It seems like all of our trips start with a minor upset or disruption. Little did I know this one would have two. The first one started before Ryan even got home. His school’s graduation ceremony started at 10:00am so he wasn’t coming home until afterward. No big deal. He’ll be home between 1 and 2pm so he’ll have plenty of time to pack for the trip. (We leave the next day at 7am) At noontime, I happen to go on AZ Central.com and find out that THE road, the only direct paved road from school to the house is closed due to a fatality. All southbound traffic on I-17 is being diverted on a three + hour long detour. With a little bit of ingenuity and a lot of luck and a pick up truck, Ryan picked his way along the dirt back roads down to Black Canyon city, What should have taken 1 ½ hours took him 2 ½ and the highway was still closed. No better way to start a vacation but I think, whew, got that out of the way. Should be clear sailing from here on out. I should have known better.

I should note that in this blog, I'm not as descriptive as many of the others. This one I ended up writing 6 months after the fact. (You'll find out why if you make it to the end.) Much of it I rely on links to websites that describe what we saw since I was working from memory, receipts and saved tickets. Please take the time to click on the links to learn more than I can tell you.