We had so much fun making our way across the US. I was especially blown away by all the landscapes and uniqueness of every state. Every time the scenery looked like it was beginning to change, sure enough we were close to a state line. It wasn’t without it’s low points (I see you, exit I missed in the dark that added a whole hour to our trip when everyone was oh so very tired) I’m not still mad or anything, but WHO designs a highway you can’t turn around on for a whole HALF HOUR!? Desert highway designers, that’s who. But we made it to our first destination in Twentynine Palms on a balmy 105 degree night and slept the anger away :) sorta.

Turns out every place I booked was extremely remote and well, the sandy roads were hard to distinguish from the less sandy ones especially in the dark, so now I know I need to confirm a mini van can actually access such destinations. Greg will never trust me to book things again. Only ran into a few dark bushes though. You live and you learn. The other thing we learned was to make sure the cargo box is indeed shut. One of those, “I don’t think I shut it” conversations confirmed by the “Hey look! My jersey! Our towels!” conversation. Sure enough there they were tumbling away down the highway. It was all very amusing till we realized all the way in Tennessee, that we lost Greg’s new camping gear. Boooo. So now we know: shut the cargo box!

Have you been to Kitchen in the Desert? The main thing I was worried about on this trip was the animals sizzling up in the car which made dining experiences near impossible. But I saw the cutest little patio WITH MISTING MISTERS! and thought yay we don’t have to eat fast food for one meal!!! But they were sweet enough to let us bring our dog and our cat into the cool, air conditioned restaurant and it became my favorite meal of the trip. Best plantains with this cucumber deliciousness on it, best burgers, the kids had the most incredible crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside pancakes I’ve ever had with spiced pears that tasted like Christmas and I was oh so happy!! Abbie found out what incense smells like and was not a fan. It was all very desert-y and a very fun start to our trip :)

I think it is impossible for them to be near a cactus and not touch it. Yes, someone always says ouch.

It was hot. July is a fine month to travel across the country. After this, Eleanor started panting and wouldn’t drink any water, which, if you consult google says without immediate medical care, death is likely. She was the funniest little traveler and gave us several scares along the way. She started out in her carrier but clawed her way out and made it known she would be just fine riding the whole way on the center console, thank you very much. But sometimes she would fall asleep so hard we’d pick her up and her head and arms would just flop back down all limp and dead looking. My heart stopped on multiple occasions and wondered how to discreetly offload a dead cat along the way.. I’m so glad she made it though. We do love her.

Next stop was the Grand Canyon which I’ve waited my whole life to see!!!

^^Grand Canyon flowers :) I do love weird plants. Well we finally got up there and it looked a whole lot like this!

It was big and it was beautiful but if I’m being honest, slightly underwhelming.. we took some pictures and patted ourselves on the back for planning our whole trip around this misty beige canyon..

^^when you ask your kids to take a picture of you guys in front of the grand canyon.. do you see it? do you see it?

My kids and their love for dramatic pictures ;) also, curious how they chose where to put the railings..

Greg and his games he plays with the kids :) I love being the mom that just gets to watch

And then!!! AND THEN!!! We were getting ready to leave and I looked behind me and THINGS STARTED CHANGING!!!! And the sun came out and started setting and oh my goodness I could have sat there all evening watching it set and change and uggghhhh it was so beautiful!!!! It just started glowing and shifting and turning all different shades of red and purple!! My pictures do nothing to show how stunning it was but goodness, it really showed off in person :) so here are a mere one thousands snaps of probably the same thing cause I couldn’t get over it and I couldn’t pick one.

So my disappointment became total awe and I left the happiest lady. And then there was the yurt. Our big dilemma was always, do we get dinner or do we try to get to the oh so remote place before dark. We were hoping to do both on this particular evening but found ourselves lost, yet again, bumping around the remote places of the desert as the sun dipped into total darkness and no yurt was to be found. My it gets dark in these places :) again, the “roads” were hard, if not impossible to see but luckily we had a lovely gentleman wander out with his little flashlight, fall down amidst the rugged terrain, pop back up and tell us to not go any farther “because there’s a hillbilly over there with a lot of guns that you don’t wanna mess with” so we tried to follow the directions back to the road but got lost again. By this time, Abbie is wailing about being lost forever.. oh yes – it had just stormed moments before dark so there was some slipping to be had but eventually we did indeed find the road and take the correct exit (another lesson, always double check the non google directions given by the kind people offering their remote properties – ROOKIE MISTAKE!!!) This time the roads were getting bumpier, there was still no yurt in sight in the darkness that was that night, the ground was getting muddier, and we did eventually find ourselves totally and completely.. stuck. We tried all sorts of things to get out but just kept getting deeper and deeper till the bottom of our car was resting on the ground and our wheels were spinning away. Abbie got out for some reason, and sunk right in with mud fully encompassing her shoes. We must have mentioned sinking, and she started scream-praying GOD LIFT US OUT LIFT US OUT!!!! WHY ISN’T HE ANSWERING US!?!?! to which we had some lovely conversations about God not being a genie but that we know He is good and although He is fully capable of getting us out, we must accept the good plan that He chooses. The next day it came up, somehow she thought we were in quicksand and that’s why she was hyperventilating about how this was the end and we were all going to die. I just thought she was being dramatic :) poor sweet girl. All that to say, we grabbed what we needed and slipped and slided our way on foot to the yurt in the dark. And we found it, hallelujah!

Luckily it wasn’t raining and luckily it wasn’t super hot but the kids were so relieved to be inside, LOVED that they could see over the walls from their bunkbeds and hated the compost toilet. These are their thoughts from the yurt.

That night I was just praying He would help me accept whatever tomorrow looked like, cause we had an 11 hour day of driving ahead of us and waiting for a tow truck for hours and hours just felt so overwhelming. We decided to get up early and see what we could do.. maybe the mud would have magically dried? Bah! It was as stuck as ever. I really wanted my kids to see God answer their prayers but sometimes that just comes in super practical ways. Well, do you know what He did? Here, in this oh so remote desert of Arizona, one random car happens to be traveling by at 6 in the morning. He just happens to be a traveling mechanic. Happens to have all wheel drive on his tiny little vehicle. Happens to know our car really well and knows where to attach a rope on the back cause we only had a front hitch. Happens to pull over and ask us if we need help! I may have easily forgotten this whole scenario if He just quickly answered our prayers but that angel man I will never forget! And so, we continued on just 30 minutes later than we were planning. He’s really good, guys! Really, really good.

Picture entire wheel covered in such substance. Forgot to take picture :D

And then we drove through the most beautiful area! I had no idea parts of Arizona were so lush and foresty!

And then we finally made it to Shamrock, TX where again, we bumped along to our destination, being extra cautious of muddy places.. found our little place and looked into the wonderful eyes of a cow. By the way, I picked all these spots to see stars. It was cloudy the entire time. Every place we went. But the mooing of the cows in the fields brought my spirits right back up and I was so happy once more. And then there were coyotes yapping and howling (does Texas have wolves?) I don’t think so but anyways, there was a warm lovely breeze and cows and it was good. Kitty escaped but we found her rolling around in the field.

And then we were off to our last little cabin in the woods. I did read the directions this time, in which it was stated to “use four wheel drive if you have it or second gear. Get a good pace and head up. Don’t slow down. Just keep going and don’t slow down or stop.” << actual instructions. So we did and we made it and we were locked out. So we had to go back down to find cell service on a day that all of Verizon was out in the area :) But all worked out and we had a lovely time and were so glad we got there before dark!

Then we loaded up once more, this time in the pouring rain, and made our way to the new state we call home! Still can’t wrap my head around that one. But here we are just waitin to see what to do next.. in the meantime, going through one million boxes of why do we have all this stuff!? items. Enjoying warm rain and storms and more green than my little eyes can take in. He surely puts beauty everywhere and I’m so thankful we got to see so much of it!