Tucson, Arizona!

We are finally here! We are here, we are here, we are here!!! (as goes some of my favorite lines from Horton Hears a Who) The drive was long and definitely didn't go without issues, but we finally pulled into Tucson at about 5pm local time. Here is the story of the Chaos that was our trip....
We had plans to leave at 6am on Saturday, July 28th. We carefully laid reservations for Tulsa, Oklahoma which was an 11 hour drive, according to mapquest. Also, there were reservations for Truth or Consequences, NM (yes, there is such a place...) which was another 11 hour drive. Then it was supposed to be 4 hours from the hotel in NM to Tucson. Well, even the best paved roads have a few bumps here and there.
Friday, when we were all finished packing, we got some take-out mexican food and brought it home. I had a tostada that was tasting pretty darn good until all of a sudden I had a pain in one of my back teeth on the top. I thought I had gotten Tostada shell caught in there. It didn't bother me much after the fact so I just went and brushed my teeth and flossed after I finished dinner. About an hour after that, I sat down to a small bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Well, it turns out that the pain I felt at dinner was my crown cracking and when I bit into a chocolate chip, it fell apart. :o( So not what we needed. It didn't hurt too much at first but as the night continued, it became very sensitive to my breathing. So I called all the dental offices in the area that had 24 hour services and finally contacted a dentist. He said there would not be an opportunity to fix it in the middle of the night but to come into his office on Saturday morning at 8 and I could get it fixed. 2 full hours after we were supposed to be on the road...but what could I do? He had been last chance. So, Mom and Dad took kids out to breakfast and B took me to dentist. And even though we left town from the dentist office, we still didn't get on road until 1045am. Everyone had high stress levels and frustration was building. The day wasn't horrible but I would have to say it was the worst of all three. We didn't get into Tulsa until 1145pm which meant we didn't sleep until after midnight. UUGGHHH!

The kids did fairly well on the drive but A decided he DOES NOT like riding through the "middle of nowhere". He let my parents know it. For about 2 hours he went on and on and on to my mom. "Gramma, do you see any buildings? Do you see any houses? NO, you don't. That's because we are in the middle of NOWHERE! I don't like being in the middle of NOWHERE, Gramma......please can we get out of here?" That is an example of some of the things he was driving them crazy with. What a nut! He tried this tact with us through New Mexico on the second day but by then, it made NO ONE happy.

The second day went MUCH better than the first. We were all tired in the morning, but we got a good start and no major trouble was found. We decided that since we had so little driving to do on the 3rd day, we would make 2nd day shorter by 2 hours and that way everyone could relax before bed and swim in hotel swimming pool. So, we stopped in Albuquerque, NM on the 2nd night. It was AMAZING! The hills and scenery was awesome! It was actually breathtaking from there all the way to Tucson, but it was fresh and new in Albuquerque. I have to admit that by the time we pulled into town tonight, I was more interested in getting to a room and settling than I was in looking at the beautiful mountains.

Today, (3rd day) was fairly uneventful. We did have 2 children that no longer wanted to look at each other and a dog that was refusing to eat or drink, but we knew it was the last day of the torment.....so that helped with the spirits lifting. We did have a very funny moment as we crossed over into Arizona. A was complaining about how long we were going to be and B wanted to make him feel better. He mentioned that the sign we were getting ready to pass said we were entering into Arizona. So, he got the boys to yell the name as we crossed. He loved that but went silent fairly quickly once we were into the state. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke up. (By now, T and I and B were all quiet) A got this tone of revelation and shock to his voice and said "So Arizona REALLY isn't red???!!!" We almost wrecked the car we were laughing so hard. Over the last few months, as I have been house hunting on the internet, A has watched me and sort of "took part" in some of the search. We would look at the aerial views of where certain homes were and stuff. Well, from the satellite, it kind of looks like the state is red from all the areas that are rock or without grass. Apparently, A got the impression the WHOLE state of Arizona was red......it was just cute! AAAHHH, to be so young and innocent again!

We saw our new home today. It is everything we thought it would be and way more! We are so excited to get into there now! I can't wait to start decorating and getting things situated!