Our RV Trip: Days 3-5

I had been refusing to sit in the front seat of the RV for the first two days of the driving because I thought it would be too nerve-wrecking.  However, riding in the back was really freaking me out.  Hannah sat in the front the second day and told me she thought I'd be more comfortable up there because it was a similar feel to our 12 passenger van.  So, on day 3 I tried it out and found she was so very right.  It was much easier for me to feel how long it would take him to stop and from then on I was much more comfortable even when I was in the back.

On day 3 we arrived at our friends' house in Phoenix, AZ.  We had not seen these friends since we moved to Germany the second time.  They were stationed with us in Germany the first time and again in Maryland/D.C..  It's been nearly six years since our families were together.  

They have kids the same age as Drew, Isaac, Genevieve, and Hannah so the kids had a great time getting re-acquainted, swimming, playing games, and the little ones put on plays.

We slept in the RV out on the street.  The original plan was to park it in their driveway, but the measurements that the guys had exchanged over the phone did not account for when we expand the RV for sleeping.  So we had to park it on the street.  Also, we thought originally that we'd be able to plug into their house for electricity and A/C, but when Brian picked up the RV they said if you used the RV it would trip the breaker on the house.  Sooo, we had to run the generator until 4am when Brian would have to get up and turn it off and plug back into their house so we could use our outlets and fans to keep cool the rest of the night.    The reason we couldn't run the generator all night was the RV rental company told us you needed to check the oil level every 8 hours of activity and it couldn't be checked while it was hot.  This whole RV thing had quite the learning curve, but I think we did okay in the end.

While at our friends' house, we had a graduation "party" for their oldest.  This included the extended family that our friends had staying with them when we arrived.  They had grandparents and an uncle and aunt with their two small kids.  We are so glad we decided against bringing our dog, because there was a total of five dogs there when we arrived.  Two lived there and three were from the extended family, two of which were puppies with a lot of energy.  They had a very full house!

They live right by their church, and we walked down to Mass at 7:30am in the morning on Sunday, day 4, and spent the rest of the day hanging out and catching up.  On Monday morning, we set out together to Sedona Pines, a resort with mini cabins and RV spots.  

We got settled and went swimming, had pizza that the guys picked up from town and played a very competitive game of putt putt golf where I was the ultimate score keeper for seven kids while teaching Bobby how to play.  It was his first time playing, and although he came in last place he wasn't far behind the rest of them.  He was actually quite good for a five year old that had never played before.

They had extra room in their cabin for two, so Genna and Bob slept there to enjoy a cooler night sleep in a big comfy bed.  We were up early the next day though for our next adventure!