Tucson, AZ (weekend of 4/20)

This was such a great last minute trip. My husband was suppose to go alone to take his Structure II exam (hopefully, this will be his last test ever). The 8-hour exam is not something I want to be involved in, yet anyways.

We left PV and arrived in Tucson just after midnight. I guess we should have left earlier. Nakai fell asleep at dinner in Phoenix. But, Shandiin didn't seem to mind the long trip-she was watching a movie. Isn't it a lifesaver to have TV's in the vehicles and especially for long trips. Those of you with kids know what I am talking about.

Anyways, as Stanford is draining his brain with tons of calculations-we went shopping. And guess what, I found a scrapbook store down there-just out of the blue. Nope, I wasn't even looking. It was fate! In most cases, I am always on the look out for new things at different locations. I keep telling my husband they are not all the same. He doesn't get the concept.

Later in the early evening, the kids and I went and rescued my husband from the Convention Center-this is where the exam took place. I told my daughter, look as all the examinees ( I actually said Nerds) come out. They are doing to have their pocket protectors on, their glasses and all there books-the stampede. She got a big kick out of that one.

I didn't want to do took much exciting things that day

without my husband, so we waited until he was with us. We put off going to the planetarium until that evening. We walked through the U of A campus to get there. We watched a show, enjoyed the little science museum that they had on-site there and looked through the telescope to see Saturn. This was very exciting for the kids, since this was their first time to a planetarium. Afterwards, we had a great dinner @ a location that a friend recommended. To top off the night, we got to see long, lost friends and their two great, cute and funny boys. We definitely got to return to Tucson to see this family again.

The finally day on Sunday that we were there, we had to get some Wildcat souvenirs. We are such big fans of any UofA sports. We didn't know the softball team was playing until we made one final lap of the campus. Guess what, the UofA softball team (#3 in the nation) was taking on Oregon Ducks (#15 in the nation) at noon. The girls of course won, 9-1. Yippie! That was our first game ever- very fun and hot. But, I think I was the only one that sunburned-I was even under the umbrella. Shandiin was very excited, she got a poster and a shirt that was signed by the girls after the game.

Easter...

What were we thinking-we went camping out on the Mollogon Rim. Knoll Lake to be exact. The scenery getting there and back was great, the location was great also. But the weather was cold. A nice bonus (or lack of) was the slight malfunction of my husband's part. I blame him-since he is not writing. We forgot to pack the bearings of the folding tent tires. Who knew, definitely not me. Well, thank god for my love of taking photos of scenery-the tire didn't fall off. We drove very slow, since we were near the edge of the rim for the majority of the time (FR 300-for those of you in the area). My father notice it right away-the rest of us, you must be kidding. We were just complaining that everyone got there later that we all thought. Also, trying to locate our stake of our tents, and RV trailers. The guys in my family got into gear and with little tools on hand took of the now welded remaining parts off the axle. With the information needed to get a new bearings and additional items, my father and husband took a cruise down to Payson heading east on FR300. The remaining family members joked about how the guys would eat at Chili's before heading back to the campsite (only if they were smart). We even tease about how we should put in a order, so we didn't have to cook. Aren't we lame. Well-it was cold. With luck the guys got the parts and headed start back for camp. When they returned they commented on another trailer with the same tragic ending. But they just booted theirs to the side of the road with some major damage. Lucky for us, I'm a tourist. But the weekend went smoothly other than that. We decided on taking another forest road back to Winslow, so we took FR321. Take this road if you are headed to Knoll Lake, it is much smoother. Also, you will see a variety of pine trees. Very nice...I plan on heading back but later in the summer-when it warms up a bit.
*The picture is taken somewhere on the rim with my son and husband. Not much trees in the background, this is due to forest fire from several years ago. It must of being a different site to see with all the trees.