Across the Country

It's time to start a new chapter in our life. So - on our move across country, I tried to make things interesting with fun, simple facts that didn't seem too educational on our drive from the East to the West. There were little things we did, like set the clock back every time we entered a new time zone. For the most part, we actually just enjoyed seeing the scenery change. Every time we passed into a new state, the girls had to get out their folder and read a few fun facts about the state. It gave them something to look forward to when crossing the state line. My youngest exclaim, "Let me get out my folder," without me even asking. Here is what I came up with:  

 The girls can officially say that they have been and stayed in every one of these states. We have been to TX before, we have family there. So it was cool staying in a hotel in each state, besides TX. Here are some pictures of the scenery and its changes. Traveling parts of the old Route 66 was why we chose this route and the beauty was worth it! 

Arkansas - we really didn't see much there. However, the sky was pretty at night.

 

Oklahoma is where the scenery first started changing to things the girls hadn't seen before, like the windmills.

Texas is where it started to get very flat - it looked like you could just drop off. Of course, we had to stop at Cadillac Ranch and let the girls do some graffiti. 

New Mexico doesn't have a lot there (commercially), but the scenery is gorgeous! I was surprised at the weather change here, as well. It was the middle of summer and we were freezing at night - it got down to 53 degrees and were told that was normal.

The Arizona Welcome Center was absolutely gorgeous. They also had a lot you could stop for to learn about "Chief Yellow Horse."

We were amazed how it looked like desert, and then went back to green. In Flagstaff, AZ (picture on the left) there are tons of mountains, trees, pine trees, cabins, grass, etc. The temperature in Flagstaff was only around 73 degrees. As soon as we drive down the mountain from Flagstaff, we could start seeing the desert. It changed so quickly! The temperature rose immediately 98 degrees, as soon as we got down the mountain. So if anyone wants to cool down in AZ, they just drive to Flagstaff. There is a lot of skiing there, as well.  

We've never gotten to see cacti this big before! It was very exciting. One of the things in our first couple of days in AZ that the girls wanted to do, was pull over and touch one. They did and it wasn't that bad, as long as you are careful. It would definitely hurt to accidentally run into one of those. 

 On our first full day, we got to see a dust storm, a rainbow above us, and this beautiful sunset. The beach has normally been my happy spot of God's beautiful creations. Nothing usually makes me feel like being at the beach, but this was like one of His beautiful paintings. It's now a new happy spot!