Prescott, AZ

August 19 - 21, 2010 Russell and I took a road trip to Prescott, AZ so Russell could do an ambulance ride-along shift with the agency there. Russell had applied for a job down there and we just wanted to see what the area was like, and if it was somewhere we could make a living. We left Thursday afternoon and drove for what seemed like all day but really it was only 7 hours. On our way, we stopped to see the sites including Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam.

I had been to the Hoover Dam before but only drove across it in my parents car. Russell and I decided we needed to take advantage of our travel time and stop and explore the Dam. It was fun to see this amazing structure and realize how much work went into building it.

I couldn't believe how low Lake Mead was (as you can tell from the large white bathtub ring around the rock walls). There was a lot of construction going on near the Dam because they are building a new road to bypass driving on the Dam. The huge arch bridge behind Russell is part of the new road.

The Dam connects Arizona and Nevada so one side of the Dam is in Arizona and on Arizona time (the picture with me in it) and the other side of the Dam is in Nevada and on Nevada time (the picture with Russell in it).

After exploring the Dam, we continued our journey to Prescott. For my birthday, I got a Droid phone and it is awesome because it has everything including a GPS system that give you turn by turn navigation to your destiny. It was so nice to use this to find our way to Prescott. We arrived at our hotel, at about 8:00 pm and we were so glad to be out of the car. Emily's favorite thing about the hotel room was the fun bouncy beds. She loves jumping on beds.

The next morning, Emily and I dropped Russell off at the Lifeline Ambulance agency for his ride-along then headed back to the hotel for breakfast and relaxation. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and their continental breakfast was great. They had anything you wanted to eat. Emily saw the Froot Loops and she was sold until she saw the yogurt and bananas her favorite foods. Needless to say she loved the breakfast. After breakfast we just chilled and played games then we went swimming in the pool. Emily loved swimming in the pool especially the little kiddy pool where she could touch the bottom. Her favorite part though was just sitting on the side of the pool and kicking and splashing with her feet. She could have stayed there all day but we were turning into prunes so we went back to our room for lunch. While Emily was taking a nap, I searching everything I could find in the Internet about Prescott. When Emily woke up, we went exploring the town. Our first stop was of course Wal-Mart! OK we forgot our stroller at home so I had to by a little umbrella stroller so I wouldn't have to carry Emily when she got tired. Then we went to the mall.

The mall was good and it had a lot of fun stores but the thing that impressed me the most was that the people walking in the mall were not dressed like skanks! When I walk down the mall in St. George, I am sometimes shocked by the way people dress! But here the people were not bad. The one thing that did frustrate me though was that no stores in that mall sold maternity clothes! Oh well. Emily's favorite part of the mall was the playground! She loved climbing on the toys and sliding down the slides and playing with the other kids. She didn't want to leave.

After leaving the mall, we still had an hour before Russell's shift ended so we found a fun park near the station. Emily loves parks and playing. I am worried about what will happen with this new baby because Emily doesn't like other kids playing with her things unless she gives it to them. Emily was swinging in the swing and then she wanted to go down the slide so I got her out of the swing and she ran to the slide. While she was sliding, another kid got in "her" swing and she started freaking out and ran over to the swing yelling "Emily's swing! Emily's swing!" I had to catch her and tell her that it was not her swing and she needed to share. I was so embarrassed but I couldn't help but laugh inside because it was so funny.

After playing and blowing bubbles, we went to pick up Russell from the ambulance station. He said he had a great time on the ride-along. The crew was really nice he said and very willing to help and offer suggestions about the company and the town. Russell was really impressed by their strict protocols and immaculate ambulances. He was also impressed by the crew. He said they didn't have bad mouths or tell bad jokes like other crews he had worked with. He also found out that you say Prescott like "Priscuit" or biscuit with a P. If you don't say it like that, the people of Prescott know you are from out of town!

We drove around the town for a while checking out the sites and looking for a place to eat dinner. We ate at a restaurant called the Fire House or something like that. Then we walked up to the park because they were having a little city party or something. It was fun; we talked to some people about the city and the housing areas and got some good information. Then went back to the hotel and went swimming again before going to bed.

The next day, we drove around the neighborhoods of Prescott Valley and there were some really nice neighborhoods and homes. We decided if we did get a job, we could live here. We thought Prescott was similar in size to Provo and the climate is similar to Cedar City. We actually really liked the city. After exploring the town, we went to the zoo.

Emily loved the birds especially the owls. She would say "Who Who! Who Who!" The spider house was kind of creepy. I felt like spiders were crawling on me until we got out.

Below is a picture of a badger. He was really funny because he was trying so hard to dig a way out of the cage. Too bad for him the cage went pretty far down in the ground so he couldn't escape.

The zoo had chickens and peacocks running around freely. We were trying to get this peacock to open his tail but he wouldn't.

It was pretty hot outside at the zoo so luckily they had a splash pad that we could play in after looking at all the animals.

Emily and Russell loved it. Emily was soaking wet when she was done playing. It was so funny to watch her play.

After the zoo, we decided we better head back home before it got too late. Ironically, the trip home seemed to go a lot faster that the trip out. Emily even too the trip home a lot better. We had a good time in Prescott but we were glad to be home.

On the way home, we entertained Emily by looking for airplanes, listening to primary songs, and singing songs to her. Below is a video of her singing the teeter totter song that Grandma Morwood taught her while camping at Fish Lake. She loves singing.