Making Memories in Mesa

Happy February everyone! We can’t believe it has been four months since we left Richmond! Time flies when you’re traveling around the country in a short bus! We are sorry for the delay in updates, we’ve stayed pretty busy over the past two weeks, between work and play! The weekend of the 21^st, Daniels dad flew in from a business trip in California to hang out with us here in Arizona! This past weekend we celebrated Daniel’s 25^th birthday with our friends here in Mesa. All of the days in between have mostly been filled with side work (yay!). We are heading to California this weekend so if we have as much fun as we’ve been having here, it should be a fantastic experience.

We were so excited to see Daniel’s dad, Steve, when he visited; it seemed like forever since we last saw him in Baton Rouge. He was interested in going to see the famous rock formations in Sedona, about halfway between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, so we spent all day Saturday doing just that. It was a bit drizzly, but that didn’t stop us from meandering up Bell Rock, a place known for its mystical “vortex” (Darn, I forgot to wear my crystals!). Daniel climbed up even further than Steve and I, just to show off. A park volunteer had told us that just that morning, a person had climbed to the very top but couldn’t get back down and had to be rescued by helicopter. I think Daniel was trying to out-do that fellow. Luckily, he made it back down perfectly safe. Next, we drove further into the rock formations on the hunt for Snoopy Rock. It is supposed to look like Snoopy lying down his doghouse. Unfortunately for us, we found two different formations that matched that description. We weren’t really sure which one was the real Snoopy, but we felt satisfied in knowing that we could at least claim to having seen it… even if we weren’t sure which one it was! We also walked down a trail that led us to a giant sink hole. We would have never known it was there until we saw a little trail sign pointing to it! It's amazing the things you will discover when wandering through Arizona. Aside from the awesome rock formations, Sedona is home to some fantastic art galleries and mystical stores. We explored one very large gallery that had everything from a $500,000 dollar eagle statue to pretty turquoise jewelry. Daniel and I didn’t end up acquiring any masterpieces, although I was quite enamored by that eagle…

We spent the last day of Steve’s visit just spending time with him at Daniel’s step-uncle’s house. It was a nice, relaxing day to finish off his visit. We are so happy that he stopped by!

Walking up to the Bell Rock formation.

Daniel and his dad in front of Bell Rock.

Angie overlooking the giant sinkhole.

Angie looking out over the rock formations.

Snoopy Rock! ... we think!

The following week was mainly filled with work. Between housework for our host, commissioned paintings, and a writing contest that I entered, we didn’t have much spare time. We definitely aren’t complaining though, we will take as much side work as we can get in order to keep this trip going! Luckily, Daniel’s step-uncle came to the rescue and added something more interesting to the week. He works for a company, Stara Technologies, that has a branch of solar research. Essentially, they win contracts from entities like the military that are looking for more efficient ways to produce power. The military, for example, uses a lot of expensive fuel to power generators that, in turn, run things like showers. Stara said, “hey, we can make you a shower that runs off of solar panels” and the military was super interested. Who wouldn’t be when solar can save you millions of dollars? We got to check out some of Stara’s solar research, including the shower, and were really impressed. They also have a power station that we got to see. It’s basically an office inside of a trailer unit that runs completely off of solar power. The really cool thing about it was that they were tracking how much power was coming in at any moment. We have seen a lot of solar products so far on our journey, in the form of solar panels on houses or solar charging stations for your gadgets, but we have never seen a place where solar technology is actually developed. It was a really cool experience.

Solar Power Shower.

Solar Station.

Last Friday was Daniel’s birthday and we turned the whole weekend into a celebration! He spent the day painting Captain Planet on the bus and then we hung out with our new Mesa friends that evening and went to play pool. We also had a cookout that weekend and had some target practice with paintball guns (you can call me Angie Oakley because, yes, I am that good). It was an incredibly entertaining weekend and I hope that Daniel’s 25^th birthday was one that he will always remember.

Captain Planet, the newest addition to the bus mural.

This week has been filled with even more work so far. Daniel painted a logo on the side of a really long trailer for a glass company and refinished another that they already had but was fading. Luckily, it seems that our work is over as far as Mesa is concerned and we can enjoy our last few days here enjoying the gorgeous weather. This weekend it is on to San Diego, CA so wish us luck crossing over the mountains!

Daniel working on a logo for The Glass Shop with Big Easy parked out front.

Mesa, AZ sunset.