Beginning our Road Trip 2013

Day 1 - 
Friday, Aug 23 –  Drive to Phoenix, AZ 

After having the joy of tending Madalyn for the day we were on our way for our 7000+ miles cross country trip. We drove to Phoenix and arrived at 10pm. We stayed with my sister, Jennifer and our nephews Jaren and Jake who were up waiting for us! Visited and then to bed. Thank you, Jaren for giving up your room for us.

Day 2 
Saturday, Aug 24 – Day in Phoenix
We were up about 7am. I ran 5 miles with beautiful weather and scenery. 

It was about 75 degrees and it even sprinkled a little. Joe and Jake went to Starbucks and Melissa met them there. Jake drove Joe there. He just got his permit. After we all visited at Jennifer’s house for a while we went to Wal-Mart where we showed Melissa how to do the grocery price matching. We got some good deals and fruit and vegetables. Then we went to Goodwill where it was 50% off day! I went straight for the children’s clothes. I love to buy things for Madalyn. After FaceTiming with Corinna, we got her approval on some  for great deals! I also found some books and a toy.

    Melissa had soccer practice at her school, Arizona Christian University. We met her new coach and assistant coach. We are very pleased with this change to the girls’ soccer program. Melissa has to take a break from soccer for a few weeks because she has a stress fracture in her right shin. She still gets to travel to support her team. We do pray that her shin heals quickly and thoroughly. After practice we went to dinner at The Habit. I had never been to one before. Melissa and I had a delicious Albacore tuna sandwich and sweet potato fries. Joe had a double hamburger and French fries. We sat outside and  had wonderful conversation with Melissa and then Joe noticed that The Habit has large ice cream cones for $1. Next move… ice cream cones.  Then we went back to Melissa’s apartment and visited a short time and then returned to Jennifer’s house. 

Day 3 - 
Sunday, Aug 25 -  Drove to Tucumcari, 

   Said good-bye to Jennifer, Jake and Jaren at about 7. First stop, Starbucks. Two venti coffees to go!  We were blessed with cool rainy weather today. It is 2:19 right now, 72 degrees,raining and about 1 hour east of Albuquerque. 

We stopped at the Continental Divide. This is the third location that we have past it in our years of travel. 

 






We just made our first sight-seeing stop at El Malpais National Monument located east of Albuquerque. We did our first caving. There are many caves in this park that were formed by lava. We only went through a small one, Junction Cave, but it was really fun. We were going to walk further and the El Calderon path, but it started pouring. We would love to go back and go through more caves the next time we pass through the area. They also have cairn trails. A cairn is a heap of stones set up as a landmark, monument, tombstone, etc. The trail is on lava rocks, so there are not visible trails, only cairns to guide you. We didn't hike one, but it sure sounds like fun. We stopped by the visitors’ center and were told that we were number 16 and 17 for the day. Needless to say it was a peaceful place to visit.

   




After going almost all day without eating, we were very hungry. We ate at Monroe’s, a New Mexican food restaurant near Old Town Albuquerque. The food was very good, service great and atmosphere was comfortable. We walked around Old Town a little. This is our third time there, but the first time without the Corinna and Melissa.

Old Town Albuquerque

  We are now on our way to Route 66 Historic Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico. I am excited to see what it is like. We have seen lots of rainbow this evening. The terrain is flat, it is overcast and 74 degrees.

Day 4 –

Mon, Aug 26 – drove to Sapulpa, OK

     The hotel was a wonderful experience. It was clean, quiet and comfortable and only cost $45. We hope to stay in more motels. We drove through Tucumcari, which only took a few minutes and then drove to Amarillo to get coffee at Starbucks and a big ice cream cone from Braun’s. Who says you can’t have ice cream  at 10:30am.

Our next stop was at Route 66 Cadillac Ranch.  We walked out to them and got to graffiti on one of them because someone left some spray paint. I was wondering what to write. The first thing that came to my mind was Madalyn, so I wrote Madi! What else?

We stopped off at a few Route 66 landmarks. In Shamrock, TX we stopped at the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Cafe and got a cancellation stamp from the Post Office. 

The flat Texas panhandle

Then we drove all the way to Oklahoma city. We made a quick stop off and walk through the Oklahoma capitol. It is a pretty typical capitol, but it did have some very nice architecture and murals.

Just in case you didn't know this is the Capitol, they have a sign.

We visited the Oklahoma City Bombing National Memorial. They did a wonderful job. Such a sad, tragic event.

We had dinner at Fuzzys Taco Shop, a fun Mexican restaurant in the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City which is next to the river. 

We walked around a while and then drove on to Sapulpa. We visited Mike and Karen Fanning there. They are good friends of ours that we knew in California. Mike is now a pastor of Sapulpa Bible Church. We visited until late into the night!