Final Leg of the Trip

Evelyn and Harlan - the boys say HI! And John Michael - Ellie responded to your comment with a comment - you'll have to check the comments to read it.

You might have noticed that in every picture on the blog Joel is making a bizarre face. He is doing this intentionally and it is really getting on my nerves. I have not taken one decent picture of the child the entire trip. Even on the Disney ride shots, he is making faces. I asked him, "How do you know where the cameras are positioned on those rides? You've never ridden them before." And he said, "I don't know where the cameras are." I thought about this for awhile and finally said, "Don't tell me you are trying to hold those goofy expressions for the entire ride!" He said that is exactly what he was doing and that it was really hard to keep his eyes crossed all through Space Mountain. Jeff and I are so proud.

We are on the way home, with a few little diversions. Yesterday we were driving toward Silver City and couldn't resist the urge to stop at the Petrified Forest. Would you believe that people remove 1 TON of petrified wood from that national park each MONTH??? At that rate, there won't be any left for our grandkids to see.....we took a short hike and resisted the urge to visit every corner of the park, especially Jasper Forest. It is supposedly full of jasper. When Jasper was little Jeff called him "semi-precious". We were trying to explain to him what a semi-precious stone is and that it carries his name - unsuccessful attempt at that explanation, though. One thing that really struck me at the petrified forest was a timeline of the planet's history. They condensed it all into one calendar year. According to that calendar year, recorded human history makes up about half of the last minute.

The drive to Silver City was beautiful. When we arrived at the RV park we asked the owner were we could get some good, flat New Mexico enchiladas. It was 8:30. He called the restaurant for us and they said they'd stay open for us. That is the 3rd time that has happened on this trip! The food was excellent - Ellie and I had the green sauce and Jeff, the red. Sopapillas for all, dripping with honey! The scales are definitely tipping.....when I get home it is going to be 6 weeks of de-toxing....fresh vegetables and fruit.

The next morning we were GOING to head home but ended up driving up to the Gila Cave Dwellings. It was only 40 miles away but a 2-hour twisty, turning drive. Ellie began complaining that she was carsick right away but when Camille said it I tossed her a bag because I recognized the inevitable vomit-session on the way. Jeff pulled over and the boys proceeded to initiate the emergency exit drill. They flew out the back of the van the minute it stopped while poor little Camille lost her breakfast cereal. Jasper soon became jealous and wanted something to throw up in, too. So I gave him a little box that a souvenir came in. When he was unable to force himself to vomit, he used it for a drum. Then Camille wanted to use it for a drum. He told her, "I will share, Camille, but I'm gonna barf in it first." Amazingly, that didn't diminish her enthusiasm for demanding her time with the drum. When Jasper wasn't drumming he was fighting a stuffy nose. He became somewhat obsessed with blowing his nose, screaming that he couldn't get the boogers out. Finally he had a really good blow but then said that some of the boogers were stuck in his bones and wouldn't come out. That sprouted all kinds of comments for the rest of the day. You would be surprised how many situations present themselves where Jeff can incorporate the words, "bone boogers". Speaking of phrases, Ellie is getting better at using the word "unfortunate" in place of "sucks". I came up with that, thank you very much. I'm pretty sure that when she says, "Well, Mom, that is really unfortunate," she is making fun of me : ) Now I am working on getting her to stop saying, "Jesus!" I am having a small measure of success in this endeavor. She now says, "Buddha!" I'm pretty sure she is still offending a significant portion of the world's population....Oh, and speaking of cursing and general blasphemy, Jasper's word is "donut". We think he is trying to say "darnit". So now Jeff says, "donut!" whenever he makes a wrong turn, the van breaks down, or someone vomits.

I digress...when we got to the cave dwellings they were amazing! Much smaller in scale than Mesa Verde, but the experience was similar to when we went to the Merced sequoia grove - sooooo worth it due to the privacy and spiritual experience it afforded. Only one other woman was visiting the caves and she avoided us : ) We were able to climb all over them and sit quietly, imagining the people who once lived there. As I sat in the cave, looking out at the mountain splendor and the river running below, it occurred to me that there is no way to to be separate from the earth in that environment. No wonder we are so removed from our Mother - we lock ourselves away in skyscrapers and environmentally controlled buildings - our natural habitat has turned into something we watch on the Nature channel. I hate to admit it but there are weeks where the only time I go outside is to get in the car to run off somewhere. I am going to change that. These 3 weeks have been so great - I have been outdoors more than I have in the previous 6 months - and in really holy places.

When I quit writing Jeff is going to try and load "Road Trippin" on the blog to play as background music for your listening pleasure. I know - the trip is over - but Ellie wouldn't let me listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers until today. She complains that it is all I listen to but the peppers are the best band that ever has been or ever will be. So while listening to the Californication CD we heard "Road Trippin" and knew that had to be our theme. And isn't it appropriate that it is off of "Californication?" You know, since we went to California. There has been no californicating in the trailer :).

We will be home tomorrow evening! It has been GREAT having you all along on our trip! I will miss the blog.

Love,

Sardine mama

PS Jeff has informed me that he is unable to download music to the site for your listening pleasure. Donut! The Red Hot Chili Peppers would have won album of the year with Stadium Arcadium if it weren't for everyone feeling guilty for giving the Dixie Chicks grief over their anti-Bush statements. Buddha! That was a disappointment. And also, I don't want all of you posting comments about how the Chili Peppers are not the greatest band to ever live. Especially if you are too young to know what you are talking about (like Kari's husband).