Good evening! My internet connections have not been as available as I had hoped, so hence the long delay in posting. We arrived back home in Palmer on July 30 and have spent the past few days recovering and unpacking from our trip. But I’d like to pick up on our journey where we left off.
When we left Texas, we hit a few rain storms before entering the desert. The temperature was in the high 90’s, and we drove on through to New Mexico. This part of the country is fairly flat and dry, with roads flat and straight. There wasn’t much to look at, and Christian slept through most of it.
For much of the drive, there wasn’t a lot to look at, so I don’t blame him for wanting to sleep. On the good side, the speed limit averaged 75 – 80 mph, so I put on some good music and enjoyed the cruise.
We made it into New Mexico and stopped to visit an old friend. After going out to dinner, we were tired so we took a few hour nap at our friend’s and left early in the morning. We watched a beautiful sunrise at Guadalupe Mountain, while being serenaded by a lone coyote nearby.
Christian found it a little hard to believe that it could feel a little chilly in the desert, but was thankful for his fleece jacket.
We crossed our 2,000 mile mark of our journey while going through another desert back into Texas.
We finally arrived in Tucson, AZ mid afternoon on 7/16/13. The temp was up around 107F, way hotter than what we’re used to. If it hadn’t been for the “Frogg Toggs”, I think we would have melted. But it was really good seeing our family. Christian’s uncle taught him how to drive a golf cart, which he enjoyed very much. And we went swimming at the pool which was really nice too.
We attended church with Uncle Ron in Tucson and had a great service. The church was much larger than what we’re used to, but the pastor had an awesome message, and the people were really friendly. When we got home, Grandma had a surprise for Christian.
Christian celebrated his 4th birthday this year at Grandma’s house. I think he’s getting a little spoiled 🙂
Christian was thrilled to receive a few adventure books for his birthday, signed by the author Will Hobbs, one of his Grandma’s neighbors. All in all, he had a great birthday.
There were a few small visitors to the beautiful garden in Grandma’s back yard while we were there. Some were too quick to get pictures of, but this little butterfly stayed a while.
We spent a few days visiting and getting a few things done with the car, and then had to say our goodbyes. The visit was too short, but greatly enjoyed.
We left Grandma’s house late morning on July 19 to pick our friend Amy up at the Phoenix airport. The temp was about 104F that day, and I had a hard time dealing with the heat. By the time we left the airport, the sun was beginning to go down and it was cooling off a bit. It was really good seeing Amy again, and we were all excited about our journey. We headed off to Sedona, stopping along the way for pictures of desert life.
Before we knew it, the sun went down and in the darkness we could see a lightning storm approaching off in the distance. We were heading right into it as we continued on to Sedona. Christian had never seen a big lightning storm before, as we don’t usually get lightning where we live. So it was a special treat for him, and Amy and I as well. It turned out to be a big storm even by Sedona standards. We stopped for a while along the way just to watch and enjoy. We finally arrived in Sedona late that night and stayed at a motel. The next morning we enjoyed a little trek through the town, being typical tourists, taking pictures of everything and buying more souvenirs than we needed. We finally left town mid afternoon and headed toward Flagstaff. We were unprepared for the beauty we were about to encounter.
Well, it’s time to stop for now. I’ll begin tomorrow’s post with our pictures of Sedona and through to the Grand Canyon. In the meantime, I hope everyone is well, enjoying life and God’s creations. Until tomorrow, take care and God bless! – Amber & Christian
AmberLea of Alaska's Blog 
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