It has begun. Dave quit his job at Medtronic in order for us to follow our dream and we all drove to Arizona. We picked up our motor home at my parents and we drove the RV to a campground (Estrella Mountain Regional Park) in Goodyear, Arizona. The next day I flew to Lexington for work and the rest of the family went to Golfland in Mesa, Arizona and played video games, golfed, bumper cars and lazer tag (we had free coupons). The boys slept in Mesa at a Walmart parking lot (they let RVers stay for free) and the next day drove to ASU and visited the campus were Dave got his MBA. Next they drove to Tucson and camped at the Beaudry, RV park. They really liked this RV park. They swam, played Bocce Ball, horse shoes, putting green, chess and took hot showers. The next day Dave and the boys met up with Pop and Dee Dee, uncle Jim and Ann in Green valley, Arizona. They had a great time visiting and toured thier new house. Dave and the boys said that they really enjoyed the visit. They than headed to the Phoenix airport and picked me up! After Lola (our navagation system) got us lost, we finally found a Walmart in North Phoenix and spent the night. In the morn we visited Walmart for Grocery's and went to Sprint and got a internet access card (YEAH) and headed to Montezuma's Castle (which was tottaly miss named after the Aztecs). This is a cliff dwelling that was built by the Singagua Indians. It is quite impressive and we all learned a lot from the park ranger who spent some time with us. We than headed to Distant Drum RV Resort near Montezuma's Castle. We had a little bit of time to organize some of the stuff in the RV. We packed way to much and are trying to consolidate.
Today is Thursday, May 1st and I am so glad I finally have the Internet so I can post. We miss you all and will keep you updated frequently. By the way, Before the official trip begun we had a wonderful visit with my parents in Goodyear and also spent time with Bubby. My parents helped me tremendusly getting the RV prepaired for our big adventure. I can't thank them enough. Although, I wouldn't expect any less from them, since they have always helped me thru every big adventure in my life. I love you Mom and Dad. Bubby is doing very well, she is just as sweet as ever. The boys and I really enjoyed seeing her and having lunch out at Famous Dave's BBQ with her. They also had a blast at their Grandparents, visiting their cousins in Vegas and at their house in Palmdale (Hi Teri and Family, thanks for watching the boys, love ya!). Seeing the Bakers in Orange county (That is always a treat) , riding bikes in Manhattan beach, going to Sixflags in Valencia, having one last Mikuni run with my great friends (I miss you already) and just hanging out with the family. God is Good! I also want to give a HUGE thanks to Pop and Dee Dee who let the whole family live at their place, eat their food and mess their house up while we were in transition. Not to mention they helped babysit the boys when Dave was at work and I was out of town! Thank's and we love you! I also need to thank Jana and Tim and kids for stepping up (as usual) and watching the boys constantly while I was gone. We will miss you all so much. I also need to say a special thanks to Doug for working so hard to get our house sold and helping us move again!!! I don't know what Dave and I would do with out you! (Hi Sue, Doug and family!)I know I skipped a lot of history for those of you who are just joining us on our journey, like why we are doing this, and no we are not crazy! I guess you will have to call my me to get all the details. I will post again soon!
. Tanner said he had seen pictures of the Canyon but had no idea it was so huge and impressive. They all absolutely loved it. It really does remind you of how amazing God is. He loves us so much that he created a place like the Grand Canyon for us to enjoy. He doesn't do anything half way! The first thing we did was pull up in front of the visitors center (I love visitor centers!) and we took a peek over the edge. The first look is the most incredible because you forget how spectacular it is. Not to mention, if you have never seen it before like our boys. Did you know the Grand Canyon is 18 miles wide, 5,000 ft deep and 227 miles long! (Had to throw those facts in because they are so impressive). After our peek, and my panicking because a lot of the canyon edge
s do not have rails and Peyton doesn't seem to have any fear of heights (we did learn that there have been around 600 accidental deaths at the canyon, most due to careless photographers who think the best picture is taken while hanging over the edge). We headed to the visitor center to get info and join the Jr. Rangers Program. If you didn't know, almost all the National Parks have a Jr. Rangers Program where kids do lessons in a workbook and attend a ranger class in exchange for a certificate, a badge, a patch and then officially sworn in as a Ranger. Then we headed out on the tram to the first look-out point. We truly enjoyed the view, but the kid
s were more impressed by the squirrels. The boys had a goldfish snack and the squirrels decided to share it with them (first Jr. Ranger rule...don't feed the animals). I ha
ve more pics I
will post with a squirrel sitting on Peytons
shoulder. We then went back on the bus and saw the canyon from many different angles (I think the Hopi point view was the best). We had a great ice cream lunch and then went to a ranger talk on Condors. Did you know that there are only 300 condors in the world and only 147 of them are living in the wild?! All of them are tagged and protected. The California Condor is the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere. It's wing span is 9 ft!!! I got some great pictures of the condors flying overhead and perched on a rock. Oh, I forgot to mention that one of my friends from Get Motivated (Darren and family) were at the canyon at the same time. We met up with them to see the sunset over the canyon. What a great ending to the perfect day!
e top 10 scenic drives in the US) there was a river on one side with a backdrop of Red Rock formations on the other. There was also many beautiful green trees and plants which you do not see much of in Arizona. The second reason the drive was adventurous was all the turns and steep cliffs. We were in a huge RV with little RV experience (luckily Dave was driving or we would have for sure been dead). I have to say it was a little scary! (Pop, Scott and Bob you would have hated it). We ended up in Flagstaff and decided to call it a night at...where else? Walmart.
