The kids were excited to have their Mum and Dad back last evening. Mickey and I went out so the family could have some time alone. Today we all went to IHOP for breakfast...a really good choice, as there was a man circulating through the patrons making balloon creatures for the kids.
Elly got a pink donut to chew on...
Charlie got a white and yellow cat...
And Max was thrilled with his Spiderman. (all three creatures are still 'alive' tonight)From there we split up - the family to do together stuff, and Mickey and I on a search for Montezuma's Castle.
All I knew was that we went through Anthem when we went there in January so that's where I instructed the GPS to take us. How were we supposed to know that there are two towns named Anthem in Arizona...one just north of Phoenix and the other way southeast of us. Darn GPS...sent us on a wild goose chase.
It was an exciting adventure for a couple hours though...we saw some of the less than beautiful (ugly underbelly!!) of beautiful Arizona...real desert...sand and all...not a soul in sight as we drove through decrepit dusty little towns...even the cactus looked tired and dirty. I must admit that at one point I was watching the gas gauge pretty closely and wishing we had brought at least one bottle of water with us! We're such gringos! (whatever that means).
Our salvation (and I wish we had taken a picture of it) was....
are you ready?......
WalMart!!! In the middle of the desert!!!
Well, actually, on the outskirts of a town called Collidge..although we only saw one other building there. That's where a kind lady told us that there are two Anthems in Arizona and apparently we were heading to the wrong one! So embarassing. So after stocking up on water and pop, and making sure we had enough gas to return home, we turned around.
Once again we made the mistake of trusting the chick who lived in our GPS when she told us where to go....she made us take an exit off the I-10 and re-enter it, heading right back to where we came from! At that point we decided to trust our instincts (we're such seasoned explorers after all) and made our way back to civilization. Where we promptly found a ladies clothing store and treated ourselves to a few new shirts and pants.
The day ended on a relaxed note as Sara and Quincey served up barbeque steak, salad and corn-0n-the-cob for dinner, topped off with pie and ice cream.
Followed by a beautiful sunset.
