Almost There

Saturday we drove about the same distance as the day before. This time we went from Panguitch, Utah to Gilbert, Arizona (southeast of Phoenix). I chose to drive south on Alternate 89, which took us through Fredonia, AZ, then across the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon, through the Navajo Nation, Flagstaff, then on to Phoenix. What an amazing array of landscapes! Before crossing the Colorado River, we hit the summit at 8,000 feet, which still had a dusting of snow. Later, we were driving through deserts with red sand. We saw painted rocks and mountains, pine trees and cacti. Like almost all of our trip, it was downright chilly: 45 degrees when we left Panguitch, and in the high 60's in Flagstaff. It wasn't until we got to Phoenix that it really warmed up. In fact, here in Phoenix is the first really warm weather we've had on this whole trip. The cold just seems to follow us. Even though it got up to 95 degrees here in Phoenix today, that was still 10 degrees cooler than a couple of days ago. And it will warm up again as soon as we leave. Weird, huh?

Last night we got dinner from Panda Express, and a movie from the Redbox at Walmart and had a quiet evening in the hotel room. Today we mostly rested. I went to church at a nearby chapel, just for Sacrament meeting. I had to smile at the number of women with what we call the "bump" hairdo. But even more numerous were the men (nearly all of them under, say, 50) who used gel to scoop the front of their hair upward. Oh, yeah. The talks were nice, too. Then we got lunch at Costco (caesar salad and a polish dog) and ate it in the hotel's breakfast room. Finally -- and this is the reason we came to this area -- we went and got Melissa for dinner and a visit. Where Darin and Julea live is way out in a newly built-up area. 25 miles away, but no hotel, and only fast food. So we drove all the way back to near our hotel for a nice Italian restaurant. Then we went for a short swim at the hotel and then had to take her back home. Our car's GPS had us go way around the first time, probably because it didn't know about some of the new roads. When we took her home, I used my own instincts (with the GPS as backup) and cut our travel time in half. 

We were a bit anxious about the visit with Melissa. She really needed to get some of her frustrations off her chest. The job is tough, living with her cousin and her friend is not that easy, and so on. But Mary gave her some good advice. We wish her the best and a very successful summer!

Now we need try to relax and get ready for the last leg of our journey tomorrow. It's a 3 hour drive, or so. We're going to do some grocery shopping on the way (keeping in mind that we have to fit it in our car, with all our other stuff). Then we're going to meet my boss in the Safeway parking lot in Nogales, Arizona. I assume he'll help us with the border crossing, then accompany us to our house. I don't think I'll be going into the consulate tomorrow, but I don't know for sure. Last night, after watching the movie we rented, we spent some time on Google Maps street view, going up and down the street where we will be living, trying to guess which house might be ours, then viewing around the consulate, and locating the LDS chapel and viewing it. Kind of an interesting way to preview our future "hometown." We were told that everyone usually shops north of the border, but we noticed in our Google tour that there's a Walmart Supercenter just around the corner from the consulate (on the Mexican side). We'll check it out and may use it for basic shopping. After Honduras, we're not afraid to shop in the local version of US super stores!

Now, relax, get some sleep, and pack the car and shop in the morning. No turning back now!