#15 Ten Days to Phoenix

So…we had ten days to get to Phoenix to make it for our appointment at the immigration office! There was so much we wanted to see along the way and we treated ourselves to a little detour or two!

Making our way through Northern California where everything seemed to be on fire, our first stop was Redding which itself was covered in a thick layer of smoke, and was smoking hot! We’re talking temperature here! 40’C!

We were visiting Matt and Jenni, friends we had met back in Idaho when celebrating the 4th of July. They themselves are firefighters and were able to educate us on many years of Californian fires and on their role as smoke jumper and pilots! In fact a few years back, Matt had to save his own house from burning down! These stories amongst the blazing orange skies certainly bought home the reality of those dangers!

We spent one night here sharing a delicious bbq together and checking out the spectacular sundial bridge the next morning. It was nice to share a spontaneous visit with these great friends and Zoe was in her element playing with the children! Thank you guys for your wonderful hospitality!

Our next detour led us through Lassen Volcanic National Park; we call it the ‘Yellowstone of California’ (minus the crowds of course). OK, it may not fully compare to Wyoming’s great park, but nevertheless we got to see lots of volcanic activity. We were greeted by hot bubbling cauldrons, steam coming out of the earth, and dormant volcanoes, left, right and centre. Although, for a moment, we did think one of them was waking up…but it turned out to be a forest fire in the distance, pretty wild.

We spent a night at Lake Tahoe, a beautiful location where visitors flock both in Winter and in summer, skiing the slopes and boating the waters. For such a busy touristy town we were surprised to discover that all campgrounds were closing down due to potential wildfire hazards. We were in luck and managed to grab a spot by the lake a day before they had told everyone to leave.

California shares Lake Tahoe with Nevada and we drove a few miles in the gambling state before re-entering California again. A first of many zig-zags for us through the two states.

Off to our next detour, the ghost town of Bodie. This was on Richie’s bucket list. Something he had wanted to do for years. Abigail, however, wasn’t in the mood, stating: “What, another ghost town?” We were in a hurry to make our appointment after all. But it ended up being the very best ghost town we had ever seen, and extremely worthwhile! California had turned this town into a state park in order to preserve what was left of the mining days back in the late 1800s and we were certainly transported back to that era. It looked as if the residents had all upped and left at the same time, with the school’s globe, for example, left on the floor to disintegrate and broken milk bottles shattered in the window displays of the grocery store. In 1880 about 10,000 people lived here and it was reported that there were 65 saloons at one time. It must have been quite a hip and happening place. We spent hours peeking through windows and walking along the dusty roads. We really did enjoy ourselves!

That same day we spent the afternoon at Mono Lake; an ancient saline lake unique for its dried up hotsprings, otherwise known as Tufa Towers, and home for a lot of bird species and even shrimps! And if that wasn’t enough for one day, we kept on driving…back into Nevada, and into the night.

Our last stop on our Phoenix trail was Vegas! We couldn’t pass through without a picture at the welcome sign and of course a burger at In-and-Out.

Believe it or not, we were ahead of schedule and made it to Phoenix in eight days, despite stopping at every roadside attraction over the last 1300 miles. We are professional tourists after all!

It was nice to be back after 11 months on the road and see our good friends, Roland and Denise. We made it to our appointment, gave our fingerprints and signatures and were told that we would hear back in due time. With our visa running out on 3rd October (2 weeks later), it was of no suprise that we were getting a little anxious, especially when we hadn’t heard a single peep. Good old google put our minds at ease, however, and we had found out that this decision could take up to 18 months! Go figure! As we’ve only asked for an extension of six months, we’re not too sure we’ll ever hear back from them! So, with that pressure lifted, we relaxed, chilling by the pool, visiting friends in the area and catching up on truck and camper maintenance.

Thank you Roland and Denise for your support and patience during this time and once again for your great friendship. We wouldn’t be here without you!

It was time to make new plans and explore new places, making the most of every day in this beautiful country. Sedona was punched into our navigation system and a trip to Santa Fe, with Roland and Denise was on the cards. We were looking forward to hosting them at our home for a change, but more of that story in our next blog.

Thanks for reading, we’ll meat you around the world!