You are lost

Page isn’t a very large town and the area we were in was like a dust bowl with a Wal-Mart dropped in the middle of it.  Sara’s mom had to take the grandmother somewhere to get the thumb looked at and we had to wait for Matt’s car to cool down enough to quit spitting coolant, so we were stuck in the parking lot.  The mid day sun was hot and unforgiving, making the Wal-Mart more hellish than usual.  We grabbed some subs from the in store Subway and hid in the small amount of shade the trailer provided to eat.

After some time had passed Sara’s mother and grandmother returned.  Since the grandmother had severed the tendon of her thumb there was nothing the local doctor could do for her; she’d have to see a specialist.  This meant spending the night in Flagstaff when we got there, and possibly more delays in an already long journey.  Feeling not at all refreshed we got back on the 89 and headed south.

The drive to Flagstaff was pretty, but uneventful.  The air became cooler and short shrubberies gave way to tall ponderosas.  We were making good time, though late in the afternoon, when we hit a snag just outside Flagstaff.  The truck got a flat tire.  A bad one.  We had AAA roadside service, which took a while to get there to service the vehicle.  It was dark by the time we got moving again.  Good thing we weren’t planning on going much furthur.

We found a hotel in Flagstaff.  The grandmother, feeling pretty bad about the delays she had wrought, bought us all pizza.  Matt and I spent a good deal of time chain smoking while wandering around the balcony areas.  The new plan of action for the next day was formed.  Sara would stay behind with the grandmother to take her to the hospital while the rest of us would continue on to Phoenix to unload the trailer at Matt’s grandparents.

The drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix was quick and easy, made only more so by not having the grandmother along.  We made it to Matt’s grandparent’s house and after a very brief rest and greetings we unloaded all of our material possessions into their garage.

Later that night Sara and the grandmother arrived.  We all sat together reminiscing about the events of our journey, enjoying each others presence before the mother and grandmother had to depart.  After many hugs and goodbyes they headed on their way.

And so after 4 long days of driving we finally made our destination and settled into our guest rooms on the 10th of August.

Linh had transferred with Wal-Mart, and would be employed in Cottonwood, over 100 miles from Phoenix, so finding housing became the next priority.  We began looking into Campe Verde, Prescott, Chino Valley, Cottonwood; anywhere closer and considerably cooler.  The northern part of Arizona has a higher altitude and a considerably more tolerable climate.  Some house hunting could be done online, but most of it would been done “on foot”, which meant commuting 200 miles back and forth each day to look at houses.  We grew very fond of the radio very quickly.

Linh had to return to work before we found a place to live, and the long drives back and forth looking for houses were time consuming and expensive; we’d been searching for about a week.  We had taken a liking to Prescott Valley, for it’s affordability, job opportunities and temperate climate.

Sara and Matt finally found what was to be our new domicile.  I had become ill the day prior and had vomited in the front yard of a house we were looking into at the time, and thusly was not present for the moment of discovery.  The location was nice, the price was good, the landlords were pretty cool.  Everything clicked.  The landlords were a little concerned about renting to a bunch of unemployed kids, but after flashing some money and job credentials we were in.

Linh stationed herself at the house first, being as it was over 120 miles closer to work, while the rest of us prepared for moving again.  We wouldn’t have the luxury of the large trailer this time, but Matt’s uncle Steve had a smaller trailer and after several trips we got everything moved in.

And so that’s how we came to live in Prescott Valley.  With the financial obligation of shelter on our shoulders we set out looking for work immediately.  Being a strip mall on a highway most of us were applying at big box stores, and after a couple of weeks we were all gainfully employed again.