Going Again....

Tuesday, July 2, we (Scott and Chantel, and Gary, Jena, and I) were up early and ready to hit the road again (for me)!

It took an extra trailer but they were able to get everything in and us into these vehicles.  Gary drove the van with Jena and I and Scott and Chantel drove their Excursion. Good thing that Scarlett and James were flying down to Tucson on Friday with their grandmother Berenyi because there was no room for them or their car seats.

Since we weren't traveling with the kids, we decided to try to make the trip in one day.  We anticipated with the van and trailers that the trip would take us about 14 hours or so.  It took a little bit longer than that, but we had an enjoyable drive in our van and I think Scott and Chantel enjoyed the peace and quiet in their car along with sitting after the last few weeks of preparing for the move.

Arizona has its own sense of beauty, different from the greens of western Washington, but amazing in its own way.  I love the diversity of the cacti that can be seen from along the road.  If I was a serious photographer, we would have had to stop about every 100 yards to take another picture of these amazing plants.

Scott and Chantel actually moved to Oro Valley which is a northern suburb of Tucson.  It is a planned community with trails and bike paths everywhere and lots of cacti as well.  It borders the Catalina State Park on the east so they have nice views of the local mountain (hill) range which is included in that park.

This was the view from our hotel where we stayed the first few nights in town.

We spent the next two days helping them get moved into their new house.

The front:

Down their street to the west-

Jena unwrapped lots of glasses.

It is a big change to go from a townhome to a four bedroom house with a yard (which is one of the reasons for the extra trailer as they had done some KSL shopping for furniture before they left Utah.)

As we were flying out before Scarlett and James flew into the airport, we made them this sign to welcome them to their new house.

This was the only picture from the back yard, but they also have a nice pool, spa, and an approved habitat for a desert turtle in the back corner.

We flew home on Allegiant Airlines which flies out of Ogden and offers limited schedule but cheap flights between Ogden and Mesa or Provo and Tucson. I am sure we will use them from time to time.

Quick trip but it was great to find ways to be helpful and get Scott and Chantel settled a bit in their new home.  It is a great adventure for them and they are loving it so far.  On July 4th, they even attended their first neighborhood fireworks in the cul de sac.

Here is the photo that Chantel sent after the kids arrived in their new home.

While we were gone, Jessica and Tosha sent us these pictures from their July 4th parade and day:

Niki and Cooper had to make friends with
Mowgli and Jasper when they arrived.
But this is probably the only picture
we have with both dogs looking forward.
I loved it.

Prizes from the parade

Decked out in 4th of July clothes

The photo I don't have is the one of Tosha's car which showed the big dents it got when our basketball goal fell over during a storm on July 4th and landed on her car.  It had to spend over a week in the shop getting repairs.  Thank heavens for insurance and good body shops.  This is only the 3rd time in 21 years that a storm has knocked over the basketball goal and the first time it landed on a car.  Bad luck---