Arizona

We are staying at the Worldmark Resort in Pinetop, AZ. It has wireless hotspots, in the lounge by the office and by the pool. Can you guess where I am right now? It's actually Tuesday afternoon as I write this. I finally have time, after catching up on sleep and visiting with family and getting a manicure and pedicure :-), to upload my pictures and write a post, but my battery is low and the pictures are not done uploading so I will add the pictures for this post later.
Flying to Arizona
Somehow we managed to haul all our luggage and kids from extended parking, onto the shuttle, to the check-in spot and through security and to the gate. It was a relief to get on the plane and do nothing. Isaac and I fell asleep while Tyler took pictures of Mt. Hood and The Three Sisters. Dom & Papa listened to music then took a short nap. Brianna helped entertain cousin Tori and Auntie Erika, then entertained herself with her dancing fingers. We arrived safely and had fun hauling all our luggage and kids onto another shuttle to the rental car center.

Our Rental Car
We rented a minivan, and they let us pick from a big selection. We went with the Nissan Quest. It is great. Dom says he wants to buy it. It actually has a lot more room for the luggage and walking around than I was expecting. We are definitely in Arizona: Palm trees on one side of the highway, desert and cactus on the other side, then all of a sudden a boxed-in housing development with cute little homes all lined up in a row!
Driving from Phoenix to Pinetop-Salt River Canyon
We had to drive 4.5 hours to Pinetop. We followed Uncle Joe and Aunt Linda, who had Beth and cousin Emily with them. It was a beautiful, curvy, (kinda scary for someone who is afraid of heights) drive! We drove up the Salt River Canyon to get to Pinetop, which is 7800 feet elevation! (that's higher than the Palmer Ski Lift on Mt. Hood where there is snow year-round)

The Salt River Canyon is where my dad got his first ticket. He was in a hurry to meet up with the youth group, especially one cute high school senior in particular. (my mom ;-)

No Helmet law for motorcyclists in Arizona:

The gas was $4.09 in Phoenix, and the further we got away from the city the cheaper it got! Strange. Here, in small-town Miami, AZ it is $3.99 (the cheapest place in Pinetop is $3.85):Looks like someone was going too fast and missed the road (look in bottom right corner):