Arizona Here We Come!!!

June 14th saw us heading to Arizona. We were picking up the rest of the crew and I was so excited to get here because I couldn't wait to see cacti finally!! Hehe! On the way we encountered some interesting things. Some pretty, some serious, and some scary! Noel even got attacked by a velociraptor!! I did finally get to see some really cool cacti. We had to make a stop at ANOTHER football field. This one was much cooler than the previous ones because at this field they roll the grass outside everyday to water it, sun it, and mow it. CRAZY! Only the Arizona Cardinals. After this I FINALLY saw THE cactus I wanted to see!! The kind that looks like they are flipping you off...hehe. Noel got attacked by it too! On the way to Flagstaff with the family, we decided to make a pit stop outside of Sedona at a place call Montezuma Castle. It was amazing! In 1933, a 45-50 room pueblo cliff dwelling was excavated and tons of artifacts were revealed for the first time. The Sinagua people inhabited this "oasis" for over 400 years along Beaver Creek. Before or after driving through Sedona (it all melds together in my mind now) we passed the Red Rock National Park and encountered these amazing rock formations! They were stunning! Then it was on to Flagstaff. I was most excited o be in this city because an old part of Route 66 ran through here and they have preserved some of the old hotels and motels along the way. Great fun! After dinner it was time for bed! We were going to see the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas the next day! So exciting!

New Mexico!!

The last proper post I left you with was a long one and since then I haven't had sufficient internet to leave another entry. Well I figured I would pick up where I left off and tell you about New Mexico! Noel and I spent the night in Roswell and were excited to see what kind of adventures the city had to offer. Aside from the UFO shaped McDonalds playland and the Alien scene painted on the Arbys windows, it was pretty normal. However, we did run into a few peculiar things... We got out of town fast, because it felt like everywhere we turned, we were being watched by the aliens....hehe Next up was the hour long drive to Carlsbad Caverns. I am SOOO glad we went ahead and saw this! They are amazing. Unfortunately the camera takes terrible pictures in the dark without a tripod, so I didn't get many good photos. I don't think it really mattered though because I don't think the lens could have told the story the way our own eyes did! It was BREATHTAKING!! Then Noel and I decided to see what we would look like as rangers at a park... After we got in the car to head out I found my first REAL cactus! I had to take a picture with it! The day held a few adventures while driving here are some of them! Noel posing with an awesome looking cactus... My many desert sightings... And these VERY cool statues from an old A&W Drive Up Food Joint... Hopefully I will have time to do another post tomorrow and get caught up with the rest of the trip! We have seen so much. We have visited Arizona, Nevada and are in California! 8 days left and then we are home!

Fun with angles

Yesterday we visited three lovely places. We rolled through the Napa valley and visited the NAPA auto parts store... Then we drove through the sun drenched rolling hills, passing lovely vineyards. We stopped for a traditional Napa valley wine tasting.... After that we drove around a crazy road that was literally falling apart, up and then down a mountainside till we reached our next stop... Then we headed to the Muir Woods National Park, one of the most ideal locations I have ever seen. Imagine a serene stream slashing quietly down the middle of a very cool high 50's forest full of redwood, the giant monster trees. Add in chipmunks and small birds and amazing clover shaped ground cover, and the fact that people were quietly walking around and you have a great park. Then we headed into the hills above San Francisco. Sadly, rice-a-roni isn't sold everywhere here...I was lied to! The pacific is far from pacified. It is Very Windy... We saw Alcatraz, where Jenn tried to escape... Then saw the incredibly steep angles of san Francisco, Jenn will post those. Then we picked up the grandma, and went back to colfax, where we are staying.

Soooo busy!!!

Wow, what a week! Sadly we have had no time to post or no Internet in places. Just keep watching Facebook because that seems to be easier to use. We are leaving Vegas after breakfast and headed to California. Hopefully I will find a place there to write more.

The First Five Days...

Our first five days have been amazing! We have seen so many wonderful things already and visited with so much family. We picked up our rental van in Tallahassee and set out. The fist thing we saw was Falling Water State Park. Neither of us had ever been there so our interest was piqued. The waterfall is a sinkhole that is about 75 feet high. They have no idea where the water actually goes. The sinkhole just goes on forever. You can see more about it here. Next up was Louisiana. We went to New Orleans first to visit my best friend Hali and all of her family! It was great fun and I am so glad Noel was there with me. We drove up US-61 to do a little sightseeing but unfortunately it rained the nearly the entire drive. We were able to get a few shots though. The Myrtles Plantation home (the haunted one) was our first stop. Then we saw this extraordinary thing. It is an actual restaurant that serves lunch daily. On the second day in Louisiana, I took Noel by where I used to live. Where I grew up. These are photos of the fish market my grandfather owned and operated back in the day. I am so glad the building was still standing because I had no pictures of it. Amazingly, you can still the signs that he hand painted YEARS ago. Very meaningful for me. A desk he used to use... The soda machine I used to buy drinks from... And lastly in Louisiana, I could leave without Pierre getting his hand into a little farming. Day 4-5 Yesterday, we drove to Dallas. I was so excited for Noel to hang out with my family again. We had a great time. Uncle James hosted dinner for everyone and my aunts and uncles were there along with some cousins. This morning we set out for the west. Somewhere I have NEVER been before!! Before that though, we swung by the Dallas ball fields.. Then we were really off and the landscape and historical markers let me know quickly I was no where near "home"! My first "ghost town"! On OLD OLD Sears store.....that's still in business!!! Finally we get to the New Mexico border....which I couldn't wait for! I have never seen this state!!! This was the ONLY sign on the read welcoming people to NM. Oh, and you see the clouds in the background? As I was taking that picture a storm moved in FAST! Winds at 60 miles an hour moving at a an approximate speed of 25 miles per hour. It was scary! We experienced a COMPLETE blackout in the car. We could see nothing and if I weren't educated and knew better I would firmly believe we were in the middle of a tornado! Our car was covered in mud from the sand, water, and rocks being thrown into the car. I had my very first ever dull-fledged hard core anxiety attack. I was terrified. The wind was so strong it was blowing us off of the road. After this excitement, we FINALLY made it to Roswell where we sleep tonightin a Best Western with no elevator! lol. Good night and I can't wait to show you photos from Roswell soon!!!