It's a Dry Heat

We're in Phoenix! We made it here before noon, which is definitely a record for me, although I've also never left home before 5 a.m. before.

The day started off a little shaky. I woke up at 4 with an upset tummy and hoped it would go away.

We got the kids in the car (Elias stayed awake; Anna screamed for a minute then fell asleep) and hit the road just after our 5:00 goal.

My tummy continued to hurt. I tried sleeping a little, but that's pretty hard to do when you're being conscientious of keeping the seatbelt properly fitted and when the rising sun is glaring behind your eyelids. (That's the other problem: I scratched my eye yesterday--I blinked wrong, apparently--so no contact lenses for me today, which means no sunglasses.)

Halfway between civilization and Blythe I started feeling better mentally, if not physically. We stopped for breakfast in Blythe and I was able to down 1/4 of a piece of toast and two cups of hot tea.

When we got back on the road we explained to Elias what a mesa was and had him keep a lookout. We also pointed out the Saguaro cacti and told him about how his Grampa Rick calls them "waving man" cacti.

We were able to check into our hotel early, and Steve is now waiting for me to finish typing so we can go get some lunch. I'm still having stomach pains, but I do feel hungry, so I figure that's a good sign.

I hope I'm well enough by tonight or tomorrow to have Manuel's, because I didn't come all this way for no Mexican food.