A New Adventure Begins!!

We are finally in California!  

Rewinding to Thursday...New Mexico was freezing! We did not anticipate 48 degrees in May.  After we hit the road Thursday morning, we ran into some crazy weather (this seems to be a recurring theme in our road trips). When we stopped to get gas, we noticed that it looked stormy in the distance.  We thought we wouldn't run into any problems.  Hahaha!  John gassed up the jeep while I ran inside to get some drinks.  When I came back out... it was hailing o.O

 Thankfully it wasn't too bad so we were able to keep driving.  

Thursday was a "short" trip day... only 8 hours of driving.  Other than the hail storm, it was smooth sailing.  Cell phone signals were still pretty sparse, which meant dropped work calls and desperate attempts to accomplish as much as possible while I still had a signal.

                                                              Hannah, our navigator

  

Thursday evening we arrived in Lake Havasu, AZ. Our evening consisted of good food, great beer, and even greater company.  There was no debate when we opted to stay another evening.  Despite the fact that we have spent most days sitting in a vehicle... traveling is exhausting.  It' was also  a great opportunity for the furbabies to have some fun and not be cooped up in the car all day. 

Friday after work, I enjoyed a few hours in the pool with a bottle glass of wine. I enjoyed the time in the sun, but am definitely paying for it.  On the plus side... I arrived in California without ghostly pale skin- score!

 The drive to California was great! I enjoyed taking in the scenery and my first California sunset!

So far today we have accomplished restocking the kitchen.  This afternoon we begin house hunting by driving around with a list of homes we have found and figuring out what homes we don't want to tour later in the week.  Living out of hotel rooms is no fun and I am ready to be settled back into an actual house. Please be praying for us this week as we begin searching for our new home!

Farewell Dover!

Our time in Dover has finally come to an end!  

As fun as our time has been in Dover, I am ready to say adios!  Over the past few months we have survived every possible type of neighbor (or so it seems.)  We have had the couple that argues at 4 AM and plenty of families with kids who cry late into the night (or scream their little heads off).  There have also been the smokers,the snorers, the early birds and the late nighters. I am more than ready to settle in a home in California and cocoon myself in the amazing sound of silence (at least that is how I imagine it will be!)

Since arriving in Dover, I have learned to appreciate the simplest of household goods.   Like having a garlic press.Chunky garlic in food is no bueno. I have been longing for our blender so I can make a smoothie. You name it and I'm probably missing it right now.   I am beyond ready to have my car back!  I'm not a morning person, so I was only able to escape the TLF when John had classes that started in the afternoon. 

During our cross county trip last year I took up knitting. Knitting  been a lesson in patience and perseverance. I had to restart a hat when I was halfway through due to a stitch miscalculation. I learned that black yarn is the hardest thing to work with.  And now there are these fingerless gloves I've been working on. *sigh*  If I ever end up in the ER... it will probably be due to an accident involving  double pointed needles. Just sayin'! I can't bring myself to start the second glove and part of me is praying that wearing a single glove will magically become a fashion trend.  

John and I were able to sneak away to DC for the weekend. It was a much needed break from being stuck in a TLF studying/working.  Much to our surprise- it was the weekend for the Cherry Blossom Festival! Museums were packed, but we managed to accomplish a lot during our brief stay.  The weather was fabulous!  My body is apparently super deprived of Vitamin D.  Normally I would burn if I spent two days of trekking around DC, but I only ended up with a little sun on my shoulders. 

It disappeared within two days! :)

What's next for us?.

Another weekend getaway! :)  I haven't been to Boston since I was a kid, so I'm super pumped to go back and do some sightseeing! After Boston, we begin the nice long road trip back south to collect our furbabies! Our parents have been so gracious to watch them for us the past few months. Life hasn't been the same without our goofballs Begley and Hannah :)  I don't know how we would make it to California without Hannah providing her expert navigation skills! ;)

Our visit in the south will be brief, but I will be back at the end of May for my sister's high school graduation! (Holy cow, I can't believe that she is graduating high school! Wasn't she 5 years old yesterday??) 

I'll be blogging our road trip adventure! We are adding a trailer so the pets have more room in the jeep and this will be the ultimate test of my driving skills so be sure to check back! (Prayers are also much appreciated!)

Sweet Home Alabama (and Florida!)

It's always a good day when you are in the south! Thunderstorms, sweet tea, southern accents, and southern charm- I have definitely missed it!

We had a great time spending Christmas in Alabama!

We got to shoot air rifles on base :D It was a ton of fun! In high school I wasn't the best at archery, but air rifles... better watch your back! ;)

John spent some time with his dad and the Mills family working on his C5 plane.

 

The finished product looks awesome and John can't wait to add it to his collection! 

Then there was our time in Florida!

We kicked it off spending New Years Eve in downtown Pensacola! We had a great night of shopping, people watching, and hanging out with friends and family.

  

We also made a trip out to see the Christmas lights at Bellingrath Gardens. Poor John thought it was something we could drive around and see. Nope! Instead we had a nice romantic walk around the park.      Oh darn ;)

At one point during our walk, a kid starts walking beside us rattling on about how he wanted to go visit the north pole.  He finally asked "Can we go to the North Pole??"  I had to break to it to him that he wasn't with us, so I didn't really know.  The kid had no clue who he was walking beside.  He stopped in his tracks and goes running in the other direction! 

At this point, Hannah had been with my family for over a week.  I think she is having a rough time adjusting. She hates my guts, and I think she is experiencing sensory overload.  Too much going on and too many new animals that want to play with her.  I did cherish the times she let me hold her (even if I was having to hold her down)

 The BSC Championship game had my family yelling at the tv for hours. My loving sister (photo below) stole my phone a couple of times and made me look like an Auburn fan! >.<

 I also got to spend some time with my new cousin :)  She is so stinkin cute!  I tried to teach her how to blow raspberries.  She was starting to get it!  Unfortunately she was a little cranky my last day in Florida.  I think it may have been a poopy diaper.  I'll never know.. she got passed to grandma. Let's face it- grandma's have WAY more experience with this stuff than I ever will!

Our time down in the south flew by in the blink of an eye!  We enjoyed getting to spend time with family and  friends.  If we ever don't see you while we are in town- it's not intentional. There are just so many people to see and unfortunately the trips tend to be short.  Best part is, we are back in the Lower 48 so that means cheaper plane tickets and hopefully not being gone for over a year!

So if we missed you this trip- let's make some plans for May!