Forcing Our Kids to Listen to 70s Rock and Halloween With the Blacks

Surprise! We headed back to Arizona to meet our besties, the Blacks, again. On our way, we stopped in Flagstaff and had fun exploring this pretty city and the surrounding areas. This was the first time the government shutdown really impacted us. We had planned to visit Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, and Walnut Canyon, but all of these parks were completely closed, so we had to pivot. Instead, we did all of our favorite city things…basically sushi and movies. I’m still pretty bummed about not getting to see the cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. 

From there, we made the drive to Winslow, Arizona, where we stood on a corner. It was such a fine sight to see. During the drive, we forced the kids to listen to the Eagles and every song I could find about Route 66. In addition to standing on the corner, we grabbed lunch and headed over to the quiet, peaceful, beautiful Homolovi State Park. We really enjoyed wandering the trails and discovering archaeological sites of the Hopi people (but did get kinda creeped out by the quicksand warning signs!).

On our way home we stopped at Meteor Crater which Grier has been learning about so she especially found this to be a cool stop! It’s the best preserved meteor crater in the world and has a preserved mind shaft in the bottom which was interesting because for many years, scientists searched for the meteorite. They never found it because it exploded on impact. 

Eventually we made our way to Ehrenberg, AZ (we pronounce it with some pizzaz on the “eh”). Oh, never heard of it? That’s because it’s in the literal middle of nowhere! No joke, closest point of interest is probably Joshua Tree National Park, which was two hours away. Why did we choose this place for our friends to fly across the country to meet us? We do not know. Luckily they still love us. And do not despair for us, we still managed to soak up every hilarious minute with our sweetest, most tolerant, most up-for-anything besties. 

There was one redeeming factor: our specific campsite (not the whole campground, to be clear) sat right on the Colorado River, and it was actually beautiful. Okay, maybe two redeeming factors: there was also a big ol’ pool and a hot tub, which is really all these kids need for a good time. 

We had lots of celebrating to do: belated birthday gifts for Camille, Sayer’s actual birthday, and Halloween. We were hoping for some big Halloween-themed activities at the campground (they promised us a “whole week of fun plans”), but when we arrived, they informed us that they actually had…nothing planned. So instead, we carved pumpkins and did the next best thing, really, the only Halloween activities in all of Ehrenberg and nearby Blythe, CA. 

We went to the local elementary school’s trunk-or-treat and the Blythe Speedway trunk-or-treat. And friends, it was sweet. Really, really sweet. No one cared that we were obviously not local; they welcomed us right in. And at the speedway, the kids got to trunk-or-treat right off the backs of the racecars. Pretty cool! 

After trunk-or-treating from actual racecars, we stayed for the race, and it was surprisingly fun! I had never been to a racetrack before, and once I stopped worrying someone was going to crash, I actually started to see the appeal. This one especially felt like a community event. An older couple sitting nearby told us that one of the drivers was only 14 and it was his first race. Sweet baby. He kind of chugged along, but everyone there was clearly rooting for him. 

On actual Halloween, we made the two-hour trek to Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree. We ate the best Mexican food ever and spent the day hiking the Hidden Valley Trail and scrambling around Skull Rock, which felt perfectly festive. 

We also took full advantage of our sweet riverbank campground spot with hammock hangs, campfires, rock hunting, and my personal favorite, Janet and I even paddled two hours up river (and rode 5 minutes back down). There was a lot of laughing and paddling and some progress up the river. We’re so grateful to have such amazing friends and, once again, loved every minute together. Hopefully they’ll give us another chance for a meetup…but maybe this time they have to pick the spot!