One more stop and then finally a ten hour drive into California. Grand Canyon National Park is where we would land. I had planned to take the children to both the park and the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon, as it was just a few years prior to our trip that it was built. Logistics would determine which we would venture to first, and the surprise for this detour was one of great measure. I would charter a plane and fly us thru the Grand Canyon.

We decided to go to the Skywalk first. The images alone from this point are unimaginable; they have to be seen with your own eyes to believe them. As we gazed over the expanse of the Grand Canyon and its floor, I wondered how I would ever regain the hole that was in my soul over the loss of Brady. It was like the pit, basin and vastness of the Canyon were equivalent to the depth and breadth in the pit of my own stomach and heart. As I cried, Isabella held me and said nary a word. She simply understood.

After wiping away the tears, Liam came to console me as well and gave me a hug that I knew all too well...it seemed as though he had the same embrace that his father did. Once I regained my personal composure I motioned for them to head back to the Suburban. We drove about thirty minutes down toward the bottom of the Canyon in order to arrive at the hanger. We chartered a plane that afternoon, and saw the Grand Canyon as many would like too, but so few have. At that very moment as we were in flight, I cried again but felt an uneasy, but steady calm feeling as somehow I knew Brady was with me on that plane. While ethereal, and unrealistic really; it seemed clear to me that I felt his presence in a very clear fashion that day. He was indeed; with me!

Upon landing, we drove to Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. We spent the day hiking and found a nice spot for a picnic lunch in the early afternoon. It was the kind of day that is so relaxing...the breeze in your face and hair slightly, but the warm sun on your back. I had made sandwiches on bagels, had a small serving of antipasto, some five bean salad in a lit vinaigrette, and some grapes. To go along with our grapes, I opened a bottle of Chambourcin; a grape that grows well in France and ironically the State of Maryland, and the kids had bottled water. I had needed a drink that day to calm my nerves, as the events leading up to this calm lunch in the National Park were more than even my antidepressants and my Abilify could handle.

As I drove, I looked in the rear-view mirror while sipping on a iced-caramel frappacino and wondered how long the children would sleep. I saw the large sign for Albuquerque and that meant that we were now less than ninety minutes away.

Enter Albuquerque, New Mexico. As I drove into town in the black Suburban, I saw heads turn as if I were the FBI rolling up for a sting operation. I suppose I get that more often than I realize, but today it was most noticeable. "Did they somehow know I was from out of town", I wandered? At any rate, as I pulled into a local restaurant and placed the Suburban in park, the children awoke.

We were all famished at this point and an early lunch at about 4:00 PM seemed appropriate. We had driven nearly nine hours that day.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company would be the spot for lunch and then I had a surprise that started promptly at 7:05 PM. Any guesses? Calzones seemed like an appetizing choice and we all ended up ordering one. They are a bit more filling than pizza and I tend to enjoy the mountains of marinara enclosed. Isabella and Liam both had a hard time deciding, so we each ordered two and decided to take one along in a box for a snack at a later date.

Shortly after dinner, I took the kids downtown close to our evening excursion. Did anyone get the right answer? Isotopes Baseball! That's right; good ole baseball. Liam was a three-letter sportsman, so I knew without a doubt that he would enjoy the game. Bella; being the good sport that she is, would either enjoy the game as much as the rest of us, or at least act like she did. That is the way she was raised by Brady. We were; however, lucky enough to attend on an evening when they gave away hats to the first 5,000 fans and additionally had fireworks after the game. These things in combination; if nothing else, would make it memorable for Bella.

The Isotopes beat the pants off of the Las Vegas 51's that evening and from there it was just a short drive to the hotel. We stayed that evening at the Casas de Suenos hotel, an Inn of sorts with only twenty-one rooms. Quaint and quiet, it was like a Spanish lullaby wrapped in the accommodations of a hotel/inn as we laid down to sleep that evening.