The Adventure Begins!

or "Goodbye to Goodbyes"

Last week was a long, weepy week. That was a lot of goodbyes all crammed into one small period of time, and between it being cold (yeah, yeah... not Texas cold, but nippy enough for Simi) and windy the whole time and the usual respiratory joy that is hotel living and of course all the weeping, I now have no voice. But on to the adventure!

We had a leisurely morning, since we had to drop off our house keys at the realtor's office and they didn't open till ten. Packed up the car, crammed the kids into the left over nooks and crannies, breakfasted at IHOP, and headed east around 11. And what a beautiful day for a road trip! Clean air, lovely clouds, cool temps, portable DVD player distracting the kids - gotta love it. Even the desert was beautiful today.

The kids got to see some cool stuff: the Hollywood sign, the wind farms of Palm Springs, Saguaro cactuses (it's a legit pluralization!), mesas, and here in Tempe there's a lake I don't remember from my college days that was rife with decorated boats and really quite beautiful. We got into our hotel around 6:45 p.m. PST, so we made decent time considering a rest stop, lunch stop, and gas stop.

Here's my favorite conversation from the car, as Matt tried to point out to Ben the mesas:

"Hey Ben! Look! Do you see those..."

"Cactus!"

"No, no - do you see those mountains over..."

"Cactus!"

"Yes, there are cactus! But look at the mountains! They're..."

"Sunset!"

"...flat on top. Nevermind."

And so now, after a long long day of driving, our children have sauntered calmly into our hotel room and are resting peacefully and....

Yeah, I know you're not buying it. At least they're not screaming right this very second. I doubt that will last long. Anyway, we're about a two-minute drive from ASU, so tomorrow we'll have breakfast at the IHOP Matt and I frequented on his visits out here and check out the campus a bit before heading to El Paso. I can't wait! For the kids to be asleep, I mean. But the campus visit will be cool, too. Ah, memories!

Before I sign off for the night, I'd like to state for the record that ten whole minutes have passed without a shriek or even any running. It's a miracle! Next update from El Paso tomorrow!