Off to See the Wizard (of Oz)!

This will be my final posting here in the United States. Brian and I keep discussing how it doesn't really seem real that we are actually going to be living in Australia. Rather it seems we're just headed off on another part of our vacation. I don't know how long it will take until we actually realize we're living there and not just visiting. Maybe never. . .maybe what they say is true and the Aussies are on a perpetual vacation with a little work in between. We leave out of LAX tonight at 11:43 pm and arrive in Sydney on Thursday morning at 9:15. 14 hours and 35 minutes on a plane. Brian keeps threatening not to talk to me the entire time--he bought himself a Nintendo DS (a glorified gameboy I think--sorry to those I've just offended with that!) to keep busy with. So far it seems to be doing the trick (and we're not even on the plane yet!)

Last time I wrote we were in Cheyenne, WY with Brian's parents. We moved on to Colorado Springs for 3 days, where we visited my brother & sister-in-law and my two nephews, as well as Brian's uncle & his wife and his cousins.

We had a great time with both families. My brother decided that Bastet is demon posessed and needs to be exorcised and/or she needs a visit from the Dog Whisperer (he tried to impersonate him, but surprise, it didn't work!) Of course he made this accusation after he chased Bastet around RV, patted her belly and cradled her like a baby (none of which she is particularly fond of and certainly not by a stranger she's terrified of because he's been chasing her for 10 minutes!)



After Colorado Springs, Brian and I had 2 days to ourselves for travel. We headed south and west in Colorado to the Royal Gorge. I'm not usually afraid of heights, but it took a lot for Brian to get this picture of me standing next to the edge of the bridge (think wood bridge suspended over deep hole in ground, built too many years ago. . . cars still driving over it) I was much happier in the middle of it!



We kept going and headed to Mesa Verde National Park. Unfortunately, it was raining that day so we didn't get to do much climbing around (they have discovered 'ancient civilizations' that exsisted from 600 A.D. up to approximately 1300 A.D.)--especially since I slid down the stairs (not on purpose!) and gave myself a large black and blue tattoo that has made it uncomfortable to sit, stand or walk (which made for an interesting ride in the RV!) All in all, I think we spent about an hour and a half driving into the park and about 10 minutes looking around. Either way, it didn't matter. The park is breathtaking and it was even more amazing in the early morning as the fog was lifting.



Here's one of the cities they found (I think it looks fake in the picture--like it's some sort of model, but it's really quite amazing!):


Onto the Four Corners. This is the only place in the United States where you can be in 4 states at one time. Looks exciting doesn't it?



Gotta keep moving! Next stop: Grand Canyon. Once again, we were in and out of the car in about 10 minutes. For one, it was FREEZING! Isn't it supposed to be warm in Arizona? Apparently not since we hit an hour long sleet storm outside of Flagstaff. We also didn't stay out too long at the Grand Canyon because the sun was setting and you know, there's not much to see in the Grand Canyon when it's dark. But I've never seen the Grand Canyon before so I was happy to see any of it I could. Sadly, my Brady Bunch fantasies of riding a mule down the canyon will have to wait.




Next we headed to Mesa, AZ (a Phoenix suburb) to spend 2 days with my grandparents and their next door neighbor Pete (we've kind of adopted him as another grandpa). Our highlights of the time in Mesa were playing dominoes (although we lost terribly) and going to the Organ Stop Pizza. There's no other way to explain it but to say it's Chuck E Cheese for old people (Grandma & Grandpa, we like it, it's just the easiest way to explain!)


We made it LA on Saturday night and spent the day Sunday cleaning the RV and taking it to a dealer who's going to sell it for us. It's been pretty unexciting since then--we've been running errands and packing since we arrived. (We did take a few hours out to have dinner with Van & Sara--where Matt, you'll be pleased to know the conversation turned to Book 22).

Today, we're finishing packing, tranquilizing the cats, mailing boxes and going to the airport. Not much time for fun in the sun here in LA, but we'll have plenty of that when we hit the land of Oz.

G'day Mates!