It was interesting to note in our drive from El Paso to Phoenix yesterday, the cultural shift that occurred somewhere during New Mexico. The politeness stopped, as did the friendliness and biscuits with gravy. We weren't in the south anymore, we were in the west, with bad drivers and heavy traffic and strip malls wherever you look.
During the drive across Highway 10 there were occasional signs that said "Dust Storms May Exist Next 15 Miles." We kept giggling that someone should put a sign next to it that said "BELIEVE." Very X-Files. There was a gorgeous sunset that night along with a big fat moon that lit up the desert.
As we passed the New Mexico border we had to stop at Border Patrol. I had gone through this kind of check point at other times in CA, when I had driven across country before, and knew that you were not allowed to bring any fruit or plants into the state. As we pulled up to the patrolman I rolled down the window and was about to tell him that we weren't transporting any fruit. Turns out he wanted to know if we were US citizens! Whoops. And no, sir we aren't transporting any illegal aliens either.
We arrived in Corona, CA last night and stayed at our good friend Jon's house. We got in at a decent hour so we could actually visit and have dinner with him. We were so tired I don't know that we were very good company, but we were happy to veg on his couch and watch Family Guy. He has some pictures of Olivia on his fridge from a few months ago and it was amazing to see how much she has changed.
Olivia got to sleep on a water bed, her first, and seemed to sleep sounder than usual. I wondered if it was like being back in the womb for her: "Oh, I recognize this!"
Sadie finished a bag of trail mix last night, along with some corn nuts, and the remainder of an apple bran muffin today. At least her diet has variety to it.
Twice today Brigit directed us to non-existent shops. She had recovered herself in Texas and seemed to be doing OK, but we are worried about her again. She seems to be a bit of a hothouse flower.
Today we drove to Long Beach and had lunch with our friend Rosemary. She had recently had hip replacement surgery and is unable to attend Olivia's christening this weekend as she'd hoped. She did a lovely non-denominational blessing for Olivia and gave her a sweet necklace and will certainly be with us in spirit on Sunday.
It took us 2 and 1/2 hours to get through LA with the traffic. We are finally headed to SF now and won't be getting in until very late tonight. We look forward to unpacking the car one last time for a good while.
During the drive across Highway 10 there were occasional signs that said "Dust Storms May Exist Next 15 Miles." We kept giggling that someone should put a sign next to it that said "BELIEVE." Very X-Files. There was a gorgeous sunset that night along with a big fat moon that lit up the desert.
As we passed the New Mexico border we had to stop at Border Patrol. I had gone through this kind of check point at other times in CA, when I had driven across country before, and knew that you were not allowed to bring any fruit or plants into the state. As we pulled up to the patrolman I rolled down the window and was about to tell him that we weren't transporting any fruit. Turns out he wanted to know if we were US citizens! Whoops. And no, sir we aren't transporting any illegal aliens either.
We arrived in Corona, CA last night and stayed at our good friend Jon's house. We got in at a decent hour so we could actually visit and have dinner with him. We were so tired I don't know that we were very good company, but we were happy to veg on his couch and watch Family Guy. He has some pictures of Olivia on his fridge from a few months ago and it was amazing to see how much she has changed.
Olivia got to sleep on a water bed, her first, and seemed to sleep sounder than usual. I wondered if it was like being back in the womb for her: "Oh, I recognize this!"
Sadie finished a bag of trail mix last night, along with some corn nuts, and the remainder of an apple bran muffin today. At least her diet has variety to it.
Twice today Brigit directed us to non-existent shops. She had recovered herself in Texas and seemed to be doing OK, but we are worried about her again. She seems to be a bit of a hothouse flower.
Today we drove to Long Beach and had lunch with our friend Rosemary. She had recently had hip replacement surgery and is unable to attend Olivia's christening this weekend as she'd hoped. She did a lovely non-denominational blessing for Olivia and gave her a sweet necklace and will certainly be with us in spirit on Sunday.
It took us 2 and 1/2 hours to get through LA with the traffic. We are finally headed to SF now and won't be getting in until very late tonight. We look forward to unpacking the car one last time for a good while.
Well...our family is happy you have made it out here safe and sound. We are pulling for you to find a job you just can't live without so you can't leave again :-)
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