Day 14: Pioneer Park, Dallas

We all slept in this morning. When we finally got ready to go, it was 11:00 am. We didn't get to many places today, needless to say, but we needed the rest.

First, we went to Pioneer Park which is a small park by the Dallas Convention Center which was created to commemorate the cattle drives. It was really neat and a short stop.

Chase made friends with this guy.


It looks like Landon and Chase are driving the steer, too!


Gerren was actually with us but ran out of this picture at the last minute. Then he came back over and wanted me to take another picture. Tough luck, buddy!


This was really a neat place smack in the heart of downtown Dallas.


We attempted to visit the Age of Steam Railroad Museum, but it was $17 to get in and we only had 30-45 minutes. So we skipped this in favor of the American Girl Store at the Galleria. I had been promising this to Chase, so it was a must see. Her birthday is May 5, so we did a little shopping.

Finally, we arrived at the Mays home in Allen around 3:30pm. Our kids (who are second cousins to one another) get to play together once or twice a year, but they pick right up where they left off. They had a blast! We are definitely going to have to come back to Dallas soon and spend more time.

I just had to include this picture taken in the morning of Carys "talking" to the Taylors doggies through the door.

Day 13: Amarillo to Dallas

Today we drove from Amarillo where we spent the night to Dallas where we'll stay a few days. Before leaving Amarillo, we went to see Cadillac Ranch, a pop art phenomenon.

It was a quick but quirky stop! Here are some pictures:



As you can see, the sky looks rather ominous. We drove in and out of rain all day.




Chase pretends to spray paint the car. It is actually against the law.


We arrived in Dallas around 5:30 pm, actually in Mansfield which is south of Dallas. We are staying with our friends the Taylors. Tomorrow we'll visit with Greg's cousin, Bob, his wife Elisabeth and kids, Robbie and Morgan. Then, Friday, we'll visit with my cousin, Jennie. There is so much to do here and so little time!

Day 12: Driving Again

No pictures to post today as all we did was drive. We left Holbrook, AZ (note to self - skip this town on the next trip!) at 8:00 am to take Greg to the airport in Albuquerque, NM. He needed to be there by 12:30 for a 1:30pm flight, but we also lost an hour to time change. We were there by 12:15pm, so he made it home just fine.

We hate to see Greg go home and miss all the fun, but we also have a routine when he's not around that sometimes makes it difficult when he IS around. It's kind of like trying to have a normal school day when he's home. Nevertheless, I miss having him around to take some of the parenting load off me!

We are hoping to do a couple of things around here tomorrow before heading to Dallas. Hopefully, there will be some photo ops.

Day 11: Grand Canyon

Wow! Actually that's too trite a word to use, but it's hard to come up with anything else. I am the only one in my family who's been to the Grand Canyon before and that was 30+ years ago. I don't remember much. It was a truly awesome sight! It gave my stomach butterflies to go up to the guard rail at first. We didn't go very close with Carys.


The pictures really can't do it justice.




It was windy with a high of 52 degrees. I had on four layers!


Gerren took this picture of us from the Powell Memorial.


It's against the law to feed or even attempt to attract the animals. Everybody was doing it anyway. The squirrels seemed huge to us compared to our Florida squirrels and did not seem afraid of the people at all.


This guy was walking beside the road leading to one of the points along the Desert View road.


I won't even tell you what Greg had Chase do to take this picture!


I do not know what Landon is pointing at!


Even though it was cold, it was bright and sunny. We seem to be squinting in all these pictures!


This picture was taken at the Tusayan Ruins. Only 3% of the park has been excavated.


What a view!


This was taken from the observation deck of the Watchtower. The plaque quotes Psalm 66:4: All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name.


We taught Carys the word "canyon"; then I asked her, "Who made the canyon?" She thought a minute and said, "big truck". Good guess. Her next answer was, "Alex" (her best buddy from church). We finally have her convinced that God made the canyon!

This is another shot from the observation deck of the Watchtower.


In the words of Psalm 8: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise, because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

Days 9 and 10: Phoenix, Gilbert, Etc.

I forgot to include this picture that Landon took of Chase and Carys sleeping together on Carys' toddler Aerobed at the hotel in El Paso. Aren't they sweet when they're sleeping?


We didn't do any sightseeing in Phoenix but spent the time with our friends, Jeremy and Jamie Harper. Jeremy and Jamie were intern church planters at the Springs for a year. Then, they came to Gilbert, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix, to start the Voyage Church in July. We were privileged to fly out to help with the launch in September, but we were so busy working at that time, that we didn't get to do much else. This time, we are making up for it with much sightseeing! LOL!

When we got up Saturday morning, we found that the van had a flat tire. Thankfully, Greg was along AND I had joined AAA in preparation for this trip. They came out and put on the spare, then Greg drove it to Pep Boys to have the regular rim put on and the tire plugged. We got this all done in time to head to the Harpers for lunch. We helped Jamie stuff bulletins for the adult service and fold activity sheets for the kid service.

Gerren and Chase found time to climb a tree in the yard!




On Sunday, we went to church to help them set up, but they were pretty much done by the time we got there. They meet in the Gilbert Cinemas. Carys had a blast playing in the preschool room.


Jamie is in the middle with her two "shadows", Tori and Chase, on the left and her preschool teacher and friend, Jackie, on the right.


This is the band during worship. The worship leader is helping to fill in until their new worship leader joins them in mid-May. They did an awesome job!


After church, we headed to our favorite restaurant in Gilbert (okay, we've only been there twice -- but the food is incredible), Joe's Real BBQ. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and the time went by too quickly. We were headed out of the gorgeous 83-degree weather and up into the mountains and the cold surrounding the Grand Canyon.


Jamie is another one of my "email" friends. Even though we knew each other in real life first, it was after we helped to launch The Voyage in September that God began to knit our hearts together via email. She and Jeremy are both awesome servants of the Lord and of people and are very dear to me and to our entire family. We were SO thrilled to be able to visit with them again and HATE that almost an entire continent separates us. We are looking forward to what God is going to do through them in Gilbert, AZ!

Well, we headed to the Grand Canyon and couldn't resist taking a few pictures from the van along the way. The scenery was gorgeous!

Day 8: Driving and Daddy

No pictures to post today. We left El Paso around 10:30 am mountain time. We arrived in Phoenix, actually our hotel is in Tempe, close to 5:00 pm. Arizona does not recognize Daylight Savings Time, so right now they are on California time, 3 hours earlier than Florida. We checked in, did some laundry and grocery shopping, Carys took a nap and we headed to the airport to pick up Daddy. After an on-time arrival and a late supper, we're back at the hotel for showers and sleep!

Day 7: Carlsbad Caverns

We left San Angelo this morning and headed for Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. The entire trip took place along 2-lane state highways. Even so, the speed limit was 75 in Texas. The winds were incredibly strong, so driving was stressful! On the second to last road, I had to veer completely out of my lane to avoid a dead deer in it! Did I mention that I saw 2 dead deer within 10 minutes on the side of I-10 yesterday? I can't remember the last time I've seen even one dead deer on or along the road.

Anyway, the scenery in Carlsbad Caverns National Park was incredible! We were awestruck by the drive from the park entrance to the canyons themselves.



We took this picture from the parking lot. Unfortunately, they are remodeling the visitor's center, so there was a lot of construction debris. Everything normally in the visitor's center was in portables. Still the caverns were the main attraction, and they were beautiful.


The walk through the caverns was a challenge, however. At first Carys didn't want to walk because she was afraid. Strollers are not allowed in the caverns, so I had to carry her. Eventually, she wanted to get down and walk which was great with me! After 10 minutes of this, though, she wanted to walk without holding anyone's hand. When we wouldn't allow this, she had a nice temper tantrum. So, now I am carrying a wiggling, screaming toddler on a 1.5 mile walk through the caverns.

This is part of Fairyland. The man who first explored the caverns in 1898, Jim White, named most of these structures.


This is one of the "Three Giants". The pictures don't do these formations justice.


I had to sit down whenever I could since my walk was weighted down, so to speak!





This natural seating area was at the "Top of the Cross".


This is part of the "Rock of Ages" formation. It was massive and absolutely gorgeous!


This is the "Totem Pole" formation.


Thanks to Landon for taking many of these pictures while I wrestled a screaming toddler. By the time we got back to the top, I was exhausted! I guess Carys was, too. She slept almost all the way to our hotel in El Paso, even after she'd slept almost 2 hours between San Angelo and the caverns.

We are heading for Phoenix tomorrow morning to see our friends, the Harpers. We pick Greg up at the airport around 8:00 p.m. Yippee on both accounts!