Day 4 and Day 5

Hi There!  I am combining day 4 and 5 for 2 reasons.  One, I had spotty internet access at the hotel last night.  It kept turning off.  I was very frustrated and tired and so I decided to skip it.  Reason #2 is that it was a pretty uneventful day.  All we did was drive, drive, and drive.  It was a dreary time.  New Mexico is definitely not a state you want to travel through every day.  It was cloudy and rainy.  Hardly any color or green to be found.   The one thing I would have liked to have checked out were the Pueblo dwellings.  I have always been interested in seeing them.  They are suppose to be really cool.  Alas, I didn't get to go this time.  We were on a schedule and it was rainy.  Not really a good type of tour day.    I did find out that Pueblo means town.  Nope.  I don't know spanish.  LOL  Even finding out that little tidbit helped make the long day pass.   The good thing is that we made it to Texas and we were able to go to The Big Texan Steakhouse.  That was the highlight of the day.  

So we stopped for the night in Amarillo, Texas.  I thought it was gonna be a small rodeo town, but its actually really built up.  They had everything you could imagine to eat.  We, of course, planned our trip through Amarillo to hit The Big Texan.  Its the home of the free 72oz steak if you can eat it in 1 hour.  No, we didn't try the challenge.  LOL  Our stomachs are to small for that.  David ended up getting an 18 oz steak cooked rare (yuck) with mashed taters, chili, and a roll.  I ordered chicken strips with gravy, mac & cheese, chili, and a roll.  It was very very good.  David still claims his steaks are better ( I believe him.  No one can grill a steak like my hubby lol), but he said it was the best he has had at a restaurant.  I didn't know what to think of chicken strips with gravy.  I ordered a side of ranch.  I have to say, it was yummy.  When you think about it makes perfect sense that they go together.  I just never had heard of it before.  Apparently, its a big thing in the south.  We went to Whataburger tonight for dinner and they had chicken strips with gravy too.  They really go good together.  Back to the steakhouse, it was so cool.  They really played it up for the tourists.  All the staff had on cowboy clothing and cowboy hats.  There was deer heads all over the place.  It looked like what you would expect to find in Texas.  All you seen on tv and more.  It had a cool ambiance.  I liked listening to all the Texans talk.  They have the cutest accents.  

After we had dinner, we ran into walmart for a few things.  I needed some socks.  LOL  Its amazing that its the same kind of people who shop at walmart where ever you go.  It doesn't matter what town or state you are in.  They all tend to look the same.  LOL  I did end up finding something cool for my laptop there.  They sold stickers for your laptops that peel off and leave no mark.  I found one that was very pretty and girly.  They were only like $3.  I was sold.  =)  What do you think??  Doesn't it just scream Melissa? LOL

Across the street from walmart is an ice cream shop called Braum's.  I have never heard of it before.  We decided to try it out.  I mean I'd just ate all that food at The Big Texan.  Why not eat some more?  LOL  So I had 1 scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough & 1 scoop of birthday cake on a cone.  David had a banana split.  I have to say it was the best ice cream I'd ever had.  Even better then my beloved Baskin Robbins.  Very cheap too.  We only paid $6 for both of our ice creams.  And they aren't stingy with the ice cream.  They were huge.   I enjoyed every moment of my indulgence.  

Today, we just drove through Texas over to Shreveport, La.  It was weird weather in Texas.  Very cold and windy.  I was loving it.  You all know thats my type of weather.  =)  We stopped at a rest stop on the way here to Louisiana.   It was done in an old general store decor.  I loved it.  It was super nice and super clean.  I think Texas knows how to do it right.  I heart Texas so much.  We stopped at a subway for lunch (surprise, surprise).  My sandwich artist LOL was the best.  He did an excellent job.  There was a pink cowgirl hat there for sale.  I wanted to get one, but David didn't think I'd wear it anywhere but Texas.  He was right, but I still wanted it.  I decided not to get it.  It would probably just clutter up my house.  LOL

Next stop was the New Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington.  Of course, it ends up being friday rush hour traffic around the time we are going through Fort Worth, Arlington, and Dallas.  Not an ideal time.  None the less, we made it there in one piece.  I was doing a lot of silent praying in the car.  It was scary at spots.  We get to the stadium, but we couldn't go in or even park in the parking lot.  They were having some college game festival this weekend and you had to pay $10 to park there.  We parked across the street at a walmart and just took pictures from there.  I didn't end up getting my jersey that I so wanted.  Hopefully, hubby will let me order one online.  Let's keep our fingers crossed. =)  There is cute little footballs and longhorns on the walmart, too.  I loved it.  We found out that Arlington is the place to be for all your entertainment needs.  They have the Cowboy stadium, the Ranger stadium, a water park, and a Six Flags.  Its crazy.  I think I need to come back to Arlington and just spend a week here.  You'd never get bored.  =)

We finally get to Shreveport, La about 2 1/2 hours later.  I have to say I'm so impressed with David's driving.  He really handled all the traffic really well.  And hardly no road rage.  You would be proud of him..my mom-in-law.  =) There was this annoying gold car that kept being like a leech and going behind whoever was going fastest.  She would either speed way up and then slow down or she'd get behind someone.  It was just stupid.  LOL  She didn't get off the Shreveport exit like us, we were happy to see.    Shreveport is hot and rainy.  Nothing much else about it.  I love our hotel room.  Its super nice.  And it has the best bed ever.  In fact, I can't wait to go to sleep in it.  As of now, I have yet to be visited by any vampires.  LOL  But the night is still young.  We'll see.  Anyhoo, I'm gonna go to sleep now.  I'm getting so excited about seeing my family tomorrow.  I miss them so much.  Talk to y'all later.  Bye bye now!

Day 3 The Grand Canyon

Hello Everyone!  Today was a great wonderful exhausting day.  We left our hotel very early.  Around 9am.  Thats early for me.  We made our way to The Grand Canyon National Park.  It was around 200 miles from where we started out.  We had some pretty awesome sites along the drive there.  I tried to take some pictures, but they only turn out so good taken  from a rolled down window of a car going around 80mph.  I loved the different colors and patterns in the rock.  Very beautiful.  We passed over  the Glen Canyon Dam.  While its not the Hoover Dam, it was still pretty great and scary.  We had to cross a bridge that was pretty high up over the dam and looking down kinda freaked me out.  

There were lots of Navajo trading posts along the highway.  They  were either trailers, teepees, or stands.  Most of the stands were empty.  I guess no business today.  We did end up going to a trading post that was actually a store.  It was filled with all different types of stuff.  You could get native american jewelry, art, dream catchers, t-shirts, and the like.  It was huge.  I got a pretty hair barrette.  Its blue with a white flower on it.  I also got a grand canyon magnet and David got some southwest candy.  He thought it was made from cactus, but it really only ended up being basically high fructose corn syrup.  We were not impressed.  LOL  

We finally entered the park.  We got to use our nifty annual pass that David got free from being in the military.  We have used it @sequoia, the gold spike, and now here.  It has saved us quite a bit of money.  Sometimes it pays being a military man.  Our first view of the canyon was spectacular.  It really took my breath away.  I knew it was huge, but its HUGE.  It really just quiets your soul and humbles you.  You realize how Great God is and how you are just so small.  God has a beautiful imagination.  I talked to God a lot while looking at the canyon.  

Besides the canyon, there is a really cool watch tower.  The bottom floor is a gift shop.  The awesome part is when you climb the steps to 3 upper floors.  There was native american drawings all over the walls and ceilings.  It was very authentic looking, but I don't think it was.  It was one of my favorite parts of the national park.  

We did tons of walking and I'm sure I burned a few pounds.  LOL  It was worth it  just to see the amazing views.  I wish I could describe it to you, but really no words come close.  Even the pictures we took don't do it justice.  Its something everyone should see for themselves.  I hope you all get to experience it one day if you haven't already.  We did end up getting some really great shots.  I like this one of David and me.  Its funny in all the pictures of me, my one eye is squinting because the sun kept shining right in it.  LOL

We left the canyon and started towards Gallup, New Mexico.  We see a sign for Cracker Barrel and of course, we have to stop there for dinner.  We actually hadn't ate anything since like 8am.  It was weird we didn't get hungry for a long time.  So we had a nice dinner.  The cracker is always delish.  I wanted one of their pumpkin custard desserts, but they were out of it.  I was bummed.  I love pumpkin.  

I took over driving for the night.  Tonight unlike last night was great.  It was just straight highways for me.  David said I'm not allowed to drive anymore unless its a major highway or during the day.  LOL  There was this ginormous dark ominous cloud going out as far as the eye could see.  It was so thick.   You could just see it was about to burst.  This cloud did have a silver lining, though.  Or I should say...a colorful lining.  It had the most beautiful rainbow coming out of it.  I wish you could see it the way we saw it.  But this pic will have to do.  We were afraid we would get caught in this huge rainstorm.  We did end up getting a little rain, but we were able miss most of it.  Its weird.  You can almost count on it being sunny and dry here in Arizona.  It never ever rains.  But when the Pettersens come to town...watch out.  Weird things happen.  LOL  

We made it to our hotel.  For some reason, the sink and counter are very low.  I'm thinking this room is meant for a little person.  I may be short, but these counters are even to low for me.  LOL  It was weird brushing my teeth.  Petey finally shaved off his beard and just left a goatee which I love.  He never gets to have a goatee because he has to shave every day for work.  Its always a treat when he has one.  I think he looks so gorgeous.  I might be just a tad biased.  LOL  =)  Ok, I'm going to go night night now.  I will hopefully be back tomorrow to tell you about day 4 and our trip to Texas.  I was hoping to be able to visit Roswell since we are in New Mexico, but its far from here.  Its sad.  I really wanted to see the alien obsessed little town.  Oh well, one day I will go.  Ciao!

PS  I have yet to find any state magnets.  Its a total bummer.  On a happier note, we did discover today that our rental has sirius xm radio just like my car back home.  All day long, I got to listen to my country music.  It really brings such happiness to me when I get to singalong to my favorite tunes.  =)

Day 2..from Idaho to Utah!

Hi Everyone!  I'm sorry this is a day late, but I couldn't get the wifi to connect @ the hotel last night.  So here goes...

We left Idaho about 10am and entered Utah about 2 hours later.  I made up a new game along the way.  Every time I saw a subway sign on the highway I would say, "There's a subway."  And David would reply, "Eat Fresh."  It was silly, but helped pass the time.  And we all know how I love subway.  We stopped there for lunch and we also ate there the day before.  You can't beat $5 foot longs.  Another thing we used to pass the time, was David's audiobook on Medieval times.  Very interesting.  I've learned many things about feudalism and simony.  Other things too that I can't recall at the moment.  LOL  It was pretty good.  The guy has a nice proper British accent that sounds like he just came out of a college classroom.  It was Brillant.  LOL   

After entering Utah, we had an unexpected excursion.  We saw a sign for Gold Spike National Historic Site.  I had never heard of the gold spike, but Petey had and we decided to check it out.  It was very cool.  The gold spike is one of 4 gold spikes that were used to commemorate when the west railway met the east railway.  They didn't have the actual gold spike there.  Its at Stanford because the president of the central pacific (the railway from the west) was Leland Stanford.  They did have a replica.  You also could see replica steam engines.  And of course, they had a golden tie showing you where the two railways met.  I enjoyed it immensely.  I love serendipitous  moments.  For more information about The Golden Spike go here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike

Our next stop was Salt Lake City.  I had wanted to see 2 things there.  The Mormon Temple and Ballet West.  I didn't get to see Ballet West.  I had no idea where it was and I was to lazy to google it.  LOL  But we did spend about half an hour exploring Temple square.  Its beautiful.  They have colorful flowers everywhere and they smell really good.  Lots of reflecting pools and fountains.  The temple is huge and I thought it was very peaceful there.  They did have a film crew interviewing people.  I was getting very anxious and praying silently inside (but God still heard) that they wouldn't try to interview me.  My prayers were answered and they left me alone.  LOL  Lots of mormons were around.  I kept thinking they could tell I wasn't a mormon and that they would want to convert me.  No one approached me.  I was happy.  =0)  David was having problems of his own.  There was lots of brick sidewalks.  He kept getting disoriented by the brick patterns.  I thought he must be dehydrated, but he said he felt better once were out of there.  Not sure what to think of that.  LOL  It seemed all of downtown was owned by mormons.  Its crazy.  I knew Utah was deseret, but I just didn't realize the scope.   On a side note...the capital building was very pretty.  It sat up on a hill overlooking the city.  I wish I had got a picture, but I didn't.  Fun observation of the day was that we did not see any Starbucks signs until we were in Salt Lake City.  Its funny because Mormons don't drink coffee and tea.  They make up most of the Utah population.  So we were so surprised to see at least 2 different Starbucks in the big city.  

When we were making our way out of SLC it was during rush hour.  There was a lot of traffic.  Not as bad as other cities, but still there were a lot of vehicles trying to get home.  Here is where I had my first of two near death experiences of the day.  David got road rage at some red mini cooper.  The mini cut in front of us at a red light.  As we were stopping for the light, David just kept going and going.  I truly thought he was gonna hit the red mini.  I started having heart palpitations.  I guess I braced myself for impact.  Apparently I started sliding down in my seat, grabbed the oh crap bar, and tried to push on my phantom brakes.  David saw me and he is still chuckling about it.  He wishes he had a video of me.  No known video exists.  LOL  I still get chills thinking how close he came to hitting that car.  It was scary business.  He says he never came close to hitting her.  The jury is still out on that one.  In fact, I just read him this part of the blog and he is smiling big smiles about it.  I don't find it funny.  

Later on that night, I got my own sweet revenge (but only slightly).  I took over driving at night.  David had nice straight highways during the day.  Not so for me.  Its pitch black dark and windy curvy roads.  It was terrible.  You couldn't see anything.  I had to keep slowing down and David kept saying that I was losing minutes again.  I kept complaining about not being able to see.  David was like turn the high beams on.  Since its a rental car, I didn't know how.  He told me to turn the button on the dash.  I did and it went total black.  The lights were out.  The car is  still moving along and we can no longer see.  We have no idea if we are about to go off the side of a cliff or hit something.  Luckily, it only lasted a few seconds until I turned the button back and the lights came on again.  But those few seconds scared the living daylights out of us.  If I hadn't been so scared myself, I would have been deliriously happy about getting my revenge on David for earlier in the day.  We later found out that to turn high beams on, you have to push the left bar away from you.  Duh!  LOL  A few minutes later, we saw a deer on the side of the road.  Fortunately, it didn't try to run out in front of us.  But David was on edge for the rest of the ride to the hotel.  He kept watching for deer while I tried to stay on the road.  LOL  Well, thats day 2.  Day 3 coming soon.  Ciao!

Day 1 to Boise, Idaho

Hi Friends!
 I am writing from my hotel in Boise, Idaho.   We checked in about an hour ago.  Ok, let's start from the beginning.  We did end up packing most of our stuff the night before ( I know you are shaking your head Heather lol).  We got up.  Petey went for a run and I slept some more.  LOL  We went to pick up our rental care @noon.  While Petey was getting the paperwork done, I went to Kohl's to drop off my house key to Heather.  Wasn't really able to talk to Heather because a few valued customers were in the store trying to return some things that they had bought in April.  Its September, People!  We finally came home, but not before heading to Starbucks for 2 cake pops, a grande passion ice tea with 3 splenda, and a grande sugar free hazelnut latte.  Yay!!!!  My first purchase since getting my Starbucks gold card!  OCD people love getting rewarded for for something they need to track.  LOL  Anyways, we did manage to fit all the stuff in the car.  It was looking ify there for a moment or two.    You would think  I'm moving to Florida with all the stuff I'm bringing.  HaHa!  It reminds me of my mom-in-law when she comes to spend the weekend with us.  Yup, I packed a lot.  But its 3 weeks.  Anyhoo, I forgot to tell you the worst part so far.  Guess what kind of car we ended up renting??  Yeah, a nasty Chevy.  I hate all things Chevy.  I'm a Ford gal all the way.  I will take a pic of the rental car tomorrow.  I forgot to do it before it got dark.  Anyways, the chevy runs ok.  Its not as bad as I thought it would be, but it sure would have been great to have a ford.  I miss my car!  Nothing overtly exciting happened on the drive over here.  I did almost have an Illinois situation twice today.  Twice, I tell you!  LOL  First of all, for those who don't know what the Illinois situation was...it was when I almost went potty all over myself on the way back from Maryland in March.  David and I were driving in Chicago and it just kept getting worse and worse.  Finally, I couldn't hold it anymore.  I was trying to hold it so we could get to the Cracker Barrel. David got to the exit and missed the turn into the gas station.  There was a movie theater a few blocks down.  He pulled into the back of the theater and I almost didn't make it out of the car.  It was horrible.  David said it sounded like someone had their thumb over a hose spraying water.  Not an experience I ever want to live through again.  Unfortunately for me, I almost did come close today.  I took a nap while David was driving.  When I woke up, I had to go so bad.  It kept getting worse and worse.  We were in the middle of eastern Washington with nothing in sight but blue skies and mountains.   David missed the road to the first gas station that came along.  I was flippin' out.  We finally found a gas station and I almost didn't make it into the bathroom.  But I'm happy to say that I did make it and waterfall puddles were avoided.  LOL  Then it was my turn to drive.  I drove us all the way to our hotel for the night.  Though David kept saying we were losing time as I drove cause I drive so slow.  I really don't.  LOL  I only added like 2 minutes to our destination time and it was because of all the windy roads through the mountains.   We missed several view points that would have made some great pics for the blog, but maybe we can hit them up on the way back.  We kept saying, "oh that would make a great pic for the blog."  And then we'd just drive on by.  It was so fun listening to music and singing along with my babe!  Awesome Times!  Back to situation #2.  When we pulled into the hotel, Petey went in to get our room and all of a sudden it hit me again.  Out of the blue.  He got back in and I was about to die.  We had to drive around the hotel to find our room.  Unfortunately, we missed it the first time around and had to have a second go round.  LOL  Its my luck.  David said he doesn't like me very much when I need to go potty.  I admit, I don't like me very much either.  LOL  I made it ok, though.  So now, I'm gonna go brush my teeth, read for a bit, and go to sleep.  I'll write more tomorrow.  We did take a few pics of some mountains.  Beauteous!  Hope you all have a great day tomorrow.  I miss y'all already.  =0)  

PS  I forgot to tell you that after leaving Kohls to go back to the rental car place..what do I see?? Ulta!!!!  Its coming soon.  I stopped breathing for a second.  It thrills my soul.  I love that place.  And you will too Carrie!!!!   Also, the pictures don't do what we saw justice...just an fyi!