Day 9: The final day

We woke up pretty early and started our trip to Sedona. We made it out there and it is absolutely gorgeous - we need to come back and stay a weekend. It was so early when we got out there that the stores weren't even open, and we had to walk a couple of blocks to find a coffee shop that was open. We then tried to find the church that is built in the rocks, and we must have passed the turn off for it, because after driving about 10 miles or so we ended back on the highway. I figure we'll check it out next time we are here with more time, so we decided to take a back road onto the highway that takes us to I-40, rather than backtracking to Flagstaff. Well, I found out that what looks like a straight shot on the map, is actually a switchback back and forth up and down mountain ranges, and it took us about 2 hours to get 60 miles from Flagstaff. Damn maps!! But we drove through the town of Jerome, which I do want to see next time too - it's supposed to be a town that hippies overtook in the 70's and is now a very bohemian town that many singers (like Springsteen) go out of their way to hang out at.

We then got on the highway and made our way to Oceanside. We stopped at the AZ/CA border to get gas, and it cost $2.99 for a gallon of 87 octane!! Robbery. Plus, it was 103 degrees, and Bear was panting like you wouldn't believe from just walking to patch of grass to pee. We went through some intense fog when we hit the 15, and stopped for our first In and Out burger as CA residents for dinner.

We went to my parent's house to pick up the keys of our new house, and then made it over to 520 Dakota Way. We walked in, and it was exactly like Scott envisioned (I thought the place looked bigger on the Internet, but it actually does fit all of our belongings). Bear went to check out the backyard, loved it, then did a circle of the entire place. He then came running down the stairs, couldn't really catch his grip on the wood floors on the first floor, and came running/sliding to what he thought was the open sliding door to the backyard. I have not seen him do anything funnier - he comes full speed and crashed into the closed sliding glass door. He stops, looks up at me in a dazed way, and then walks very slowly around in a circle. I open the door for him and he cautiously noses the air and makes his way outside. I'm sure this will never happen again!!

We then had our very first house guests - Bobby and Tracy. We still didn't have any furniture, so we all slept on the floor in our respective bedrooms, but it does count as houseguests. They brought us a housewarming present of a shower curtain and hooks, so we were all set!! Thanks guys!!

The next morning we were entertained once again by the marvelous Bear. The four of us are hanging out in the kitchen chatting and waiting for the movers to come, and Bear decides to snatch his jar of Peanut Butter off the counter and make a run for it. He bolts for the backyard and goes right through the sliding screen door. Off it comes, and we now have our first home improvement/repair project to work on.

The movers came and brought everything in, and now we are sitting around mountains of boxes in every room. We have started unpacking the kitchen and living room, and I think we are really making some headway. I'm sure this will take weeks, though!! I'm glad to say that we are here and making this into our home - thanks to all of you who have called and written to check in on us. Please come visit!!!!