2,476 Miles Later… The Great Arizona Adventure

Steve and I returned last Sunday from a 12-day trip which included four full days and two traveling days of time to go out to the Baldwin (Steve’s mother’s side) family reunion in Taylor, Arizona. My mother-in-law made it clear that it was important to her that all of her children’s families make it out to this event… so, off we went.

Anyone who has spent anytime around me in the past few months has heard me whine about this trip. Spending nearly a week (including traveling to and from) in Arizona in July was not high on my list of desired vacations. And, yes, Taylor was not nearly as hot as it was in Phoenix… but you only have to get into the 80’s to be less pleasant than Santa Cruz.

In retrospect, I have to admit that I’m glad I went, if only because it’s interesting to see where people in your life (even in-laws ;-) come from. Steve, being more social than myself, certainly enjoyed spending time with his cousins. I have to be frank that I seriously doubt that I will allow myself to be talked into going again, but it was certainly a valuable experience to have… once.

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On our way…

Around dinner time on June 30th, Steve and I packed up all six of the bunnies in my Pontiac and drove down to my parents’ house in Lakewood. My parents had graciously agreed to watch the bunnies while we were in Arizona and we wanted to break up our formidable drive from Santa Cruz. But, before we got on our way, my parents were sure to put Steve to work. This time, he was pulling out their old spa deck to make way for brand new Trex decking.



Thanks to Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (a show on the Food Network), Steve had all kinds of interesting ideas of where to stop and eat on the way to Arizona. We ended up stopping in Victorville, CA at Emma Jean’s Holland Burger Café. It was truly a dive. I don’t think the place was large enough for us to take a picture of the interior, so we took one out by their sign.



I have to say, though, the food was fantastic. I had a Hot Patty Melt, which turned out to essentially be grilled cheese with a burger patty, sauce and green chilies inside. It was amazing. We will definitely be going back if we pass through again.


Day 1



Day 1 in Taylor, Arizona began at 5 am. We hustled to get ready for one of the main events of this entire excursion: the Fourth of July Parade and Anvil Blowout (my name, not theirs).

It turns out that the parade actually began earlier than we had anticipated, so the Loveridge caravan (every one of Steve’s five sibling and their families were all in attendance) moved to intercept the parade at the local stake center (a Mormon church building, for the unfamiliar). The “parade” actually consisted of some fire trucks, a truck pulling a trailer covered with the local band, a truck that carried the anvil accoutrements and then everybody else in the town in their trucks and SUV’s.





Now, the aforementioned anvil blowout is certainly a unique tradition. Personally, I grew up afraid of balloons and fireworks because I hated loud noises, so it was not my favorite event in the world… but it was interesting.

They take an anvil and place it in the middle of the street. They then place newspaper and a container of black powder on top of the anvil. They then place a second anvil upside-down upon the first.



(Yes, his shirt says “got anvil?”)

Then they light the paper.



And, with a massive (and kind of painful) shock wave, the second anvil explodes into the air. I heard that it’s good luck if it crashed back down upon the first anvil, but I really wasn’t paying attention. After one explosion, I’d had enough.



I apologize that the picture is out of focus but, understandably, the shock wave kept Steve from holding the camera steady.

Once the parade was ready to move on from the stake center, some of the Loveridges hopped up on to a trailer towed by a cousin and rode to the end of the route.



After the completion of the parade, we were hosted by an aunt and uncle of Steve’s at their home in Taylor. We later had lunch at the rodeo grounds and visited the local cemetery. We then took the opportunity to relax that afternoon before heading over to the rodeo grounds that evening.

Not shockingly to anyone who knows me, rodeos are not my cup of tea. But the family was going, so off we went.

As it seemed to be very popular, they blew up the anvil a few more times.



We took a lot of pictures of the rodeo, but this is my favorite. Our camera was really not up to the task of the fast pace of the rodeo, but I think this one looked neat.



After a very impressive fireworks display, we settled into our hotel after an extremely long day.

Day 2



After family pictures in the morning (since this was the first time in quite awhile that the entire Loveridge family was together in one place… we’re in the upper right), Steve and I ventured from Taylor into the nearby area of Pinetop in search of souvenirs for me. We ended up with some coasters made to look like tiny rugs and a moccasin keychain (I have a keychain collection). They are pictured below with a rock that I picked up later in the trip from the campground.


We also picked up a piece of sandstone art that we really loved. It’s tiny (only about three inches across) but I just fell in love with it.



We then had a fantastic lunch at a local diner. I had the most amazing reuben… yum…

Anyway, later in the day, we were hosted by another uncle and aunt of Steve’s for an afternoon potluck. Afterward, we went to one of the local church buildings and saw a presentation from another uncle and aunt about their mission work in Asia (clean water projects, health care services, etc.).

Day 3 (morning & afternoon)

Since the campground (yes, we had to leave our lovely hotel to go and sleep on the ground without running water in the woods) wasn’t going to be ready until 2 pm, Steve and I decided to go to the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest. This was a highlight of the trip for me.



It was a bit windy.









Lots of petrified wood littered around. It’s a very strange landscape.



(thank you, Jessica, for taking the above picture – I love it!)









As fun as it was, I had finally had enough of the Petrified Forest (or, more accurately, the Arizona heat).

Although, I managed to have enough energy to visit the gift shop and pick up at petrified wood bookend.





Day 3 (evening) & Day 4

We had arrived at the campsite in the afternoon on day 3. Here’s a little taste of the surroundings:





Steve’s mother Carolyn has five brothers, four of which attended (with at least some of their families) the campout. They must have served at least 80 people at each meal. It was a mind-boggling amount of people for me to handle, and I admit that I did not always deal gracefully… but I did my best.

There was the usual campfires, singing, skits, crafts and even some expert kite flying by Steve. But the first night we were there, I observed an interesting phenomenon.

On day 3, after visiting the petrified forest, Steve and I had joined some of his siblings, nieces and nephews for a late Chinese food lunch (which was really quite good for being in the middle of the Arizona desert). We took our leftovers with us to camp, which was fortunate since they served dinner only about two hours after we had finished lunch. Not able to eat at the time, I brought out my Chinese leftovers at about 10 pm that night. At first, I was alone. But not for long.

The cold leftovers proved too tantalizing for some of Steve’s cousins to take. Somehow, they sensed their presence and made their way to the picnic area. Soon, a crowd had gathered around me and my cashew chicken. Noticing the ogling, Steve offered up his leftovers as did Steve’s brother Lee. And, presto, we had a midnight picnic. Containers were passed around, stories were told and quite a bit of teasing occurred. It was the most enjoyable interaction I had had with Steve’s extended family.

Day 5

On the road again… we had another diner experience in Flagstaff, AZ (which was also wonderful) and finally got back to my parents’ house in time for a late dinner.

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We spent some more time with my family and some of our friends in Southern California before finally returning home to Santa Cruz on July 12th. It was an absolutely exhausting trip, and I have to say I’m glad it’s over. But I’m also ultimately glad I went.