On The Road Again!: Day 9: Saturday, May 19th- Lone Mountain, Red Rock, and Van repair!

Today we had a lazy morning and then headed off to hike to the top the mountain behind John and Irene's house. The girls were especially happy to spend time with their cousin, Alyssa who had been in school all week. We climbed the mountain and returned to the bottom in about an hour...it was a bit more challenging than most of us anticipated as we climbed up the steep rock. We were all grateful for the water bottles we brought along!

After hiking we decided to rehydrate and then head out to Red Rock Canyon which is about 30 minutes away. En-route John suggested we stop again at Costco as he was sure those ice cream treats would be offered for free again...he was right and the 'food grazing' held everyone over until we ate a late lunch. Yep, we do make strange memories together! We got out to the parking lot, piled all 11 of us in our van and the battery was dead! John approached a young couple in a new Mustang a few parking spaces away and asked if they could jump our battery. They were very willing but had never opened the hood of their car before and could not find the battery!! No joke...it was evidently situated within a plastic container in the hood and they did not know how to expose the battery to attach the cables. So, John approached another couple and the guy was willing but took a few attempts to get his car safely in the spot next to us...it was quite comical. After a few minutes, our van started up, we thanked the couple, and piled back in for a drive through Red Rock Canyon. Mark kept the car running though just in case the battery acted up again. The heat was intense at Red Rock so we did not take any hikes today, but the drive through was scenic.

After getting home from Red Rock, John and Mark wisely decided to go get the battery tested to see why it had died. The guys at Pep Boys told Mark the alternator needed to be replaced. This is the same thing that happened while on our trip to Florida in September 2010... we were so thankful though that he was able to get it replaced before we were left stranded somewhere on a desolate desert highway. Once again we see the favor and kindness of the Lord to us in the timing of this....if the van had died out on the road, we would have been stuck as I do not think a tow truck has room for 8 passengers! Also, there are long stretches during our travels that we lose cell phone coverage and are pretty much alone on the road... so thankful that was not an issue and we were able to get it fixed preemptively!!
After they picked up the van from getting repaired, the evening was spent watching the Phillies game, soaking in the hot tub, playing water basketball and airhockey. We totally enjoyed our stay with John, Irene, and Alyssa...it was a special time as our visits together are infrequent. I'm so glad he and his family are coming east next month...it made leaving a little bit easier!