XUE means “snow” in Mandarin. It is also my name & my daughter's middle name.
A collection of art, craft, jewelry, patchwork, sewing, quilting, all inspired by daily exposure to Western & Asian cultures since ours is a mixed Chinese & European family. Read about our life amidst craft in this latest land we are living in, after 20 years of moving around the world. I write about making pretty things we love & about my crafty kids - whom we love. And my husband too, since he designed my website! He started it & my Etsy shop because getting started & all this technical stuff drove me nuts!
And back to more belated, belated blogging on our summer adventure in an RV...
In Zion National Park, there were supposed to be tarantulas, the largest spiders in the southwest! We were assured that tarantulas are really docile & interesting creatures. They are nocturnal & stay mostly in underground burrows, Sightings are apparently common on park roads in late summer, when the males are out cruising for females.
If you do see a tarantula during your park visit in Zion, consider yourself lucky! .....we are quite content to be unlucky this time! These was what we saw instead :
These first 2 pics (top) shows our RV "Minnie". We didn't name her but this was clearly stated on her side. Also very appropriate once we saw how many other larger RVs there are out there! Our first overnight stop was at Zion River Resort, one of America's top 5 trailer park. This lovely park (our favourite) is located right by the Virgin River & is a base camp for the Zion National Park, the first national park in Utah. Traveling in a RV, brought us in contact with many others who were exploring America in RVs too. In most places, ours (at 12 by 31 ft) was often the simplest model. We were in awe of many nicer models, with extensions sliding out everywhere! There were some people who had sold their regular house to live in these motorhomes instead. Those who have children, do home schooling. And they travel all over America!
We also found out that depending on your location, RV Parks can be super (as in Zion River Resort above) to scary (as in one trailer-park on the outskirts of Bryce Canyon). For anyone planning to do this, do go online & check out reviews. We had to go to that scary one only because there was a computer error with our reservation & we were re-routed to a place, not of our choice. And we had no choice too because of peak season, traveling in the summer.
From Vegas, we collected our RV (recreational vehicle) & travel in the direction of Zion National Park. You know you're in Zion, when the roads turn red!
Our RV turned out better than we expected which was a relief! We have rented things online before & sometimes the results can be scary! Later on, at almost every trailer park, we realised that ours was always the oldest model on the lot! It could have been more modern after looking at others around us but luckily, it was good enough for us since we had expected worst.
Our first time in an RV! There were sleeping areas over the front seats, a small bedroom with a real bed in the back, a sofa bed. Also dining area, kitchenette with stove, oven, microwave, fridge, freezer. Plus, a separate bathroom & shower! Lots of cabinet space & aircon!!! And a slide-out section where at the push of a button, the living/dining area became wider!
We were simply thrilled to bits! Mostly, it was wonderful moving from places to places, without having to pack up the suitcases every few days!
Monday, August 25, 2008
We took a bumpy flight in a Cessna plane, to see how vast Grand Canyon is.
Hoover Dam is 726 ft. tall. That's 171 ft. taller than the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. & twice as tall as the Luxor Casino (338 ft.) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Between 1931 and 1936 when the dam was built, 96 men were killed in industrial accidents. None were buried in the concrete (unlike the Great Wall of China!).
It wasn't easily to blog from a laptop, when you are on vacation - in a hotel room or in the deserts. There is either no Internet connection or very slooow connection which meant I didn't have enough patience to wait! And at the end of each day, I get too tired to blog!
So now, finally back in Tokyo, I can blog belated about what we did these past weeks!
We flew from Tokyo to Las Vegas. Nice flight, wonderful seats & pretty food with sakura butter. I actually enjoy flying as then, a mother cannot do anything except relax.
In LV, we had a super spacious room at MGM Signature, with super spacious bathrooms - yes, 2 bathrooms for the 4 of us! There were even real lions in the lobby!
Stunning malls with controlled "skies" & actual sized gondolas serenading in the canals.
Today, we start off eastwards to America & around the world! From Las Vegas, we will explore a couple of canyons & national parks. It will be our first time in a RV! Then we head towards San Diego & Los Angeles & fly out again.
We will also meet up with friends & relatives in Germany & Singapore. And then, home to Tokyo. Have a happy summer!
An artist for more than 20 yrs. Self taught, experienced in advertising, graphic designing, illustrating, planning theme parties, mosaic art & jewelry making, sewing & quilting.
Spent past over 20 years living in Shanghai, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo & now, Dubai.
All that moving & re-locating can be a little unsettling but with each move, came more inspiration (& more ways on how to unpack fast!). You also learn quickly, to ask for the washroom in various languages!
Our inspiration & interests come from the experience of living in & traveling to many places. We are motivated by the daily exposure to Western & Asian cultures since ours is a mixed Chinese & European family. As this is the way we live, this influences the way we create.
Xue Originals consists of art, jewelry & sewn items - all handcrafted individually & handmade carefully by my 2 children & I. We hope to upload regularly, so please check in often.
And back to more belated, belated blogging on our summer adventure in an RV...
