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.
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| 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
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