Desert Storm is behind us!

"How fast does a Saguaro cactus grow?" was the debate for most of the day until Mason finally googled it and we learned that they grow on average only about 3 inches a year.  They can grow to a height of 40-60 feet - it just takes a long long time.  The kids thought that they were a lot bigger in real life than they look in pictures.

As anticipated, we spent the day Saturday in lovely Las Cruces, NM.  Greg was able to pick up parts to fix what he was pretty sure was really the problem: a fuel filter that was overlooked when the RV was serviced back in DC.  This time the WalMart parking lot served as the garage as he and Mason proceeded to replace both fuel filters.  This time they were right on the money - the RV is back to a pleasant purr.  In the meantime I was able to take the kids, one at a time, to do their Christmas shopping - thus making Las Cruces a most efficient stop.  We finally headed out that evening and drove into Arizona.

After church with Arizona City ward, the kids were quite entertained watching a motorcycle parade, complete with helicopter news coverage, right over the wall of the church parking lot.  We followed that act with a very impressive trip to Casa Grande itself.  It is an Hohokam Indian ruin that shockingly Greg & I had never seen or been too, or heard of (you have to know Leroy & Kieth  to understand this completely).  It was the remains of a four story building and other buildings and remnants of structures that were the part of an entire Hohokam city in the 1300s.  We had no idea that so complete a ruin from that time even existed.  It was super cool - and the kids could walk all around the walls, and even into one of the smaller house ruins.  Considering that it is one of the most complete Indian ruins in AZ, we felt grateful to have seen the signs on the freeway, or we would never have known that it was even there.

We ended up being so close to Mesa, that we decided to to visit our good friends, Kurt & Lezlee Tingey.  As newlywed couples, we lived next door to each other for 2 years at BYU.  I had forgotten some of the stories and it was a hilarious trip down memory lane.  Our kids had never met one another so it was fun to get acquainted.  Plus they had dogs and a trampoline and cookie dough, so the twins pretty much wanted to move in.

It has recently come to my attention that Greg has been making a few blog entries of his own and linking them to my entries - I find them mildly offensive and think that they do not so much contribute to the family travel record, as they serve as a therapeutic outlet for him.  Luckily for all of us, he does not get to spend very much time on the computer.  But if you want to see what he has been up to: Deleted Scenes