cactus, cowboy, and rainbows OH MY!

Happy birthday to you..

Happy birthday to you…

Happy birthday dear Tiffany!

Happy birthday to you.

I hope you get some tonight..

I hope you get some tonight…

I hope you get some NICE PRESENTS:)

I hope you get some tonight.

Today we celebrate a momentous day in history, the day of Tiffany’s birth:) in….

After all the long hours in the car, we’ve been through ½ of our CD collection and we’re not even ½ way through our trip. This brings us to our next idea, let’s play car games!!! Our first car game was “I went to the Supermarket” This, my friends, is a memory game where one person starts off with the statement “I went to the Supermarket and I got (insert something with an “a”) then the next person repeats the statement and adds something with the letter “b” continuing in alphabetical order. With only two people playing, we got to “P” in about 2 minutes and started saying “I don’t know if you know this, but I went to the supermarket and got EVERYTHING you got, but I also got (insert next letter)” We got A.D.D when we saw the sign “Petrified Forrest” and quickly ended this repetitious car game to take a detour.

   

                      

Petrified wood’s varied colors came from minerals in the silica-saturated waters. Iron, carbon, manganese, and sometimes cobalt and chromium produced patterns and blends of yellow, red, black, blue, brown, white, and pink. In the mid-1800s U.S. government mappers and surveyors exploring this area carried stories back East of the remarkable “Painted Desert and its trees turned to stone.” After many pioneers, ranchers, and sightseers started exploring and taking materials, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside areas, such as this, as Petrified Forest National Monuments, where it is now illegal to take any piece of petrified wood out of the area. However, we may or may not have a piece or two in our pockets:)

The next thing on our agenda on this glorious day, Tiffany’s Birthday:), was to pick up our new precious cargo.  With another 2 hours to go, we drove through the pure beauty that the United States has to offer...

(The pictures do not do it justice.)

Below = Welcome to the desert, ladies!

We finally arrived in Scottsdale and were greeted by our new friend, Renee!!!! Yay!! Renee flew out from Philly to Arizona and will be with us for the rest of the way!

We got ready and started our Sunday Funday, birthday style, out in Old Town Scottsdale. 

Complete with a crown (thanks to Renee & the $1 store) and two beautiful “bridesmaids” (everyone kept thinking it was Tiffany’s bachelorette party even though the crown clearly said “BIRTHDAY GIRL”), we stopped in at the Rusty Spur.  We hung out with some locals….

Who enlightened us with their impression of Crazy Horse.

and were kind enough to lend us their hats for a photo opp.

We said we liked Miran's bracelet and he quickly went from liking us, to giving us a stern look and clarifying that it was his manly “cuff” However, we moved forward and he had the one man band, Russ, and the whole bar sing Tiffany happy birthday (refer to beginning of blog).

Dinner was delicioso at Los Olivos, where we had yet another authentic Mexican meal. Renee decided to order the “American Flag” at this authentic Mexican restaurant….yes, she definitely meant to say “Mexican Flag.” After getting laughed at, we drank our way through the embarrassment….

Not sure how the waitress new it was Tiffany’s birthday, maybe it was the crown:), but she brought over some complimentary fried ice cream. However, she did not sing. The man at the next table saw the disappointment in Tiffany’s face (or heard her loudly complain), so he started to sing for her!  Way to take one for the team, sir:) The waitress made up for her lack of birthday fun, when she sent over the meriachi band before we left.

We ended our night with a round at Shotgun Betty’s. It was complete with stripper poles, and we swear we are not actively pursuing these places that house half-naked women. However, this was a rock and roll saloon with $3 beers that were humungous so we stayed and enjoyed ourselves for a while. 

                                     

Arizona has the most breathtaking views to take in. Look to your left, there's rows of mountains. Look to your right, there's lines of pine trees. Look up in the sky, there's a DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!!! (please YouTube Double Rainbow to get this reference)

It's a new day, Tiffany is one year older, and we are off to our next location to start today's activities. 

Here you will witness Renee's initiation into the X Country Girls Club....

Happy Trails!

We'll be seeing you in another 500 miles or so....

xxoo

The X Country Girls!