Driving Home (Days 9 and 10)

As we were driving to Albuquerque the next day, the rain that threatened to overtake us yesterday finally did.

It poured on us all the way there.  The hotel was way better there than in Clinton.  We went swimming as soon as we got there and went to IHOP for dinner.  Swimming always seems to calm Thor down.

Chris hadn't been feeling well all trip so we dropped her off at the airport in Albuquerque to fly home to Tulsa and Bryce, Thor and I made the final 7 hours to Phoenix by ourselves.  It wasn't that bad--Bryce was a big help with Thor.

And then finally we were home! I always love driving down into the valley. There is something so soothing for me about seeing the trees fall behind me, the saguaros rise out of the rocks, and the rocky mountains turn from foothills to flat, lush desert.  But there is nothing like the smell.  The rain we brought with us hit the creasote bushes and gave off the smell of desert rain that you can't find anywhere else in the world. It mixed with the smell of hot rubber from the freeways for the unmistakeable smell of home.

I drove for a total of 58 hours in the past 10 days. I went through 7 states, the entire southwest and most of the mid-west.  But there isn't one place I would rather live than right where I am.