Motivation for procrastination

It is nothing like knowing you need to leave quickly on a trip to get stuff crossed off your to do list! At least it works in my case. My big report that I had been procrastinating was done in a couple hours as I hurriedly prepared to make the long road trip to Canada to see my Dad.
I have driven over 2000 miles in the last 4 days and am almost there. I am writing this from my sister's computer. My internet access will come from intermittent library usage from now on as my parents don't have a computer.
Overall it has been a good trip, God has been good to us! We miss Daddy, but it was great to have him helping us through the trip by cell phone. Well, at least until I lost coverage a couple hundred miles back in Northern Maine.
I thought I saw a moose last night about an hour before we stopped for the night. Wow it gets dark early. The kids were asking if it was bedtime because it was so dark and it was only 5:30pm

Blogging Vacation?

My husband has joined the world of blogging, you can read about his adventures here. I'm sure his posts will be more organized than mine!

I've taken a week off from blogging. It has definitely been an interesting week. Recovering from illness, my Dad being admitted to the hospital in Canada, getting bitten by a spider. First time for everything, I'm just very thankful it was not a brown recluse.

My parrot and cat sitting job has come to an end. I feel so free but yet I miss the little screecher on some level. No, I really don't want another bird, but BooBoo had just let me pet his head for the first time.

Our cat family that adopted us is eating us out of house and home, anyone want a cute little fluffy kitten?

We have 3 black ones, 1 black with white feet and one grey one left. Anyone? No, I'm not desperate or above begging, haha.

The children went canoeing with Loren 2 weekends ago, they had so much fun with Daddy, and were pretty proud of their alligator spotting's.

Rebecca is sitting up and barely falls anymore, she is pushing up more on her hands and can turn in a circle while one her tummy. Loren is positive she said "DaDa" last night.

Rebecca

Rebecca is sitting unassisted, well she is still a bit wobbly but it is amazing how long she will sit up. She is also trying to go places when you lay her down, she rolls over and then starts turning in circles. So cute. Wow, my little girl is growing up, 6 months already.

It's cold..

My Canadian family is laughing at me because I'm finding MS weather cold. It is 49 outside right now, and I have all my children wearing jackets and they have dug out their mittens. Loren left early this morning when it was still 40, he was wearing his big winter jacket, but he was spending most of the day outside wiring a weather station. I do remember a time when I wore shirts outside when there was snow and my first year in the south I figured I wouldn't even need a jacket. Sigh, then comes the acclimatization. In my defense, all the children have recently had a virus and I don't want them getting a cold. Yeah, that's it, we're not cold, it's just prevention.

Got a boost

God really does care about the little things and I got a couple of boosts today.
A friend from church showed up this morning with comfort food, a big hug and a Bible Study invitation. She also said she had missed us at church. I had been thinking no one really had noticed us not being there.
None of my children are running fever, of course they are on the mend we had a Doctor visit scheduled, haha! One the way home from the Doctor we stopped at Chick Fil A and used a couple of free food coupons. Their chicken is always a big favorite in our house.
I was reading my Google Reader and found this post by Jana on marriage and motherhood. It really spoke to me, so many times i let the worldly opinion of stay at home moms influence my opinion of myself. Then you get hit by the opinions of the church that if you are just raising your family you aren't doing enough. I am serving God by being faithful in raising my children to love and serve Him.

Need a boost

I have spent significantly less time at the computer lately which is a good thing. I've met my recent deadlines but still have a couple big ones looming over my head. One will need a chunk of uninterrupted time, which is hard to come by especially when you have 3 clingy sick children. Oh, and a parrot squawking, you can't forget or ignore that annoyance. I just need a break, or a boost of energy.
We are looking at spending a huge amount of money on John's teeth, I wish I had peace about the whole decision. I really don't like the situation and of course there is mommy guilt that goes along with it.
Speaking of John, he is wanting a book read, must go.

One of those days...

I know I haven't written anything in a couple days. Thirsday and Friday I was busy getting ready for a retreat on the weekend. It was fun to see friends I haven't seen in a year, my roomie and I talked until quite late. I was a bit disappointed that most people wanted to rearrange the order of the last session and leave early. Loren was quite surprised that I was home before he was.Loren and the kids took the canoe and went on the river. They had fun and saw a couple of alligators.
We visited a nearby church, Cynthia commented that she has been the only one in her Sunday School class for the past 2 weeks. Sunday afternoon we drove another meal down to my friend's Dad while she and her mom are away.
Last night Rebecca started running a fever, I don't know if it is teething related, I don't feel anything, I suspect it has something to do with being around another sick baby this weekend. We were supposed to have a play date today, everything was fine yesteray afternoon when we arranged it, my friend said to still come over and GUESS WHAT I found when I went to go to the van?? My keys and purse were locked inside. Loren had 2 meetings plus his classes and grading exams so he can't come home. I guess I need to stay home and do laundry afterall.

more kittens

I'm hesitant to post any more about kittens, the mother brought another one to the back porch while we were at church. It has been raining and the poor little thing was quite drenched. i really do hope that morning light does not bring anymore little bundles to the back porch. Kittens are not cheaper by the dozen.

12 more days

Just 12 more days, just 12 more days, only 12 more days and I won't have a parrot shrieking at me. I am having to keep telling myself, this too shall pass, it is either that or my brain starts contemplating BooBoo's demise. He is in a foul mood today, and is making life quite interesting. Maybe he is noticing that his loyal band of followers have spent the majority of their day out with the kittens. Did I mention that the mother brought 2 more kittens to the back porch? I hope she doesn't have anymore, 3 kittens was sort of cute, 5 is bordering on panic, I'm feeding *how* many cats?
In school today we were trying to make butter, the cream got to the point of whipped cream and the children decided that tasted yummier. I had found a deeply reduced quart of heavy whipping cream at Kroger and we had lots of fun using it up today. I also had enough left over to make a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream. Yummy.

BooBoo

I don't think I posted pictures of BooBoo the other day. Here he is on my shoulder and with Loren. it is amazing how his claws can send shivers up and down your spine. Loren usually wears an extra jacket because he doesn't like parrot acupuncture.

Kittens!

Well, well, well the grey cat that has been hanging around the food dish showed up this morning with three little kittens, two black with white paws and one grey kitten. I'm unsure of the age of the kittens but they have their eyes open and are quite mobile. My children, of course, think that they've won the jack pot. They have been pestering for kittens for awhile, but the questions have increased since we just got Kitty Darln payed last week. It's funny that the last thing I wanted was a batch of kittens while cat-sitting and here we end up with a batch anyway. Now the question is what to do with them, sigh!

Pictures

Pictures above of Cynthia, Jesse and John at the aquarium on Dauphin Island, goofing around getting picture in a scuba diving helmet
Below are pictures of Rebecca in my sling at the aquarium, she was a bit young for the helmet! The other pictures are Rebecca at the beach. They left me with the camera while they were splashing in the water so I was having fun. I was trying to take a picture of Rebecca just by holding holding the camera at arm's length. I think they turned out pretty good. But then how could they not with such a beautiful subject.

The Fair!

We are headed to the MS State Fair today. The kids and I went through the inside exhibits and did a couple of rides on Tuesday. We saved some of the rides they really wanted to go on until Loren could go with us. I had 4 children (1 in a sling and 1 in a stroller), there was no way to do everything. I got a couple of comments from people about how brave I was, LOL!

Cynthia is so proud, she is riding without training wheels! My little girl is growing up.

Give Away

You may be interested in this blog post. Crystal Pain, at Biblical Womanhood, is giving away 10 copies of Passionate Housewives Desperate for God Book Give Away. Very interesting review.
I've entered, will you?

I really do knit...

See, I really do knit.... here's proof!

I've thrown in a picture of my cute model. Rebecca is growing so fast. She's rolling over, pushing up on her arms and trying to crawl. It's more off an army crawl right now, hauling herself forward with her arms and anything she can grab hold off.

Disciplined

I'm trying to be more disciplined in a lot of areas; time on the computer, writing on his blog, decluttering my home, keeping up with the dishes, cooking healthy meals for my family. Whew, there are more but this seems to be turning into a to do list.
I have 2 paperwork deadlines looming for my volunteer job, they are on my to do list but I still keep procrastinating. There are so many fun things, like playing with my young children, that I want to do. I'm really praying over a lot of decisions in our family life. The answers will have to come clearly from God because I'm all in a muddle.
Off the computer now to play with my children.

Home School Park Day

We went to our second home school park day today. We had 8 families with a total of 31 children and adults last week, this week we had 8 families with a total of 28. My children have been having so much fun socializing, I honestly laugh when people bring that up as an argument against homeschooling. If we went to every available home school event we would have no time for the academics. Adult conversation is so rejuvenating!
Speaking of rejuvenating, we went to visit a Pastor friend's church tonight, their Wednesday prayer service was amazing. They truly are a church that prays, not just take prayer requests. It was good to see some friends and some home schoolers too, the last time we visited, John was Rebecca's age.

BooBoo the Parrot

As I type this there is a parrot sitting on my shoulder. I think I may lose some hearing over this parrot sitting stint. BooBoo has just shrieked twice near my ear, ouch.

BooBoo is my friend's parrot, he is staying with us for most of October. We got him Friday because another lady who had been keeping him was allergic to him. We had already planned a trip to the beach and oh boy, the parrot was not happy with us when we got back 36 hours later. He's been aggressive with me and the children, he's tolerating me right now, but he loves Loren. my friend says Loren looks like his former owner.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

In past years I've gone all out and cooked a Thanksgiving meal to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, this year we might have chicken, but I haven't made any special plans, I think the children would prefer to go to the Fair. That's all I've heard lately, "How many more days until we go to the fair?"

We got in from our trip to Dauphin Island last night around 9:00pm. The cat and parrot were quite happy to see us. The parrot was ready for some fresh vegetables and literally danced circles when he say John with the carrot bag. I guess the seeds weren't quite up to Booboo's standards or he was bored with them.

I am up early today, Cynthia woke me up around 4:30 complaining of a sore ear, she played in the water Saturday and Sunday. We had to almost drag them away yesterday. They were so exhausted that we fell asleep soon after we got on the road. I'm the only one suffering from too much sun, and really only in places that got 'missed' by the sunscreen. I had made sure Rebecca was covered and I sat on the beach nursing her and then held her while she slept. My legs are a bit sore from the knee down, I guess I got distracted while applying the sunscreen. I told Loren that I applied sunscreen to a lot of legs, and then couldn't remember if I had finished my own. I think the lesson learned is, when in doubt, reapply.

On the way out of town Saturday morning, we dropped a meal off to my good friend's dad, while she and her mom are away visiting family. On the drive to his house we passed a field and the first thing Loren said was, "Oh, what a great Mesonet site." I laughed at him and said, "Blog fodder." You can go on a weekend away but you just can't leave work behind. He's always on the scout for the perfect site for a weather station and is currently installing one up in Sturges.

The cat is asking for food, but we are taking her to the vet at 8:00 for a little operation and food has been off limits since midnight, she keeps asking and rubbing against my (sore) legs, ouch.

challenge

This post really challenged me. Can I fast from my computer for a week? I've been so guilty lately of listening but not really listening to my children. Why is it so mportant to answer the phone and tell my children to wait? I should tell the phone to wait and spend the time with my precious children.
Off to help my daughter get the parrot out of the cage, I'm parrot and cat sitting.

Myths

I'm doing some research for a meeting tomorrow. I've been struggling with my topic and the fact it's been 7 months since I've led a meeting. One thing keeps coming up today, how so many of us will believe false truths or myths. Moms believe the nurse in the hospital who's never breastfed or her friend who was unsuccessful at breastfeeding and you have problems that are common but not normal become the norm.
Why do people feel the need to dispense information on topics they know so little about, yet why do so many of us believe those false teachers?
This applies to so many areas of our lives but about the Bible to. Words from the Bible are taken out of context and you have a new sect is forming.
Well, I'd better be off looking up a particular fact to dispel the latest breastfeeding myth I've run across.

Blessings

I've been reading a few blogs and have been humbled. There are others going through trials far greater than my tree/house struggles yet they have a positive attitude and post a list of blessings in their posts.
My thinking needs to change to more positive. I need to focus on my blessings rather than on all the things that have gone wrong since returning to Mississippi.
We are blessed with so many friends and good neighbors who have helped us. God has placed us in a network of church family and friends that arise to help and bless others when there is a need.
I am thankful that Loren arrived safely back from Arizona, and he has no more conferences until 2008. I am thankful for the 4 blessings that God has placed in our safekeeping, to nurture and bring up in the love and knowledge of God. They are sweet and loving and I am so proud of them.
From the Beverly Lewis website, something I just read and had to add.
Scripture of the Month
"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 'I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'" —John 15:4 niv
Bev's Reflection:When friends disappoint, when pastors fall, when a son or daughter abandons you—there is Jesus. He is the only Constant to cling to, when the rug of life is pulled out from under you. Your Friend and Savior longs for you to connect with Him—in praise during the good and bad days, in prayer, and in reading Scripture, which has the power to comfort, encourage, and, yes, heal.

p.s. Loren, I would really like her new book, The Parting

The Tree

This is a picture of the tree that is supposed to be coming down, see that it is marked with a blue ribbon now. The tree guy stopped by on Saturday, "to see what he was up against" were his words. He said he could be by Monday to take it down, but would only be able to haul it away on Tuesday due to a truck that broke down on Friday. Then he walked around some more and asked if he could access the tree from neighbors driveway and would I be able to get the power lines removed. Yeah, I guess the tree needs to score one more battle in leaving us without power for the day. I'm supposed to call the power company in the morning and arrange it for Tuesday. Do you think everything in the fridge and freezer will be okay with a day without power?
We picked Loren up at the airport last night, his flight was delayed in leaving Houston by 30 minutes. They waited for some mechanics who needed to fix a plane in Jackson and that flight was the last flight they could get them into Jackson that night. I'd better make sure and get all Loren's clothes done tomorrow, before the power is off, so he can be packed to head back out to a conference Wednesday.
This is a picture of the limb that knocked the power lines off the house on Monday.

tree wins another battle

Well, should I say that the tree wins another round in escaping being cut down. Humberto has delayed the scheduled removal. I prayed that all branches would remain in their proper places as the storm swept through Jackson, thankfully not much wind but a lot of rain.
We are headed to the Dr this afternoon, John has a rash all over his abdomen and started running a fever about 30 minutes before the rash appeared. It always amazes me how fast they can go from being 'a little warm' to 'burning up'. He slept in my arms for about 30 minutes and just now woke up wanting to watch a movie. It is now baby sister's turn to have mommy's attention. She's hungry.
Actually Miss. Rebecca is into rolling over. Two days ago she really started rolling over from her back to her stomach, now every time you put her down she thinks she needs to flip over. She's getting so big, and she's just so cute ;-)

Tree Update

Well, it looks like the tree may win the war, one way or another. Estimates to have it removed range from 1500.00 for partial delimbing to 3500.00. The best option is looking at 1900.00 right now. I'm making a few more calls in the morning, praying that all the limbs stay put and hoping to get rid of the tension headache so I can sleep tonight.

At War with the Tree

If I had the camera, it's in CA with my cell phone and my husband, I would take a picture of the offending branch that took the power, phone and Internet lines off the house. It didn't stop there but also took off the meter box. The cables were hanging across the street and a few people ran into them with their vehicles. It was the ones who were going to faster than the speed limit anyway. Lots of fun. I spent yesterday making phone calls from my neighbor's house across the street. I 'borrowed' electricity from my neighbor up the hill to run my refrigerator. The neighbor who fed our cats while we were gone gave me the key to her house while she ran errands so we could cool down. Everyone was so sweet and helpful, I really do have a lot of friends and blessings to be thankful for.
I heard the branch coming down, it was as if it was in slow motion. I watched as it landed directly in front of the house, 5 feet from Loren's car and *on* the wires. I noticed the power did not go out immediately and I ran to pull the main disconnect. One time I did not and it blew my air conditioner, stereo and fridge. The electrician said that was a smart move. It is just not so good that I know what to in this situation, this is the third time in 3 years. I was counting, and it has also been another 3 tree limbs that have punctured the roof. We actually just got a new roof a week ago. A few other limbs have fallen on the roof and in the yard but not caused any damage.
If we add up the electrician and roofing repair bills we could have already paid for the tree's removal. It is the last branch, I've snapped, the tree is not remaining as is. What if my children had been playing out in the front yard when the branch fell? No, I'm telling you tree, your time has come, I've made the call, there is no going back. You may have won some battles but I will win the war, bwahahahaha

Remembering the popcorn kernel in the ear...

Had a discussion with Jesse today which brought back a lot of memories. Last year he placed a popcorn kernel in his ear, because.... the T.V. was too loud! Our Dr. said that she had recently read in a journal that the suction of a vacuum helped get out foreign objects. I can smile now at the picture of holding the vacuum up to Jesse's ear praying that the kernel would come out. At the time, I was barely containing my emotions. Anger, concern, frustration, definitely not amusement.
Thankfully the kernel did come out in less than an hour, after a couple of suctioning sessions and having him lay on his side with that ear down.

Oh, What A Day!

Well, the good news is that Loren wasn't late for his flight. The bad news is he left his jump drive plugged into the hub on the home computer,... with his presentation on it.
He had my cell phone for his trip, so he couldn't reach me to get me to drive it back up to him at the airport. I got his message when I got home, 25 minutes after the flight had left. Instead of coming straight home, I took the children to the Farmer's Market, trying to distract them from missing Loren already. John was screaming, "I want Daddy!" Lots of fun.
The Blue Bell 100 years Tour was at Market, with a bouncy and free ice cream. Of course, I saw friends I hadn't seen in awhile and we chatted. Then I chatted with a few vendors as I bought free range eggs and some muscadines; A typical 'Market Experience'.
My afternoon was spent trying to figure out the fastest way to get the jump drive to California. In the end FedEx saved the day and Loren will have his presentation by 10:30am. A bit of an expensive mistake but thankfully he only presents on Wednesday.

The Hummingbirds are back!

We had been feeding the hummingbirds this spring and enjoying seeing them hover at the feeder. I got out the feeder earlier this week after seeing a little hummer at my wind chimes. By the end of the day we had a steady stream of hummers at the feeder. I'll have to refill the feeder tomorrow they've eaten so much. It brightens my day to look out at the birds at the feeders :-)
We have to take Loren to the airport at 10 am, thankfully he doesn't have a 6 am flight like usual. It'll be an interesting week.

Party of 6?

I think this was one of my posts that never made it out of my head.
We stopped at a restaurant on the drive between AZ and MS. We now have 6 in our family, children ages 7, 5, 2 and 4 months. We were charged the automatic gratuity for large parties. It wouldn't have been so bad if the service had been great but that sort of irked me since Rebecca did not even eat at the restaurant. I didn't even nurse her in the restaurant because I was uncomfortable with the stares from the four large men sitting at the next table.
Oh c'est la vie.

Feeling caught

Have you ever composed a blog in your head and then been not sure if you actually wrote it? So, if anyone can read minds, they'll know of lots of our adventures here, haha.
Cynthia finally lost another tooth, it has been loose since July in Tucson.
I can hardly believe that 3 weeks have passed since we've arrived back home in MS. Of course, strep throat in my boys, my sinus infections, dealing with insurance for the tree limb that welcomed us home! Hiring contractors for the new roof and ceiling repair have all made the time fly by.
I found out last week that a good friend in moving to Wyoming. I know that their family is in for a big adventure but it is hard to think of not having her around. Things are going to be different for sure.
We really miss our Sunday School class from Tucson and the worship services. We made some good friends in our 10 weeks in Tucson. I'm really struggling here but not sure of any direction, but then I've had sick children with strep and haven't even been back to church. I will not take my sick children to church for a couple of reasons. I do not want to spread the germs, and I don't want their weakened immune systems to pick up more germs because other parents don't keep their sick children home. That is a big pet peeve of mine.
My volunteer treasurer duties have a long to do list, I'm working through it, thankfully nothing is absolutley pressing. I do not want my volunteer work to dominate over my homeschooling and my family. It can really suck me in, maybe it is the affirmation I getr for a job well done.
I found this neat direct sales swap-trade list and have listed some of my Usborne inventory. You get credit towards other companies to go shopping with. I'm amazed how fast the books were 'grabbed'. I need to make another post office trip.
Loren is heading to CA on Saturday for a week. He didn't come home from the office last night until 2 am and actually he only left because the internet went down. He's submitting his tenure promotion application today, I'd appreciate prayer on that. It is in God's hands.
Well, I'm being summoned to kill a spider *shudder*, and a stack of dishes and laundry await.

Updates

I've been meaning to post but life just keeps interrupting, haha. The children are so excited the new school books arrived this week. I found a book shelf for 17.00 at Office Depot and am going to set that up as the school book shelves.
Our La Leche League Family Fun Day was yesterday. It was slow starting but the children had fun playing and the food was really good.

I never did post about our A&W disappointment in Ruston. For the past few years, maybe 5, we have always stopped in Ruston on our trips to Nana and Papas. Jesse has this way of rubbing his stomach and licking his lips, saying, "Oh please are we stopping for some of that yummy rootbeer." Personally, I want some of the cheese curds which I have to fight Cynthia for! Well, we had promised we'd stop on our way home from AZ and when we got to the gas station, Exit 85 in Ruston there was NO A&W restaurant, sometime in the 10 weeks since we last stopped they closed! Jesse was utterly disappointed and was almost crying. I wish I had a camera to capture Loren's jaw drop. He wondered why we weren't ordering after the potty break! I said, um it's gone.
We ended up getting the kids each a kids meal at Burger King to try and lighten the mood. We've not been doing the kids meals because it is really starting to get expensive and they don't finish all the meal plus I'm tired of the junky toys. We usually just share a couple of combos between the family.

John and I have been sick, it started on the trip and got worse the further East we came. I guess my sinuses don't like Mississippi. One of the nights on the trip we had a scary night with John, he got croupy. Loren and I took turns walking outside with him and trying to sleep sitting the van. We were very thankful the next night was much better. Rebecca has also had a diaper rash since we've come back. I'm not sure its coincidence or has something to do with my increased soy lecithin consumption for plugged ducts.
Loren, Cynthia and Jesse have gone to church, they are having a big meal with barbecue meat provided by the church with church members bringing the side dishes. I wish I was up to going but John and I are under the weather.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

We arrived home safely from Arizona to find this....

The tree decided it needed to drop another limb, this one didn't stop at the roof, it went 3 feet into the attic and punctured the ceiling of the boys room. Oh fun! At least it didn't take the power lines off the house this time.

I'll be blogging more when I come back from the fog of this cough I have plus unpacking and dealing with insurance.

Adieu Tucson

Wow, so many mixed emotions as we spend the day cleaning and packing. We are down to our last 24 hours in Tucson.
Yesterday, I had a new friend come over and our children played together. It will be so hard to leave our new friends and Sunday School class. Thankfully there is always email for communication, and I'll be back to my regular phone. I never dreamed that we'd find a church home in 10 weeks, but God is good and he meets all our needs. You become closer to people as you pray for them!

Skype has been frustrating me today, the ringer and voice mail isn't working today. It is the last day of our service and they have a big, "extend your SkypeIn number now", Umm NO, not with such difficulty in maintaining a connection, voices being distorted and echos. I guess you get what you pay for.

We will be out of pocket until the end of next week when we will be back in Mississippi. We will be starting our school year and putting things away. I will try to get some of our recent pictures organized and probably write some more about our adventures and reflections.

My La Leche League Group is holding a Family Fun Day on Aug 25, hopefully I'll get to see a lot of my friends from back home there. So drop by the Park Baptist church on Hwy 80.

Sabino Canyon Flash Flood Deaths

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/195285.php
This article about the flash flood in Sabino Creek flash flood happened the weekend of our trip into Sabino Canyon. This shakes me even more about our experiece and even more thankful for getting away from the Sabino Creek unharmed. I'm praying for the families of these two hikers.

Sabino Canyon Flash Flood

Have you ever played the game telephone, where one person starts a phrase and people whisper it to their neighbor and the last person tells what they heard? I had a version of telephone happen to me this weekend. We were in the Sabino Canyon, the upper roads were blocked due to recent flooding and the tram only went up to stop number 4. It was a nice little price drop that went with the decreased 'tram tour'. The driver let us off at stop 4 and said if it started raining we needed to get down to stop 2 because they wouldn't be able to cross any of the 'bridges'. I think it was 3 or maybe 4 bridges that we did cross and they had anywhere from 6-10 inches of water flowing over the top of them. The word bridge is used loosely, it was basically a flat road with rocks stuck on the edges to keep the tram from being pushed over the edge.

This is water at the edge of the bridge.

We noticed that there were dark clouds and it looked like it was raining up in the mountains. We figured we had 20 minutes until the next tram came through so we took off our shoes and splashed in the stream.
At one point I asked Loren if he thought the stream was higher, I said it felt a bit stronger to me. I walked to the edge to try and dry off my feet and put on my shoes while keeping Rebecca asleep in the sling. Loren walked the children downstream about 15 feet to the bridge.

I see a Park Ranger come through in a truck and talk to a gentleman at the edge of the stream, who hurried to his wife near me and told us that the ranger said a Flash Flood is coming down the mountain NOW and we need to get away NOW. I grab as many of the shoes as I can and yell at the kids to HURRY and get out of the water. Loren is calm, he said he was told it was a Flash Flood Advisory. He calmly gathers the rest of the things, but I can't wrap my mind around any other words than FLASH FLOOD. I've seen how quickly water floods streets here in the desert. We hurried down the road, I bruised my feet on the rocks and burnt them on the asphalt, only stopping when we are on high ground. We quickly stuffed our feet in shoes, and I dropped Rebecca halfway out of the sling, thankfully I managed to catch her, and amazingly she stayed asleep. We walked down the road until we saw a gathering of people at one the stops right before the next bridge. We compared stories, and everyone had 'heard' a different thing. One of the families had been waiting for 35 minutes for the tram and they are supposed to run every 20 minutes. We were just about to cross the next bridge to try and get to stop 2, before the water increased too much and we couldn't cross, when we heard a tram coming. I was very thankful to see that tram because now we were getting wet from the increasing rain. On the ride back, the tram was pushed close the the edge of the bridge and in the driver's words "The water pushed us further than I anticipated, and we just squeezed by" Oh Lovely!! That tram was the last one of the morning that went past stop 2.
I'm trying not to be overdramatic in my posting. I wanted to write. How fast would you run away from an incoming flash flood, but that would be pushing the limits of truthfulness!!

Blessing others

God touches our lives in so many different ways. We listened to a sermon on Sunday about just stopping and marvelling about the greatness of God.
The 3 points were;
1. God is God
2. We are Not,
3. Therefore do NOT put God in a box
A we wind up our summer in Tucson, I am thankful for God's blessings on us, and for meeting our needs and even some of our wants. We had not been paid since the beginning of June, the paycheck was waylaid somewhere between DC and AZ. The last week of July, it arrived just in time for us to meet our financial obligations.
I have recently started reading a blog of a great family living out their faith in the midst of trials. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ourquiverfull/369070/ many were blessed by helping them through a homeschooling resource benefit.
Today, I read about another family who is in need of a helping hand. http://www.chirotoons.com/cardwell/ Reading this will touch your heart and I would urge you to consider being a blessing to this family.

88 cents worth of fun,... sorta

Got you wondering? I don't have pictures, yet.. I'm a bit overwhelmed with the volume of pictures to sort and upload.
But, we bought a loaf of bread and went to Reid Park and fed the ducks. Shh, don't tell the ducks they didn't get the whole grain bread. The kids LOVED feeding the ducks. We plan on going back this week but the kids want to take 2 loafs, so I guess it will be 1.76 worth of fun well, sort of (plus tax and gas).

Life

We've been out enjoying life and our last couple of weeks in Tucson, there are not enough hours in the day to write about it too. Haha!
Today we went to Reid Park Zoo. The exhibits were great, we've never been so up close to the animals before. The tigers were the most active exhibit. The two males were pouncing on each other. Then one went swimming while the other came up to the glass were we were and he stood on his back legs and placed his paws on the glass right in front of us. You could have done paw to hand through the glass. We saw giraffes but missed feeding them by 5 minutes, anteaters, llamas, rhinos, and we watched the otters being fed. The polar bear was doing laps in his pool, he was a very impressive and powerful animal. Jesse wanted to see the lions, but all they were doing was sleeping. He just said his favorite part was the tigers.
John's favorite part was the train ride before hand. For 2.00 a person you get to ride the train, and it drives around the pond where all the ducks and birds are. We brought bread to feed the ducks, but by the time we finished the zoo we were hungry, HOT and sticky. Rebecca nursed and then slept in the sling for most of the zoo excursion. I was thankful I had rented a stroller and John rode in style, it was a bit of a pain because he wanted out at each exhibit.

Yesterday we had planned on going to the zoo, but it was a good thing we didn't, we would have been rained out. As we were all loaded up in the van, I noticed we needed gas. While we were getting gas I noticed the sky darkening and decided to get some groceries. We brought Loren a treat at work and I quickly checked out the U of A bookstore on the ground floor of his building. The parking meter allowed us 15 minutes. It was starting to rain so we headed for home. It is one mile and it was raining buckets by the time we got home. I was so thankful for the umbrella Loren's grandmother gave me for my birthday, but we still got drenched. Loren said that if I hadn't left when I did, I might not have got home. Less than 10 minutes after we left the street where I had been parked was flooded with 2 feet of water, and left a couple of cars stranded.
We had rain come down inside the air conditioner vent and I placed a bucket underneath. Arizona monsoon storms can be pretty extreme.

Tarantula

We saw 2 giant tarantulas crossing the road on our weekend trip!! Loren nearly hit the first one. I shudder to think about any type of spider, and the size of these was enough to give me nightmares. Sorry, no pictures of the tarantulas.

Weekend Trip

This weekend, I did get my gyro I've been craving, at a little shop across from the Tumacacori National Historic Park.
We also stopped and toured the Village of Tubac. They had an underground exhibit at Tubac where you could see chicken bones in the bricks, they guess the builders had chicken for lunch one day and just incorporated the bones into the building.
We were supposed to drive down to Nogales and walk across the border into Mexico, but we were rained out. It really poured, you can tell it is monsoon season in the desert. Many roads we crossed had dirt washed across the road and piled up at least 6-8 inches.
I missed church yesterday because my little clan is sick, including Rebecca. They have sore throats, runny noses and low fevers. I really hate it when everyone is sick. I pray tonight is better rest for everyone.

You know you're a Maritimer when..

I found this on Facebook and thought it was too funny. For those non-Martimer's. the Maritimes are the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
You know you're a maritimer when . . .
1. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting topass a tractor on the highway.
2."Vacation" means going to Moncton for the weekend.
3. You measure distance in hours.
4.You know several people who have hit a deer.
5. You often switchfrom "Heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
6. You use a down filled comforter in the summer.
7. Your Grandparents drive 100 kmthrough 13 feet of snow during ragingblizzard without flinching.
8. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
9.You install security lights on both your house and garage and goandleave both unlocked.
10. You think of the major food groups as: Meat, Fish and Tim Hortons.
11. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.
12. There are seven empty cars running in the parking lot of theCanadian Tirestore at any given time.
13. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
14. Driving is better in thewinter because the potholes are filled with snow.
15. Your lingerie consists of tube socks and flannel pajamas.
16. You knowall 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter andConstruction.
17. It takes three hours to go to the store for one item, even whenyou're in a hurry because you have to stop and talk to everybody intown.And Finally: You know you live in the Maritimes when...
18. You actually understand these jokes andforward them to all your friends from the Maritimes.

My Dad, heart update

My Dad got a call yesterday (Thursday) morning from the heart specialist telling him he had an appt today, (Friday) at 8:30am.They wanted to admit him for IV medication to reduce his fluid build up, and to run tests. Dad, of course, hates hospitals and asked if the tests would be run on the weekend, when no was the answer he opted for the new pills over the weekend and a check in on Monday. If the pills haven't worked he will be admitted Monday. He has a lot of fluid on his heart and lungs and possible blockage. If he has a blockage they said he would be sent to Saint John hospital which is about 5 hours from home in the southern part of the Province.

Vacation Bible School

Cynthia and Jesse have attended Vacation Bible School this week, there is a closing ceremony, of sorts tonight at 7:00pm. I had volunteered to help where I could, but John had other plans and didn't want a thing to do with the nursery. So, we had a fun week together. We went shopping for clothes for Cynthia. Found this cute place called Polly Wogs and got some awesome outfits for a steal! John found a Thomas Puzzle that is really neat, it is a puzzle within a puzzle. There are big pieces that fit together and then smaller pieces that fit inside the big pieces. Oh, we've put it together many times this week. I've enjoyed spending time with just my two youngest, but it was a bit harder getting out with a 2 yr old and 3 month old, imagine that, I 'like' shopping with my 4 children!
Last week was emotionally rough for me, not sure if it was thinking about turning 34, the increase in humidity or just being so exhausted from the trip to Flagstaff and thinking about the frailty of life... maybe a bit of everything. This week I'm feeling re energized, but still hot.
Loren wants to go across into Mexico tomorrow and then off to Phoenix on Sunday to visit his relatives. Think of me at the border crossing, I still get chills thinking about crossing borders, even though I have my green card and passport. Guess it's leftover fright from being denied entry and being declared an illegal alien.
We have less than a month left in Tucson, in some ways I'll be glad to get back home and see my home and my friends, but I'm really going to miss this place. Tucson has a lot of neat features, even if there isn't grass anywhere except at golf courses, Soriety houses and cemeteries. Hmmm, do those 3 things have anything else in common besides green grass? $$

Birthdays and milestones

I have added another digit to my age since I last posted. My birthday was Monday. Today is Cynthia's 7th birthday and Rebecca is 3 months old tomorrow. Where does time fly? As usual, I have had good intentions of blogging but I let myself get overwhelmed with everything. I will post more pictures if I ever manage to wade through the volume that has accumulated.
Rebecca is rolling over, she has grown 3 inches in length which means she has outgrown many of her newborn clothes. Mama isn't ready for all the milestones.
We had a good trip to Flagstaff, made pretty good time considering we didn't leave as early as we had planned and then having 4 children with potty breaks, diaper changes and having to nurse Rebecca. It was great weather to camp out in. When we stopped in at Munds Park to see Loren's Uncle and Aunt, we were shocked to hear their son had died in a house fire early that morning. Most of the family had been together for 4th of July so Loren got to see cousins he hadn't seen in 20 years, it was a very bittersweet time.
On our trip to Flagstaff we saw another of Loren's Aunt and Uncle and his Grandmother. We also went to the Grand Canyon and to Sunset Crater. Loren is really getting the itch to hike the Canyon.
Saturday night dinner with 4 children in a nursing home has created many interesting memories. John decided that lying under the table was the best place to eat his french fries.
As I type, John is putting the thread spools from my travel sewing kit on his fingers. He is really starting to miss home, has become almost inconsolable crying that he wants to go home at times. We have less than a month left, I can hardly believe it.
Cynthia and Jesse are at Vacation Bible School this week, yesterday and tomorrow are extended water days. They feed the children and let them play on inflatables and slip and slide. They have a blast. I'd better go get ready to pick them up.

Roadrunners

Yes, I know, I know, I'm procrastinating, but Rebecca fell asleep nursing on the Boppy pillow in front of the computer.... okay I'm going to pack.
But I forgot to post that we saw Road Runners, not 1 or 2 but 4 on Saturday night in different parts of the city. Very cool!

Off to Flagstaff

We have decided to leave tonight for Flagstaff. Loren worked yesterday, on Independence Day, so he could have Friday off. We plan on camping somewhere around Sedona tonight.
So, as usual, I've procrastinated and need to get everything packed and then put in the car before Loren gets off work. At least I don't have any dirty dishes piled up and all the laundry was done yesterday.
It's funny how this big adventure has settled into ordinary life here in Tucson. I think the children being sick caused me to retreat a little and after we've been sick I have a tendancy to avoid other people and especially children for fear of more germs! Illnesses last longer when they travel through more than 2 children.
Off to pack. If you see me online remind me I need to pack, haha

Happy Canada Day and Happy Independence Day

Happy Canada Day and Happy Independence Day
I trust everyone has had a good week so far. I forgot about posting, our church here in Tucson has been holding revival this week. It's been very good. Tonight is the last night. Monday night the balcony was filled with Chinese students from the University and the service was translated into Chinese. Very cool.

Haha very cool, Tucson is NOT cool these days. I'm finding it very hot and have been hibernating during the heat of the day. The forecasted high is 112 today.

Yesterday, I discovered notebooking after a good friend sent me to Homeschool eStore, we're going to have some fun with this for our homeschooling year. Now if only I had a working printer.

List of Things to Do in or near Tucson

In or near Tucson:
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (and zoo):
$9 adults
$2 kids 6+
2021 North Kinney Road
7:30 am - 5:00 pm daily
7:30 am - 10:00 pm Saturdays
special events
http://www.desertmuseum.org/

Arizona State Historical Museum
June 23: Celebrate the Solstice
$3 donation
1013 E. University Boulevard (U of A campus)
10:00 am-5:00 pm Monday-Saturday
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/

Arizona Historical Society Main Museum
$5 adults
free on 1st Saturday
249 E. 2nd St.
10:00 am - 4:00 pm Monday-Saturday
http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/

Fort Lowell
$3 adults
free on 1st Saturday
2900 N. Craycroft Rd
10:00 am-4:00 pm Wednesday-Saturday
http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/

Arizona Historical Society Downtown Museum at Wells Fargo
$3 adults
free on 1st Friday
140 N Stone Ave
10:00 am-4:00 pm Monday-Friday
http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/

Sosa-Carrillo-Fremont House
$3 adults
free on 1st Saturday
151 S. Granada Ave.
10:00 am-4:00 pm Wednesday-Saturday
http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/

Catalina State Park
$6 per vehicle
$12 camping
http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/catalina.html

Colossal Cave Mountain Park
July 7: Ha:san Bak
$5 per vehicle
$8.50 adult cave tour
$5 child 6+ cave tour
8:00 am-6:00 pm Monday-Saturday
16721 E. Old Spanish Trail
http://www.colossalcave.com/welcome.html

Reid Park Zoo
$6 adults
$2 children 2+
9:00 am-4:00 pm
1030 South Randolph Way
http://www.tucsonzoo.org

International Wildlife Museum
$7 adults
$2.50 children 4+
Monday thru Friday: 9:00am to 5:00pmSaturday and Sunday: 9:00am to 6:00pm
4800 W Gates Pass Rd
http://www.thewildlifemuseum.org/

Mission San Xavier del Bac

Pima Air and Space Museum
$11.75 adults
$8 children 7+
$5 tram tour
9:00 am-5:00 pm daily
6000 E. Valencia Rd
http://www.pimaair.org/

Sabino Canyon
$5 per vehicle
$7.50 adults tram
$3 children tram 3+
9:00 am-4:30 pm
5900 N. Sabino Canyon Road
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/forest/recreation/camping/sites/sabino.shtml
http://www.sabinocanyon.com/


Sentinel Peak (“A” Mountain)

Tohono Chul Park
$5 adults
$2 children 5+
8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily
7366 N. Paseo del Norte
http://www.tohonochulpark.org

Tucson Botanical Gardens
$5 adults
$2.50 children 6+
8:30am-4:30pm
2150 N. Alvernon Way
http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/

Tucson Children’s Museum
$5.50 adults
$3.50 children 2+
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
200 S. 6th Avenue
http://www.tucsonchildrensmuseum.org

Tucson Mountain Park
7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/places/parkpgs/tucs_mtpk/

Saguaro National Park (east and west)
$10 per vehicle
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/

Mt. Lemmon/Santa Catalina Mts.
$5 per vehicle


Surrounding area:
Kartchner Caverns State Park
http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/kartchner.html

Titan Missile
$8.50 adults
$5 children 7+
9:00 am-5:00 pm daily
1580 W. Duval Mine Rd., Sahuarita
http://www.pimaair.org

Madera Canyon/Mt. Wrightson
$5 per vehicle

South Fork of Cave Creek (Chiricahuas)
$5 per vehicle

Rucker Canyon

Ramsey Canyon

Chiricahua National Monument

Tubac Presidio

Tumacacori National Historic Site

Tombstone

Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Swift Trail

Ruby Road

Couts Trail

Cochise Stronghold

Wilcox Playa

Picacho Peak

Puerto Penasco

Delays

Not a lot of blogging going on here. We will be posting about FINALLY making it up Mt. Lemmon.
Jesse was running a 103 fever Fri night, but it came down quickly. I had been scouting out where to take him here in Tucson. He was tired and ill Saturday but had no fever by Sunday. We prayed over him and I gave him some homeopathic medicine. I brought a little stash from Jackson. Belladonna is great.
John woke is up screaming last night around 11:00, he was running about 101, we had to fight the medicine into him and he slept fitfully the rest of the night. He's not himself today and we are praying for a better night. Poor Loren got to bed about 3:00am, I am under the weather myself. This virus packs a mighty headache too.

Hot or Hotter

Hot or Hotter! Those are my water temperature choices these days. I've made the discovery that when running children's bath water to only turn on the 'cold' water tap and even then I have to let it cool down before bathing the baby. The thermometer on the back window was reading 112 yesterday afternoon, I haven't checked it today but I can feel the heat invading the living room as the older children are playing in the front yard and have left the door ajar.
It is 1:00pm and we've had a fun day so far. We left the house at 8:30am to find the map store before Loren went to the office. It was funny to discover we were looking for it on Oracle, and it was over on 1st Ave. At the map store Loren had a tough decision between all the AZ National Forest Maps, he finally decided on 2 of them. They weren't cheap that's for sure, but he got a bonus in the bargain bin, finding a map for a National Forest in Mississippi for only $1.00. I bought a Canadian Flag decal, I've been wanting one for awhile, it can go on the back of the van beside my La Leche League logo magnet.
Speaking of the van... we discovered a badly leaking tire at the map store so we headed off to get that repaired. We were over due for an oil change by 1000 miles and had also been noticing the alignment was out. God provides for even the little things! The firestone tire shop was right outside Tucson Mall and when we picked up the discounts at Customer Service from the Attractions Passport, there was a coupon for an oil change from the Firestone store.
We wandered around the mall and used another coupon at the shoe store for new shoes for the children. They've had growth spurts and have been complaining about scrunched toes. Jesse was wearing a size 10 and his feet measured 11 1/2, Cynthia was needing a size 13 1/2 and was wearing a 12. John's boots were size 7 and he needed a 8 1/2. Their feet should be much happier now!
Cynthia has been wiggling her bottom tooth and it came out this morning at the mall. I really hope the adult tooth comes in properly, she looks like she has shark's teeth right now. The bottom 2 front teeth have come up behind her baby teeth. Cynthia is talking about the tooth fairy and leaving her tooth under the pillow, but just now she wants to keep it "for a special memory".
My baby girl is 2 months old, thankfully no teeth in sight for her ;-) She is almost rolling over onto her stomach! She's so cute with her little fat rolls.
Technology is going to give me high blood pressure, I still haven't got my printer working and now Loren's work laptop has bit the dust. He just got his files retrieved from his USB drive that crashed ($100.00 later) and was going to backup his research files on the laptop with the new USB drive we just purchased, but it wouldn't boot up. Hopefully the computer guru at the University will be able to get the files back. Will the fun never end?

There has to be an easier way

Loren has written about our Saturday trip and included lots of neat photos that we took, unforunately I've not been able to get all the pictures added to blogger yet. There really has to be an easier way. The post will hopefully be up later today. Technology is not being kind to me. We bought a new printer on Friday because the one we brought with us from Mississippi died after printing 5 pages in Arizona. The computer will not recognize the new printer and I'm fed up with fooling with it, it's now Loren's turn to have his blood pressure raised. Also, my Skype phone is being quirky, it will ring but won't let me answer the call, but thankfully I can call the person back because of the caller id. I guess I shouldn't complain with an almost free service.
The children and I went to the Botanical Garden's this morning but alas I forgot the camera. Today is hot, my thermometer on the back window is reading 113 F.
Little Rebecca is 2 months old today, can you believe it! We are having company over for Dinner and of course it seems like Rebecca wants all my attention today. She is so cute though. Se's smiling and cooing at us now.
I really hope the Dinner turns out, I'm always nervous when cooking for company, guess that explains why we entertain so infrequently.
Well, off to upload a few more pictures and you should read Loren's trip update.

Chiricahua trip

Chiricahua trip (6/16/07)
Although we left Tucson a bit later than intended at 8:30, it was nice to know that I’d gotten gas at a relatively reasonable price, even though I hadn’t managed to get the National Forest maps that I wanted. On the way out of town, Nancy managed to snap a quick shot of “A Mountain”.

We managed to make it to the Little Dragoon Mountains area before an impending diaper emergency compelled us to look for a good place to get off the highway. The first inclination was to stop at the interstate rest area, until we noticed that the Amerind Foundation museum was included in our Tucson area “Attractions Passport”. We didn’t realize until already off the highway that the museum wasn’t scheduled to open for another 20 minutes or so. Anyhow, it turned out that they had a neat picnic area in the rocks (with shade!) that we could get in to while waiting for the museum opening. That was good for some kids that like climbing on rocks.

A few minutes after 10:00 we pulled into the museum parking lot to be their first visitors of the day. Although the amount of Indian artifacts that they had on display was not quite as much as I expected, there was a good variety from various regions and of impressive quality. No pictures allowed, but they did allow us to ransack, I mean browse, the souvenir shop.

Getting back on I-10, we made a stop in Wilcox for fast food before heading southeast toward the Chiricahua Mountains. Generally the area high desert ranchland with distant views of the mountains. A train crossing the Wilcox Playa about 20 miles away seemed kind of strange looking through the heat and mirages. Finally we got to Chiricahua National Monument. Nobody was waiting at the gate to look at our pass, and the views of the mountains gave little hint of the rock formations hidden within them. Our first glimpses up Bonita Canyon were near the Visitor Center, where me and the older kids went in for a quick look at all the stuff for sale (and a couple displays) and picked up a map. Driving up the canyon, it quickly started getting more interesting but there weren’t a lot of good views where we could get decent pictures. As we neared the top of the mountains we managed to get some quick shots from the road and then spent some time around Massai Point. (Surprisingly the overlook is actually named for a Chiricahua Apache leader rather than for the tribe in Africa.)

After some snacks and so forth, we walked around up to the exhibit and along part of the nature trail to get a glimpse of the rock formations. John was happy to be riding in the kid pack while the rest of us had to walk (except Rebecca of course).





Finally we drove over to the Sugarloaf lookout for a quick look so that I could drool over the trail that we didn’t have time for.

By now it was past 2:00 and we needed to get moving if we were gonna have time to go up and over the top of the Chiricahuas on the forest road. But we did manage to get some pictures coming back down through Bonita Canyon of one of the peaks and of the Organ Pipe rock formation.

We also came across some deer before leaving the park.

Going up the west side of the mountains on the forest road turned out to be pretty slow going, especially since I was conscious of bouncing around our damaged bumper (and Rebecca’s head). Most parts were decently graded, though washboarded, but there were also some steep spots and really sharp curves. Most of the way there wasn’t much opportunity for photographs and I passed up the better views in the interest of staying on the road. Finally after a long 45 minutes or so of bouncing along at about 10 mph, we reached Onion Saddle and the turnoff to continue climbing up to Rucker Park. The views to the east now were dramatic and we even managed to get some pictures through the trees. It was about 4:00 when we got to the day use area at the end of the road around 8400’ elevation. There were any distant views from right there, just nice cool air in the ponderosa pine/Douglas fir forest, and picnic tables. And of course there was a trail. If we’d had time and a map, it would have been nice to make the hike up to Frys Peak at about 9400’. But we did stretch our legs for a short distance on the trail.



After about an hour or so, it was time to head back down the mountain. I definitely wanted to make sure we got down before sunset, and gas was getting to be a concern (since somehow I failed to fill up the tank all the way before leaving Tucson). Of course, I probably got a lot better gas mileage going down since I practically never had to actually use the accelerator. Gravity took care of that. We also made a lot better time, partly because the road seemed smoother on the east side of the mountains. Along the way, we had great views, a close encounter with a bull, and saw running water in a creek for the first time since coming to Arizona.



Here’s a view looking back up to the mountain crest that we had been on top of.


Besides the occasional presence of running water, the east side of the mountains also turned out to have a very dramatic canyon that the road (now paved) follows along Cave Creek. Looking back at this eastern entrance to the area, it was easy to understand why the town just east of the National Forest boundary is called Portal. A diaper stop here proved to be a perfect photo stop.





After another half hour or so of cruising along at a quick 60 mph, we made it back to interstate at Road Forks, New Mexico. There didn’t really seem to be a town, but there was a truck stop with gas at the amazing price of $2.839 per gallon, in the middle of nowhere. God is good! By now the sun was going down and we had a solid two hours of driving back to our home in Tucson, plus a couple of stops along the way.
Although the trip wasn’t exactly what I expected, it was a good all-day adventure that was mostly enjoyed by everyone, even if they didn’t always understand why they were getting bounced around out in the middle of nowhere. Not a bad little Father’s Day weekend trip. And there seemed to be a consensus that next time we need to go camping…