We're Coming Home Part 2

4/30 Albuquerque --> Payson

5/1 Payson --> Parker

5/2 Parker --> Palm Desert

5/3 Palm Desert

5/4 Palm Desert --> Rialto --> Fallbrook

PAYSON,AZ

We left pretty early Wednesday morning, stocked up on coffee and gasoline, and spent the rest of the day driving. It's always a long haul across the 40. In Grants and Gallup there is not much of anything and those towns aren't much to look at. It's actually depressing, really. A lot of that part of the freeway runs through Indian Reservations.... It looks more like shanty towns though. We imagined this place hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The wild horses running across the painted deserts, Indians hunting and gathering as they pleased, wild animals roaming. It probably looked much more beautiful back then......now all you see are four lanes of concrete, broken fences, broken homes, and broken spirits. You just feel sad when drive through there. And you realize how destructive man can be, not only to our planet but also to each other. 

We passed by the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park and were sad we didn't have time to drive through it again. We jumped on the 77 South, then hit the AZ-377. They were two lane highways running through open fields and rolling hills. I always wonder why no body takes these routes. The speed limit isn't that much slower and the scenery is just so much better, but hey I won't complain because we enjoy the peace of the untraveled roads. After we went over a few rolling hills we started to notice more and more trees. Each foot we climbed higher they just kept multiplying. Before we knew it we were at 5000 feet in almost the exact center of Arizona in the town of Payson. They call it the "Heart of Arizona" for that reason. We couldn't argue with it's nickname either. It was a quaint little mountain town. Reminded us of home, Lake Arrowhead, but with department stores and a Walmart. I guess the roads were a little flatter too but it had the same crisp mountain air and trees with the small town feel.

The L.A. Kings had a game that night so we called ahead and found a sports bar that would play the game for us. It was Game 7 of the Sharks series and we either had to win or be eliminated from playoffs. It was a nail-biting first period at the "Buffalo Bar." We ended up getting most of the people in the bar to watch the game and cheer our boys on! In the last period we blew them away and advanced to the next round of playoffs. After thanking the owners for letting us crash at their bar for three hours to watch the game we drove a mile down the road to the Walmart and took a celebratory shot with Ian! We fell asleep with huge smiles on our faces that night!

PARKER, AZ

It's been a couple long days of driving so before we headed to the World Help Conference we needed to shower! So Thursday morning I woke up early and started the first leg of the journey to California. We only stopped in Glendale for In'N'Out Burger. It was amazing... every bite was delicious and cooked to perfection. We savored our lunch stop, changed into desert clothes (it was getting so HOT!) and headed to river oasis. We made it in time to relax by the pool and soak in that Vitamin D that I have been missing so much. We enjoyed a couple of drinks and a nice dinner then got all cleaned up for the weekend ahead.

WORLD HELP CONFERENCE, PALM DESERT, CA

I woke up at 6:30 am to start the trek out to Palm Springs. We knew it was going to get real hot real quick so we tried to get there as fast as we could! We knew we could hide out in Amber and Bryan's air conditioned room! We made it just in time to visit with Marley and Lennix before they headed to the grandparents for the rest of the weekend. 

We spent the next three days hanging out and working. While the boys worked the conference me and Ambs worked on some props for her up coming photo shoot, went to dinner and watched the hockey game, went to the pool and relaxed and went to lunch the next day. It was nice to just be with her and get a chance to catch up. I don't think we have done that for at least four years so I enjoyed the time. I also got to meet up with a friend/mentor from high school. I haven't had coffee with her for years so we ended up talking for over three hours nonstop just trying to get caught up on life. It was a blast. 

Bryan and Jordan had some breaks in between meetings so we went thrift store shopping and coffee shop hunting. One night we blasted music like high schoolers in the car until we found ourselves at the ACE hotel. We got some drinks, found a fire and explored the funky place. 

On the last night of the conference Amber and I went over to the meeting where the Children of the World choir was performing for everyone. It was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. All these kids (probably 10 and under) from all over the world were singing and dancing. I had chills from their first note and was crying by the end of it. My heart and passion for mission work was definitely re kindled. I can't wait for that opportunity to come. We helped the boys clean up and pack up all their equipment because tomorrow we would all be heading home!

It was a great weekend and we loved the opportunity to hang out with Amb and Bryan and to make a little money. We stopped by Rialto on the way back to Fallbrook to pick up the Jetta for a week. We found that we had to start work in Yellowstone on May 20th. We were bummed because it only gives us 9 days to be home and only 5 days for travel up north. We had so many dreams for our trip this year but I guess we will have to be flexible.

my handsome feeding some baby ducks before his meeting

Tired little lovers at the ACE Hotel  

We went to grab drinks with amb and bry one night!

We're Coming Home

4/26 Hot Springs --> Oklahoma City

4/27 Oklahoma City --> Amarillo

4/28 Amarillo --> Albuquerque

4/29 Albuquerque

SATURDAY 4/26/14
For some reason the air never smells sweeter than we head off on our next adventure. Even though we have lived in Destiny for over a year and a half that nervous excitement gets us every time! We definitely enjoyed our time in Arkansas and soaked up all the beauty of winter and spring. That transition was really quite amazing. From ice storms to thunderstorms to watching everything turn green. It was truly incredible.

As we pulled out of the ranch we stopped real quick to top off the fluids and check the tires and then we were off. We decided to take a new way out of Arkansas. Instead of the the normal way through Hot Springs and out to the 40W we jumped onto the 270 West from Royal almost to Mena and then took the 71 North to Fort Smith before heading to OKC. It's those little two lane highways that always get to us, with the little pop up towns in between all the farm land. We were just a day ahead of the huge tornado and the pre-storm skies illuminated the fields all across the horizon. The greens in the grass and the trees were so vibrant and alive, the tall yellow plants danced with the wind along the roadside, the streams glistened and reflected an eerie blue as if they were trying to warn us all of the storm to come. I wanted to jump out of the car and go get lost in a corn field and dance across the prairies. I know most people have these preconceived notions about Arkansas, I know I did.... but man have you ever been there? It is seriously a beautiful state. The humidity and constant storms keep it so green and there are so many trees and ponds and rivers. That's something that I think this California girl will never get used to.

I loved every minute of our drive to Fort Smith. As it got later we rushed to find a home in the OKC Walmart so we could batten down the hatches before the storm hit. We were nervous this tornado cruising by us was going to cause a horrible storm but we ended up only getting a little bit of rain. It was quite traumatizing though because we got to Walmart so late that we were too tired to put the tarp on and we hadn't tested out our new roof.  I woke up every twenty minutes jumping out of bed to make sure there was nothing leaking. To my surprise there was never a drop of water. It seemed too good to be true so I continued to wake up in pure panic throughout the whole storm.

SUNDAY 4/27/14
I spent the morning grabbing a few necessities at the store then we went over to the laundry mat to do the massive amounts of laundry I had been avoiding for a week or two. Jordan stocked up on propane and then we hit the road. We read the news as it poured in of the tornado that tore apart and demolished some the beautiful little towns we had just driven through in Arkansas. Gratefulness filled our hearts as we both knew that storm would have tore Destiny to pieces. We were once again reminded that checking the weather is extremely important when living on the road.

We only have 260 miles to go today as we are planning to spend the night in the Walmart of Amarillo. The same one that we got stuck in the blizzard in over a year ago. We needed to have a toast there to celebrate another year on the road!

Jordan is driving and I'm sitting in the passenger seat with my feet on the dash as we make our way across the Oklahoma plains. The winds are strong causing us to rock back and forth like a boat. The highway cuts through farmland that is so green you can feel the life that has been stored up all winter bursting from the earth. There is tall wispy green grass that grows right on the edge of the highway, it sways back and forth with the wind. Lone trees with crazy branches are scattered about the fields as if to break up the flatness of this state. A light brown mist is covering our horizon, the dust storm is coming. It's almost eerie because you can't see anything past the brown cloud and all these beautiful fields are about to disappear.

So I just lay my head back on the head rest and soak in all the sights from my windows and think of all the sights I've seen from this seat. Then comes a smile on my face and I think to myself......

Wow,
my house has some of the best views in the world





MONDAY 4/28/14
I don't think I like the 40 freeway anymore. It seems that just about every time we are on it something crazy happens or we run into some gnarly storm. I think I'll just call it the wind tunnel of America. Well at least the stretch from Amarillo to Albuquerque. We were white knuckle driving across the desert as we watched our gas gauge move closer and closer to empty. The wind was blowing 30-35 miles an hour straight at us with gusts over 50 mph. Mind you we only have four cylinders and no overdrive at this point (not that we could have used it anyway). With the pedal to the medal we were barely cruising at 35 mph and couldn't stay in our own lane. So even though we were anxious to see our friends in Albuquerque we had to pull over at a rest stop. At this point we walked around the motor home to see if everything was still attached and noticed that we lost part of our roof.... the part we just added to finally have a leak proof house. We also lost the plastic molding that keeps water from the seams where the motor home walls are screwed together. It was pretty discouraging but just like everything else you have to realize this is part of life on the road. There will always be setbacks! We sat at the rest stop for the next three hours. We tried to hide behind a picnic area but the wind still managed to rock us back and forth and howled as it went through the little cracks of Destiny. We tried to go outside to keep the "stir crazy" at bay... the wind nearly picked us up off the ground. I would have been able to fly if I had something to use as a parachute!

We ended up making dinner there and hoped that as the sun set the winds would die down. We were just praying we would have enough gas to get to the next gas station. Our mpg goes from 13-18 to 7-9 with the wind like that and we only have a 12 gallon tank. We definitely didn't plan for this storm!











ALBUQUERQUE
By the grace of God our gas stretched as far as it could and we found some super ghetto gas station on the side of the freeway. It was closed.... and sketchy but fortunately two of the six pumps were left on overnight and we were able to fill up!
We finally made it to Albuquerque super late but were so excited to see the Soto's! They are the incredible family that we met in Kauai 5 years ago and who we visited last year on our way home. Danny and Abby have two beautiful kids who we love to hang out with too! We spent the next two and half days catching up, playing, and just enjoying each other's company. For whatever reason hanging out with them is just so easy and natural... and just so comfortable. We laugh a lot and have some amazing conversations. They are passionate about natural living and eating healthy. We always love to soak in their knowledge and share what we have been learning. They absolutely spoiled us while we were there. They gave us our own room, hot showers and fed us like royalty! They also hosted a big family dinner with their friends and family. Abby made some amazing dishes and Danny killed it on the BBQ! I literally ate three platefuls. We had such an awesome time hanging out with everyone. The kids went to bed after dinner and we broke in their newly landscaped backyard and fire pit. It was such a bummer we had to leave after only 2 and half days because Jordan has committed to working at the World Help Conference in Palm Springs on Friday. We have a lot miles to go and only a few days to get there.
With super grateful and refreshed hearts we said our goodbyes. Even if we only get to see them once a year we love them so much and are so thankful to have them in our lives. They are by far some of the best people we know! ~'Til next year Sotos~

 

Second Video from our Trip!!!

Go check this link out to see the Second leaf of Our Trip Video!

Another awesome job by the ONE and ONLY Justin Craw! Always blown away that all these pictures and videos were taken on IPhones! So FUN!

Carlsbad Caverns Round Two

After an amazing day adventuring through White Sands we took off for Carlsbad, NM. We took the north route to avoid the Guadalupe Mountain pass but after we passed through Alamogordo we hit an unexpected mountain! Destiny handled it like a champ. Her four cylinders were working away as we climbed up a two lane road to 8600ft! In one little town up there we found snow on the ground. It made us a little uneasy, unsure of what we had just gotten ourselves into! It was about this point in the drive that we really wished we would have bought the 'Mountain Directory' that our RV friends told us about this past summer. It gives you the slope grades of just about every highway in the U.S. In an RV, I have to come to learn that it is always better to be prepared- especially when it comes to roads! Driving through unknown roads in the dark can be a little tiring as we stay extremely focused, we even add the co-pilot position! We need all the eyes that we can get on those mountain roads to watch for ice, animals, and other crazy drivers. It wouldn't just be a car accident for us (not to minimize car accidents) but we would loose our whole home too! So we try to do our best to stay aware.

Our girl is a beast though and handled that mountain with no issues and got us to Carlsbad safe and sound! The more we drive her, the more confident we become in her abilities. She's our little turtle shell, taking us place to place, keeping us warm and dry! We are pretty blessed. We celebrated our safe arrival with a toast and then had a really great discussion from our daily devotional book. After that we were off to get some rest before our big day at Carlsbad Caverns.

On Saturday morning we got a semi early start on our day. We had breakfast and coffee, then made our way to Carlsbad National Park. Jordan and I went last October but we were ready to go again and to show Justin this mystical world. 

Ready to go exploring

Me and Donnie, Justin's traveling buddy

The sun was super bright, hence my closed eyes

best buds

About to enter the cave

I assure you, they LOVE my constant group shots

Ranger Justin is ready to give us the tour

Goodbye sunlight, see you in a few hours.

14 Football fields?! This place is seriously that big...

Gumby wanted to come play too

Kind of dark but it was so awesome down there

Crazy ceiling

pretty unreal

Look at this stallion!

Love this shot

this one is pretty awesome too!

it looks like a crazy monster or something

Love the lighting in this one

I am not sure how I can describe this place any different than Jordan did last time we came (See Here). I mean the place is crazy, kind of creepy, cool, unworldly and mind blowing all at the same time. We had a lot of other visitors in the cave with us this time and I think that it kind of took the mystique away. Last time we rarely saw another human being, but besides that it was completely amazing! 

This time it took us about three hours to get through. We met up with a Ranger at some point in the Big Room and she told us about a guided tour of the lower caves. You can only go in the upper cave with general admission, the guided tour in the lower cave is $20.00 but she said it was completely worth it and there are things you will never see anywhere else. It sounds awesome and we are definitely looking forward to that next time we come through. 

After we finished admiring this crazy creation we wondered through the gift shop and then headed out to a plateau on the edge of the park and had a picnic lunch. The view is insane and we enjoyed sitting down after the three mile walk! 

Justin had to be in Dallas in two days so we have to book it out to Abilene, TX tonight. We have been using AllStays.com to get reviews on Walmart parking lots (and other camping areas) because we are realizing that although Walmart allows overnight visitors, certain cities have set ordinances to void Walmart's policy. So we have to be much more aware these days if we need a quick overnight stay! So we are off to hit the open road!

~Happy Trails~