Getting There is Half the Fun

We took our time heading toward California to begin our mission.  Our first stop was in St. George to see Rachel, and to catch a show at Tuacahn.

Next stop was the Grand Canyon, which neither of us had seen before.  We stayed safely far away from the edge!  (Sorry the picture is distorted)

 We found a killer deal on a one star motel in Flagstaff for the night ($41).  It was on historic Route 66, and looked like it hadn't been touched since the 50's.  It featured a bare bulb overhead,  rumbling trains across the street throughout the night, threadbare towels, and a cracked sink with no drain plug.

The room was small, with only one plug in the whole room, and it was only 2 prong, so we couldn't re-charge our laptop battery.  The plug was a bit overloaded, so when we plugged in a phone charger, it kicked off the TV.

 The bathroom had a "nice shower", with three kinds of un-matching tiles from several repairs.  The water was warm, with a classic soap and shampoo dispenser hanging on the wall.  Unfortunately the soap dispenser was empty, so shampoo was used to bathe with.

The next day, well rested, we drove to Mesa to visit with Melinda and her family.

We swam, ate a lot and went to a cool park...cool as in awesome, not the temperature. Don't let the picture fool you....the kids were actually glad to see us, but it was hot outside!

 On Saturday we arrived in California and found our new house ready for us, complete with furniture, fluffy towels, roses on the kitchen table, and three cute little boys who live next door.  Their mom fed us dinner after we rode bikes with the boys and had some fun.

On Monday we start working on the farm.  We invite you to watch an 8-minute video about South Valley Farms here.

Stay tuned for next post, featuring a cool truck that Elder Fillmore gets to drive, and much more!