Merry Christmas Back 2 Basics families! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday. In case you all are curious we had an amazing adventure for our extended Christmas weekend! We woke up, ate breakfast burritos, packed up the van and trailer and set off for the holiday. We drove through Phoenix and Tucson to our first hike, Picacho Peak. It was a short steep hike to an amazing view of the flatlands below. In a little under 2 miles we gained 1,400’ of elevation! It was challenging for sure but as usual the B2B tribe crushed! The air was clear and you could see for miles all around. After some time at the top we headed down to the Picacho Peak Campground. We set up camp and started to eat when we spotted an odd object flying through the night sky. A military base out of California launched a two stage rocket. We all commented at how unique this was to see over Tucson.
We woke after a long nights sleep to pack and head out to yet another amazing place. We stopped at an in town A.A. meeting and everyone was happy to have us. After some shares we headed to Kartchner Caverns. The cavern is one of the best preserved caves in the United States. We walked through the caves looking at some of the most unique untouched formations earth has to offer. After our tour we headed to Cochise Stronghold campground where we settled into our new home for the next few nights. At Cochise we discovered that we had a neighbor. A curious skunk that was clearly habituated to people, hung out around our camp at night waiting patiently food scraps. Fortunately it caused no harm but definitely caused some fear at first, the little skunk bounced around our camp practically ignoring us in search of scraps. It was a treat to observe!
The next day we hiked at Chiricahua National Monument covering 11 miles over the course of the day.We enjoyed the unique rock spires all around us! These rock formations were formed from volcanic activity that had happened in the area. During the night we enjoyed each other’s company and heard a fellow residents story for the first time. It is a good opportunity to listen to others experiences so we can learn from one another. This Christmas Eve we had the opportunity to to participate in a White Elephant gift exchange.This gift exchange gives people the chance to steal each others gifts. This made for quite an entertaining evening around the fire! Everyone had their PMA’s (positive mental attitudes) in tact with plenty of laugh and joking going around. It’s amazing how close our community is and we could truly feel it on Christmas Eve! Christmas was yet to come so we let the fire burn out and proceeded to bed one by one under the night sky.
Finally it was Christmas morning and we woke to find stockings filled with gifts from loved ones. After opening letter and gifts we packed the vans and hiked in Cochise Stronghold. It was an easy hike compared to the two days prior with only 6 miles to cover and a little over 1,000 ft of elevation to gain. The area is covered with large granite boulders and spires. It was a beautiful hike with temps reaching 75 degrees!
After we finished our hike we drove to Bisbee A.Z. where we camped at The Shady Dell. The Shady Dell is a 50’s themed campground filled with campers and airstreams decorated for that era. There were two of us per airstream and we were set up in style for Christmas night. We had a laid back evening and started cooking Enchiladas for our Christmas dinner! It was great to kick back a little, enjoy each others company, play cards, and listen to fifties records. We had a lot of Christmas treats to eat and drink- eggnog, hot, cocoa, smores and chocolate in everyone’s hands sounded pretty good and was as better than we thought. Everyone had the opportunity to make calls home which was a pleasant surprise and unexpected bonus Christmas gift!
That night after eating we had another resident share his story for A.A., it was his last trip(unless he becomes the next B2B outdoor intern:)! Woo hoo! This was followed up with an old fifties movie in the airstream. (Creatures from the Black Lagoon). We all slept incredibly well that night in the comfort of our airstreams. The Shady Dell is one of a kind and it’s a shame we had to leave so soon. We packed and headed back home.
On our way back we passed part of the rocket we saw the first night lying on the side of the freeway. It looked somewhat like a re entry capsule from a space shuttle. We drove on past to end our trip with some good old In and Out burger, with bellies full and everyone in great moods we arrived back at home base. Another successful B2B outdoor adventure and a rippin’ Christmas celebration! One thing is certain though, we miss our families and love you all!
