January 22 - 31, 2025
Tombstone, Arizona
Our summers on the road included smoke whenever we were in the west. It became it's own season and a consideration for routing. Prior to our fulltime travels, living in SoCal, fears from drought and fires were a part of our reality.
Before we got on the road I wrote a post about that reality Holding My Breath As the Wind Blows. All these years later I'm holding my breath miles away.
About the same time the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County is seeing slow containment, a new fire breaks out in the Santa Clarita area. Where most of our kids and grand kids live. Normally it is Ezra and Elliott's family we are concerned about, living on the mountain, surrounded by forests and canyons. But M and M's family live on the "edge" of the suburbs near dry hills and canyons, and Oliver's family is only a few miles away.
The Hughes Fire starts in the middle of these family locations and grows fast and far. More high winds means it can go in either direction, threaten any of them.
We're in contact throughout the day and watching the fire maps. By afternoon M and M's house is in the pre-evacuation area, with the evacuation perimeter 10 houses away. Their cars are packed, plans are made. We wait.
Before the next morning dawns the evacuations are all lifted. A fire that doubled in size in a couple hours weirdly seems to lose momentum and crews are able to get it controlled. It's sitll windy so we're beyond grateful.
Being California, the following week there are flood warnings and several feet of snow in surrounding mountains.
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| At Ezra and Elliott's house - yay moisture! |
We're excited that another of our high school pals and his wife have moved to the area. Marc and Vicky rented a house in Sierra Vista to spend a year "trying on" a new place before buying. Smart! We have them and mutual friends Donne and Anna over for dinner one evening - great fun and of course we all insist we must do it more often!
Also of course, I fail to get any photos. But it really did happen :-))
A little yard maintenance, breakfast in Bisbee with Jeff, craft group, a Rebecca trip to Tucson, NFL playoff games (go Chiefs!), and January is done. No need to comment on how fast it flew by, it was that way for all of you too.
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| Tucked in "behind" Tucson's downtown is this wonderful maze of artisan shops and eateries. |
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| One of those places you need to leave bread crumbs to find your way back to where you started - so many cute, artsy, shopping options. |
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| The restroom signs are so fun. |
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| One of over 100 murals in Tucson, I love this (hard to capture) historic depiction. |
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| On the walk to our favorite Cafe a la Carte a couple blocks away there's more wall art. |
PJ's maiden voyage is coming up for Super Bowl weekend. A long drive to and from Kingman on both sides of the event, we'll have two nights of moochdocking to live in our new traveling home. With good friends, food and fun, it should be a great "first".
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| M and M having Disney fun. |
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| Oh Henry I wish I had those glorious curls! |
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| The youngest, Cassidy, is getting so big, and so cute! |
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| Oliver shows great restraint waiting for the first bite. |
Hi Jodee…so happy to red the kiddos are safe and out of danger. That is a lot of snow at Ezra and Elliott’s house and thank goodness! We never had fires in Georgia to speak of, so our traveling days were an eye opening experience…the devastation and the smoky season. I enjoy every visit we take to Old Tucson. And you are so right about one getting lost in those little shops. I’m not a fan of creepy crawling creatures, but tarantulas are so cool, so big and so native that I also like that mural. The grands are all so cute! That last photo of Oliver made me smile and Cassidy’s pig tails are the cutest! Hoping you have a grand time in PJs first adventure and all goes well!
ReplyDeleteOur big weather eye opener in our travels was the humidity of the east and southeast - which was probably the norm for you! Easier to get out of indoors than some of that nasty smoke, but still yucky :-) Spiders with "fur" are so weird, but I like them too.
DeleteHey Jodee - Such awesome to hear that all the family is safe from the fires. Such a relief for every one. Henry should get some surfing lessons! I used to have my hair permed so I'd just get out of the water a go ... now I don't even get into the water! All your grands just keep growing and getting cuter. I'm looking forward reading of PJ in action.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the fires haven't moved to your area, and hopefully the recent moisture will lessen the threat everywhere. Henry really does have the whole SoCal surfer vibe :-)
DeleteI love that little collection of shops in Tucson and it is a maze! So glad your kiddos are safe and didn't have to evacuate. It's always good to have friends nearby as we have discovered here in Wickenburg.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we'll ever run out of fun places to discover in Tucson! You manage to grow a big social community no matter where you are - although it's extra fun to have long time friends when you get to a new place.
DeletePhew...so glad the fires spared your family, so horrific to see the devastation left behind. We lived in the east for most of our lives and fire season wasn't ever on our radar. We're "used" to it now, a sad thing. Can't wait to hear of PJ's first trip.....will you be passing through Wickenburg on your way to or from your Superbowl party?
ReplyDeleteIt's still hard to believe the loss suffered in SoCal! No sign our smokey summers are going to let up :-( I'm very excited to see how PJ works for us. I'll reach out to you about the weekend.
DeleteJodee, I'm so glad your family was safe from those tragic fires. The devastation is just shocking...I think in some ways it was worse than the hurricane damage in NC. The stress of living with the threat of wildfires every year (and the smoke season) made us leave southern Oregon. On a happier note, I'm so excited that you'll soon be taking off on your first trip in PJ! Have fun! :-))
ReplyDeleteIt got way too close to our family this year, but those entire communities completely lost are unbelievable. Ashland is so green but sure seemed to be getting much hotter and smokier every year :-( Even with the recent crazy hurricane in your area, I still think you picked a great spot.
DeleteSo glad to hear your family are all safe and at least Ezra and Elliott will have well watered land after the snow to discourage any burning. My mother and brother both had asthma and I find I have more breathing problems the older I get so smoke would not work at all for me. I could never go outside.
ReplyDeleteLove that you are gathering your friends to live around you. Good plan. Thanks for showing me Tucson art and your darling grandchildren. I'll take some of those curls too.
My mom had asthma too and living in CA never had too much trouble with it until her last years (so she moved to Tucson). Smoke is nearly unavoidable anymore, in most recent summers from Canada.
DeleteJanuary flew by for us, as well. Our daughter didn't feel the same way. For the teaching world January is a year long...haha! Tucson does have some beautiful murals. We need to get back there one day for a visit and a bike ride in town to view all the new murals. I can't wait to hear how PJ's maiden voyage goes. Best of luck in this first journey. Go, Eagles!! Your grands have the best smiles. And what I wouldn't give to have Henry's hair. I hope his parents keep it longish.
ReplyDeleteWe have a couple teachers too and they'd agree :-) Can't believe you aren't rooting for your Chiefs - must be the bad influence of that guy you live with!
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