Final blog of 2012 cross-country trip.

I'm really playing catch-up now.  It was a long drive from Tim's house to the Grand Canyon, and we stayed there until sunset.  It was as beautiful as ever.  I kept watching Brandon's face to see his reaction since this was his first visit.  He and Meredith seemed to enjoy it as much as Paul and me.

 I didn't do as much walking on this visit since I was a little under the weather, but I enjoyed it anyway.  After a quick supper from Micky D's, we headed out to Holbrook where we spent the night.  When we got there, I saw the WigWam Motel right beside our hotel.  We could have spent the night in a TeePee!!!  Shucks! 

 

We were all tuckered out, so we were very thankful for our beds, even if the beds weren't in TeePees.

The next morning we continued our journey toward home through the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert.  Looking at all the "wood" that is now stone made me think of all the wonderful things of God, even how the Flood caused these trees to be submerged in water and eventually being turned to stone through the process of minerals taking the place of the rotted wood.  It seems strange to me, though, that so many people don't realize that the Flood caused this.

We continued on our way to Yukon, Oklahoma through the rest of Arizona, then New Mexico, where we made a quick WalMart stop for yarn and sunglasses.  Then on to Amarillo, Texas where we ate supper at the Big Texan. After our tummies were full we drove and drove and drove.  We didn't get to Yukon until 1:00 a.m.  We crashed into our beds!  The next morning after a quick breakfast we were on our way again, next stop: Kodak, Tennessee.  A beautiful drive!

A beautiful drive, but through lots of traffic.  Yep, I needed lots of knit therapy (the reason for the yarn stop in NM, lol).

The next morning, we finally crossed the North Carolina border--our home state!  Tennessee mountains are pretty, but NC mountains are even more beautiful!

We made a special stop in Raleigh to celebrate Meredith's birthday, which is the 22nd.  We had this surprise planned since the beginning of the trip.  She was definitely surprised and excited that we had stopped at the CheeseCake Factory for dinner, which was delicious!  The rest of the way home I could hardly keep my eyes open.  I was so sleepy!  I had no trouble seeing this site, though!

No matter how far we may roam, there's no place like home!

 Just how far did we roam?

We were gone eleven days.  Three of those days the van sat still at Tim's house.  So, this mileage reflects eight days on the road!  No wonder we're all so tired!  But, we had such a good time with Brandon and Meredith and spending time with Tim, Maryann, Ethan, Kate, and Natalie.  Make sure to click on the "current pictures" icon to the right of the blog to see all of our pictures.  Thanks for coming along with us on the travel blog.  We love you all.

At Tim's House

Ok, so I've lost track of time.  I don't even know what day we're on, so I'll just lump them all together as that's the way it seems right at the moment--days running into each other.

Instead of talking specifically about what happened each day, I'm being led in another direction this morning.  As I think back over the days on the road and the ones here at Tim's, I can't help but think about "family".  Paul and I enjoy traveling and being together.  That's sort of obvious since we'll be married 42 years come November 29th.  But we also enjoy having our family with us.  Brandon and Meredith have been a real blessing to us this trip.  Paul has had help loading and unloading the luggage from the van to the room and back.  Meredith was a real help to me when I was in such pain after walking so far to the balloon fiesta and back to the van.  Most of you know I’ve been going to physical therapy for my back and walking doesn’t help the condition.   But I made it, and painkillers and ice helped a lot.  That long walk was on Saturday night for the ‘night glow’ show.  

 The next morning, we got up early enough to get a parking spot much closer, so my back didn’t fare as badly.  Words can’t describe the balloon fiesta.  Pictures do a better job, but they still can’t capture all the excitement and wonder of so many hot air balloons in one place, all being blown up, people trying to hold them down with ropes until they were completely inflated, and then others trying to hold the baskets down until they were ready to go airborne. 

 Once the balloons were completely inflated, it was only a matter of a couple of minutes before they were in the air, drifting over our heads, people waving down at us.  One balloon’s pilot was handicapped.  He had a special rig that contained his wheelchair.  It was amazing to see what only looked like him and his wheelchair dangling from underneath the balloon.  He was part of the “Bee” family.  These were actually three balloons all related.  Two bees looked to be joined together and would “kiss” as they lifted into the air and then flew away hand-in-hand.  The ‘bee’ that the handicapped man piloted was their baby bee.  

 God is so wonderful to allow us to do the things we enjoy even though we may not be able to do it just like everyone else does.  I’m glad this man did not allow his handicap to stop him.  (See his feet dangling down in the picture below.)

It was a blessing to be able to share this experience with Brandon and Meredith.   

Tim and his family were unable to make it after all due to work obligations.  I wish all our family could have been there with us, but maybe another time.  I’m sure we’ll make it back this way again.

Family time with Tim, Maryann, Ethan, Kate, and Natalie has been precious.  Being with them during their every day routines is just as good as doing more exciting things, such as the balloon fiesta.  It would have been nice if they were there, but sitting here relaxing, playing, sharing meals and sunsets across the mountains are all blessed events.  

 Paul, Tim, Brandon, Meredith, and I did drive through the Sonoran Desert, climbed a mountain (yes, I did!), and went to the desert museum.  It was such a nice day (except for getting car-sick on the drive back—yuck).  I’m much better today.  

 I can do this!  I think I can . . .

 Ok, here I go.

 I did it!!! Now, to get back down.

 Today we're just relaxing.  I'm not sure of our plans for later today, but tomorrow morning we head out to the Grand Canyon.  Love all you guys.

Playing Catch Up for Days 3 & 4--Part One

Ok, so I've had a good night's rest.  I'm sitting out by the pool at Tim's house overlooking the desert--very peaceful and relaxing.  Just what I need after being on the road for four days.  Yesterday was supposed to be the shortest day of driving--WRONG!  Only about an hour away from Tim's we ran into road construction.  It took us about an hour and a half to go 3 miles.  That's not a typo.  3 miles in an hour and a half.  Thank goodness I had my knit therapy with me!

And my I-pod.  When we finally broke free of the traffic and construction, we still had another hour to get to Tim's.  The kids were so excited to see us!  Natalie (after all the hugs) put her hands on her hips and said, "Where have you been so long!!"  I don't know if she meant that we were so late getting there, or if she meant since my last visit in June.  Either way, it was such a sweet and grown-up remark.  So, let me back up to the blog I promised on the third night--Yukon to Albuquerque.  We left our hotel and went to see the home of the Clydesdales--such beautiful animals.

 We didn't realize that we were actually on the Chisholm Trail until we stumbled across this.

 Brandon said this was a Texas Longhorn.  I said, "Well, it's now an "Oklahoma Longhorn"!

After a quick stop at a yard sale, yep, I said yard sale, we were on the road again to Groom, OK, home of the world's largest cross.  We've seen this before on our cross country trips, but we never had the time to stop.  We planned for a stop this time.  What a reverent place.  Yes, it is just brick, mortar, and stone, but what works of art to the glory of God and the sacrifice Jesus. 

 

After a quick picnic lunch here, and a short stop at the Cadillac ranch,

we were on the road again to New Mexico.

 One quick stop we made after we left Albuquerque was in Hatch, NM, the "chili capital of the world".  Look at all those chili peppers!  Yep, Paul bought a bunch.  Part Two of this blog will tell about the balloon fiesta.  Gotta rest awhile!