There and Back and There Again

I have decided to simply start updating on Saturdays. So I'm technically not late anymore.

Now, where did I leave off last week?

Ah, that's right! The Grand Canyon!

So beautiful... And the Canyon looks nice too!

We spent the weekend there, and just when I was feeling better from my cough, I became sick again, this time with what the kids had.

However, someone must've been praying for us after my last update because the illness only lasted the one night, and the kids only puked upon my lap one final time since then--unfortunately, while waiting for the shuttle bus ride back to camp.

That was a tad embarrassing...

But we are all better now, so your prayers are appreciated!

We left late on Monday, and managed to make it to a Wal*Mart in Flagstaff. It didn't really feel much like Halloween down here in Arizona. The creepiest thing I saw all day was probably this tarantula.

From there, we continued eastward along I-40, until we saw signs for Meteor Crater. Being the tourists we are, we decided to check it out.

Admission seemed a bit pricy at first, but they had more than just a giant hole to take pictures of. They also had a gift shop that sold anything from toy space shuttles to fossilized dinosaur skulls, a small theatre which played an informational movie on Craters, an entire museum dedicated to meteors, and a Subway resturant (where you could exchange a coupon for a free cookie with purchase of a sandwhich).

And, of course, a giant hole to take pictures of.

From there we continued east and passed through the Petrified Forest National Park, which closed roughly 45 minutes after we arrived, so we only had time to make a few stops and take some pictures of the sunset.

We eventually made it to a truck stop on the edge of Arizona, where we spent the night before moving on into New Mexico.

Once in New Mexico, we headed for Albuquerque, where we dined at a Chick-fil-A (the first one we had ever been to was in Alabama, and we had a good experience, so we couldn't resist).

The boys seemed to have a good time there.

And then we headed south to a town called Truth or Consequences, which happened to be just south of Elephant Butte. We stayed the night there, and in the morning I did some much needed work on the trailer. We even installed the solar panel we bought in California, so that we could charge the battery on the go.

We then headed to Las Cruces only to find that the pass to White Sands was a bit to steep for our car to take while towing the trailer...

So we turned around and headed back north to Albuquerque.

There, we managed to cross the mountain range in the center of New Mexico, and have since headed back south.

Today, we were able to stop and see a few ruins from the days of Pueblo Missions. And have stopped for the night at a Wal*Mart near the White Sands National Monument. So, that's where we will be headed tomorrow morning.

The ruins seem like they belong somewhere in Ireland, rather than New Mexico.

And that brings you up to date, so until next week; take care, and thanks for all the prayer!