Our Journey to CA

Well, there is so much to be thankful for. We had a great trip over. Driving really drove home how far from home we really are. New Mexico was my favorite state for scenery with Arizona a close second. We stopped at the welcome center for each state and got the hotel coupon books to save money. That worked great until the weekend. But even then the last hotel quoted me $10 more than they charged me the next morning at check out. Oh well, maybe I heard them wrong. One thing that was interesting was the change of culture and people. In Texas we first noticed the ability to see for miles but there were no buildings in sight. That was pretty common from Texas on. We stayed in Oklahoma and Ayala said the cowboys were huge and everyone had on boots. In New Mexico we saw the casinos and indian territory. At one truck stop Ayala felt like a tall foreigner in the women's restroom. That part of the trip reminded me of Asher and it gave me a new respect for his courage in taking his family to Mexico. Just driving through the west made me feel like we had left the USA. Arizona was our sight seeing part of the trip and we dropped off the trailer at the hotel and headed for the Grand Canyon. WOW!! I won't try to describe the awe you experience when you see the handy work of our Father. We got pictures and drove the desert rim, I think it was, and stopped at all the lookouts. The last lookout had a watchtower and the stars were coming out with a close to full moon. Bummer it was dark, but hey, how many people stick around to see the stars and canyon in moonlight? Then the long drive back to the hotel, 1 1/2 hrs. We ate at a mexican restauraunt until 9 or so and then went to bed. The food was great! But we were too tired to even see Dean and Yiskah who were 10 minutes down the road. Once the canyon was seen we were ready to finish the trip. We started to see the desert then. We ate lunch at a rest stop in the desert. I looked over and saw a sign that read,"Poisonous snakes and insects inhabit this area." Well, that's all the prompt I needed. After I ate I went for a walk to explore the desert. We all walked after our meal and stopped by the facilities on our way to the truck. I noticed an RV that was leaning really bad and had a cardboard sign that read,"NEED TIRE, GOD BLESS." So Gavin and I went to find out. One of his tires was only the rim with some rubber shred hanging off. The guy looked close to homeless and the RV was pretty dirty and old. He was reading a western romance novel on the step. We chatted and I only had $1 in my pocket so we ran to the truck to see what else we had. I gave him a ten and Gavin got out his wallet to provide a five. The man said the people who maintain the rest area said they would give him a ride to get a tire when he had the money. So, with so much time spent in one place we jumped in the truck and took off. The California border was a short time later and we were excited. Then the vehicle inspection. They stop all the vehicles entering the state to find out if you have any fruit, cut wood, or outdoor furniture like a grill... We had some oranges and had to pull them out of the snack bag to confirm they were CA produce. They were, so they let us pass. Well, the desert seemed to go on and on and on and on. Then all of a sudden Ayala asked me if I got the cooler and bag after lunch. Cooler? Bag? Ooops. The new scenery and then the tire guy totally distracted me. I hope he got the food and knives, cutting board, ziplocks and cooler. Good thing for us we were down to the last of our meals in the cooler and we can replace the other things pretty easily. That put a small damper on the day, but we tried to think maybe someone needed it more than us. Maybe the tire guy will get it. The desert stretched on and gave us new meaning to the readings in Genesis. As dark fell we finally entered the mountains that divided the desert from the orchards and farmland. Bakersfield was finally in view and we stopped for the night. Ate at a burger joint accross the street and went to bed dreaming of home cooked meals. The last day was without problem just like the rest of the trip. We drove past all the orchards and vineyards and smelled all the wierd smells. Finally, we drove down 48th St and found David's house. The boys ran out at full speed and Rick and Tim were right behind them, walking that is. We met Rick's son Noah and stood outside talking for a few minutes. Rick and Tim left after a while and we all went to the park a block away. It was nice to get out of the truck and walk around. The boys played baseball and basketball. The babies enjoyed the swings. When we got home the neighbor boys were there to meet us with their new cap guns. Dinner was awesome. David returned the call of a lady that he had sent applications for a house and she wanted to know if everyone made it in town and asked if we would like to see the house. So, we set up to meet her at 10:30 a.m.

Stephen