ET phone home

Our trip is winding down and tomorrow we'll be driving home after this whirlwind adventure. It's been a ton of fun getting to meet family, reconnect with friends, and spend time with my sons.


Yesterday we left Roswell early, so we could make it to Flagstaff at a reasonable hour. Chandel and Nate were having us over for dinner, and we needed to make good time on the road. Fortunately, we had one more time change on our side so we gained an hour which helped out the schedule.


We considered going to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, but after reading some reviews and realizing it was on the opposite side of town as well as add about an hour to our schedule, we decided against it and hit the road. We did snap a few photos with the little green man outside our hotel though.

As we headed north up a state highway, Zach got another chance to drive. Then Joe took the wheel for a large part of I-40. I was more relaxed this time, and even took a little nap part of the way. As we drove, we listened to more of  Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games triology. It's really a great series and I highly recommend it. We are saving the last 9 chapters for our long ride home tomorrow.


Flagstaff is as beautiful as a I remember, a mountain area with lots of pine trees. We arrived in time to check into our hotel and get to Chandel & Nate's apartment for a delicious dinner. These two are a busy couple. They are in the middle of trying to move to a bigger place to give their rambunctious dog, Kona more space. They are making plans for a cruise followed by a back packing trip in the next few weeks. Despite all this and working full time, they took the time to have us over for a homemade meal of lasagna, salad, garlic bread, watermelon lemonade and lemon poppy seed bread for dessert. The food was yummy and the company was fabulous!


Chandel just graduated with her Bachelor's in the field of speech pathology and communication disorders. This is the area that I am encouraging David to consider, so it was perfect to have her fresh out of school to share some pointers. One thing I really admire about Chandel is her tenacity and determination. She has proved herself over and over as a woman who can set goals and accomplish them despite financial and personal obstacles. She has done so much independently and without the support she deserved. I'm really proud of her and so happy she has found such a great guy who loves her for who she is.

The boys enjoyed having Nate at the table, because if Chandel and I started talking about girl stuff, he was great at keeping them entertained. He and Joe talked about sports, and Nate plays bass guitar just like Zach. So it was really a lovely evening.


Today we are off to the Grand Canyon. I still remember the first time we saw it when the boys were little. Zach said, "Mommy, it looks like a painting." It will be interesting to see what they think now that they are young men.