EvansTown: Yuma trip 2009

We left for sunny Yuma Arizona the day after Christmas again this year. Let me tell you, I wasn't looking forward to a 10 hour drive with the little kids, but we made it! I packed a ton of treats, games, and movies to keep them entertained. Despite all the things I had done to prepare us for the drive, I knew we wouldn't be able to drive straight through - so I booked us a hotel room in Las Vegas. The name of the hotel was "Wild Wild West" - and the only reason I tell you this, is so that you will not make the same mistake I did and book your stay there! It was a dive!! After getting the car unloaded we decided to head over to the strip to check it out. Neither Paul nor I had been to Vegas in several years - and boy has it changed!! We ended up down on the end of the strip with the Luxor and Excaliber - but what I really wanted was to see Ceaser's Palace, the Mirage and Treasure Island - - well...it is QUITE a walk from the end of the strip we were on to the end of the strip I wanted to be on ...so the kids got tired and we ended up having our big exciting Vegas meal at the McDonalds on the strip. I guess that's what you gotta do when you have little kids. Carson even left his "mark" on the parking lot of the strip (which I can explain in person if you really want to know!).

The next day we headed the rest of the way down to Yuma and arrived just in time for Grandma Mary's yuuuummmy Roast & Potatoes! It was so nice of her to fix us dinner and was a welcome change from the McDonalds we'd had the two previous meals. Bob and Carol (Fred & Mary's friends) also were in Yuma at the same time so we got to spend time with them as well. Our hotel in Yuma was MUCH nicer than the one in Vegas and even nicer than the hotel we stayed in last year in Yuma. We proceeded to spend the next few days spending our money in Algadones and at the Yuma Swapmeet. We got to eat Nachos in the beer garden, barter for jewlery and all kinds of stuff we don't need, get loaded up on mexacillians and eat dinner at a fun mexican resturaunt. We did have some excitment on Wednesday while in Mexico - there was a 5.8 earthquake - which was really scarey! Mary, Paul, Jaedyn and I were in a small shop looking at bowls and I heard a loud rumble. At first I thought it was a large truck, or the hummer carrying the armed Mexican guards, but as I looked at the face of the shop owner I could tell something bad was happening. Then I felt the ground shake. Paul was hurrying us out into the street and pretty soon Kelsi and Carson came out of the shop they were in. The quake lasted for quite awhile and it took me the rest of the afternoon to get my nerves calmed down and to stop my legs from shaking (although those that drink were able to calm their nerves a little easier in the beer garden). After shopping and spending all our money we did some sight-seeing. We visited a small lake in Yuma, visited an old junky car museum, got a date shake, ate at Lutes, the kids swam in the hotel's hot tub (the pool was not heated and too cold) and had a scare at dinner one night when Jaedyn fell from the highchair onto the cement floor - on her head! We had a busy time in Yuma and really enjoyed the nice WARM weather. It is so nice of Mary and Fred to have us and are so gracious and really spoiled us! We also got to enjoy our New Year's Eve in Yuma again and as is becoming a tradition, we barbequed steaks - celebrated our New Year's early and turned in for the night so that we could get up and start driving home the next day. We did get the chance to stop in Boulder to see my Grandma and Grandpa Lundeen. We drove over the Hoover Dam and stayed at the Hacienda - which was really fun. My Grandpa took Paul on a hike to search for rocks (to start polishing in his new rock polisher) while I got to visit with my Grandma for a few hours. This trip was a little crazy with the kids, and I hope as they get older it will become easier, but I am sure that we are giving them some great memories that they will cherish when they get older.