On The Road Again

We spent the weekend of April 17th in Wisconsin celebrating our granddaughter's confirmation day.  Abbi did a great job with her faith statement, expressing what it means to her to believe in Jesus.  It was a day to celebrate Abbi, as friends and family gathered together for good food and fellowship.

It was our first time traveling since last July, so it was nice to get away.  Our favorite stop along the way is the Rural Route 1 Popcorn store.  They sell amazing Popcorn and caramel corn, but the store also sells beautiful jewerly. Cards, pictures, kitchen ware, etc.  It is a high end variety store and is always full of people when we stop there.

Our visit was short,  but it was packed full of fun with family before we headed back home to prepare for a trip to Arizona.  It was a last-minute decision to get back on the road and travel as my body was still complaining about all it went through during the months prior.   We weren't sure how it would go but we took out the suitcases, packed them up, and tucked them in the van along with the cowboy preacher's bike he loves to ride.  We took off early last Wednesday morning to drive to Arizona.   The first night we stayed at my sister and brother-in-law's townhome in Wichita.  So nice to have a place to stay where you know you don't have to check the mattresses for bed bugs that could be hiding!  Yeah......We check every hotel.

The next day we headed down through southwest Kansas,  the panhandle of Oklahoma,  and then the northern part of Texas before settling for the night in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.  I have to say the energy and atmosphere around southwest Kansas, Oklahoma Panhandle, and the northwest corner of Texas did nothing for either one of us.  It is not a route we plan to travel again.  We stopped at as Walmart to fix a time and low tire and I used the bathroom inside.  Two stalls broken, dirt, piled wastebasket, and I was out of there.  Everywhere we looked there seemed to be run-down houses, beaten up yards and and nothing cared for.  It was like people did not take any pride in where they lived.  ( Just our perception)   In one section of Texas/New Mexico there was no service for 95 miles.  No cell phone service, no gas stations, etc.  It is amazing how dependent we have become on all the conveniences of life.

The atmosphere seem to change when we enter New Mexico.  I don't know how to explain it-- it was just more positive even though the landscape look much the same until we arrived at Tucumcari, a great looking place tucked along Route 66.  Fom there we caught the Interstate to Santa Rosa for the night.  The next day we drove west to Flagstaff AZ. , before heading south to Phoenix.  It was a 6000 foot descent into the desert valley, and our brakes, which had started acting weird earlier in the trip, were challenged by the steep drop. The car vibrated and made loud noise every time Joel put on the brakes.  Not fun.  We made it to Mesa through 6 lanes of traffic during rush hour quite easily.  The Interstates here are laid out well!  Yesterday we had new brakes installed.

I am taking another blog break until we are home again and can share pictures.  For now we are enjoying the gracious hospitality of my sister Jan and brother-in- law Lanny and the beauty and warmth of Arizona.