Joshua Tree and Surprise

The last time I wrote, I was going to describe 29 Palms Inn for you. It was a neat old place with a collection of assorted adobe cottages for rent. We stayed in the "Bottle Room." It had bottles set into the walls and was furnished with a collection of charming antique furniture. It looked like a picture come to life from Sunset Magazine. We had an excellent dinner on premises.  At night the property is only lit by the stars in the sky, and as we walked back to our cottage I stumbled into a prickly pear cactus and a bunch of thorns got stuck in my legs. Ouch! 

The next morning we checked out and drove into Joshua Tree National Park for a hike before we headed towards Phoenix. We stopped at Skull Rock to climb some boulders and snap some photos. As we were heading back to the car, I stepped on slippery gravel and took a nasty fall on to my back. I panicked about harming our baby and we considered finding a hospital to check on her. After a little bit I calmed down and decided to let some time pass before we ran to the emergency room. As we drove out of the park I felt her stirring inside me which was very reassuring. It's now a day later and nothing unusual is happening to with body so I think she's alright. I will be more careful about what I do from now on - no more climbing rocks. I'll stick to mellow hikes on flat surfaces. 

We rolled into the Phoenix suburb of Surprise at around 8pm on Thursday night. There aren't any cute boutique hotels or weird retro motor lodges here so we just chose the top rated hotel in Surprise - the Marriott Residence Inn. Grandma told us spring training was going on so I had some trepidation about booking a room on the fly. It turned out that spring training is over and the Marriott had plenty of room. The friendly front desk clerk even gave us a discount. When we checked into our room, I was very happy to see how plush and spacious it was. It was a relief to check into such a nice comfortable place after I had banged up my body with falling, cacti, and sunburns.

After we checked in to the Marriott, we went out for a little bite to eat and to pick up a swimsuit for me at Target. I didn't like any of the maternity suits they had (hot pink and gold buckles aren't really my style) so I tried on some "big girl" sized swimsuits that would fit over my expanding belly and chest. Let me tell you… trying on swimsuits while you're 37 and pregnant in a fluorescent lit dressing room is hard on a woman's self-esteem. I tried not to look too hard and reminded myself I'm growing our daughter inside me and my new body shape is normal and healthy. And what is important? Being too concerned with my looks is shallow and seems so foolish when you consider the miraculous changes and functions my body is going through. 

Today we relaxed with Grandma. We took a dip in her pool in the afternoon… it was refreshing in the hot Arizona sun. Grandma's new home is really nice. We had dinner with her and met a lot of her friends. Grandma is very popular, which didn't surprise me because she is a very charming person. To know her is to love her. It's always a treat to see her and I miss her already. 

We've cancelled our tow hitch reservation. I'm going to drive the VW all the way to Wisconsin. The Penske truck seats are extremely uncomfortable and we decided it would be better for me to continue sitting in the far more comfortable driver's seat of the VW. The Penske truck seats are messing up Mike's back and I'm sure they'd do a much worse number on my back. I'll miss having conversations with my best friend as the miles fly by but I feel confident in this decision. We've decided we'll download the same audio books and listen to them simultaneously to help feel connected and keep the boredom at bay.

Tomorrow we're driving 7 hours to Santa Fe. I am very excited to see beautiful New Mexico!