Our Long Journey West: TX-CA

... in continuation of my last post...

From Texas to New Mexico:
After traveling through the long state of Texas for 4 days,
we finally got a change of scenery in New Mexico.
We just took the day to drive through, without stopping.
The terrain fascinated me, as it was more of a red dirt rock:


Driving through Roswell was amusing, seeing all the alien things,
including a few alien museums and research centers:


It was in New Mexico that I witnessed my first dirt devils:


They're so cute to watch form, spin around, and dissipate.
I discovered that they are the only tornadoes that I like. Ü

From New Mexico to Arizona:
Arizona was, for the most part, very much like New Mexico.
Very rocky, desert-ish, and plenty of cactus to go around!


On our way to Flagstaff, where we camped,
we drove through the Petrified Forrest and Painted Desert...


It was a lovely drive and very beautiful.
It literally looked like God took a paint brush
and painted the desert!


The next day, we traveled to the Grand Canyon.
On our way there, we passed beautiful mountains:


The Grand Canyon was absolutely amazing!
We all enjoyed standing in front of one of the look-outs...


I enjoyed sitting on the edge and just admiring
God's amazing creation of such a huge wonder...




Dad may have gotten just a little too close, though ;-)


I'd have to say, the Grand Canyon was one
of my favorite parts of the whole trip.
It was such a reminder of what a big and great God I serve!
Another wonderful thing about Arizona, was the beautiful sunsets
they have when going through the mountains...



From Arizona to California:
Finally, after many days of traveling,
we arrived in our new home state!!
I found it interesting looking at the border of Mexico.
(when I lived in MI, I was only about 15 mins from Canada,
now it's funny being about that far from Mexico!)

I was just so fascinated with the desert we passed through!
I felt like I was in Saudi Arabia or something!
It was gorgeous...


After going through 2 border patrol stops,
we arrived at Devil's Canyon...

It was a rather creepy feeling having to drive
through the huge piles of rocks...


After driving for a while, we arrived at our campsite,
where we stayed for 3 weeks waiting to move into our new home.
We also had fun looking around our new hometown =)
(I'm just loving the big city!)


The campsite we stayed at was a very
nice place with lots of nature to explore.
One time I took my dog on a walk, she jumped
into the river chasing after the ducks!!

After being wet then rolling in dirt, she was terribly muddy!!

I was so pleased to be able to get very close to
the ducks and get good pictures of them...


The Lord blessed us with a new home very quickly,
in which we are now settled in (save a few more boxes Ü).


I must admit, when it was first mentioned to me that I was
going to be crammed into a small camper with my whole family
for over a month, I wasn't too excited about not having "my space".
But I have to say, that during our long time of camping and traveling,
we built great memories together of grill-outs, walks, family games,
kayaking, special talks, and just hanging out & growing closer.
I wouldn't trade anything in the world for all that time we shared!
As glad as I am to be back in a house,
with my own room and personal space,
I must say that a part of me misses that closeness we
all shared by living in that 29 foot camper.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for giving us all a wonderful experience
I know that we will treasure the rest of our lives.