Well, That's About It For The Grandkids - Except For .... Tuzigoot

One last visit to their favorite gold mining town of Oatman, Arizona.

 

Then it's back to Texas for them.  Their daddies are freakin' out because they've been here for so long!  But who says the fun is over?!?  There's plenty to see on the way to meet Daddy!

First there's Tuzigoot.  (I am so glad someone finally told me how that name should be pronounced!  TWO-see-WHOODT - and I'm glad it was written out because I never would have gotten the last part.)  This ruin was here before the Apache or the Yavapai.  They didn't name it, but in the 1930's there was an Apache on the excavation crew who suggested Tu zighoot, which means "crooked water."  So, the archeologists Caywood and Spicer went with that - almost.  Tuzigoot (TWO-see-goot) is actually not an Apache word meaning anything.  Now you know what people mean when they say something gets lost in the translation...

Regardless of the name, the these guys did a mighty good job of construction.  They obviously intended to be here for quite some time.  This rendering shows a cut-away of what the original structure might have looked like - minus one wall.  There were no doorways, so the archeologists concluded that, once again, access was from a hole in the roof.  There was great security in that!

By the time archeologists discovered this dwelling, however, this is what they encountered.  I wonder what made them believe this was once a housing project?

Ultimately, this is what their excavations uncovered.

 And this is what we found that day.

 Are they looking into the past? or looking for Daddy??

 We are on or way to meet Daddy - but there's much more between here and there!

Grand Canyon Caverns - Spooky!

Here's one that not a lot of people have been to.  It's a wee bit spooky getting there and even spookier when you are there.  These grandkids are game for just about anything, so, here we go, down an elevator to get to the huge cavern.

Once there, we discover that it gets even spookier!











You can rent out the cavern for a night!  Sleeps 6,


You can share the space with a mummified bobcat, circa 1850, and a giant sloth from prehistoric times that fell into the caverns and never could climb back out!

This sloth is about 20 feet tall!

(The mummified bobcat is icky so I chose this photo instead.)

 

There would be no concerns about starving or dying of thirst.  This is one of the many caves around the country that are designated fallout shelters - and this one is still stocked from the 1950's.

  

Climbing the Hualapi's

Teamwork!  I LOVE TEAMWORK!

These kids take so much pride in each others accomplishments! 

It's really hard work when your legs are only
three feet long!  But teamwork conquers all!

Thank you, Mommy, for cutting my bangs so that I could see to climb that mountain!

And who do you think was takin' all of those pictures??

Headed to Vegas and Red Rock Canyon

FINALLY!  We caught her without a camera hiding her face!  Isn't she beautiful?

It takes awhile, but we finally make it.

Even monster Granma gives the rock climbing a shot!

No child left behind.

 A niche for everyone ... and everyone in their niche!

Living life on the edge.

It's a magical mysterious marvelous place.

Statuesque Redhead and Friends

 

Bright Lights and Good Food

Time's First Haircut

 It's time for a first hair cut - well, bang cut.

Here come the scissors!

 Snip, snip, snip!!  And, voila! (Cheetos and all!)

Fanning Time

Trying to recover from the heat of Death Valley, the kids whipped out their "Ticket To Ride" fans.  You see, I bought all of them hand fans and told them that whenever we went on a Granma-Granpa road trip they had to have a ticket to ride.  No tickky, no ride.  I'm told they may not know where their favorite toy is, but they do know where that Ticket To Ride is!

Heat or no heat, the vistas are astonishing!

Air conditioning, however, is a gift of the gods!

Home By Way of Death Valley

As we descend into the Valley, above the roar of five kids having a wonderful! time, I hear a different kind of roar.  It gets louder and LOUDER and LOUDER, then, wh-oo-sh!  It was an F-15 (or 16 or 18...) from one of the nearby Air Force bases!  Minutes later we were buzzed again!  It was fantastic!
But enough of that...

Remember I said being at the top of the White Mountains in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the summer time was the best time to be there?  Well, August in Death Valley, not so much.

Our little Timer is wondering what Granma and Granpa are doing ...

She wasn't the only one...

   It was oppressively hot.  So hot you couldn't breathe, hot.  But beautiful.