staples the new bills on the wall and you have to come back later to see if you can find yours. Yikes, another trip to the mountains! I don't think so! If anyone finds a bill with Molly, josh and riley in the middle of Washington's face, e-mail it to me!

Tortilla Flat - Population 6

Friday we went up to the mountains to a place called Tortilla Flat. If you have ever driven the Road to Hana in Hawaii, it's a lot like that...a long narrow winding stretch up the mountain with a few one lane bridges where you literally have to wait for oncoming traffic to pass before you can cross. If you know me, you know how I "love" the mountains! They are beautiful from the ground up, but I don't like driving up them. And like Hana, when you get to your destination, it's not much to look at.

This is a small mining town with a population of 6 people. But it does have 2 gift shops, a post office and a famous restaurant. The inside walls of the place are covered with dollar bills and other foreign currency (more pics of that later) and the restaurant is a kinda sassy tribute to the Southwest. Riley had "buzzard strips" and they are famous for their HOT chili among other things. None of us tried it, but we did stop and have some Prickly Pear ice cream at the gift shop after lunch. The waitress says the walls are estimated to be worth $90 million! And the bathrooms were worth the trip;) I tried to load pics of the men's room too, but blogger is being goofy. Cory took the pics for me because Josh wouldn't take pics in the men's room! i'll try again with those later.

The place is also a tribute to "an old scallywag" or something like that - A Dutch gold miner who is supposedly responsible for building the restaurant about 100 years ago along with killing anyone who came near him mine.

Despite my fear of mountain driving, this was a fun little stop! On our way back down the mountain we stopped at another mining town called Goldfield...did a little shopping, could have done some panning for gold, but it was close to Riley's bedtime so we didn't stay long.

TIGF

Thanks to Mark and Linda for a great trip to AZ to break up the yucky month of January!!!

Popp in Arizona

Our good friend Matt is in the Air Force stationed at Luke AF Base in Glendale, AZ and he came up to visit us and hang out in the pool one night while we were there. This is what I mean by us crazy, MN people braving the pool in 40+ degree temps. While we were in the pool around 8:00 p.m., potential residents of the 55+ community were getting a tour of the place wearing their winter jackets and mittens! In our defense, the pool is very well heated and there's a hot tub right next to it! Check out that steam!

Phoenix Zoo

On Thursday we went to the zoo in Phoenix. It was a lot better than any MN zoo we have been too...We had planned on going to the Zoo lights, but they close the Zoo at 4 p.m. and you have to re-pay to enter at 6 p.m. for the lights, which we didn't know...and it wasn't cheap, so we just saw about a third of the zoo and then we had to leave...but it was worth it! Riley rode the Merry-go-Round with Linda and even rode a camel...more on that later too!

After the Pool

While we were at the pool, Jess and Cory arrived so we went back to the house. Mark and Linda were having new carpet put in the trailer so we waited outside for a while...it was only a few more minutes before they were finished, but Riley was so tired she couldn't wait to get into the house for her nap.

At the Pool

Day 1: Tourists go to the pool in 65 degree temps. Ok, the pic with her in her sunglasses isn't from day 1, that's from I think day 6-ish...But the temps were in the high 60s the whole time we were there and we still used the pool a few times...even at night when temps drop into the mid 40s. There will be pics of that later.

Riley LOVES to swim. She even told Daddy to let her swim by herself...which she can't do, but she was sure it would be ok if Daddy went to the other side of the pool. Of course we never let go of her, but someday we will have a little fish on our hands!