View from the Road: Mega Trip Part One

I'm going to assume that I can't tell you about this whole trip and show you all the pictures and expect that you will read to the bottom of the page.  Too much happened.  Too much was seen.  Too many miles were driven.  That's right.  Driven.

We started our summer vacation with a road trip.  Our goal was to make it to Glacier National Park and back, seeing family and friends and as many National Parks as we could.  We expected to spend long stretches in the car and long nights in a tent.  All our expectations were met.  So where did we go?  What did we see?

Our first leg of the journey was to get across Texas.  If you have ever made the drive across Texas, by way of I-10, then you know what I'm talking about.  If you haven't, then I think you've managed to avoid a certain type of torture.  Lucky you.

Unfortunately for us, going west means crossing the majority of this fine state.  That's roughly 750 miles.  Gross.  But let's begin...

Our first day had us driving to Big Bend National Park.  If you've never been to Big Bend, you should go.  Just don't go in the summer time.  It's a desert and it's hot.  Seriously hot.

Looking at fossils and trying not to bake in the sun

The park's busy season is between November and April.  Troy and I have visited the park in January and found it to be quite pleasant.  This time was just too hot.  Luckily, there is a campsite in the mountains and the temperature drops by about 20 degrees up there.  So that's where we camped.  We had a cool night with lots of wind and stars, and very few mountain lions and bears (or so I think...).

For our second day, we got a very early start and finished our Texas part of the trip.  Our sights were set on the Saguaro National Park, so we quickly crossed New Mexico and got into Arizona.  Before we got to Tuscon, we made it to the mystical land of these tall cacti.  

But there were many other types of cacti to be seen.  

Ocotillo

Prickly Pear

Cholla

Fishhook 

Here's a close up of the fishhook cactus.  Pretty easy to see how it got its name.

I will probably sound like a broken record, but if you have never been to Saguaro National Park, you should go.  I don't know if the time of year would matter, but it was pretty hot.  Even with the rain threatening, it was still quite warm out.  I wouldn't recommend camping, though.  I'm not too sure if it ever cools down at night.  Also, the majority of camping is back country.  It requires permits and equipment.  But visiting is a definite must.  

Saguaro National Park is like another world.  A strange Sonoran world teeming with life and color.  

We got to watch the sun set.  It was sure beautiful.  

We spent the second night in a hotel.  Troy informed me that we wouldn't be camping here due to the fact that Tuscon doesn't cool down at night.  I couldn't imagine what he was talking about until we pulled into the hotel parking lot at 9 pm and it felt like it was 90 degrees outside and blowing hot, dry air in my face.  We slept fine in a nice cool room, but when we woke up at 5:30 am, it was still in the upper 80's.  After breakfast we pulled out of the parking lot at 9:30 am.  The cheery radio announcer said that it was 96 degrees and expected to get to 113 for the high.  Ummm...  No thanks.  We sure did high tail it out of there and were relieved when we got to Flagstaff.  There we finally felt some cool air and smelled the most fragrant pine trees. 

Our third day had us visiting the Grand Canyon.  

It was incredible.  Our kids were blown away at the sight of it.  It should be pretty high on everyone's list of National Parks to see.  This time around it earned a place on my bucket list, if I can even say that I have a bucket list.  Before xyz I would like to climb to the bottom and back up again.  I would also like to find Brighty down there...

Our third night on the road ended with a spontaneous trip into Navajo Nation, where we spent the night in the Painted Desert.  I was less than thrilled about this, but the kids loved it.  Turns out my kids love camping.  Pitching the tent, sleeping on the air mat, reading with a flashlight, even peeing outside (that should come as no surprise).  And I don't even mind most of those things.  What bothers me is being isolated from other people and possibly being harassed by a mountain lion or a drunken man. But I'm happy to say that we had a peaceful, uneventful night.  

Our "campsite"

I feel like this is a good place to stop for now.  There are many more things to show, but as I scroll through, I realize just how much is on this page.  Until next time!

Hiatus

It should come as no surprise that I've let this blog fall by the wayside, as of late.  I could blame it on our busy schedule with working, playing, schooling, exercising, cooking, cleaning, playing.  And that's just what I'll do.

Life has been steadily chugging along.  Annie turned 3 in January.

I joined Troy in the 30's this February.

We began (and I totally take more credit than I should for this) raising bees this spring.  This is Troy's new hobby and it's been a great learning experience for the rest of us as well.

Isaac turned 5 this May.  He will be starting kindergarten at the end of this month.  He is super stoked and asks everyday if it's time for school.

Orry turned 7 this June...  Man.  I can't believe that my life journey has included at least one kid for 7 years now.  He will be going to the second grade and I assume that he's excited to go, but he hasn't verbally expressed it yet.

We finished the school year with a good report card.  Our summer began with some trips to Louisiana and ended with a "Mega Trip" (as Troy would call it) across the country.  The summer isn't over quite yet.  There are still a couple of weeks until we start back up again.

We've had pretty good success with our backyard garden this year.  We've had a few cucumbers, lots of greens, too many tomatoes, and are still waiting on our carrots and beets.  I do believe the bees (and Troy) deserve the credit here.

We've enjoyed watching skunks and cattle birds in the early morning hours.

Summer 2013

Our memberships to the Houston Zoo and HMNS are still going strong.  The park nearby has also become a place that we frequent, often in the evenings when it's a tiny bit cooler.

I hope to keep this blog more up to date in the days, weeks, months to come.  It will be easier at first since there is much to tell about our "Mega Trip".  Hopefully our life will be bursting with excitement that I just can't contain and this will be a good outlet for that.  Until then, I hope you all have had an awesome summer!

Up, Up, and Away

Watermelon, lemonade, snowballs.

Things you love about summertime!

Oh, sorry.  That's not in the form of a question.

Summer is in full swing!  Our summer has turned out to be very different than what I imagined it being a mere 2 months ago.  But there's something about summer that is quite dependable.  And that's VBS!

This was the boys' second year doing VBS and we even got to do it twice!  The theme this year (both times, no less) was about the sky and trusting God.

The kids had a blast!  The first VBS we attended was in Houston.  I got to volunteer during this one!  It was a spectacular week!  Unfortunately, Orry didn't get to finish the week since he started running a fever. He missed the last two days and was quite sad about not knowing how it finished.

Luckily, he got to find out how it ended since my parents' church in Houma did the same VBS.  Things about it were different, for sure, but all the crucial part were the same.  What were the crucial parts, you ask?  Well, the message, for one, and the MUSIC!  Man, the kids have been digging the music.  Annie even loves the songs and she didn't even go to VBS!  Next year will be her first chance and I can tell you already that she's excited.  We adults haven't gotten too tired of listening to the songs just yet.  I admit that those songs are hundreds of times better than the ones on some of the radio stations...

So add VBS to the list of things that make us think of (and love) summer!  Can't wait until next year!!

*And some off topic info.  We are moving!  Where, you ask?  To Richmond, TX.  Troy has accepted a new position at a school in Katy, TX and we will move to be closer to the school to reduce commute-time since Orry will attend the same school.  We have our reservations about moving to another part of "town" since it means moving farther away from our church family that we love so dearly, but we are excited about all the new opportunities and commited to keeping our church in our lives!  Prayers will be needed for all of us as we start in on yet another chapter of our lives!  Thanks for reading and keeping up with us!!