A Visit with our Baby Girl

They needed a break during our Costco shopping adventure.

We took a hop, skip and a jump (and six hours of driving) to visit Melissa on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. But first, we tended Madalyn in the afternoon. We walked to the park and played on the swings and slides. Madalyn is getting so good at climbing up the steps to the park and slide. We put her down the tube slide for the first time and she loved it! 

We left there and drove straight to Phoenix and got to Melissa’s about 9:30. She showed us around her clean, pretty apartment. It was our first time there. We sat around and talked for a while and then went to sleep.

Melissa had a class in the morning, so Joe and I went to Starbucks. He got a coffee and we read. I read in the Bible and Theology Of Christian Counseling by Jay Adams. Great book. After she was done with her class, we all went to Costco. She spent most of her food allowance there plus got some additional things; socks and calcium. We had a fun time looking at everything and laughing a lot. 

We took the food to her apartment and then went out for lunch to Chino Bandido. It is a Chinese Mexican Restaurant. It is a triple D restaurant. When you walk in, there is a lady who will give you samples of the favorite items. The food was very tasty, but not so healthy. We had a nice time.

 Then we went to the NutriShop in Paradise Valley where Melissa works. We met the very nice owner and bought some products. Then we headed back to her apartment for a bit until she had to go work a promo for NutriShop. We went with her and had coffee and read at Starbucks while waited for her. After that we went to see a movie. She got us all three free tickets from her school to see God Is Not Dead. It is an excellent movie about a young man who is persecuted because of his faith at a University. He accepts the challenge to prove that God is not dead. It is a wonderful story of how God works through people and in people to fulfill His purposes. 

We got back to Melissa’s apartment and started watching the movie Gravity, but we were all tired, so we didn’t finish it. 

On Friday, Melissa went to the airport to pick up her best friend,Abbie Bennett, who came to visit Melissa. We met them at Lux coffee shop. We sat outside a visited. From there, Joe and I hiked Shaw Butte Trial.

The weather was beautiful; about 73 degrees. It was only 4 miles. Melissa and Abbie went to volunteer at a church for a few hours. We met them back at her apartment and then Joe and I  went to Jennifer’s home. When we got there Jake, Jaren, and my mom were there. Jennifer brought home pizza for dinner, and we all visited until Jake’s basketball game at 9pm. We had a fun time at Jake’s game at the YMCA. It was less then an hour. We all went to bed shortly after we got home.

Melissa and my mom.

Jake is the one with the ball 

Saturday morning Joe and I picked up Melissa and Abby to go hiking at Camelback; the Jolla trial. It was a climb! There were a lot of people too. It was 4 1/2 miles and 2:15 min. We had a great pace thanks to Abby and Melissa. 

After that we drove to Old Town Scottsdale and had an banana split at the Sugar Bowl. The creator of the comic Family Circus lived not far from there and included the Sugar Bowl in many of his cartoons. 

Having fun with these sweet girls at the Sugar Bowl

I think this was our first time sharing a banana split!

Still on the go…..Joe and I went to Jaren’s basketball game at the YMCA. That was the first time that we have seen him play. He did great. I forgot to take a picture. We went back to Jennifer’s place and visited. When Melissa and Abbie came over, we had a yummy taco dinner. Later on that night we all played Phase 10 card game and then went to bed.

Sunday morning Joe and I picked up Melissa and Abby and we went to church at Harvest Bible North Phoenix. It is a great church. Then we went to lunch at The Habit and met Melissa’s friend Bethany there. We had good food and conversation! We drove the girls back to Melissa’s apartment and then headed home. We are so thankful for the time we had with Melissa. I am so proud of the decisions that she is making and her desire to please God and serve Him!

On Our Way Home!

Day 31 -
Sunday, Sept 22 - Clouds and some rain from Tacoma to Medford, OR

We left Tacoma about 9am. Our first stop was...coffee! Joe tried the coffee house called Batdorf & Bronson. It failed the test! Since I am not as particular as he is, I took that cup of coffee and Joe got his Starbucks! We were both happy.

Washington State Capitol Building

We stopped at the Woodburn Outlet Stores. We have stopped there many time before. I found some nice shirts and jacket for running and hiking in cool weather. It was raining quite a bit. We didn't stay long.

Found some deals

Rain!

The rain cleared away!

Beautiful Oregon!

We spent the night in a nice Hilton in Medford, Oregon. We checked in about 6pm, so we were able to enjoy the room. It was a one room suite! It was the nicest room that we stayed in. It was a great way to end our trip. While I got caught up writing and going through the photos, Joe went out to get us some dinner. We had a relaxing evening.

Our lovely suite!

Day 32 –

Monday, Sept 23 – Last day on the road. Home again home again jiggity jig

 We got up early and had a good continental breakfast at the hotel. We drove a short ways and stopped at a coffee house in Ashland. Ashland is a small town just north of the Oregon/CA border. It is known for their Shakespeare Festival. Joe said that his coffee was the best cup of coffee that he has had on the trip. Again, a great way to end our trip. We shared a couple of muffins and I enjoyed my cup of tea.

 I was cool outside but the clouds were beginning to clear. The landscape was beautiful. 

We drove south on the 5 Freeway to the 89 and started heading southeast. We stopped in the town of McCloud. This is our fourth stop in McCloud. McCloud is my maiden name, so it is fun to go there. There is a candy store that we used to always take the girls to. We went again this time and bought some candy for ourselves. I also bought a shirt that says McCloud on it. We walked around their little main street and got a Post Office cancellation stamp. The air was crisp and the sun was warm. So nice.

McCloud Candy Store

 We continued to drive southeast on the 89 to the 44. We drove past beautiful Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen. The landscape continued to be beautiful for many miles. 

Mt. Shasta

We didn’t stop for lunch until we got to Reno, NV. We found a restaurant on Yelp; the same way we found many of the restaurants that we ate at on this trip. The restaurant was Zpie. We had gourmet pot pies. I had a southwestern one and Joe had a beef one. They were delicious. Part of the profit in the company goes to a home to help kids that have aged out of the foster care system and need help with life and carrier skills. We were impressed at how clean Reno was.

 We drove on to Carson City and visited the state capitol building. It looked like one the oldest capitols that we have been in and definitely one of the smallest. There wasn’t even any security when we went in, but it was very nice.

Nevada Capitol Building

  We drove on from there looking for ice cream. I regret to say that we never found any. We reentered California and started our southwest trek home on the 295. The landscape changed as we drove. It was the prettiest when we got close to Yosemite. As Joe drove, we just enjoyed the landscape, listened to Family Life programs and ate snacks that we had in the car. We bought some kettle corn way back at the popcorn festival in Beavercreek, OH and finally finished it. I must say, it was a BIG bag.

  We stopped for Starbucks in Bishop and I got my second pumpkin spice latte on the trip and Joe got a coffee. We only had three more hours to go. We arrived home about 11pm and were greeted by our 2 dogs, Abby and Lance and Spice our wonderful cat. We were so thankful to be home. We were so blessed by God on this entire trip!