Can I color my hair pink? Can I color mine purple? M and Liv asked, respectively. My answer had always been no, but I booked them an appointment when I was in my first golf tournament committee meeting. It was for their birthday, after all. Friday, we dropped them off with an old neighbor who said she would take them every second Friday while we ran the front gate at the VANC Food Distribution. We showed up to pick them up with food leftover from our food distribution and handed it out to some of our old neighbors from the driveway of our old home.
We had a condo booked on the beach on Galveston Island to visit a friend I’ve never met. We met in a Facebook group 10-ish years ago, and are part of a small group of us who built a deeper friendship. We headed out on Wednesday, February 17, 2021. If you lived in Texas then, you probably remember that date. It was the day the Winter Storm of 2021 ended, and the hard work began. We are not TV watchers or news listeners and had no idea there was some big storm in Texas when we headed out. I had booked Hotel McCoy in Tucson, AZ, for a night. Lundeen Inn of the Arts in Las Cruces, NM, for a night. A room in Fort Stockton, TX, and the condo on Galveston Island, TX. When we discovered the storm, we extended our stay at Hotel McCoy by a night, then added an additional night at Lundeen Inn of the Arts.
First stop, The Center of the World in Felicity, CA. This is one of those unique roadside attractions one should not miss if they have the time. Liv hates it and thinks it was the most enormous waste of time. The other three of us appreciate it for what it is and had a good time wandering around the grounds. There weren’t many signs indicating where to go, so we weren’t quite sure what the deal was when we first got there and started wandering around the ginormous slabs of granite. This was the Museum of History in Granite that I didn’t even realize was there. Bonus for us. The granite museum is made of ginormous slabs of granite with a different piece of history engraved on them. There is artwork, facts, and stories. The history part is cool, but so was the fact they etched the past into the granite. Sitting atop a hill looking down over the Museum of History in Granite was an adorable one-room church.
We also found The Maze of Honor, which was not completed at the time. We haven’t been back, so I’m not sure of the status now. Near The Maze of Honor, we figured out tickets to see the Center of the World were sold in the gift shop. The tickets were $8 per person, and a tour guide would take us into the pyramid that houses the Center of the World. First, we watched a video giving us the history, then the tour guide took us into the pyramid. Our guide took a gazillion pictures of us, and we had a great conversation. After a fun visit, we headed for Hotel McCoy and Tucson, AZ.
Hotel McCoy checked all of our boxes. It is artsy; they support local and seem to have a chill vibe. When we showed up, it was much better than I even imagined. There is art EVERYWHERE. Hanging on the walls in the lobby, painted on the walls outside, hanging in each room. The vibe is definitely chill; the bar is stocked with local beer and wine. Breakfast was an oatmeal bar or frozen burritos. They delivered breakfast to your door because of COVID, not sure if that is still the case. Our room had a framed Chutes and Ladders game board above the desk and a chalkboard painted on the back of the door. The girls loved that feature and immediately set to work on their own art. The room also had a bunk bed, so we didn’t have to listen to them complain about sharing a bed. The best part for us. The following day, we booked the same room for another night and set off for Saguaro National Park (West).
Saguaro National Park is a cactus forest. We have never seen anything like it. We’d never thought of the animals that use a cactus as a home, or food. A cactus seems like the most uninviting plant. Do you know how long it takes a saguaro to grow? It can take up to 10 years for one to grow ONE INCH. By 70 years old they can be over 6 feet tall and flower for the first time. Protect the saguaros. Those things are like Joshua trees and don’t grow fast.
Friday, February 19, 2021, found us celebrating the girls’ thirteenth birthday with donuts the size of their heads and a dip in the saltwater pool at Hotel McCoy. After rinsing from our swim, we headed off toward Las Cruces, NM, with a side trip to the other part of Saguaro National park (East). We arrived in Las Cruces, NM, and checked into Lundeen Inn of the Arts. A charming bed and breakfast run by a mother and her daughter. The daughter checked us in, then the mother called us in our room shortly after we’d arrived to welcome us. She recommended La Posta De Mesilla for dinner, and away we went. The girls are still a little miffed that I chose where to have their birthday dinner since the tradition has always been you get to choose dinner on your birthday. They still sometimes complain about it. The food was delicious, though, so they can complain all they want. They have birds in the lobby, too. How can you hate that?
Saturday morning, we traipsed downstairs and joined another couple for breakfast served by the daughter. The mother joined us and filled our heads with stories and information. When we talked about checking out White Sands National Park, she mentioned they had sleds we could borrow, and she would leave them out for us. The other couple at the table had their interest piqued and wanted sleds too. There were enough for everyone. She also mentioned the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site not too far from White Sands, so we added that to our list. Also on our list, the World’s Largest Pistachio. We had to see that. And it just happened to be on the way to Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.
Sledding at White Sands was so much better than snow sledding! I am not a cold-weather girl, and I never enjoyed sledding. I enjoyed sledding. It was chilly, but I wasn’t getting wet to add to the chill, and I didn’t have to bundle up, barely able to move. Once the girls had their fill of sledding, we ventured off to the World’s Largest Pistachio and Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.
The World’s Largest Pistachio resides in Alamogordo, NM, at McGinn’s Pistachioland. We were taking a selfie because we always do, when a guy standing nearby asked if we would like him to take our picture. We agreed, and as soon as I handed over my phone, his buddy told him to run. Luckily, he didn’t listen to his friend and took a lovely picture of us. As he handed my phone back, Liv thanked him for not running off with my phone. He chuckled as he walked away.
With over 21,000 petroglyphs, this site is fantastic. We didn’t see all of them, but we were pleased with the ones we did see. The things they left behind, the hints at their past and culture. This is a self-guided hike with a book you may pick up at the trailhead with facts and locations.
We made it back to Las Cruces, NM, in time for dinner. Liv got to choose, so we ended up at Olive Garden. We enjoyed our dinner with a birthday song and dessert before ending our day reading in bed. Galveston was not going to happen. Texas was just getting water and electricity back. We didn’t feel right going down and taking what they needed, so we pivoted, canceled our condo on the beach, and booked a condo in Grand Lake, CO.
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