Fireflies, make the world go round...

Hi ya'll...

Just writing to let you know that we arrived safely to Blacksburg, VA. It was a pretty short trip across the country, sort of.

Wed. the 19th, the movers showed up bright and early at 7 am. They left by 10:30am. We finished cleaning out the place and left Pasadena around 1 or 2 pm. We then stopped in Whittier to visit my brother, Rene, his family, and my mom. We took a nap then had dinner at my favorite pizza place in the whole world, Pizzamania. Then we got on the road around 9 pm.

On Thursday morning we stopped in Albuquerque to visit with my brothers, Adrian and Aldo and his family. My brother, Aldo, and his daughter, Amanda, are starting a snowcone and popcorn stand business. So they made snow cones for us. That was nice.

Friday evening we left and headed to Waco, Texas. We arrived Saturday morning. We had breakfast with Shane's dad at the Dairy Queen that is a block from his house. We also visited Shane's grandparents and his Aunt Kay and Uncle Ronnie.

Sunday afternoon we left Waco and zoomed over to Dallas. There we met up with Shane's mom, sister (Natalie) and her husband, Chris. We had dinner and coffee with them for about 3 hours. Then we headed on up to Hope, Arkansas (birthplace and boyhood home of former President Bill Clinton). We spent the night in great Hope and anticipation.

Monday, in the late morning we cruised passed Clinton's old home. As we were leaving we saw a fruit stand selling... Hope Watermelons! Isn't that funny! They weren't just watermelons, they were Hope Watermelons.

We had planned to do some sightseeing for the remainder of the trip, but soon realized that we were limited due to Chispita. It was too hot to leave her in the car and leaving her in the hotel was not an option. So, from Hope we drove on to Little Rock, for lunch. We bought sandwiches and ate them at the tree lined river walk of the Arkansas River. (Where there were some pretty huge black ants the size of Shane's toe.) We continued on to Memphis, Tennessee. We just missed the last tour of Graceland. We got there a half hour late. What a disappointment that was. Okay, not really. We are way closer to it now than before, so I am sure we will have another opportunity.

We proceeded onto Nashville. We got there late for dinner and lodging.

Tuesday morning, having realized that we were close enough to our destination, we hightailed it and arrived in Blacksburg, VA, by 8:30 pm. We unloaded our vehicle and went out for a much deserved pizza and beer.

Shane did most of the driving because he can. (I get hypnotized by the road, and start to blink off after the first hour or so. At most, I drove 3 hours at one time.) The road through Texas was dreadful! I say driving through Texas is to be avoided at all costs. So, the best part was visiting with family.

From Arkansas onward, the drive was scenic and quite beautiful. Amazing, even. There were some pretty funny exit road signs (I will publish them later).
Since this is a pretty long post, I will stop here.

Today, this very moment actually, marks exactly one week that we arrived. I thank God that we had a safe and joyous journey across America the Beautiful. Our trip was good, and our stuff arrived right on time. Thanks to all of you that kept us in your prayers. (When we first arrived, we were greeted by an amazing show of little blinking stars flying around the grass, near the trees and all around. I love fireflies -Shane calls `em lightnin' bugs. They make you feel like a kid all over again!)