Leaving MTC

October 1, 2006


On Friday we left the MTC. It was a little weird, like leaving our last bastion of security. We just puttered around Provo until Cade and Andi arrived about 4:30. We met them at Outback for dinner, then went to a movie, The Illusionist (excellent), and back to Hampton Inn to soak in the hot tub.

Saturday we listened to conference while Andi did my makeup to show me how to use the new Mary Kay brushes she brought me. Then we had lunch at Red Robin and said our final goodbye to them. We were really sad to be leaving, but anxious to finally get on our way. Many thanks to Cade and Andi for coming all that way to give us such a great weekend!

We followed the AAA route we had and went through Price, then Moab and Blanding. Moab is delightful…would be a fun place to vacation. Monticello also seems like a cute town, but we ended up staying in Blanding, which is like 2 on a scale of 1-10. There’s a temple in Monticello. We stayed at a Comfort Inn in Blanding and it was nice.

This morning we trashed the AAA info and did our own thing. We had plenty of time so we decided to go see the four corners, only place in the US where 4 states (Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico) come together. Took pictures of ourselves standing in 4 states at once and bought some Indian Fry Bread. Silly, but we were having a good time. Then we went to Gallup, New Mexico, where we took I-40 to Holbrook, and then to Snowflake. Our intention was to stay there, since we have a meeting tomorrow morning with LDS Family Services there. But we decided we couldn’t possibly be this close to Cibicue, especially since it was only 2:00, and not go get a peek. So we drove to Cibicue and then came back to Show Low and are staying at Holiday Inn Express for the next few days until we get the trailer ready for us to move in. This hotel is very nice. I made Robert stay in the nicest one we saw so I could have one last taste of luxury. I think the room is as big as the trailer.

This area is absolutely beautiful. Cibicue is definitely a reservation, but it’s a little town. It has some quite nice homes and some that seem very poor. There’s a trading post, a post office, a small grocery store, Laundromat and even a little theatre. The little church is very cute and we were definitely pleased with at least the exterior of the trailer. The church is tiny. They told us there are about 30 active members. And that’s all there’s room for. If we get a convert we’ll have to kick someone out or they won’t all fit in the building. I’m really excited about it. It just feels like this is where we’re supposed to be right now. There was even a kitty waiting under the porch for us. I was thinking I’d like to have a kitty there to catch mice, and there he was! I should have taken his picture. He looks like Beckie’s Tucker.

We’re definitely isolated out in Cibicue, but at least we have access to civilization. The closest town is Show Low, which is 45 minutes away. Show Low has a Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Penney’s, Sears, all the fast food places and some nice restaurants, and a theatre. We ate at the Branding Iron Steak House tonight and it was quite good. There’s even a scrapbook store! What more could I ask?