Road trip 2011 – part 3

Having fun yet? We sure were! Day 6-8 (11/12-11/14) Yuma, AZ with my parents. My parents actually live in OR, but they travel to Yuma for the winters where it’s warm and sunny most of the time! They both are very active and enjoy golfing several times per week.

They took us to a couple of flea markets where we enjoyed looking at all of the items for sale. I thought the signs for the oranges were so cute! The sample orange that he gave us was pretty good, but I must not have picked the right ones, because the ones that I bought weren’t all that great.
They spoiled us immensely with fabulous steak and crab that they had caught themselves on the OR coast. YUM!!! Savannah and Hadden had never tried crab and both loved it.
On our last day visiting, they took us to Al Godones, Mexico. Boy, was that a cultural experience! Immediately after crossing the border, visitors are bombarded with people trying to tempt them into their store or to buy their items.

My Dad walking through the shops. Savannah found another horse.

The vendors are very aggressive at trying to sell items and one of their tricks is to hand you the merchandise to keep you from walking away. I had several "pure silver" bracelets in my hand at one point when one caught my eye. I really didn't need a bracelet and he wanted $30 for it. HA! I offered him $5 and we bartered back and forth, him saying a value less each time and me saying $5. I ended up buying it for $5 :)

Savannah thought she might like to try bartering, too, and she was looking for a horse pendant for a necklace. After searching for a while, she finally found a little burro that was very cute. He also wanted $30 and she offered $5. Again, the bartering started. She kept saying $5 until he agreed. She might be pretty good at this bartering stuff!


Slug-bug is a favorite game of ours. This one was exceptionally cute. With my parents in Al Godones, MX.

Street vendors – one drew us in with his spray painting art. Before long, we had bought 2 paintings as a souvenir.

Big red truck at the border. Street vendor getting prepared for the day.

Back to Yuma for some lunch at Lutes Casino. Do you recognize this Yuma criminal?

The sign in the background says “Dick and Jane’s Lunchbox” – my parents go by Dick and Jane :)
Finally, we had to say our good-byes and head to Los Angeles, CA.
A million thanks to my parents for a wonderful time!

Road trip 2011 – part 2

Day 3 (11/9) – Driving through West Texas to Las Cruces, NM. Another very long drive with flat landscape and an occasional oil pump. Very glad to see 80 mph sign! Stayed in Las Cruces, NM at Holiday Inn Express (using points).
Day 4 (11/10) –  Toured Old Town Mesilla and then stayed in Green Valley at Holiday Inn Express.

Old Town Mesilla is CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!!! I really love southwestern architecture, so we enjoyed wandering around the square. This is also where Billy the Kid was tried and hung.

Beautiful adobe structures with adorable red pepper garland. An old truck for sale.

Oldest brick building in New Mexico.

Savannah in front of one of the quirky, cultural, artsy shops. New Mexico seems abundant in artists. Quaint shops on every corner – just cute!

This was a pottery shop that John came across – the shop owner was very sweet and taught the kids a little about pottery making. We bought a bowl with red peppers in it as a keepsake.

Some exposed adobe brick.

Church in Mesilla. Had this headstone as a dedication to the unborn that are silenced.

Mountains and rock formations along the road.

Saguaro cactus were plentiful and HUGE!! Ha – we took the “scenic” drive through part of AZ. We got a good chuckle at the amount of scenic cactus that we got to see. The cactus block the view of the backdrop of mountains.

We stayed in room 111 and woke up there on 11/11/11 :) The picture on the right was taken very near 11:11 on 11/11/11
Day 5 (11/11) – Driving through Tucson, AZ over to Yuma, AZ to visit my parents. We stopped for a break and stretch and enjoyed some of the cactus skeletons.

In 2000, John made a trip out to Phoenix and Tucson to check out some rammed earth construction. Here is a before (2000), and after (2011). He looks even better now :)
These rammed earth pieces are in Tucson, AZ.

A couple of other additions, as well! Here are the kiddos with Daddy! Outside a rammed earth architect’s home.

Loved this exposed adobe brick structure.

Quaint little street with all kinds of beautiful adobe/stucco homes. Cute little old car makes it feel like time is standing still.
Next up: Yuma, AZ and Mexico with my parents

Road trip 2011 - part 1

Nov. 7th, 2011, we began a 30-day road trip west to visit my side of the family and to tour some sights. John has been working in the prison for 4 years, and We Care Program allowed him an 8-week sabbatical. We are grateful for this opportunity for him to rest and to be rejuvenated. We are continually thankful for all of you who support us through prayers, words of encouragement, sharing of your lives and financial support.

Be warned – we took a LOT of pictures. Day 1 (11/7) – driving to Dallas. Day 2 (11/8) – touring Dallas and Fort Worth.

We rented a car because we didn’t feel confident in either of our vehicles. The cost savings of better gas mileage offset the cost of the rental, so we felt that it was worth it. Our first stop was Dallas/Fort Worth, TX area where we stayed 2 nights. Driving the first day, we went through Jackson, MS, so we took a short walk at the capitol. We spent some time praying for the personhood amendment that was on the MS ballot, as the next day was election day. We drove about 11 hours and stayed in the Intercontinental Hotel north of Dallas using our accumulated hotel points. Most of our hotel stays were using redeemed hotel points, so we were able to stay for free a lot of places.

The next morning, we drove into downtown Dallas to see some of the sights. This is a new bridge under construction. We enjoyed the large sculptures of long-horn cattle in the midst of a cattle drive through Dallas.

 

This is the area where John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Notable sign on the Dallas Morning News building – I wonder how many that work in the building read and adhere to this sign. The other picture is of a tall, observation tower that you can pay to go up in. We just enjoyed it from the sidewalk.

Fun opportunity for a family picture – using the reflection of the glass :)

Visitor’s museum in Dallas. The picture on the right is the Convention Center in Los Calinas. It has a very unique architecture and use of materials. We parked there and walked to see the mustang sculptures.

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed hanging out with the mustangs. Savannah loves horses, so she sat and sketched the outlines of all of the horses.

 

On to the Stockyards in Fort Worth. It was later in the day, so there weren’t a lot of people around. We enjoyed meandering through the shops and talking to the shop owners.

We decided that a fun, inexpensive souvenir would be crushed pennies from different places. The kids had fun looking for the machines, and also crushing them  at each place they found them along our journey.

Merry Christmas 2011

May you truly know the love of Jesus this Christmas season!