Concert Night

David Archuleta (age 25) on stage in Queen Creek.

March 25, 2016

Last Friday, we all left the mountain around 10:30 in the morning and drove down to the Valley...again. This time it was all for fun. On Saturday we would be spending the day at the Renaissance Festival near Apache Junction, but on Friday night we attended a long-awaited concert by a favorite of our family, David Archuleta. David was a finalist (with rocker David Cook) on the seventh season of American Idol in May 2008. We were wild about him and sure he would take first place, but he was runner-up with 44% of more than 97 million votes. Not too shabby.

Since then, we have enjoyed his albums and continued to follow him, even when he took a two-year break from his burgeoning musical career to serve a mission to Chile for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons). When Sarah learned he would be in Queen Creek, Arizona, for two concerts this month, she was quick to get online and order tickets for our family.

Ordering dinner at Olive Garden, left to right: Dylan's friends Destiny and Chris;

Brianna and Bryce; Sarah and Chris; Cami and Jeremy; and the brim of Mark's hat!

March 25, 2016

We arrived at our hotel in Phoenix (Priceline.com really let me down this time--I was trying for a hotel on the other side of the Valley, like in east Mesa or Gilbert, nearer to the concert venue) at 2:00 and got checked in. After we rested up for an hour, we headed all the way back to Queen Creek (about 30 minutes from our hotel) to meet some fellow concert-goers for an early dinner before the show.

Dylan, Jake, Destiny, and Chris strike a pose in Olive Garden.

Probably the biggest David Archuleta fans in our family are my daughter, Sarah, and my niece Brianna. We didn't know until after we had our tickets that Brianna, her husband Bryce, my nephew Jeremy (Brianna's older brother), and his wife Cami had also bought tickets for the same performance. In fact, they had the exact same seats we had, except seven rows behind us.

Mark and I were there at dinner, too!

Our early dinner turned out to be not-so-early when we found out we'd have to wait an hour to seat our party of twelve at Oregano's, our first dinner stop. So we all crossed the street and landed at Olive Garden. We still ended up waiting more than 30 minutes, since the previous party at our intended tables lingered an extra-long time to chit-chat after their meal.

Sarah (who insisted on the aisle seat in order to be closer to David),

Mary, Mark, Dylan, and Chris await the start of the concert.

Despite the wait, dinner was delicious. Afterward, we dropped Jake, Destiny, and Chris at a nearby theater so they could see a movie while we attended the concert, and then we headed over to the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center for the show. The theater was packed with more than 700 fans of all ages; in fact, they'd added the second performance because the first show sold out so quickly.

Bryce, Brianna, Jeremy, and Cami in their seats a few rows back.

It's blurry because I used my camera and snapped the shot too quickly.

I was worried someone might confiscate my camera if I used it openly!

The opening act was a trio of redheaded sisters called Firefly.

They've recorded albums in Nashville but grew up in Queen Creek.

As it turned out, it was quite all right to take as many pictures as you wanted, so I did. The opening act by Firefly featured country music by a cute group of redheaded sisters, with help by their younger, red-haired brother. They were adorable and their music was fun. Firefly's portion of the show lasted about thirty minutes.

David Archuleta takes the stage! We were seated pretty close.

For most of us, of course, the concert didn't truly begin until David himself took the stage. He performed for more than an hour and a half, including two encores at the end, with his beautiful rendition of "Glorious" as his final song. (See brief clip below.) 

From the beginning, when we first became acquainted with him via American Idol in 2007, when he was a boy of just sixteen years, I've admired the faith and humility of David Archuleta as much as I've loved the simple and pure tone of his voice, and each of those attributes was manifested in his performance. Throughout the concert, listening to the quality of his voice, I just kept thinking, "Flawless."

David Archuleta at the piano.

I only had two issues with the concert. First, despite the fact that the tickets went on sale while Sarah was at work (as we all were that day), she managed to arrange it so she could be online right after they went on sale to purchase front row seats. We paid for the most expensive seats available, expressly because Sarah wanted to be able to see David up-close and personal.

However, when we took our seats we discovered that they had placed two rows of folding chairs between our row and the stage. This might not have been so annoying except that we were at the bottom of the sloped floor where it's flat, so our theater seats--which were considerably shorter than the folding chairs--were not elevated by the usual tiered system. Thus, the people in the folding chairs blocked quite a lot of our view of both the stage and the performers. 

Behind us, a sea of teeny-boppers wave the flashlight apps 

on their cell phones during one of David Archuleta's songs.

Nonetheless, I tried to stay positive. I told myself they just wanted to allow more fans to enjoy the concert (although I noticed they didn't put any extra seats at the back of the hall), so it was all good. I even maintained my good attitude when I realized that most of the group seated in those folding chairs, with their knees right against the stage, were a bunch of teeny-boppers who screamed and jumped up and waved their arms in the air every time David walked anywhere near their edge of the stage. 

After all, I was in their shoes once upon a time, when my best friend Peggi and I used to stalk the Osmond Brothers, dreaming of one day becoming Mrs. Alan Osmond (me) and Mrs. Merrill Osmond (Peggi). We even sat with our knees against the stage for two Osmond performances at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas when we were both just 18, in 1973. I remember the excitement and adrenaline of being so close to our crushes.

David Archuleta in concert.

And so I held on to my patience, right up until...granny-bopper. While the youthful fans jumped up and down throughout the concert, granny-bopper would leap to her feet and remain standing throughout almost the entire songs. It wasn't that she was having difficulty seeing, because she was one of those sitting knees-to-stage on the folding chairs, with a completely unimpeded view of everything. No, she was a wannabe teeny-bopper.

I'm not exaggerating. She was a tiny thing and at first I thought she was one of the thirteen-year-olds. I barely noticed her until she began to stay on her feet for extended periods of time. Naturally, she was seated directly between me and the microphone, so when David was center-stage, I literally could not see him past her dark little silhouette with its tall hair. Once she'd drawn my attention, I quickly noticed the turkey-skin of her thin arms and the brittle, bleached blondish hair that was ratted into a modest beehive 'do. Then, when she turned and showed me her profile, it was clear that this woman was pushing seventy. I thought, "What the heck!"

David Archuleta in concert. He's only about 5'6" tall,

but after the concert we girls all noted that we'd been mesmerized 

by the size of his hands! Long fingers and strong hands of a pianist.

I won't say she ruined the concert for me, but granny-bopper was a thorn in my side for most of the performance. I became a contortionist just so I could get pictures of David without her blocking the shots. That's her bleached head you see in the foreground in many of these pictures. Meanwhile, she continued to leap from her chair and throw her arms in the air and swoon over David Archuleta while ignoring the fact that there were other paying attendees seated behind her. She even attempted to grab David's hand every time he came too close to her. He seemed to avoid her somehow, although there were some near-misses. Even Cami and Brianna noticed her antics from their seats.

At least the real teeny-boppers had the good grace to sit back down after their outbursts of passionate fandom. Granny-bopper, you need to get a clue! 

Of course, there was that one teeny-bopper who jumped on the stage to grab David Archuleta's water bottle, which he'd left on the stage by the microphone stand (he'd commented on how much water and Chapstick he'd needed since coming to Arizona, which is a fact). At least granny-bopper didn't embarrass herself by doing that. Although it did cross my mind that she might wrestle that little girl to the ground trying to take the water bottle from her...

Sarah with a table laden with David Archuleta posters, shirts, and CDs.

The lady on the right was showing me the sale price for the poster.

We were hoping that, after the concert, David Archuleta would come out to sign autographs and CDs and pose for pictures, like Taylor Hicks did when Sarah and I attended his show in Las Vegas in 2013. Sarah had even brought one of David's latest CDs to be autographed. But, alas, we were to be disappointed. So we settled for taking pictures with David Archuleta posters and tee-shirts.

My niece Brianna takes a turn with the David Archuleta memorabilia.

She wanted people to know she was really there!

We'd planned to end the night by going out together for ice cream, but by the time we left the performing arts center it was 10:30 and everything was closed except drive-throughs. So we headed back to our hotel to get as much sleep as we could, because we'd have to  be up bright and early the next morning for the Renaissance Festival!

Jeremy and Cami were really there, too!

If you're a David Archuleta fan, please enjoy these following short clips from the concert.

The tail-end of the final song of David Archuleta's concert, "Glorious"

David did a medley of songs from the film Tarzan, and this is my favorite: "You'll Be in My Heart"

Here's a little taste of the rest of the Tarzan medley.

And finally, here's the first song of David Archuleta's encore at the end of his concert.
He just seemed to come alive while he sang in the language of his forefathers and his Chilean mission.

Valley Business

March 1, 2016: Mary is reunited with her new car!

Nine days after our trip to Mesa for my sister Karla's wedding, the same weekend in which the power steering in my "new" 2009 Chevy Traverse pooped out on me and left us stranded, we returned to the Valley to handle some family business. And that first order of business was, of course, to pick up my car from Chapman Chevrolet in Tempe, where the tow truck had left it on February 21st.

I was pretty sure I was headed for a fight with the dealership that sold me the car. It's not that I believed they purposely sold me a bad car; I just figured that their mechanic had overlooked the problem and thus they should take responsibility for a vehicle that had started exhibiting serious problems less than two weeks after I purchased it from them. And, I admit, trusting in auto dealerships to be reasonable isn't high on my trust-o-meter.

The day after we'd gotten home from Mesa, leaving my car behind, I'd stopped at my mechanic's garage after school and spoken to him about the situation. He said he would be glad to provide a statement that he'd seen my Traverse and had told me that the power steering needed attention on the 15th day after I'd bought it. This was important because in Arizona the "Lemon Law" requires dealerships to fix any problems that occur in the first fifteen days after a used car is purchased, with no more than a $25 cost to the car's new owner. However, my mechanic said it shouldn't be an issue because it had always been a policy of the dealerships in our area (where he'd used to work for several years) to repair any issues that arose in the first thirty days after an auto purchase.

That had made me feel a little better, but I was still loaded for bear when I'd gone straight from my mechanic to the dealership. You see, the mechanic from Chapman Chevrolet, Raul, had already called me that morning to report on his findings, and I'd become rather stressed over the money involved. 

First, Raul told me that a crack in my power steering fluid reservoir had widened, spilling out all the fluid onto the engine and hot belts and exhaust system. Thus, the acrid burning smell and copious smoke billowing out of my car on the night it had become undrivable. Unfortunately, the "Cadillac of warranties" that my dealership had convinced me to purchase for an additional $3,000 had already informed Raul that the reservoir was not a covered part. So to replace it was going to cost me about $350, and it had to be replaced before Raul could check the rest of the power steering system.

I asked Raul not to do anymore work on my car until I could speak to my dealership. He agreed, but told me that I already had a bill of $147 for what he had done so far. Now maybe you can imagine my frame of mind when I descended in wrath upon my dealership on that Monday after school.

Luckily for the dealers, I kept my wrath inside and managed to stay calm while I described what was going on. They brought in their mechanic, who admitted he might have missed the crack. He said he would call Chapman's mechanic to find out why the cost was so high and then decide whether it would be cheaper to tow the car here and fix it themselves or leave it in Tempe for Chapman to repair. The manager of the dealership was sympathetically horrified by our ordeal and, when I mentioned the Lemon Law, he put up a hand and said that wasn't a concern, they would take care of it.

After our visit with the dealership, Mark kept reassuring me that when the manager said, "We'll take care of it," he'd meant they would cover the costs. But I didn't rest easy until three days later, when Raul called me on Thursday to tell me that my car was ready for its long drive back home. I said, "Please tell me my balance is zero." He laughed and said, "Your balance is zero."

It turned out that, once the reservoir was replaced, they also found a slow leak in the rack and pinion (whatever that is), which was covered by my warranty. All the costs beyond that were covered by my dealership, and I express my gratitude to Horne Motor Company for their honesty and support during that very stressful time.

And so we picked up my car and drove it all over the Valley for two days before driving it the 175 miles and 7,000 feet uphill to get back home, and everything went great. It was a smooth drive and a huge relief! (I should explain that my darling daughter Sarah had loaned us her Jeep Liberty to get us to the Valley, and we'd left her with my old, rattly Pontiac Vibe).

Extended Stay America in Tempe

Thankfully, our hotel this time was much nicer than our last one. It was clean and quiet and smelled nice. It even had a kitchenette, although we didn't really stay long enough to use more than the refrigerator. Mark enjoyed their free continental breakfast, but I stayed in the room and feasted on my usual deviled eggs, plus some strawberries and some sugar-free hot cocoa.

Our hotel room for one night

Alyssum in the flowerbed outside the hotel office.

It definitely felt like spring in the Valley. Not only was it a balmy 80 degrees, but the scent of blossoms filled the air everywhere we went. My all-time favorite floral scent is the scent of alyssum, that tiny white flower that's found in gardens everywhere, but I also love the heady scent of orange blossoms, which you can smell no matter where you go in the Valley at this time of year. Unfortunately, I'm also mildly allergic to orange blossoms, so my sinuses were pretty stuffy by the time we started for home.

Orange blossoms were blooming everywhere.

Dylan and Jake wait for their dinners at Chili's in Payson.

We returned home the next day, Wednesday, after meeting with the lawyer who's handling some family business for Mark. We took a different route home than usual this time, due to the blasting going on between the cities of Superior and Globe-Miami to widen the highway that winds through the rocky foothills. So, instead of taking the Superstition Highway east to Globe-Miami and northeast to our home in the White Mountains, we took the Beeline Highway north to Payson and from there highway 260 east toward home.

That meant finding somewhere for dinner in Payson, since we arrived there just after 6:30. We used to travel through Payson often to reach Mesa when our children were small, but over the years we came to prefer the Globe-Miami route and rarely go through Payson anymore. Thus we weren't sure what restaurants we would find there. However, we passed a Chili's and Dylan suggested we stop there for dinner, so we did.

Mark and Mary at Chili's in Payson.

It was almost 8:00 when we finally left Chili's, and then we arrived safely at home by 9:45. However, our Valley trips aren't done yet. In just 12 days we leave again, this time to attend a concert in Gilbert and then to enjoy a day at the Renaissance Festival east of Apache Junction. More on those to come!

We Did Do Valentines

My Valentines Day trove from Dylan and Jake.

Lest you think we ignored Valentine's Day last month, due to the fact that I never posted about it, let me assure you that we did exchange gifts in commemoration of this annual day of romance. I just never got around to blogging it since there were so many busy and stressful things happening in my life last month.

A card and gift from Mark to me.

We didn't do anything in the way of special celebrations or dates or pictures, but there was the usual exchange of chocolaty sweetness that is such a big part of the tradition of Valentine's Day. And I'm very grateful that my family respected the fact that I'm trying to eat healthier by cutting sugar out of my diet. The boys gave me sugar-free candies and Mark gave me a Godiva dark chocolate bar that's 72% cacao and therefore very low in sugar and high in antioxidant flavonoids. 

My gifts to Mark.

While I'm still not sure where my current relationship with Mark is headed, it's nice to celebrate this holiday with someone you love, who loves you back. Expensive gifts and fancy dates aren't necessary when you simply know you care about each other and are comfortable together.

Sugar-free for Sarah and Reese's Hearts for Chris, Dylan, and Jake.

It's not much, but I also remember each of my children with candy on Valentine's Day. This year I did Reese's for the kids here in town, with sugar-free peanut butter cups for Sarah, who has also gone low-carb and is rocking it! When Jacob and Danielle arrived from Utah four days later to attend my sister's wedding, I gave them a small box of candies to share, although it wasn't Reese's.

That's the run-down on the quiet Valentine's Day we shared. I'm so grateful to have such an amazing family to share it with!

Western-style Date Night

Porter Mountain Steakhouse, March 5, 2016.

As we finished this week's shopping late this afternoon, Mark asked, "Where are we going to dinner?" I looked at him in surprise because we hadn't talked about going out tonight, but he had that teasing little smile on his face that let me know he'd purposely thrown out the idea to get my attention.

"You want to go out?" I responded. "Where do you want to go?" His first two suggestions were out of the question because they offer no meals that are low-carb-friendly (China Wok, KFC). His third suggestion was El Rancho. I wrinkled my nose. "We ate there two weeks ago. Let's do something different," I said. Then inspiration struck. "How about Porter Mountain Steakhouse?"

He liked that idea, so we went home to put away the groceries, and then we headed out to the steakhouse on Porter Mountain Road.

We started with Baked Tater Skins. Greasily delicious!

This restaurant has a lot of history and holds many memories for us. When we first moved to the mountain, this place was called The Chuckwagon, and it was one of our favorite places to take our small children for a family dinner, regularly. The steaks, which were reasonably priced, were charbroiled right there on a huge grill at the end of the dining room, the flames flaring up and heating the whole room. And the steaks were delicious.

Mark chose the beef stroganoff.

Not long after Mark and I divorced in 2006, the restaurant changed management or owners or cooks. Whatever it was, the quality of the food suffered and we gradually quit going there for dinner. Then the restaurant closed down about four years ago, although there were often rumblings that it might open again.

I went with the steak salad. It was SO good!

Eventually, it did reopen. In fact, the kids and I ate there once, not long after it reopened. The food was definitely great again, but the prices had also risen to the point where I couldn't really afford to treat my whole family. So we hadn't been back, until tonight. It was still too expensive to order the steaks, but there were other yummy items on the menu that fit our budget.

The Bar

There have been huge changes since our last visit. The big room that used to be the dining room with the indoor grill has been walled off and appears to now be some kind of conference room. The dining rooms are now located in the bar and in a larger room beyond the bar that was added onto the building many years ago. Behind the bar, the new owner has started a small western museum, which features in particular the buffalo that he admires and has collected for a long time.

Native American and buffalo artifacts in the room behind the bar.

While waiting for our dinner, I enjoyed walking through the little museum. Although I think the people of the Old West lived pretty harsh lives that I'm glad I didn't have to endure, the details of that era still fascinate me.

A waitress invited me to get on this buffalo for a picture.

I told her I'd probably break something if I did, either my hip or the buffalo!

One section of the museum is dedicated to the film Dances with Wolves, and it features an actual prop from the film: the carcass of a dead, skinned buffalo (not real, of course) left by white men to rot and waste on the plains.

Jesse James or Paul Newman?

(It says "Jesse James" on the plaque.)

The museum also features life-size mannequins of famous folks from the Old West. I thought the likeness of William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, was uncannily like that of his infamous photo. However, I thought the model of Jesse James more closely resembled Paul Newman. As for Daniel Boone, I'm not sure. He kind of reminds me of my cousin Raelene's husband, Holiday! 

The lower left plaque features artifacts from the James Gang.

The owner and creator of the museum chatted with me for a bit. He was very interested when I told him that the infamous Younger Brothers, who rode with the James Gang, were cousins of my Grandpa Loyd Haley. According to oral family history, Grandpa only met them once, when he was very young and they had ridden into town. I don't know if it's true or not, but I do know they are my distant cousins.

Billy the Kid, dressed up just like in his portrait.

Frontiersman, Daniel Boone.

I loved the scene on this painted screen.

There was even Western entertainment for the evening. This performer sang and

accompanied himself on guitar the entire time we were there. He was great.

It turned out to be a great date night. It felt to us like we'd not only gone out to a nice dinner, but we'd also visited a museum and a Western theme park!

Before we left, I convinced Mark to ride the buffalo!

The Best Part

Dylan got this view of Jacob and Danielle through the circle of Jacob's wedding ring.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

As thrilled as I am for Karla and Steve and as much as I enjoyed their wedding celebration, for me, the best part was that my son Jacob and his wife Danielle came all the way from their home in Midvale, Utah, to attend the wedding. We have really missed them since they moved away in September.

Danielle, Jacob, and Sarah enjoy our steak-and-salad dinner.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Jacob and Danielle left Midvale early on Thursday morning. Jacob told me he hoped to get here by around 2:00 in the afternoon. It's at least a 10-hour drive from their town to ours. I know my son, like me, is NOT a morning person, so I secretly doubted they'd make it to our house before 10:00 p.m.

Sure enough, Jacob called me at 1:45 and told me they were in Kanab, in southern Utah, which was still more than 5 hours away, not counting stops. I figured that meant they wouldn't arrive until at least 8:00. I told him we were going to be grilling steaks for dinner, but we'd hold off on dinner until they arrived. He told me not to wait on their account. I told him not to be silly, and reminded him to save room for dinner. "Don't stop somewhere and eat a big meal," I said.

Then I proceeded to tell the rest of the family they were going to be late. "I knew they wouldn't get out of town as early as they said," I told everyone.

Mark and Jake opt to eat at the kitchen table.

Two hours later, at 3:45, I was sitting at the kitchen table making deviled eggs for the trip when someone knocked on the window above the table. Jake had just left to drive Dylan to work, so my first thought was that they'd forgotten something and come back.

No. It was Jacob and Danielle! "You liars!" I cried as I ran to throw open the door and hug them. Jacob thought he was so clever. "We were actually in Winslow when I called you," he admitted. It was the best surprise ever, but he's still a dork.

Sarah and Danielle chop macadamias for my MacTurtles.

After they got settled, Jacob and Danielle went to Walmart to see Dylan and visit their old coworkers there. When they returned, they took our cars over to the car wash and cleaned them up nicely for the trip. Then my kids and Mark got dinner started while I worked on finishing laundry and getting packed. We ended the evening by visiting and enjoying the usual uproarious and often crude behavior of my boys when they get together, much to Danielle's dismay.

It was probably after 11:00 when they headed over to Chris and Sarah's place, where they spent the night in the spare bedroom of Chris's mom's house next-door.

Jacob and Danielle at the Phoenix Zoo.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Jacob and Danielle had decided they wanted to visit the Phoenix Zoo on Friday. Dylan said he wanted to go, too, because he'd never been to a zoo before. I told him, "Yes, you ha-- Oh, wait. I guess you haven't." I was shocked. We took Sarah and Jacob to the zoo when they were small, but that was before Dylan was born.

Of course, Dylan has also done far more traveling than either of his siblings, including driving cross-country to New York in 2012, when he was 15 (plus he's been to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden in Las Vegas twice; doesn't that sort of count as a zoo?). However, I was forced to concede that he'd never been to a real zoo before, so he and Jake planned to go along with Jacob and Danielle.

Jake and Dylan at the Phoenix Zoo.

Their plan was to get up early on Friday and be on the road by 9:00, but this time my prediction was accurate. They slept late and didn't leave for Phoenix until almost noon, giving them only a few hours at the zoo. They made the most of their time, though. And traveling long distances does take a lot out of you.

A strange glowing reflection far to the right of the sun as we enter the Valley

around 5:45 on Friday evening.

Mark and I both had to work on Friday. I had taken Wednesday and Thursday off because I'd had a nasty cold for 12 days that I hoped to beat before the wedding, and in fact I saw my doctor on Thursday morning, who gave me an antibiotic and a shot. By Friday I felt somewhat improved, so I needed to be at work. It's always chaos after a sub is in your classroom for a couple of days, even when it's a good sub. There's so much to get caught up on.

Chris and Sarah rode down with Mark and me in my "new" Chevy Traverse, but as soon as we drove away from my house I could tell something wasn't right. The steering felt tight and there was an odd sound when I turned the wheel. I stopped by my mechanic's shop on our way out of town. He checked under the hood and then rode around the parking lot with me. He heard the sound and told me there was a strain on my power steering system. He said the car would get me to the Valley, but if it got worse I'd need to get it in to a dealership right away. Since I'd owned the car for less than 30 days (exactly 2 weeks at that point, in fact), my dealership should cover the repairs, he told me.

Sarah, Chris, Jake, Dylan, Mark, Jacob, and Danielle enjoy 

a family dinner at Golden Corral buffet in Mesa.

Friday, February 19, 2016

The drive did go well. The car traveled as smoothly as I'd hoped, although the steering still made the odd sound on tight turns. We left my mechanic at 3:40 and arrived in Mesa just after 6:00, so we made good time. We checked into our hotel (the Howard Johnson's on Main in Mesa was a HUGE disappointment) and then, as soon as Jacob, Danielle, Dylan, and Jake joined us, we headed out to dinner. Jacob wanted to eat at Golden Corral, so that was our destination. 

Mark drools over his carb-laden dessert choices.

Those giant buffet places are deadly to those of us on low-carb diets, with all the delectable high-carb offerings, but Sarah and I stayed strong. We focused on the wide variety of meats and non-starchy vegetables and had a yummy, filling meal. And even some strawberries for dessert.

Mary and Mark at Golden Corral.

Saturday, of course, was filled with wedding activities. The advertised free continental breakfast at our hotel was pretty much a joke, if not downright nonexistent, so we went out to Denny's for breakfast. We were pressed for time, but my omelet was good.

Karla and Steve's sealing was at 11:15 in the Mesa Temple, followed by lots of pictures on the temple grounds. After that, we went to Walmart so I could buy Dylan a couple pairs of summer shorts, since his old ones are full of holes.

By the time we left Walmart, it was almost 3:00 and time for the wedding reception to begin, so we headed over to the chapel. By now, my steering was obviously not right. The around-town driving had done what the long drive down the mountainside had not, and it was finished. I tried not to worry over what I was going to do about it, being the weekend and all the dealerships closed, and instead attempted to focus on enjoying the fun of the reception activities and visiting with family and friends.

Danielle, Mark, Jacob, Dylan, Jake, and Sarah visiting our friend Gwen.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

When the reception was over, we went back to the hotel so I could change into casual clothes, and then we drove over to the apartment building where my friend Gwen moved last year. We hadn't seen her in many months. Unfortunately, on our way there, smoke began pouring out of the back of my car, accompanied by the acrid smell of something burning. We made it to a parking lot across the street from Gwen's building, but I could barely steer the car into a parking space.

Despite the stress of the car problems, we enjoyed a lengthy visit with Gwen before I called AAA to come and tow my car. I wasn't sure what to do. My AAA coverage will only tow my vehicle 100 miles, and my dealership was 170 miles away. I was informed that the minimal cost for the extra mileage would be $350, probably even more. Unable to come up with a better option, I just had them tow it to our hotel. At least it would be where I was, for now.

My car on Saturday morning, before she sputtered and died that evening.

On Sunday morning I woke up early, my brain going in circles as I tried to resolve the car issue. At 9:00 I started making phone calls. I couldn't reach anyone at my dealership, whom I felt should be responsible for the repairs, and it seemed all the other Chevy dealerships were also closed on Sundays.

The next problem was that we had to check out of our hotel at 11:00, and we had no transportation and nowhere to go (there were 8 of us, and Jacob and Danielle's new Nissan Sentra only seats 4 comfortably). I posted a "Help!" message on Facebook, which elicited some offers of assistance (bless them!) and ultimately led to my niece Mariah sending her husband Dallin to fetch us just in the nick of time. Fortunately for us, if not for them, they had stayed home from church because they and their new baby were sick with colds.

They were staying at the home of my sister Karla (Mariah's mom) to take care of Karla's youngest three children while she and Steve were on their honeymoon. Karla's house is only a couple of miles from the hotel, so it gave us a good base from which to figure out a plan. And there was a computer available. I find using my cell phone to access the internet to be a lesson in futility.

Online, I was able to locate two nearby Chevrolet dealerships that were open (although, not their service departments, of course). They assured me that I could have my car towed to them and they'd look at it first thing Monday morning. So I contacted my insurance company, who said I was covered to have the car towed. We met them back at the hotel, cleared out all our stuff, and watched my Traverse once again be loaded onto the back of a tow truck and taken away.

Half of us went to El Pollo Loco to get lunch for everyone.

They had a lovely avocado chicken salad, so Sarah and I didn't have to be bad.

Perhaps our biggest hurdle was figuring out how we were going to get home on Sunday night. I could have called in and taken a few more days off work to wait for my car to be repaired, but I didn't want to. It also wasn't feasible because Mark, Sarah, Dylan, and Jake had to be at work on Monday, too (as well as school for Dylan). Besides that, Jacob and Danielle were driving back to Utah on Monday, and I didn't want to miss out on our last night together. They could have driven Dylan and Jake home, or Chris and Sarah, but not both--and either way it would have split our group up.

Although you can't tell it in these pictures, the full moon was huge.

Since I wasn't driving (for a change), I was able to try to capture the image

on my cell phone as we drove back up the mountain toward home.

My dad and Kathy were still in the Valley after Karla's wedding, visiting with Kathy's daughter Rebecca and son-in-law Dylan in Phoenix until Monday. I called my dad, as we daughters tend to do when we're in a tight spot, to tearfully ask his advice. He was as stumped as I was, but I asked him to call me back if he came up with an idea. As we got off the phone, Chris was calling his mom Brenda and telling her about our quandary. To my amazement and gratitude, she offered to make the 3-hour drive down to pick us up in her truck!

No sooner had Brenda offered to come get us than my dad called back and announced, "I got you a ride." It seems that when he was telling Rebecca and Dylan about our situation, Dylan offered to drive us home in their new van. All he asked was that we feed him dinner.

So, I went from despair to two offers of a ride in the space of an hour. I wonder often why I let myself panic when things get tough, because experience has taught me that things always work out. Always. Maybe not like you'd hoped, but there's always a solution in the end.

It's a beautiful, winding drive from the Valley to the White Mountains.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

We gratefully accepted Dylan's offer to drive us home. I filled his tank with gas, and after we got home around 7:00, we all went out for Mexican food at El Rancho, where I happily paid for his meal. He spent the night at my dad and Kathy's house (about 2 miles from my home) and then returned to his family early Monday morning. 

I am so grateful to those Good Samaritans who were there for us in our time of need!

And, best of all, we were able to spend our final evening with Jacob and Danielle before they headed back to Utah on Monday morning. Sarah and Chris got to spend that last morning with them, enjoying a breakfast of eggs and bacon together before Jacob and Danielle got on the road around 10:00 a.m. Dylan and I had to be in school that morning, dang it all! But I so loved getting to have my whole family together again for a few too-short days.

Meanwhile, my Traverse has spent the past week at the Chevy dealership in the Valley, but she's been repaired and is just waiting for me to pick her up, which I will do on Tuesday, tomorrow. We have other business in the Valley at that time. 

It turned out there was a small crack in the power steering reservoir that had widened, allowing the fluid to pour out on the hot engine and exhaust, causing the burning smell and copious smoke. The mechanic at my dealership had missed it, so they paid for the repairs. I'm thankful that they were accountable without requiring me to fight for it.

All in all, what began as an awful, stressful situation ended up studded with blessings, large and small, all along the way. For that I am grateful. But I'll still be on the edge of my seat until my "new" car makes that 3-hour drive back home safely on Wednesday!