Days 8 & 9

Day 8 (Monday)

Henderson, NV to Winchester, CA

268 miles

So, on Monday we left Nevada for California. Had a great time with family and friends while I was there, but it was time to get going. Luckily, that drive is only about 4-4.5 hours...so it went by quick. Our house is still in Escrow, so we aren't able to move in yet, so in the meantime, we are staying with Ryan's sister, Nicole and her husband.

They just bought their house and moved in a month or two ago and are nice enough to let us stay with them, not to mention our traveling zoo. So, we get settled in and hang for the night and get ready for the next day when we are to go check out our house again.

Day 9 (Tuesday)

That day we drove the hour down to San Diego, met up with our realtor and went over to the house. I still love it, so that's good. There is a lot of cleaning and painting to do, which I wish I could just start now. But, we found out they want to close by May 15, so that would be awesome, because that's only about 2 weeks away.

I really can't wait to be in my own house. I love it so much and everytime we visit and have to leave it makes me sad, I just wanna stay there. Hopefully this time goes by fast...

Day 7

So, on Sunday our morning started with heading off to church with the family. Once service was over, we all headed over to McDonald's for lunch. That was yummy as usual, and we went to one that I haven't been to in FOREVER. While at lunch dad asks me what we are gonna do today. We thought about City Center, but as we were leaving, Ryan suggested we all (me, him and Cindi) go get tattoos. I really didn't think Cindi would get one, but after some research for what shop we wanted to go to, we left to go get them.

Cindi was nervous the whole car ride there. But, once we got there, she seemed totally fine. So me and her are first, as Ryan goes back and forth with the camera. I got Picasso's "Dove of Peace" on my left rib cage. Yeah, it hurt. But definitely not as bad as I was expecting it to. Cindi said hers tickled in spots, what a weirdo. Then, when we were finished, it was Ryan's turn. He got a swallow, a traditional Navy tattoo, on his inner right bicep. That hurt him a bit. The guy that tattooed me and Ryan was awesome. His name is TJ and he works at Bad Apple, I definitely recommend him.

So, after all that excitement, we went back to dad's house and hung for a few hours before meeting up with Amber and Kenny. We checked out City Center a little bit. Man, that place is awesome. Then, we went to dinner at a really cool Irish place by the Orleans. It was great to catch up with my oldest friend. Today was definitely a good day.

Day 6

So, we are just hanging out with the family in good ol' Henderson. Today started with a trip to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch...man I love that place. Then me and Ryan decided we didn't pack enough clothes (well, we kinda did...but we get bored easily), so we hit up the Galleria and went shopping. That always makes me happy.

After that it was time to visit an old friend...Mr. Drew Bennett. It has been years since we've actually hung out, so it was great to see him. He had to work all day, so we visited him at Casey's Cameras, which is just an extra bonus.

After that we went back to my dad's house and hung out for a little bit with the family before getting ready for dinner. After we were all ready; me, Cindi (sister) and Ryan went to pick up my brother Chris for dinner at Chapalas, which is a really yummy Mexican restaurant.

After dinner we all headed back to dad's house to watch some crime shows. All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow (Sunday) more family time and dinner with the bestie, Amber.

Day 5

Rio Rancho, NM to Henderson, NV

564 miles

So today we left my grandparent's house and headed on the road for my dad's house. I was so excited to get today started because I absolutely love Nevada and I have missed it a lot!

We went through so many different types of weather and temperatures today. We were in the high desert, so it looked warm, but it was about 50 degrees most of the way through New Mexico and into Arizona. We haven't done too much sight seeing on this trip, other than in New Mexico, so I thought it would be a good idea to stop at the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert in Arizona. Turns out it is National Park Week, so it was completely free to get into, which was an added bonus. I believe where we were was about 6,000 feet up, so it was a bit chilly, but definitely worth it to get out of the car and take in the view of the mountains of the Painted Desert.

After that, we had a lot more desert to look forward to. Most of Arizona is pretty boring. Except for Flagstaff...we were in the mountains and it started to snow. Not much though, it was the equivalent of a drizzle. But that was my first time ever driving in snow and it was in Arizona of all places.

Next stop on this leg of the journey was crossing the Hoover Dam. I had no idea there would be so much slow moving traffic. But it took us about 45 minutes to go about 10 or so miles. Kind of annoying, but good for taking pictures. Then finally we were moving again and it was only about 20 minutes to my dad's house. I was so excited when we finally got there that I ran to the door. It is so awesome to be home.

We'll be here for the weekend, then Monday we leave for California.

Day 4

Rio Rancho, NM

Hanging out with my grandparents.

Today started off by going to a really yummy Mexican restaurant. Then we headed of to
Sandia Crest, which is an overlook on a mountain. Rio Rancho sits at about 5,300 feet, and this mountain was a little over 10,600 feet, so we knew it would be cold, we just didn't know how cold. It was 57 when we started out at the bottom, by the time we got to the top it was 26 degrees and snowing. And it was snowing pretty good. The unfortunate thing about the snow was we didn't get to see the awesome view. Ryan did, however, throw a few snowballs at me. It was still pretty cool.

After that, we went to a strange little place call the TinkerTown Museum. It is apparently world famous. It has a bunch of scenes with small dolls and toys and some of them you could animate by pushing a button. My favorite was the circus scene. All of the walls there were made of cement and glass bottles, that was kind of awesome.

So, for dinner we went to Cracker Barrel, which I didn't know existed on the west coast. Then grandpa drove us around to the different properties to look at the farm animals. We saw goats, water buffalo and camels. Two things I never thought I would see in New Mexico: snow and camels.

Tomorrow we are headed to my hometown: Henderson, NV. Sooo excited!

Day 3

Wichita Falls, TX to Rio Rancho, NM

521 miles

Today was the best day, as far as driving goes. The drive through Texas was nice, just a lot of farm land. But I enjoy cows, so that works out for me. Only thing I didn't like was we drove passed a factory farm. All those poor cows were crammed into a tiny bit of space with metal gates surrounding them. It was sad and it smelled bad.

Today was Bitty's worst day though. I would say for the first hour or so all she did was cry and look up at me with sad eyes. She is really hating life in the car. Hopefully this small break will make her feel better.

Another bit of interesting information, as I am listening to the radio in Wichita Falls, I find out there was a shooting rampage that night by a white supremacist. The cops were chasing him down after he shot 5 people, and he ended up killing himself at his house. Yay for Texas.

Things got even better when we got to New Mexico. The temperature immediately went up 10 degrees and we were finally back in the desert. It might be weird to miss such a thing, but I miss the dirt and mountains terribly. New Mexico is a really pretty desert though. Nice red dirt and mesas...not flat and boring like Arizona (that's Friday).

For now, we are hanging out with my grandparents...probably gonna go to a toy museum or something. So nice to have a home cooked meal and a comfy bed. I love grandma's house.

Day 2

Baton Rouge, LA to Wichita Falls, TX

581 miles


So, we got on the road at about 11:30 this morning. Thank goodness today's drive was shorter than yesterday's. I am really beginning to hate being in my car. And Bitty is starting to hate it even more. It's kinda sad and kinda funny. Today she contorted herself on my center console around my shifter. She looked dead.

Today was really nice outside, so at least there was pretty weather to look at. And I my photography-while-driving skills are getting much better. It's probably not the safest thing in the world today and Oprah would probably have a campaign against it...but I enjoy it.

On the drive today we started on our journey through the great country of Texas (not the mocking sarcasm). Things were pretty boring until we got to Dallas. It was your standard big city with a good amount of traffic and for a while there, I wasn't sure if Ryan was gonna be able to keep up with all the swift movements Rosy (my GPS) was having me make. The last hour of our drive to Wichita Falls, however, was a really pretty one. We drove over some small hills, through farm land, during a pretty sunset. It was a nice way to end the drive.

Theeeen, we get to our destination and there are no hotels with queen/king beds available except a really crappy/scary Motel 6. And the only room available is a smoking room. Really can't wait to leave...