Surprising Arizona

June 13 - 15th

Dad's horses love carrots!

I know it has been a long time since we have updated everyone!  It has been a busy week for us!  We spent several days visiting friends and family while meandering through the Arizona desert, so here are a few pictures to let everyone know where we have been!

We made it to Dad's house at the worst possible time.  He was essentially on his way to work when we got there, but he let us stay in his gigantic camper.  That was our first night outside of our little camper!  It felt good to stretch our legs for a day!   When we woke up, the kids walked around the house collecting eggs and petting goats.  The girls had a great time trying to hold onto a carrot while the horses tried to wrestle it from their hands!  It would have been nice to stay for a few days, but with temperatures going up to 100 degrees by 9am and two other Arizona visits to make...we decided it was time to move it along!

Our next adventure was to surprise my grandmother in Phoenix, Nanny Dean, with a visit!  It was so much fun to pop in to see her!  It was her first time meeting all of our kids!   On the way to Phoenix, we had our first hint of car trouble.  The thermostat wasn't working properly, causing the temperature of the truck to rise to totally unacceptable levels!  We drove through 105 temperatures with no air conditioning...and the HEAT blaring!!!  That was some kind of experience!  Tom came up with the genius idea to give the girls a squirt bottle full of icy water and some washcloths.  It was hilarious to look back and see Ivy laying there with a rag draped over her entire face!  She was taking the opportunity for drama and running with it!



Nanny Dean is just as beautiful as I remember her!

The next surprise was for the kids.  Our friend Ruthann had moved from Knoxville to Phoenix only a few weeks ago.  The funny story is that we met Ruthann at a campsite a few years ago and decided to stay in touch.  Her family is so sweet and we were sorry to see them move away.  My girls had been asking about them ever since they left.     It turns out that she moved only 10 miles from my grandmother's house!  We called her the night before and asked if we could stop by...and she was incredulous that we were really going to be able to!  What were the chances of getting to see her again?!  When we knocked on her door, the kids only knew that we were going to visit my friend.  They were shocked to see Ruthann's daughter, sweet little Annabelle, open the door.  We totally MADE the night of three little girls!  Ruthann and her husband barbecued some burgers for us and let us crash in their house for the night.  The sweetest hosts and such great friends.  We will miss them in Tennessee.  But I am grateful for the strange set of circumstances that permitted us to catch up with them. 

And we just thought the surprises were over!!!  We had planned on driving to Riverside California the next morning to catch up with some family there.  But at the last second, my cousin Nicole and her husband Danny invited us to meet them at their house on the Colorado River in Mohave Valley, Arizona.  They treated us with two straight days on their boat.  I think we met every person in Mohave Valley along the way.  The kids met their first California cousin, Dani Lynn.  Bonds and memories were made.    It was an awesome time! On our last day we stopped the boat at this amazing riverfront bar called Topock 66.  It sits right on Route 66 and had a swimming pool for patrons.  The fried pickles were great.  The kids loved the water.  And most amazingly...an airplane would periodically zoom down and land in the water right beside us to drop off passengers.  Surreal!   All that sun and water completely WORE US OUT!

Random Hot Air Balloon sighting on the road to Mohave Valley

That was just the beginning of the visiting.  The next day we would meet back up at cousin Nicole's house in Riverside to hug necks all over again.  But more on that later!  For now....here is our trip summed up through June 15th (one week in!)


Our Trip Summed Up: 

Days Remaining:  27

Miles Driven:  2,528

Currently in:  Mohave Valley, AZ

Total Spending so far:    Gas:       $721 out $1,500 goal

                                            Sleep:  $10 out of a $500 goal

                                             Eat:      $208.08 out of a $600 goal

                                             Other:  $40 out of a $400 goal

                                                Grand Total:  $979.08 out of a $3,000 goal