Hi, everyone! I'm still here, just incredibly busy!!! The website that I'm helping to build and administrate is almost ready to go live, and I'm scrambling to make sure everything works, etc. It's very intimidating for a girl who doesn't know much about computers. Once the site is up and running, I'll give y'all the address, and you can check it out.
Kathy - I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE BACK!!!!
Even more, I'm glad you still have a job. I know that you've been so worried about that! You know our rules, just jump on in, and join the fun! Glad to have you back!
Ok, so when I last left you, we were at the hotel in Tuba City, Arizona, having just fixed a blown out tire, and we are anticipating an early morning interview on the Hopi Reservation.
Early Saturday morning, we got the kids up and going. The hotel had a pretty decent hot breakfast, so Alan and I packed up the car while the kids ate. Many waffles later, they waddled to the car and we were off. At this point, we were 2 hours early, but Alan wanted to make sure there were no surprises! Just before we left town, he realized that he'd left his reflector at home, so we stopped at a grocery store, bought a cheap pizza pan and some tinfoil, and constructed a reflector. Whew! Crisis averted.
We drove for a while, and took about 30 minutes to stop and get some pictures and video at the Little Painted Desert. It was beautiful at sunrise, and the kids enjoyed watching the colors change as the sun hit them. Pretty soon, though, we got back in the car and headed along. By now it was close to 8:00 and the temperature had hit 95 degrees. It was going to be a HOT day!!!
We met up with the interviewee, and it became evident, quite quickly, that he was not going to be as helpful as Alan had hoped. He didn't want to be filmed, voice recording was ok, but he didn't want any cameras. Alan sweet talked him for about 20 minutes (and 50 dollars), and away we went to find a scenic spot for the interview. I didn't get close enough to hear the interview, as Alan wanted me to keep the kids busy. So, we all got out of the car, and did a bit of hiking around the area. About an hour later, Alan was finished. The kids were glad, as they all needed a potty break, pretty badly. Unfortunately, there was no place to stop on the reservation, so they all crossed their legs as we headed to Flagstaff and the nearest freeway. We gassed the car, and emptied the children and were back on the way. Things were pretty uneventful for a while, as we just drove, watched movies and listened to music to pass the time. Katie made some sandwiches for lunch and on we went.
We passed through Lake Havasu, Arizona around 3:00 in the afternoon, and were on track to be at our hotel in Anaheim around 8:00 that night. We figured, if we were lucky, we could squeeze in an hour or so at the beach. As we left Lake Havasu, and entered the Mojave desert, we noticed how hot it was! Our read out told us it was 113 degrees. Ugh! We drove for a while, and after about an hour, we could smell something burning. We knew it was us, because there was no one else on the road. So, Alan pulled over, stopped the car and we got out and opened the hood. Black smoke poured out of the car! It was scary!! Alan checked the oil, and that was fine. Then he checked the transmission, and it was EMPTY! Apparently, with the heat, and the constant running of the car for so many hours, the transmission fluid began to boil, and spray all over the engine. Yikes!!!
We tried to flag down some help, but the few cars that were there whizzed right by us. Finally, I tore a paper out of Katie's sketch pad, and used her markers to write in large letters " Transmission Fluid???" Alan held it out and finally someone stopped. Unfortunately, he didn't have any fluid, but he was heading into the next town (an hour away) and offered to give Alan a ride to get some fluid and then a ride back to the car. So, he went with our "road angel", and I stayed with the kids in the car, in the desert, in the heat! Luckily, we had coolers filled with water and juice, and boxes full of food, so we were ok... just really, really hot! We figured that since Alan left with this man at about 7:00 p.m. and it would take an hour there and back, that 9:00 was the earliest we could expect him. And it was about that! The kids were starting to panic as the sun set and it got really dark. Katie was an angel, and made up stories to tell the kids. We played guessing games, and sang songs... anything to keep their spirits up.
At about 9:00, Alan and Mike arrived back. They carefully tried to fill the transmission with fluid (not easy in the dark). Once that was done, Mike told us that he was going to follow us into town, but that we should take it really easy, and stop a couple of times to check the levels. He told us not to worry, that he would stay with us, and, if necessary, make sure we got to a hotel for the night. He was a really amazing man, and we were so lucky he stopped. So, we began limping along towards 29 Palms, which was the closest town. Each time we stopped, things were looking good. We stopped again, in 29 Palms, and decided that we would grab some dinner, some more water, have a potty break and push on to Anaheim. We would take it easy, but we just didn't need another night of unexpected hotel expense.
Alan drove (not going above 60 mph the whole time) for about an hour and a half, and by this time it was close to 11:30. He was starting to fall asleep at the wheel, so we pulled into a little town, and found a parking lot where he could sleep for a half an hour. I can't drive in the dark, as I'm night blind, so this was the best solution we could come up with. After a cat nap, he was good to go, and we hit the road again. By 2:30 am we were pulling into our hotel in Anaheim. We literally just hit the beds, and crashed! It was quite a day! However, the kids were thrilled that we were just 2 miles from
Disneyland, and we would be there in the morning!
Although a good amount of the pictures are ones I've taken over the years that he got from FB. 
Thank God for Mike, your "road angel".
