In the beginning...

Well, we've arrived in Flagstaff. The trip was fairly uneventful - our plane was about 15 minutes late getting into Houston, which left us only 30 minutes to get to our connecting flight's gate. Because of Aunt Rose, they hooked us up on a cart, which was good, since the gate we were supposed to be at was probably about a mile & a half away. When we arrived at that gate, we found out that they'd moved our flight to a gate much closer to where we'd just been. The flight to Phoenix was supposed to leave at 5:30, but ended up being an hour late, so it turned out that we had plenty of time, but it was still worrisome. When we arrived in Phoenix, we made our way down to the baggage claim where the next "issue" popped up. Three of the four bags that were checked arrived safely, but my big green suitcase, which had most of my clothes and my contact solution, etc., wasn't there. I went into the baggage office, and waited while a couple from England gave the lady their information, thinking all the time "This can't be good." When I stepped up to the counter I felt like I was ready to cry. Thankfully, the lady said that she'd just gotten a message from the Northwest terminal (we flew Continental) that my bag was over there. The very nice wheelchair attendant who was helping Aunt Rose went over and got it for me, and we were on our way.

We arrived in Flagstaff at about 1:30 am (3:30 our time), and crashed. Today, we're headed to the Petrified Forest and then up to the vicinity of Arches National Park. Hopefully there will be some good picture opportunities.