Flagstaff, Arizona

Well, after a crazy couple of weeks, we are on our way to North Carolina. Yesterday, we went to a couple BBQ parties. The first was the "Not-Quite-Annual Festival of Pork" which was put on by some friends of Andy's family. The last time we had the Festival of Pork (more than a year and a half ago) I was named the "Princess of Pork". Of course it was an honor to bear the title. In relinquishing my crown, I gave a speech and we voted and named a new "Prince of Pork". I will have to post pictures later. The food was great--lots of BBQ Pork and other pork-based dishes...mmmm. As soon as it was over, Andy and I went to another BBQ. This one was a bonfire at Huntington Beach. We helped Holly celebrate her birthday and it was nice to have a beach bonfire before we left California.

Today, we went to Andy's brother's house for a pancake breakfast (Andy's specialty) where his entire family was able to get together. It was so nice to be able to say goodbye to everyone and that everyone could be there. We then rushed off to church so we could attend sacrament meeting. They announced that we would be leaving and asked Andy to bear his testimony. Right after sacrament meeting, several people came up to say goodbye and it was hard to leave. I hope our new ward is every bit as great!

We headed off on our way to our first stop: Flagstaff, Arizona. We had purchased some books on CD to listen to along the way. The first one we started listening to is about the founding fathers. I can't remember the real title. Don't tell Andy, but I think it's pretty boring. It almost makes the drive longer. I wish it had more crazy stories about the founding fathers rather than a detailed analysis of what happened. Oh well. I'm excited to listen to Stephen Colbert's "I am America; and so Can You". Very Excited.

While we were driving, mom and dad called and we mapped out our journey. I decided that dad will be our human GPS. If we ever get lost or need some historical facts about a location, we'll be calling him.

I was pleasantly surprised that when we got within about 100 miles of Flagstaff, we started seeing a lot more trees and greenery. It really looks nothing like what I thought...anyplace in Arizona would look like. We got here at about 7:15pm--right on schedule according to Andy's spreadsheet. We ate at the Cracker Barrel (where you can borrow books on CD) and we rented 2 more books on CD; the Bourne Betrayal and a Dr. Laura book. Guess which one I picked out. :-)

Hopefully we will have Internet access at the other places we stay. So far, we're doing pretty well and we're "...making great time, Jerry" (Seinfeld reference).

(I have no idea where our USB cord is for the digital camera, so we'll be posting pictures later....possibly much later.)