Mule Creek, New Mexico and where we are staying 

Today my friend finally showed up with his crew. As fortune would have it he was working on a project with a team about 20 miles East of here and stopped in on his way home. He is shown here with lipstick trying to attract some local hummingbirds as he put sweet nectar into his mouth and waits patiently for them to eat out of his mouth – at least that is what he told me to write here.

I stopped by the post office to pick up some packages and was treated like royalty. The woman working in the small office got up out her seat and shook my hand. “It is such a pleasure to meet you, “ she said. I thought she had me confused with someone else – but I did confirm it was me. I love small towns!!!

Vanessa had to work today so didn't get to play with me. She gets no maternity leave (sigh) so has to work until she goes into labor.

What goes on in New Mexico stays in New Mexico 

Mule Creek, New Mexico

We are now in frontier country, Mule Creek to be precise. It is a town of 100 people and 61 miles NW of “Silver” city. It is a wonderful place to be and we chose it because Vanessa’s Mom and Step Father have recently retired here. We are now just breathing in the clean mountain air getting ready for the big day.

We have been here three days. We drove to Silver (an hours drive) away and had a meeting with the midwife. All is well. On the way home we were hit by rain and almost stymied by flood waters that crossed the road, but our 4X4 made it with ease as we passed the onlookers who waited until the waters lowered. I just hope it’s not raining when Vanessa goes into labor.

My good friend was supposed to visit us today but I fear he was flooded in and unable to get here.

Mule Creek, New Mexico 

Today was quite an eventful day. We woke up and had a nice breakfast with my Aunt, parents, and Dave and Chu. After breakfast we drove from Prescott to meet my friend and his family who now live in Anthem, AZ. It was a quick meeting over lunch and then coffee and we were once again back on the road toward Phoenix in order to drop off Dave and Chu at the airport. After making the drop Vanessa and I headed for my sister’s house to visit with her and my niece and nephew. We had a nice cookout and visited before jumping back in the car and heading East to Globe, Arizona (about 2 hours) where we stopped by to visit more friends and had enjoyed some more coffee and pleasant conversation. After the visit we were on the road once again headed for New Mexico. We finally arrived at approximately 10:30 PM.....sweet dreams.

Jerome, Sedona, Prescott - Arizona 

What a great time we had with our friends Chuya and Dave who came to visit us from Washington D.C. Vanessa and I picked them up in Phoenix and showed them around my University and had lunch at our favorite little resto in Tempe. We then drove North to Prescott to spend some quality time at my parents house that sits in the mountains bordering the national forest. The trip was wonderful and we took Dave and Chu to their first ever Professional Bull Riding Competition with a live country band afterward. Dave liked it so much he even bought a hat! Yee haw! We hiked, cooked out, and visited the mining town of Jerome, and the famous Red Rocks of Sedona, Arizona. We even visited the Montezuma wells before these city slickers had to get back home. It was hard saying goodbye.

Prescott, AZ