Helen and Greg Tonetti

02/05/2024

Spending 5 weeks in lovely Berkshire in the UK, looking after 3 old kitties ...this is Rufus, he is 16, loves cuddles and expects them as payment for inspecting our work.

He is a very hard task master and always finds mistakes so we have to pay with scratches and cuddles.

12/02/2024

When we mentioned to a few people that we were visiting Yuma, the general response was “Oh Boy” and “really?”. Of course that made me more curious than ever about our upcoming trip.

It was about a 3.5 hour drive along straight roads that stretched into the horizon, with those amazing mountain views and big stretches of the trip went past beautiful ‘forests’ of huge cacti. Part of the route takes you through an Indian reservation so you have to watch out for ponies and cows on the roads.

We stopped in Ajo, one of my favorite little towns, it has an amazing central square looked over by a beautiful church. My disappointment was that the local coffee shop that has great reviews was closed as it was a sunday. We walked around the town, it's full of lovely murals, art pieces and very quaint houses. I could see myself living there.

An hour or so later we arrived in Yuma and headed to Mike and Cindy’s home. Now Mike and Cindy had only met us briefly, we must have created the right impression because they had invited us to stay - and I hate turning down an invite from lovely people - so here we were.

We only really had a day in Yuma and Mike and Cindy were amazing tour guides. We set off in the morning to see the sand dunes just across the Californian border, wow, what a special place. They go on for miles and miles, people bring their families and spend the time in the sand buggies riding over the huge dunes.

After that we visited a place called the center of the world, it's curated to walk you through various historical periods, to celebrate humanity and again is looked over by the most gorgeous little church.

The last stop on this part of the tour was a trip to the border wall. So interesting to hear about the problems the area has as a border town, and it seems there are parts of Yuma that have real problems with gang wars. Certainly not in Mike and Cindy’s lovely neighborhood.

After that we headed home, and Mike had offered to take us out in his buggy. Well that was amazing fun, like the beach buggy’s we used to ride in on the beaches in South africa.

First stop was a farm shop that sold the famous Date shakes, yummy, if you get the chance to have one it's highly recommended.

We traveled to the area where the two local rivers meet and went to see the tiniest church in the middle of an agricultural area. Speaking of agriculture - the farming being done in Yuma is very impressive.

We ended the trip with dinner at a food truck and Cindy made us Mimosa's to end our fantastic day. We really had a fantastic time in Yuma, and we loved making new friends.

We had to set off early the next day to join the team we work with in Phoenix to prepare for the upcoming conference with the FLCCC Alliance.

08/02/2024

Green Valley near Touscon is an amazing development for people over 55, there are 19 “estates” all in all, each with fantastic facilities that anyone within the communities can use, from heated pools, golf courses, art studios, classes like woodworking and language lessons … I think anything you could imagine they will have a club or a class for it.

The houses are beautiful, set in landscaped desert gardens (maintained by volunteers in the community), the development we stayed in had a wonderful hiking trail right on our doorstep, so we used that for walking Maggie (the dog we were looking after) and her doggie friend P.J.

The community was started by a teachers union about 30 years ago, they decided to buy land in the Arizona desert and build homes for teachers that retired. A wonderful idea thats grown year after year, and because people volunteer they have incredibly affordable annual fees. Greg and I agreed this was a perfect example of a community that works well for the benefit of all its residents.

We spent the week here swimming, walking and using the gym. We barbecued each evening and sat outside with the outdoor gas fire to warm us, we had a drink with some of the residents one Friday night, a potluck dinner in the hall and a goodbye pizza dinner with a few wonderful women - and Greg 😀

I saw my first family of havelina’s, they look like wild boars - but apparently are not part of the pig family. Anyway, big buggers can be aggressive, so best watched from a distance, especially if they have babies. (I have included a pic, full disclosure that's a garden statue :))

The only trips we took were to the supermarket and to a fantastic arty village - Tubac. The art galleries were amazing as were the small shops selling sculptures, food items and some clothing.

The week came to an end and we said a sad goodbye to lovely Maggie and set off for Yuma on the Californian border for two nights.

03/02/2024

We arrived in Congress just after sunset, wow the sunsets along the way were spectacular, bright orange and reds in an inky dark blue sky.
It was dark and we couldn't see much, so had to wait until the morning to see the amazing mountain views surrounding us. We were in a lovely little neighbourhood on the edge of state land with lots of birdlife. I even saw a Cyote one morning.

We did the hotshots hike in the granite mountains, the 7-mile hike is dedicated to 19 firemen who fought the Yarnell Hill Fire and died doing it. There were 19 stops up the mountain, each one dedicated to a fireman with a little bit about them - many of them were younger than my son Kyle, it made it very sad … but a beautiful tribute to these brave firefighters.

We visited the local saloon, run by a man from Peru, now a proud American, it was full of hunters and rodeo cowboys, the beer was cold and the company warm and welcoming.

We had a lovely and unexpected 5 days in this special little town.

From here we are headed to Green Valley near Tuscon Arizona.

26/01/2024

First stop on the way to Arizona was a freeway gas station with a fantastic tourist attraction called ‘The Thing’.

It costs $5.00 to get in … and is worth every single penny. It's bonkers! It's over about 8 rooms and the idea that's explored is that aliens have lived amongst us since the times of the dinosaurs.

There were good aliens and evil aliens, it then explores every huge event, from the death of the dinosaurs to all the world wars, including modern upsets, and blames it on the ongoing war between the aliens.

It highlights various stories from around the world that have claimed to have seen aliens and have some artefacts as proof.

Then asks, what if it's all true?

I think that every country needs a few ‘The Thing’s’ … interesting and fun places to explore on long journeys.

We stopped for a walk around a mining ghost town, there are a number of these around all the areas we have visited, but it is always interesting and somehow a little sad to visit a place that's just a shadow of itself and of a time gone by.

We were headed to two places in Arizona that I had read about, one was Tombstone and the other Bisbee. We hadn't booked anywhere for the night and thought it was unlikely to be fully booked at this time of year.

We were right, we saw a lovely Larabie Motel and got the most fabulous welcome with a very comfortable room that had the huuuugest bed! The best part was it was right in the middle of Tombstone, so we could explore the town.

Tombstone is like an old cowboy town, from the shopfronts to the people putting on gunfights and even some of the visitors dress up. I loved it!

We had a burger in a place recommended by our hosts and were asked if we minded sharing our table with another couple as the place was full. Always happy to meet strangers -we obliged. So glad we did, they were a couple from a place called Yuma - in Arizona- near the California border, and we had a lovely chat while eating dinner and listening to a live band singing cowboy songs.

And they invited us to stay! So that's part of the final leg of our stay - two nights in Yuma with our new friends Cindy and Mike.

The next morning we woke up to sunshine and a message from our sit in Tucson (starting that day), they had to cancel as their daughter was ill. So it was a mad hour over coffee looking for somewhere to spend the next 5 nights, we found a studio apartment in a town called Congress - it had good reviews, but beyond that, we had no idea about the area. Luckily, we love an adventure.

Before heading to Congress we visited the beautiful town of Bisbee, another arty community built on steep hills, we walked through the neighbourhood and the very charming town before getting in the car for our 4-hour trip to Congress.

23/01/2024

23/01/2024

Music from Wil and Robert :)

23/01/2024

We left Mesilla with another sandstorm sending us on our way. We were headed northwest into the Pinos Altos Mountains to a town called Silver City, 6000 feet up winding mountain roads.

We had no idea that we were set for a real and unexpected adventure.

First stop a tiny town called Hillsboro we loved the sign for the acoustic music revival…and that purple truck.

We started to climb the mountains and became aware that the snow was thicker and fresh snow was falling fast and steady. We were a little nervous when we passed a snowplough coming down the mountain and hadn't seen a car for ages. And to top it off, we hadn’t passed a petrol station and we were on a quarter tank, “not enough if we get stranded” Greg pointed out.

It got worse, we started to drive through huge snow drifts and once we got to the top, the county lines changed and the roads were covered in deep snow, we realised it was time to abandon our plan to stay in Silver City and head back down the mountain.

Thank goodness for Greg’s amazing driving and his ability to ignore my squawks of fear.

Three-quarters of the way down I saw a sign for the Black Range Lodge, Kingston so we decided to beg for a bed, or at the least if we had to sleep in the car we had facilities around us.

What a welcome we received, they were booked up with a team of geolology students - (the mountains in the area are spectacular and formed from volcanic activity) but they had been working on a small studio apartment and were happy for us to stay there.

Then Cathrine and Dave invited us to join the students for dinner in the main lodge, and Dave had his friends, Wil and Robert, who are very accomplished musicians staying - so they invited us to a live show in the lodge after dinner. They were fantastic, singing folk-type songs while playing guitar, violin and banjo.

I smiled so much my face hurt.

What a place, if you happen to be in the Pinos Altos mountains go and stay. Not only are David and Cathrine amazing hosts, but their setup is fantastic.

Cathrine speaks all over the world about building with natural materials (she has some great books published) The buildings at the lodge are a testament to her work, they even have a small hobbit house. Dave is a musician and has built a recording studio and they have a stage where they hold music concerts in summer. It's a special place with very special people.

Dave cooked us breakfast the next morning and gave us a tour, before we got back into our car and headed out of the town, past the bear skins drying on racks, towards our next state … Arizona.

17/01/2024

On the road again, this time saying goodbye to Texas, and hello to New Mexico.

We are heading for a 5-day sit in the town of Messila - a historical suburb of Las Cruces, again we follow the Rio Grande, hugging the Mexican border.

We arrived during a sandstorm, which included big winds and fine sand making distant visibility impossible, it’s like a pinky-brown haze. The days in between were crisp and clear, and the sandstorm arrived again to blow us out of town.

This is a big pecan-growing region of the country.

We stayed in a lovely adobe home, some parts dating back to 1860, looking after a sweet dog called Proud Mary and 4 very cute kitties.

The historic Mesilla town square was a 10-minute walk along the canals, they are dry at this time of the year, it's dry season, and they dam the Rio Grande River, and open it in April until September so these areas get water, must be wonderful to see.

Mesilla has a beautiful town square with a bandstand, surrounded by small shops, some art galleries and a wonderful church overlooking it all. I did browse the shops, was very disappointed it felt like loads of tourist tat. Felt it was a wasted opportunity to be the town that had independent shops with local products.

We discovered a fantastic independent brewery one night and ate at a famous Mexican restaurant in the old town, again I have to say I loved the frozen Margarita most.

We have been surrounded by hills in each area we have stayed in, and we were again treated to the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

We head up to Silver City in the mountains for a couple of nights before heading into Arizona.

15/01/2024

We arrived in Alpine West Texas, and I loved it from first sight.

It's small and its quirky, but has everything you need including a small cinema, good saloons and even a fantastic burger place that's run by a wife and husband team and only open Friday to Sunday.

We stayed in a lovely Air bnb right near the main street so we could walk everywhere.

We visited Ricky's saloon (in the pics) and I had a mescal old fashioned, now one of my favorite drinks. A band started up and we were treated to live music with cowboys chatting at the bar. Happy me!

The next day we headed to Big Bend national park. We stopped on the way in a very mad town called Terlingua, its really set up to capture the tourists that come to the town to enjoy its incrediable scenery and madness, and those exploring Big Bend.

All the towns in the area were mining towns once apon a time and you can see and feel the history.

We travelled on to big bend, its huge so decided to walk one of the Canyons ...lovely.

We have been so amazed by the size of America and the beauty of every town we have visited.

Day 2 we visited Marfa - an artistic town, amazing art deco buildings, it is known for its art installations - we could appreciate its beauty but found it lacking in soul somehow. It probably didnt help that it was Sunday :)

Loads of pics to look at if you are interested.

Wow we are so lucky to be living this life.

11/01/2024

On the road again, heading to our next sit in New Mexico, but stopping over in west Texas for two nights in a small town called Alpine so we could visit Big Bend National Park along with the towns of Marfa and Terlingua.

We set off late in the afternoon so we decided to stay overnight in Laredo, following the Rio Grande river with Mexico just over the river from all the towns on the way.

Laredo was interesting - with a huge shopping centre facing Mexico and a bridge busy with traffic flowing both ways. It has a beautiful old square where we stopped to have a beer. Not a place I would add to a travel bucket list, but we love discovering the towns where real life happens. We stayed in a roadside hotel, basic ... but had a great big bed - that's always welcome.

Stopped at a graveyard on the way ..love the way the people in the area celebrate the life lost through color and plants...we need more joy in graveyards x

One thing that we have discovered is that America is very expensive when eating out, having a drink, or buying food that's traceable. We are talking London prices, even in smaller towns.

Driving is easy (well especially for me because Greg does it all) the roads are really good and tend to be wide.

Up early the next day to head to Alpine about 6.5 hours away.

Not the best pics ...Will add video footage separately of a few of the highlights.

08/01/2024

We left San Antonio behind and headed to McAllen, 3 hours south of San Antonio, to visit a work colleague (now a great friend) her husband and her two gorgeous Greyhounds.

The trip took us past towns like 3 rivers where the lifeblood is the oil industry.

Mcallen is an interesting town, like all Texas cities built on a grid system with strip malls as far as you can see.

Day one saw us head over the border to Mexico, about 30 mins drive, then you park and walk over the border into this mad and bustling town, it's set up to sell pharma products, dentistry, beauty treatments and more. Zahra says that's why Americans have great teeth, it's very affordable and good dentistry in Mexico. We stocked up on our tablets for our FLCCC protocols and had a very yummy Mexican lunch - the refried beans, well they tasted way better than any I have ever had.

We also had supper at a Texas barbecue called Rudy's. As good as you would expect, brisket, ribs and turkey with coleslaw, eaten on paper tablecloths. Loved it!

We spent 5 days being spoiled by our friends, walked in local reserves, saw their amazing library and enjoyed being at the table with good friends.

One of my most favourite (I know not great grammar, but hey) things in life is eating good food with good friends or family, we all need to do this as often as we can.

Next trip is along the Rio Grande border to Loredo and then heading to New Mexico.

08/01/2024

My first time in America 😊and Greg's second.

Started the first housesit in the city of San Antonio in Texas. Just loved it.

We stayed in the suburb of San Pedro (own a home near the town of the same name in Spain) looking after a beautiful boy called Maverick (a husky mix).

I loved the neighbourhood ....it's close to downtown SA...but had (elusive) great little coffee shops on a few blocks near us.

I loved the houses, a mix of amazing big homes and little feelings in need of some repair, what they all had in common was a front lawn leading to a front porch ...always with two chairs ...they all seemed to be inviting you on, come sit a while and let's watch the world go by.

I think the world needs more front porches.

I loved the HUGE trucks, the lovely river walks and the very beautiful missions that surround the city. We visited the Alamo and now I need to watch a cowboy movie all about it's history.

The Japanese gardens were wonderful and the magic of visiting a suburb that does Christmas lights like I have never seen....everyone gets involved and cars line up to drive the streets. Anyone that knows me ..knows I just love a fairy light...somehow it makes everything feel magical ...

We need more fairy lights in our trees.

A great intro to Texas.

Off to McAllen next to see friends and pop over to Mexico for lunch.