Road Trip to Phoenix

Our final week in the States involved a whirlwind journey out west to catch our flight to Korea. On the way we made several stops to see friends and family. The first three days were exclusively devoted to driving. We went from Montgomery, AL to Shreveport, LA the first day. The second day we crossed PART of Texas and spent the night in the small town of Odessa. Our final day took us all the way across New Mexico to Tucson, AZ. It was a long three days, especially as a very pregnant woman. But we passed the time by listening to The Hunger Games on audiobook.

Once we reached AZ, we got to slow down and enjoy ourselves for a couple of days. James' uncle Tom and aunt Cindy live in Tucson and took us out to brunch at a delicious restaurant. We always enjoy spending time with them!

After brunch we drove across town to catch up with our close friends Patrick and Ashely Chapman for a couple of hours. They were in the middle of packing out of their house so we didn't stay long. But we had a lot to talk about since they would be following in our footsteps - first to SOS in Montgomery, and then out to Osan in August!! We are so excited that we'll be living in the same place again for a couple of years. =^)

That evening we drove to Phoenix and ate dinner with some former Samurai friends who are now stationed back at Luke AFB. I love how we are able to run into AF friends wherever we go. It truly is a small world!

The next day, James' parents drove out to spend some more time with us in Phoenix. They also offered to graciously take James' truck back to California with them since we're not taking it to Korea. That saved us an extra day or so of driving (something baby and I are very thankful for!)

One of the fun things we got to do while in Phoenix is take a tour of the new Palm Valley Church building that was finished right after we moved to Japan. Originally, I intended to just peek our heads through the door and take a quick look around at the facilities. But as luck would have it, many of our former youth mentor friends were there for a meeting, so we got to catch up with them. We really loved being involved in this church and are so glad to see how God is continuing to work in that place!

The rest of our time was spent doing a little last minute shopping (I keep outgrowing clothing!!) and eating at a few of our favorite Phoenix restaurants. Below is a picture of my favorite dessert EVER. I couldn't help indulging before we said farewell to Bob and Nancy and flew to Portland, OR to spend time with James' dad and his family.

BJ's pazookie. Fresh baked chocolate chip cookie topped with melting ice cream. YUM!