Sunshine Returns

We've spent plenty of time in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area in the past 6 years...the headquarters for Cold Stone Creamery is there, and Sara and her family work with CSC. But we always love to go there regardless! The weather is GORGEOUS most every day, and there is plenty to do.

This time around, we were going to spend time with our extended family and also new friends that we had met in Portland...Jessamyn and her sweet family.

First, we had to find a place to camp. And in Phoenix, being that it's a retirement community, 90% of the parks are 55 and older parks. If you do find a camp that will take families, a lot of time they aren't the kind of places we want to hang out at if you know what I mean. There were also several horse, dog, and who knows what kind of shows in town...and most of the RV parks were full. We finally found a park, The Deserts Edge RV Village, and it turned out to be a fantastic place!

We were able to snag a sweet spot directly connected to the playground, so it became our own little "super site". And bonus...there was even an orange and a grapefruit trees AT our campsite! How fun is that? Bella was going nuts climbing the trees and picking them. There were several other families living in the park, including a family from Canada who were traveling for a year. The pool and hot tub were AWESOME and the laundry facilities were great too. And best of all, the owners ROCKED. Great customer service, friendly, and efficient.

Matt's extended family came to visit us on a nice sunny afternoon and we had a great time chatting about life, kiddos, and our family reunion coming up this summer. Woo! This is the parents and sister of Jessica, who we visited in Sandpoint, Idaho.

We also spent quite a bit of time with Jessmyn, Josh, Asher, and Journey. The kids played and played, the girls talked, and the daddies enjoyed hanging out too.


We shared a yummy meal with them...homemade salsa, and the best fajitas ever.

On another day, Jessamyn came up with the kids to swim at the park and see the RV.

Jessamyn is a fellow photographer...it's always fun to connect with someone who gets my obsession!

Jessamyn has become a dear friend to me in such a short time. Another blog friend turned "real life" friend :) We corresponded back in 2008 via email, and to meet her now...it's all just so much fun. This is one of the many reasons why we love traveling. The people we meet are forever etched into our hearts.

Photos from Phoenix here.
Photos are available for comment on Flickr.