The Three Musketeers in The Valley of the Sun

We made it to Phoenix! I thought that I would blog each night along the way but that's easier said than done. We set out last Tuesday and drove as long as we could. Eli was determined to drive until the rain stopped but after 6 hours of non-stop windshield wipers, we gave up and stayed at a Super 8 in Roseburg, Oregon. It was far nicer than any Super 8 I'd ever seen. We chose it for the indoor pool which made Jonah very happy. We crashed out for the night, woke up and had a terrific continental breakfast complete with waffles! Jonah and I hit the pool for a bit then we hit the freeway again. The rain had finally stopped and we were able to give the wipers a rest.

We took a path less traveled on Day 2. I can't even recall all of the Highways we took. Our objective was to get to Lake Tahoe. I do remember one particular Highway in Southern Oregon (Hwy 60 or 66) that was a seriously bad idea! It was long, steep, snowy, narrow and had very few guard rails. I asked Eli to play a CD of our friend, Matt Rehfeldt, Bach Cello Suites. It did the trick. I went from white knuckles to feeling like I was in a car commercial. We thought about turning back but stayed the course for the sake of adventure. We passed 3 cars in 2 hours and finally made it back into civilization. Once across the California state line, I never drove again. In fact, I still haven't been behind the wheel. That was 5 days ago!

Around dinner time we arrived in Reno. Tired, cramped, crabby and hungry, we tried to figure out where to stay and where to eat. We had hoped to get to Lake Tahoe that night but we were running out of steam. We drove around for about 15 minutes and I just wasn't feeling it. I pleaded with Eli to just keep going because Tahoe wasn't much further. I doubt that I will ever live this down because, as many of you know, it's A LOT further. It took us another hour to get to Tahoe and it was very cold. There was still snow up there. I didn't even have a coat so we couldn't walk around much but we did find a great Mexican Restaurant and a cheap place to stay. Jonah and I wanted an indoor pool again but Eli wanted a Jacuzzi in our room. He found one at a dump called the Vagabond Inn. I was skeptical but the room turned out to be really nice with a jacuzzi tub and a fireplace too. Eli fell in love with Lake Tahoe in the short time we were there. Thank god for that because he forgave me for costing us an extra hour of driving.

Eli and Jonah, Fremont Street, Las Vegas

On Day 3 we crossed a gorgeous section of the Sierra Nevada side mountains and drove through some beautiful little towns... and some not so beautiful. Jonah was such a great kid on this trip. He endured long days of driving with very little complaint. He played his DS, entertained himself with my Ipod, colored, painted and napped but only twice in 4 days. When we arrived in Las Vegas he was ready for some fun and so were we. We only had about 19 hours there but we made the most of it. We had dinner at The Burger Joint in The Flamingo which is where I had chosen to stay (again, based on price and pool). After dinner we walked the strip toward Treasure Island to catch the free pirate show. As soon as we spotted the ships, the show was starting and we were on the wrong of the street. The nearest cross walk was so far away, we would have missed much of the show so we watched from where we were. In the past, the pirate show was a cool gang-like rivalry between swashbucklers. The two ships shot an one another and the pirates waved swords and swung from the ropes just the way you would expect. Now the show is more like a Britney Spears video in which the white ship is full of she-pirates who lip-sync and dance the other ship to death. I'm not kidding.  Jonah liked it anyway but he would have liked the old one even better. After the Sirens sang the Pirates to death we caught a cab to Fremont Street. Jonah loved the street performers dressed as Michael Jackson, The Mad Hatter, Prince, Captain America, Yoda and of course, Darth Vader. Not one Elvis! What's up with that? Eli loves the overhead show at Fremont. I had never seen it before. This month, to my delight, it was a tribute to Queen. The lightning crashed, the screens flickered, the music blared and Freddie Mercury came back to life for about 6 minutes. On the way back to our hotel, we got a call from our friend, Ken, who was just arriving in Vegas. We all met up at Treasure Island again where Jonah got to see the Pirate show for the second time from the best seat in the house. We hugged Ken, said good night and starting walking back to The Flamingo. I heard a few people commenting about how late it was and Jonah still being out. It was only midnight. Those who know Jonah, know that he can easily stay up until 2:00 in the morning if given the chance. We all slept hard that night.

Getting up on Day 4 we were all very anxious. None of us wanted to get back in that car but we were excited to know that it was our last day of driving. We drove to Flagstaff first and met the owners of our condo to get keys. Flagstaff is really a cool little city. I'd like to go back and spend a bit more time. All in all, it was a very smooth day of driving. That is until the end. We were just about 45 minutes from Phoenix when all traffic came to a halt. After 4 days of driving without any traffic hitches we got stuck in the last hour! I've never been in a traffic jam where people actually turn off their engines, get out and start chatting with one another but that's what they did. I was in no mood to chat about it. Jonah hung out his window and made new friends with anyone who would listen. We were stuck there for about an hour. It turned out to be a semi that flipped onto it's side and slid for several hundred yards blocking both lanes. No one seemed to be hurt badly.
We arrived tired but safe at our condo. Unloaded our filthy car, looked around a little and went to bed without much celebration.
Our first full day here we did celebrate. After a trip to town for food and supplies, we made a pitcher of Raspberry Margarita and took it to the pool. We met a great family and spent the whole afternoon and evening by the pool laughing and getting to know each other. A few of the Raspberry margaritas and we were all the best of friends. Little did we know that the pool we were at wasn't even the big pool. Jonah and I ventured out again on Sunday and found that there is an incredible pool just a short walk further! He even got to partake in a birthday party that was underway for a 5 year old girl.

I thought we would be so lonesome but we keep finding people, meeting people and hearing from loved ones back home. I realize it's just Arizona and I'm not in Taiwan but the number of people who are here or are coming here is just astonishing to me. My friend Amy, who lives in New York saw my Facebook post about being in Phoenix. She texted me and said she was here too. Unfortunately, that was Raspberry Margarita night and we had both been drinking so we couldn't drive to meet each other. We just laughed at ourselves. Monday night, my friend Diane, who moved here last year came over for dinner. We had a great time and she warmed my heart. It's good to know she's here too. Three other friends will be here in the next 2 weeks and daughter Kylie is hoping to fly down on the 23rd. We also have 3 other close friends here that we haven't even had a chance to look up yet.

Our long weekend is over now and we are diligently looking for jobs but we still make it to the pool  every day. The weather is dreamy and I know it's still raining at home. For now, we've traded in our umbrellas and boots for sunblock and sandals.