Sedona, AZ – 12.17.14

Posted on April 14, 2015

Knacks

-Our kitchen is slowly becoming a greenhouse.

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-You would never guess that Dan is Jewish.

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-Our very own muppet!

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-Cathedral Rock hike.

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-Exploring downtown Cottonwood. This town loves antiques…which means we love this town.

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-One of the best impulse decisions we’ve made in awhile. So fun!

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-We’ve been painting lately!

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-Merry Christmas!

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-Snow on Christmas?! In Arizona?! We’ll take it.

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-Explored Red Rock Crossing on Christmas Day.

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-Holiday presents from mama!

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-Dan photographed “Bear”, our new friends’ Wolf/Husky Hybrid. He’s so handsome!

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-Devil’s Bridge hike with Marisol and Lissette.

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-Three musketeers ready to kick some butt.

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Where do we start? Our photos from Sedona don’t even compare to what this place looks like in real life. We stayed in Cottonwood, just a ten minute drive from downtown Sedona. Our first afternoon there we decided to do a little drive into town to see what it was all about. First thing we see? A huge double rainbow curving over jumbo red rocks lining the highway. We immediately knew we were gonna like this place. We spent our time decorating the Toaster for Christmas, eating crazy vegan pizza down the street, exploring old downtown Cottonwood in all of it’s antique glory, hiking huge rock formations, fawning over Native American stores and trading posts, and actually enjoying our first taste of cold weather since we left in August.

There was snow in Sedona! We couldn’t believe it! We took Willow to the dog park on Christmas morning and had to bundle up because there was actually snow! And much to our surprise, it stuck to the ground. We actually enjoyed the surprising weather here. It snowed mostly at night and around 1pm, it was sunny and sweater weather. The snow stuck to the tops of the mountains making everywhere we went perfectly picturesque.

We rented 4×4 off-road buggies one weekend and headed out to the back trails of Sedona. Our butts were sore as heck after spending five hours driving a vintage TomCar over rocks and hills, but we can’t remember the last time we smiled so much or screamed from pure excitement. We were ten again.

We convinced our friends Marisol and Lissette to take a three hour road trip to come see us for a day. Toni went on a terribly dangerous five mile hike with them that was covered in snow and ice. Willow ran and dove into every pile of snow she could find. It’s the little things, for dogs. Then we all went to Jerome, an old copper mining town that has been converted for current residents, stores, and restaurants. We ate dinner at the Haunted Hamburger and then headed back to the Toaster for wine and games. Cards Against Humanity never fails. One glass led to another and next thing we knew Dan was driving everyone to go bowling at the local casino. We bowled our little hearts out, stopped at Sonic on the way home for slushes and snacks, and then crashed into our beds for a long night’s sleep. We love having friends sleep at the Toaster, they get a real feel for the lifestyle.

We stayed in Sedona longer than we have stayed anywhere else so far. Three weeks. Partly because Dan was getting myofascial treatments done on his back and partly because we couldn’t get enough of the good energy. If you haven’t been to this town, it’s time.

-D&T

Chandler, AZ – 12.13.14

Posted on April 14, 2015

Welcome to Arizona

Marisol Burger

In-n-Out

Karaoke

Toni and Marisol

Car Selfie

 

We had been itching for Chandler for a long time. Not for the busy, commercialized suburb that it is, but for the people inside of it. My (Toni’s) best friend Marisol moved to Chandler, just fifteen minutes from Phoenix, at the beginning of high school. We were the inseparable duo. Not only was I losing my best friend to the other side of the country, but Marisol had to start all over in a completely new state, in HIGH SCHOOL. Eek. Since that day she moved, we have never faltered in our best friendship. We see each other once a year and talk almost every day. She still knows more about my life than anyone else and she’s been 2,612 miles away for over four years. We weren’t planning on reaching Chandler when we did, but after a quicker trip to the White Sands than anticipated, it just felt right. I called Marisol and told her we were en route and coming to her house that night in hopes that she would be free. We were like little kids again, getting ready to go see our favorite band or something. Her parents, some of the kindest humans I know, offered us the space in front of their house to park the Toaster. It was ideal. We plugged into their house, and got the best campsite we could have gotten!

We spent five days eating authentic Mexican meals with Marisol’s family, exploring Tempe, where Marisol goes to school, forcing Willow and Lola (the family Beagle) to be friends, and just being overjoyed to be spending real time together. Marisol helped me Chrismukkah shop for Dan which was great and oh I can’t forget karaoke night. Our friend Lissette booked out a room at a karaoke spot for her birthday. We all sung our hearts out to 90s ballads and shook our hips to Shakira. Dan killed it on the maraca. I think we would all agree that he was the heart and soul to each song. It felt good to be surrounded by friends again. Doing nothing but smiling and laughing.

I will admit it, with Christmas crawling up on us and flights home to Boston being so expensive, I was starting to feel sluggish. I had never spent a holiday without my family. But as soon as we pulled up to Marisol’s house, I felt my heart start to swell. The overabundance of Christmas decorations everywhere and the hugs from her mum, dad, and brother made me feel like I was at home again, just with my second family this time around. Chandler was just what we needed. Thanks for the campsite, Marisol!

-Toni

White Sands, NM – 12.12.14

Posted on March 13, 2015

White Sands Airstream Willow White Sands Toni White Sands Willow White Sands Airstream White Sands Dan White Sands Toni Toni Feet White Sands Airstream

 

The White Sands National Monument had been on our list of places to go since the day we decided we were doing this trip. We were not disappointed in the least! The White Sands look like another planet. As soon as we started climbing the sand dunes, we felt like we were on the moon. Willow loved it too. She ran up and down the dunes for an hour, non stop. She slid down them, dove into the them, and ate at least a pound of sand. She pooped out nothing but sand for the next day and a half. Not kidding, just sand.

-D&T