…. Then there was the mom who gave me this bracelet and said, “Y’all bust your butts to get here every year, and I want you to have this. I love you and your kids. I thought of you as I was making it.” This caused my eyes to sweat …. xoxoxoxo
I did not plan the driving part of our trip, except for the route we would take. I had decided that I would just drive until I was tired or about 7 or 8 hours and just get a room wherever we were at that point.
When we reached Las Vegas I thought we might make it to the Phoenix area. So I sent a text to an 18p- Mom friend who lives in the area as she had said to let them know if we are stopping there for the night.
After we left Vegas, I had no reception until we reached Surprise, Arizona which is on the outskirts of Phoenix. As I was inquiring about a room, all of her texts and messages came through on my phone (that had not come through over the past 5 hours).
She and her husband have a standing room at a Scottsdale hotel and offered to let us use it. I was so wasted and absolutely could not make a sound decision at that point as I had been driving since 7:00 am and it was about 9:15 pm.
I didn’t think I could figure out how to get there in the dark and Thomas and Lillian were so tired. It would have been 45 minutes without taking any wrong turns so I decided to take the room where we were.
I am incredibly grateful to them for offering and for texting and talking with me in my delirious state only to have me not take them up on their wonderful offer. I was quite embarrassed with myself … 😉 ….
After we were in our room, we received 2 more offers for a place for us to stay the night (which could be used on our way back through). One in Surprise, Arizona and one in Yarnell, Arizona.
National Parks Employee
There was the National Parks employee at Lake Mead … I saw that it would cost $20 for us to enter the park and drive down to the lake. I also knew we would only last about 15 – 20 minutes since Lillian has a tendency to overheat .. Big time.
Overheating so badly that she throws up for an hour. So, I explained about Lillian and she said .. “You want to go ahead and get her a lifetime pass and you can enter all national parks for free.” …. xoxoxo
Ticket Gifted for Ladies Night
The moment we arrived in San Antonio I had a message from another 18p- Mom that she was looking forward to seeing me and had bought my ticket for ladies night. She didn’t want me to miss out and wanted me to have a night out with the other moms. I had not planned on going due to the costs and had not shared that with anyone. xoxoxo
Duct Tape
Before we left I asked the hotel if they had any duct tape. And what do you know .. they had the engineering/electrical department bring some up to the room! Wonder if they’ve ever had that request? I had to make a little Rosey repair before we headed out. xoxoxo
Hotel Manager Kindness
Before the hotel ran the charge for the entire stay on my debit card, I forgot to tell them that we’d be checking out a day earlier than planned. They also added in $40 a day for incidentals. We were on this trip on a very tight budget, so I needed that extra night reversed and not to be charged the $40 incidentals.
The manager on duty went way out of her way to correct the charge. It took us two days but she got it reversed so we could run the lower amount through and they did not charge me the $40 per day incidentals.
In talking with her about parking and how I had looked online for less expensive parking while there (cost $40/day for the hotel parking), she shared with me how I could park for free for our entire stay .. just steps outside the front door of the hotel. xoxoxo
Painted Rocks
There was the mom who asked about commissioning Thomas to paint 10 rocks for her so that she can give them as “thank you” gifts. Thomas is so excited and he will save most of the money for conference next year. He’s finished the first one .. a shell with pearls on the backside! He wants to create seasonal themes. xoxoxo
Chatting and Veggies
During the ladies night dinner, I had a pounding headache. I rarely get headaches but something I ate at lunch didn’t agree with me. A beautiful and amazing 18p- mom sitting across from me, noticed my distress, and invited me outside onto the patio.
It was extremely loud in the room we were using due to all of our voices echoing and that was doing a number on my head! We stood outside and admired the river and chatted and took pictures. Later she ordered a plate of steamed veggies and shared half with me as everything except the rice had meat in it.
Here’s hoping you find the Joy in Your Journey. It’s there. Trust me. It is.
