#NWFBWA, Day 4, 5, 6, 7

  I think our trip has taken us all the way to day 7 now. Sorry if you were waiting to know exactly what we have been doing...I know there are those biting at the bit.

  Since I updated last...

Day 4: We all woke up before 7am, showered, ate the continental breakfast, and got on the road to travel to our next spot. We needed to arrive in Tempe, AZ, where my family lives, that night, but we had a whole day to fill. So, being so close to the border, and all of us having a little adventure in our blood, we hopped the border and ate tacos in Mexico. The tacos were good...and cheap. I feel sometimes as if I am taking advantage of people when the prices are lower than I pay day-to-day in my own life. I didn't lose sleep over it though. After our tacos, we headed back to the border, and Annalisa handed me all four passports we had stashed. When I tried to hand them to the border patrol guy...I only had three. I had misplaced Ciarra's passport. Oh my. We ended up enjoying conversation with the Officer Sprinkle, who was kind enough to let us back into the USA with some other forms of ID. We DID find Ciarra's passport, and we safely made it to Tempe that night.
I just saw my mom on vacation in March, but it was better than ever, and my brother flew in that night as well. The purpose of arriving in Tempe the night before Angela's graduation was so that we could hike Camelback Mountain with my brother in the morning before my sister's graduation. We decided at the last minute to try it at night, and due to construction going on the trail we intended to hike we did not...nor did we do it on any of our other days in Phoenix. Oops.

Day 5: Our day started with finding Annalisa a new phone, since hers would not charge. Instead of hiking Camelback on this day, we headed to Hole in the Rock, a rock formation in Papago Park. One of the things this area is not short of is outdoor activities. Hole in the Rock offers a great view of some of the valley that Tempe and Phoenix lay in. The rest of Friday was filled with dinner, graduation, and more fun. It is so fun to be on this trip with three girls that will love on my family, and honor my sister...even through a very drawn out graduation ceremony.

Day 6: We started this day with brunch at Dennys with Asa, served by none other than my wonderful sister, Angela. After, we took Asa to the airport to fly home and went to visit my mom at Sojourner Center, where she works. Again, it has been a blast seeing my friends honor my family and supporting them, though they just have met. After seeing my mom, we stopped by the Baiz Market, a Mediterranean store and restaurant that I have favorited in this area. Packing this day, we made stops at the Phoenix Art Museum and laid in the soft grass on our stroll through Old Town Scottsdale before heading to Dobbins Lookout at South Mountain to watch the sun fall from the sky. Phoenix holds a place in my heart in many ways and sunsets are definitely one of them. My mom had dinner ready for us on our arrival home, and let us do laundry and hang out before heading to bed. What a gem she is!

Day 7: TODAY! We woke up this morning, said our farewells and "Happy Mothers Day" to the moms in my life and set out on our way to California. It was HOT driving down I-10 today, but the scenery made it slightly tolerable. We drove by canyons, mountains, and wind-turbines, and made one major planned stop...at the Salton Sea. Laughter has been aplenty on this trip, but this stop was sure something to laugh about. Driving down from the interstate, the Salton Sea looked wonderful from afar. It wasn't until we stopped, got out, and walked to the "beach" that we discovered the nastiness that was the Salton Sea. We planned to swim in this "sea", but soon discovered that it was a big pool of brown, murky water surrounded by dried barnacle and dead fish bones. The smell and sight of the water we walked to had us very disgusted and running to rinse our barnacle-filled sandals with the hopefully fresh water in the beach bathroom showers. To top the experience off, we hopped back into the Highlander, only to find flies...everywhere. Sick! We left quickly, laughing about how we spent five dollars to park for five minutes, and sped off to continue toward the Pacific Coast.
We arrived in the LA area at about 5, heading first to Hollywood Blvd, where we walked and saw some very interesting people. We then headed north on the Pacific Coast Highway, enjoying the sun falling as we drove. Tonight, Anna and I are in the home of the Potts family, whom I have known since elementary school in Bolivar. It is such a blessing to spend time with such dear friends. We had fish tacos from Snapper Jack's for dinner, and also were greeted with a large bowl of homemade guacamole(the best I have had, thanks Felix!). Jasmine and Ciarra are with Ciarra's cousin, just south of here. This is one of the last nights, for awhile, that we have a planned home to sleep in. The rest will be camping until we get to Kansas City, the night before we head to Branson to end the trip.

These feet have traveled East to West.
L2R: Charli, Ciarra, Jasmine, Annalisa

We are all in good health, and have been pumping ourselves with water and Vitamin-C to keep well while on the road.

Thanks for keeping up with us! I am sure each of us cannot wait to elaborate on, and tell you many more stories that I cannot tell adequately on the blog.

Please pray for us as we head out tomorrow headed back East towards Missouri. Please pray for my right knee as we continue on. With previous injuries, and life since, I have been having trouble with it locking up and adding some pretty bad unwanted pain.

 We will be hiking some on the rim of the Grand Canyon on Tuesday morning, so we will make it there tomorrow night to sleep. Hopefully I can update you in a couple days with the next leg of our travel.



Charli

#NWFBWA, Day 3

  Today, was a long day of driving...lots of it. When I initially looked at the GPS, it said 13 hours PLUS! My, My, My. Yesterday, or maybe the day before, we had talked about me driving most of the trip, because I love driving, and as Jeanne pointed out last night, I get bored when not behind the wheel. After being up 'til 12 last night, and my alarm going off at 5:15, I was still tired as we began to drive. Jasmine and Annalisa ended up driving for about four hours, and then I got back behind the wheel.

  We drove through west Texas today....exciting. The closer we came to the desert, the more beautiful it became. For awhile, it was a game of counting oil pumps in my head. As we came further west, and closer to the border, I was hoping we could see a Mexican in a bush, waiting for his freedom ticket...no luck. We stopped to pump gas, and met Ernie and Juan, men with stories, and advice.

Chico's tacos...kinda like taquitos with soup. ;)

  We stopped for dinner in El Paso at Chico's Tacos...the one listed on top in a food blog we read. On top...yes, my favorite...no, I still lean towards a fresh fish taco on the beach in FL, or in CA, like I can look forward to soon. After leaving El Paso, we drove through my first Border Patrol station...no, not into Mexico, just on I-10W. We passed, and it was non-climactic, as we had hoped to be able to write elaborately about it in our travel journal.

  One thing we did get to write about was our encounter with a Border Patrol officer about 30 minutes later...Jesse.We had pulled off the highway onto a dirt road so that I could find my geocache for the state of New Mexico, and we all needed to use the facilities...which were right next to the car on this stop. After I came back from finding my cache, I took my turn and as I was finishing Jasmine said there was a car approaching. Ciarra and I quickly hopped into the car, and I pulled forward to unclog the narrow way. It was when red and blue lights flashed that we realized who it was...Border Patrol. I pulled up to the truck of the officer, Jesse, and he asked if we were lost. I began to explain that I was geocaching, and in my description, which most people usually do not understand, I asked him if I could show him. He accepted my offer. I pulled back to the cache, got out, showed him where the cache was, and probably looked and sounded really ridiculous trying to do so. We ended up talking to him for a few minutes, explaining our trip, before we continued on our way...with another fun story for our journal.

  Ciarra has done an incredible job being the scribe for our trip thus far, and has even been drawing parts that need that special touch. I can't wait to look back at it as we end our trip in eleven days.

  Tonight, we are SO BLESSED, and sleeping in soft hotel beds, thanks to Jasmine's dad, in Wilcox, AZ. We will continue tomorrow to Tempe, and will spend three nights in the home of my mother, celebrating her school graduation, as well as Angela's, my sister. She is the reason this whole trip even came about, and I cannot wait to celebrate her school achievements and spend time in one of my favorite places, with my family.

  Please pray for our continued safety, and for relationships to be grown, with the love of Christ. Thanks for thinking of us!

Good Night.

  Charli