A Sense of Belonging.

Part 2 of our California road trip will start in Arizona...Flagstaff to be exact. We always seemed to stay in Flagstaff in our trips to Arizona when I was growing up. We stayed at a Comfort Inn I believe...I enjoyed it there. I had a woodsy themed lobby with thick wooden tables and chairs and a deer head mounted over the stone fireplace...very nice. I had intended on using the fitness center but I took in a Kidney Walk via conference phone meeting at 5am local time. Gotta fit in the important stuff. I was anxious about getting on the road and seeing the Welcome to California sign. Here are some pics from this day.

                                                Some western Arizona scenery for you.

                                             A reason I have no plans on moving Arizona...

The sign I had been waiting for...The area you enter into California from Arizona is pretty desolate and if this is the first view of Cali you get you might just turn around and go home...the beautiful scenery and palm trees come later...

Our final destination...my aunt and uncle's backyard. When I first got there and went out back, I had to stand there for a minute and just soak it in. "I am here" I said to myself. It felt unreal.

Only a few people will understand the complete peace that comes over you when you feel that you are exactly where you should be. I felt a sense of belonging that I have not felt in a LONG time. My kids looked happy...and wasted no time getting in the pool I must say...and I felt complete, well, minus the fact that my hubby wasn't with us. If I could I would move there today...like right now...as I am typing this.

It has been very hard to be comfortable when Delaware has always felt temporary. Don't get me wrong, I would miss the friends that I have made and some have even become like family to me, my parents are here and my brother is in New Jersey...I would miss them like crazy, but I only have one life and I want to be where I want to be plain and simple. Now, back to the trip.

We got there on a Friday afternoon, we lazed around and went shopping and swimming on Saturday and we went down to Santa Monica on Sunday. I was meeting up with my friends from the old block. I was so excited to see my childhood friends and see my BFF's kids!! Here are some pics from the next few days of my trip.

                                             The girls wasting NO time getting in the pool!

                    Me wasting no time sitting poolside and soaking up some California sun.

                                            Pyramid Lake-between Bakersfield and LA.

                                             Self explanatory, I think! The pier.

The Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica Beach as seen from the Pacific Park Ferris Wheel on the Pier.

My old house, where I grew up. This house, the whole street in fact, looks MUCH smaller that I remember, but I guess I was much smaller then. The house looks so different now and I wouldn't want to move back, but I wish I could just walk through it and check things out.

                        Another beautiful morning in California. My aunt and uncle's backyard.

The girls at CALM...California Living Museum. It's a zoo essentially, but it only houses animals that are native to California. Foxes, mule deer, black bears, snakes, mountain lions, bald eagles, roadrunners and others...you get the idea.

This is the last picture of this post. This is another reason I want to live in California, the weather channel is so boring here! LOL. Should I mention now that we didn't see a drop of rain on our trip? While we were in California, Delaware had tornadoes, a hurricane and an earthquake!! That's right the east coast earthquake of 2011 happened while I was in California! Irony.

I hope you enjoyed this section of our trip...the next post will include Disneyland, Sequoia and the Giant Redwoods, and Las Vegas. I guess I am doing this trip in 4 posts.