January 1-8: In one word: WOW!!

A nice sunset - Texas style.

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A nice, almost sinister-looking sunset - Ohio style.

On New Year's Eve I traveled by train to my brother's place down in Virginia. He and his family were going to be moving to Sacramento, California the following day. It was a very chilly, windy evening. That night, about an hour or two after midnight, I was feelin' a bit queasy, and decided to make my own confetti in celebration of the new year... in the bathroom. I got a 24-hour flu bug which slowed things down as far as leaving for California. My sister-in-law Kristina and the twins left for Saint Louis later in the morning on January 1st, while Josh and I remained in the apartment.

The following day, I was feeling good enough to get out so Josh and I left around 10:30 am. We passed through Cumberland, Maryland and nice little weekend getaways in the "mountains" and lots of hills and forests and other little towns until we came to Indianapolis - where we stopped for the day. The following day we drove to Saint Louis to Kristina's parents' place and had a great visit; I then took on the responsibility of driving the mini-van (YAAYY!!) and Josh drove the truck with his car in tow.

We passed signs for Cuba and Lebanon (Missouri) - and stopped in a little town called Miami, Oklahoma. We attended sacrament meeting in what was perceived as a new building for the Miami Ward, a very welcoming and humble little ward. The day before, a teenage girl had been baptized - and all the members were ecstatic about it; they bore such sweet, simple testimonies (the best). We left after sacrament meeting and drove through the rest of the state and through north-western Texas and seeing the "Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere" (that's what the sign said) and drove through Amarillo - all the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico. For almost three hours there was a semi-truck with a flashing headlight behind us. I know that another hour of it would've given me a serious seizure. :P

The largest cross in he Western Hemisphere

That's something to be proud of...

That night, at the hotel, and took a picture of our hallway - mainly because it reminded me of 'The Shining' and at the end it looked like someone or something was behind the curtain.

Spooky!

We left Monday morning with a sense of anxiety to get as far as possible into California... however, round two came, but instead of me, it hit my brother. We stopped in the beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona around 4:30 pm, so that my brother could rest and get better. Since we both had different rooms, I found myself in an interesting situation... what do I do? Well, it's safe to say, that for the next 8 hours I enjoyed the free cable and Wi-fi access. Josh luckily was feeling better enough to drive the following day, so we set out after 9 am. Once we were out of Arizona, we passed through a checkpoint to get into California. Apparently, as I soon found out, no foreign fruits (meaning not native to California) were permitted into the state. The agent asked if I had any fruit, in which I responded with saying I had an apple. He then took it, observed it, and told me to be on my way. I forgot to tell him "Thanks" for taking my lunch, but it was all good.

The beauty of Southern California.

The loneliness of the drive...

...could cause one to go mad.

I thought driving through Oklahoma was long............ holy almost. California is a looonnnggg state. The first half was nothing but desert and Rest Stops every 100+ miles, and signs for 'Road Construction' even though there weren't any workers. The signs should have instead read: "Caution: No Road Work Ahead: Left Lane Closed: Merge Right." or "No Construction: Turn On Headlights." That lasted for over 80 miles or so. But after we passed through a small town we got into the hills. At the beginning it seemed to be smog covering the hills, but as we passed over them, it turned to fog, and there was instead of brown and death - a lot of green and life!! The temperature got more temperate and we entered the ENDLESS produce fields of California. (Ahhhh!! It was great to be back!) We passed through Bakersfield, Fresno, and Modesto until we got to Sacramento at around 9:30 pm. We gained an hour during the day which meant an extra hour of driving. WAHOO!!


This is a short video... on... well, just watch it.

But the fun didn't end when we got to the house. Oh, no. It got 10x better! There is no need to go into detail, but all I can say is that it was blessing the electricity was on as well as the water - cold it may have been, it doesn't matter in the bathroom.

So, the next day, we spent unpacking and setting up the beds and cribs, and loving to see the twins ecstatic about all of the space they had to run around and make a lot of noise and throw things down the stairs into the living room. :) Kristina and her niece Angie and the boys got picked up at the airport by Josh Wednesday afternoon, and that night we all went out to the Sizzler to celebrate. I have to say that Shrimp Fettuccini is my new favorite platter!

Thursday morning I left to go home (it is safe to say that flying is a lot faster than driving). I got home around 11 or so in the evening.

It was quite an amazing adventure from start to finish. My new favorite Hotel, is the Hampton Inn. Those beds are miraculous!! My fetish for buying things in vending machines came back full-force (like 'On Demand' with cable, vending machines are 'Food On Demand'). I am so glad I got to drive out and see the diverseness of this great country and enjoy it all through the inside of a blessed mini-van (even though it was a Honda). :)