Our last days on the road took us from Colorado Springs through Tucson before we headed for the Los Angeles area. We didn’t have any churches to see along the way, only Matt’s grandmother, so we got to spend quite a bit of time with her in Tucson, and really got a chance to see the true southwest!

This would be a random dirt road that we took to get around some major road construction that had closed off a significant portion of the road we were supposed to be on. The official detour didn’t really go the direction we needed to go, so we off-roaded a bit in the middle of nowhere! Matt’s pretty good with directions and maps though, and we soon ended up back on a paved road. =)

While in Tucson, Grandma Marty took us to the Desert Museum. It’s kind of like a southwest zoo, spread out over a large amount of land that has been beautifully landscaped and labeled. It was really amazing, and we’d highly recommend it!

A close of up a saguaro, which will always remind me of Snoopy.

Seriously, this is an amazing park, and you can get right up next to the animals. We spent almost 5 hours at the Desert Museum, and really enjoyed that opportunity to spend time with Grandma Marty!

After the museum, Grandma Marty took us to the mission – San Xavier del Bac.

And then we took a little walk from Grandma Marty’s house to see the sunset. It started out beautiful…

And quickly became beautifully surreal!

Thanks Grandma Marty for a great full day in Tucson! It was so good to spend time with you, and we’re so thankful for your hospitality and fun spirit!

Back on the road the next morning, we had about a 7 hour drive to get back to Santa Clarita. We started out by driving through part of the Saguaro National Park. We were just fascinated by these tall cacti!

We laughed really hard when we passed this sign, and went back to take a picture. “There is no outlet – this is Wong Way!”

Ah, finally! Los Angeles shows up on the road signs!

What would you say if your salsa packet asked to drive?

This is my dear friend and wonderful husband. Thank you, Matt, for making deputation and support-raising so much fun! I love your cheerful heart and your enjoyment of sharing with so many people what the Lord is doing in our lives and in the ministry in Malawi. I’m so very thankful that the Lord has put us together on this journey. You have encouraged my faith when I’ve been discouraged, challenged me to grow in my love for the Lord, and you’ve brought a smile to my face every day. You’re my best friend, and I can’t wait to move to Malawi with you!

And we’re back. 6:15pm on Thursday, February 26th, just in time for Bible study. =)

I haven’t been keeping track of mileage for the last few posts, so this might come as somewhat of a shock. Our mileage total for this, the second Great Floreen Roadtrip, came in at exactly 4,432.3 miles. That makes me want to take a nice, long walk! Overall, both trips combined, we traveled 7,343.5 miles.

But it was worth it, every mile of it. We saw so many people and were able to make some good connections with individuals and churches. Our prayer now is that those whose hearts the Lord has burdened to partner with us in ministry would act on the Lord’s prompting and join us in this walk of faith. Please pray with us!