Goodbye to Family (5 Days to Go!)

Nikki's family, that is. Today (actually yesterday as I write this) we went over her father's house for one last time, and her foster mother met us there. This is only the second time we've seen her in all the time that Nikki and I have been together (3.5 years!). She's a very religious and proper lady, so Nikki and I were worried for quite awhile that she'd never accept me, or Nikki for who she is. She came around though, or perhaps it was really never an issue at all. I do find it hard to believe, since she once helped in trying to boycott Disney for being supportive of the LGBT community (I don't know all the details there). Also, with my brand-new, very noticeable tattoo, that could've been another bone of contention. She didn't say a word about it though, and she was very friendly to me and everyone else. She even has historically gotten along with Nikki's father, who has to be the fourth member of ZZ Top.

Nikki got a bunch of going-away presents from her foster mom. Books and such. She also brought over some yummy brownies... or something. It was a mix of different kinds of cakes and things. I know Nikki will miss her parents so much. A few days ago, she was saying that whoever wants to see us will have to fly out to Tucson, because we're never setting foot in Michigan again. Now she's wondering how soon we can come back to visit.

Nikki saying goodbye to her mom. Awwww.  :(

I got to go on the trampoline again, and this time I got some pics with the kids! That is soooo exhausting, jumping on that thing. I get worn out so quickly. Imagine how fit I would be if I went on there every day for a few weeks? Gotta get one someday!

Savannah and I, goingggg... up!

We got some towels to put over the seats, both front and back. Arizona heat + leather seats = bad bad bad! We also got some stretch cords to fasten them, since even sticking them under the headrests doesn't secure them. We haven't tried to attach the stretch cords yet, so I wonder how that'll work out...

Sarah going up, and me going down!

My iPod cassette thingie was working again (I talked about this here), so I brought back the one from Radio Shack. Today though, it seemed to "skip." This is the smaller flash-driven iPod, not like the bigger 64 GB ones that have a little disc inside. It doesn't skip. My iPod never does this when I walk around with it while wearing the earbuds. So it's either something with the cassette adaptor, or a problem with the car's tape player. I could circumvent both issues by getting the FM Tuner that Samantha mentioned in my post. I wonder if I could find that at Wal-Mart?

Taking a breather. It's exhausting work! By the way, yes the pockets stick out, because they're short-shorts. I'm divided on removing the pockets. I don't like the way they hang out sometimes, or the design... but hey, practicality counts. What to do, what to do???

I got myself real busy just a few hours ago, printing out directions to Tucson, and figuring out where exactly we should stop for the night. I had to break the trip into three parts, and I made sure that the motels offered breakfast, and didn't have slews of horrible reviews. We reserved rooms at all the motels. We're stopping in Waynesville, Missouri, after travelling about 684 miles. Then we travel another 632 miles and end up in Amarillo, Texas. Then it's 727 miles (ouch) and we'll be in Tucson. When we get to Tucson, it'll be nighttime, so we have to stay in one more motel (three total), and then it'll be the morning of the 31st. Which is ummm, Memorial Day. Oops. It's very likely that the apartment's office won't be open due to the holiday, so then we'd have to stay another day at the motel. Luckily, this one is the cheapest, at only $55 a night.

One of those rare moments when Savannah and Skylar get along. I kid you not, this is rare... and sweet.  :)

While we over at Nikki's dad's, he put training wheels on a bike for Skylar. Now that she can actually reach the pedals, she can really move on that thing... well, until she encounters any sort of bump on the ground. Then she needs a little oomph. She's so adorable though, how happy and proud she is of herself! Yay Skylar!

Look at her. She's all, "Yes, I'm all that... and I love it!"

I have packets of directions printed out, including the 2,040 mile drive from our home in Michigan to Tucson, the drive from the motel in Tucson to the apartment complex, and the drive to and from the truck rental facility. So I think we have that covered. We leave on Friday, and oh yes, that's... five days from now! Wooooh!

Urbanscape, indeed! Though we'll be off by the Rincon foothills. We'll see how urban it is over there. By the way, I love the shoes! I'd prefer them in pink or purple though.  ;)