Monday, February 16, 2014 bright and early (or in other words, 7:05 am) we drove away from the Mesa Spirit RV Resort, turned in the rental car, filled up with gasoline, and headed out of Phoenix. The route took us up through northwestern Arizona through the some beautiful territory and more than a gazillion cactii. We had to stop and take some pictures!

This one was close enough to the road that we could stop and get both Nina and me (via my shadow) in the picture. It was quite tall … I’d estimate around fifty feet tall. That probably also means it’s fairly old.

Almost as soon as we drove out of the area where the big suguaro cactus were growing we entered into the area where the Joshua trees are plentiful. These two trees were also right beside the road, meaning an easy picture for me to take.

One of the daughters of my favorite brother lives and works in Las Vegas. She was working on Monday as we drove through town, so we stopped by her place of employment to say a brief hello and see how things are going. We had a nice half-hour visit and met her boss (who was a delightful woman to meet as well. She had great things to say about Jayme!). Then it was back on the road again.

We had reservations at the Temple View RV Park in St. George, Utah for the evening. When we left Las Vegas the GPS suggested we would be there around 4pm. That was before we went through the Virgin River Gorge. Because some of the bridges are being renovated, northbound I-15 traffic was literally moving between 5 and 8 mph. What should have been a 20 minute drive took well over an hour. But, the office at the RV park was still open. We checked in and then drove the motor home over to a nearby Applebee’s and had dinner.

The object of stopping in St. George was to attend a session in the St. George Temple. We got up Tuesday morning, packed up the motor home, and attended the 8:40 am session. The temple is absolutely beautiful outside and inside. The craftsmanship from the 1870’s is amazing.

After the temple session we visited with a dear friend from Chardon, Ohio. Cheryl and Zane (who passed away a few years ago) were two of the most important people in our lives when we lived in Chardon. Zane was our Bishop and then our Stake President. He was our home teacher (and a very faithful home teacher) for many years. Nina and Cheryl taught Seminary together and served together in other callings as well. Cheryl put together a delicious light lunch as we caught up on all the doings since the last time we had seen each other. Friends like Cheryl and Zane are precious.

On Tuesday afternoon we drove to North Salt Lake and parked the motor home in our daughter Heather’s driveway (who isn’t there … she’s busy doing things in Mumbai, India) to spend a little time visiting with our grandchildren there. An added bonus was that Jaelene along with Casey’s daughter Mandy, flew up from Chandler to go to a concert in Salt Lake and also spent Tuesday night at Heather’s place. So we got to say goodbye’s all over again.

Then we drove the final piece back to Pocatello and parked the motor home once again in the Cowboy RV Park. We’ll be here until we leave for the MTC. We’ve got a few things to wrap up while we’re here, but mostly we’ll be unwinding from our more-than 9,000 mile road trip.

We had a great trip.

Life is very good!