Days Inn, Phoenix, AZ

On Saturday, we got late check out at the Ramada and early check in at our new home, the Days Inn, so we wouldn't be homeless.  In the time between, we went to the Bounder to pick up some changes of clothes and silverware.  When we got there, it was still up on a giant lift, but it was running and the engine sounded great!  They were happy with the way things were going, but still had a bit more work to do. But they were definitely on track to have it picked up on Monday.  So we gathered our things and set out to settle in to the Days Inn.

At $30 a night, you get what you pay for.  The place was kinda scummy, but with a quick unpacking and spattering of our stuff, we all agreed that it would do for a couple of days.  It had a huge refrigerator and fast wi-fi, and the beds seemed free of bugs.  Plus there was a pool.  You really can't ask for anything more.

The worst part, actually, was that all of the hotels wanted $10 extra per dog per night.  So we took to not mentioning the dogs when we checked in.  At the Days Inn this proved to be really stressful.  The doors of the rooms opened right to the outside, and ours opened right to the entrance gate to the pool, was three doors down from the breakfast room, and just feet away from the check in building.  We took to loading the dogs into the car and driving them to parks to potty during the day, and I woke up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to take them out so they wouldn't have to go during breakfast. 

There was a safe in the room that the kids couldn't leave alone.  Every few minutes we would hear beep beep BEEP as they tried to figure out the code.

As always, Sawyer enjoyed messing with the TV remote...

and Judah loved Jumping on the bed.

And they both had fun acting like wild animals.

Sawyer loves to eat.  He wants a bite of whatever anyone else has.  He just stands there with has hand out saying Ummmm hmmmm in his sing song little voice.  At one point, Judah was playing with a bar of soap.  He partially unwrapped it and threw it on the bedside table.  Sawyer saw this and, of course, assumed it was food.  I wasn't paying attention, and just heard Sawyer crying and saw him rubbing his tongue.  Then I looked down and saw the perfect little teeth marks on the soap.  Yup, he had taken a big old bite out of the bar of soap. 

But he bounced back quickly, and went right back to playing with Judah while Mark enjoyed cable.

The next morning, we decided that everyone needed a chance to run and play, so we went to a playground.  Judah made a friend...

the dogs got to walk and potty freely...

and Sawyer played dangerously.

But we had to cut our outdoor fun short because, for the second time this season, Mark was going to be able to watch a Packer game!  So we stopped for some snacks and beer and headed back to the Days Inn for some football.  Looks relaxing, right?

Here is the scene from another angle...

While Mark watched the game, the monkeys and I went for a swim in the pool. The water was cold, but they loved it.

That evening, Jason  came to visit us at the new place. And the kids immediately wanted some more leg ride action. 

When we first saw Jason, I mentioned my love of burritos, and he suggested that we check out this place called Filiberto's.  I was all about it.  On Saturday night, after a series of events that solidified by dislike of Phoenix, I was looking for some redemption, so we hit up Filibertos.  I typed it in to the navigation, spotted the sign, went through the drive through, and went home to enjoy our delicious food.  I was surprised, and not a little pissed, to find it was disgusting.  Seriously.  I have a pretty high tolerance fro gross food, but this kind of put me over the edge.  The beans were gross, the sauce tasted like Taco Bell hot sauce, and, to top it all off, the cheese wasn't melted--just cold shredded cheese on both the nachos and in the cheese enchilada!  I was freaking out about how disgusting it was and seriously questioning Jason's judgment.

When Jason came over the next day, he saw the bag.  When he asked, I told him I didn't love it (I didn't want to hurt his feelings).  Then he asked why we didn't go to FIliberto's.  "But we did, " I insisted.  He looked at the bag again and pointed out that, in fact, we had gone to Juliobertos, a Filibertos rip off.  We had been duped.  But seriously, check out the Filiberto's logo and then look at the logo on the bag.  Those jerks tricked us, thus increasing my hatred of Phoenix.     

The next morning was Monday.  We woke up hopeful, ate some waffles, packed up, and headed to the dealership.

And the Bounder was ready to go!!!  Mark signed the papers...

and started the engine! 

It sounded beautiful, and we made our way to the I-10 to begin our journey back to the arctic for Christmas.  Save us some snow, we'll be there soon!