Fun Time in Oklahoma

I love being on the road trip. I really, really do. There’s something liberating about the constantly changing scenery and the new challenges that come with each. It almost fulfills my childhood longing to be a gypsy but I wouldn’t know the first thing about dealing with horses. Besides, my car works just fine. HOWEVER, I must say that I have never appreciated sleeping in a bed more after this past week or two. *refusing to get out of bed until at least 10am*

I used the wonderfulness of the internet to scour the Appalachian region for Bed & Breakfasts that we might want to try. We managed to find a couple that sparked our interest. Then we reviewed our plan to attend the Blue Grass Festival in Missouri. After some contemplative contemplation, we revised our plans to skip the festival. Instead, we were to meander along until we reached Muskogee, OK where my aunt and uncle live.

Our time bonding with the queen size bed and awfully soft pillows soon came to an end. Floating on a cloud of bliss, I waited to pay the bill and check out…only to be ignored by the rudest guest services person ever! I finally, and politely, pointed out to her that she can’t get paid for our stay if she chooses to pretend that I don’t exist. Then she tried to refuse to give me a receipt!! *baffled and mentally shaking my fist at her for trying to ruin a pleasant morning*

There were more tornado warnings for western Oklahoma so we tried to skedaddle out of there with a quickness. We had a good time skimming along the highway just ahead of the thunder clouds. In addition, we played the best game ever! Do you know what it was? A little something called, “Guess that Roadkill.” It was fun!! *Pointing out another lump of something on the side of the road with an exclamation of “I SWEAR it’s an armadillo! I SWEAR!!”* Sometimes you have to make your own fun. *shrugs*

After a series of phone calls which didn’t help our slight problem of being lost, we did manage to make it to Emo and Uncle Hershel’s house. We soon came to realization that the house was full…TO THE MAX! My aunt and uncle had my cousin Brandon, his girlfriend (Ashley) and their son (Jaxon) living with them. To top it off, my other cousin Sonjia was temporarily staying there with her daughter (also Ashley, just to make it extra CONFUSING) while her newly purchased house was getting some work done. So we camped out on a futon in the upstairs TV room.

Before we had even managed to settle in, we were promptly informed by little Ashley that my aunt had gone to “See Attle” although she couldn’t figure out who Attle was or why the visit was in order. *about to bust out laughing at the earnestness of the child* She was a hoot and southern to boot! (I can rhyme, ya know.) Sonjia allowed herself to be dragged to Chili’s for dinner with us and little Ashley entertained us all by eating lots of sour cream and announcing things like “I’m fixin’ ta burp!” *finally realizing that perhaps Sonjia isn’t as amused as Matt and I were…*

When we got back to the house, Sonjia got called into work. So Matt and I asked Brandon for directions to the nearest Blockbuster so I could rent ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’. I didn’t get a chance to see it in theatre and it had just come out on DVD. I was so excited! *happy dance* It didn’t occur to me that there wouldn’t be any copies left because IT HAD JUST COME OUT. But we went along our merry way until I stood before the huge wall o’ Pan’s Labyrinth, frantically turning over all the little display boxes, trying to see if maybe one teeny, tiny copy had been overlooked. Alas, no. *DOOM*

Luckily, a wonderful Blockbuster employee came wheeling up with his little cart and averted my complete and utter devastation by announcing that he had a few copies that had just been returned. YAY! YAY FOR BLOCKBUSTER MAN IN MUSKOGEE!! He dutifully informed us that he had heard it was a good movie before warning us about the subtitles. I was ecstatic as I raced to the checkout counter with a bemused Matt wandering behind me. (He’s a lot swifter than I am in the thought department but was kind enough not to mention that the movie might not be good if seven copies had already been returned…)

As we checked out the movie, the guy at the register raved about how good the movie was before stopping to remind us that there were subtitles since it is a foreign film. I looked at him like he had grown another head. Who cares? I love foreign films! *once again oblivious* Matt and I got back to the house in record time and invited Brandon to watch the movie with us.

Long story short, the movie started. In a dumbfounded voice, heavily laden with southern twangs and such, he yelped, “What the heyyyllll? It’s in SPANISH?” (Sorry. I have a hard time conveying a southern drawl in text.) We looked at him curiously to see where this would lead. Just then, his girlfriend Ashley bounded into the room and yelled with excitement that she had be looking forward to seeing this movie. Brandon whispered urgently to her, “Ashley, it’s in SPANISH!” After another round of “What the heyyylllll?”, they both furtively moved in the general direction of the door.

But the movie was GOOD! Lesson of the day: A majority of people in Muskogee greatly dislike subtitled movies. *sadly disappointed by the people of this town* Soon it was bedtime and our laundry was done! I wonder what tomorrow will bring…

Mileage: 398

Chasing Tornadoes

I’m surprised we made it to tomorrow! *carefully inspects self for missing organs that may be on the black market by now…*

Seeing as I was the one to pick the place we stayed, I would really love to say that the Roadrunner Motel was a high class establishment. Sadly, it was DEFINITELY not. It was dark and dingy with two sagging beds and a microwave that wouldn’t work. Luckily, we finally figured out that plugging in the machine helps quite a bit! *we are SO smart* Nothing could be done to help the beds though…oh, well. I did get excited at one point because we were promised wireless internet. Even more sadly, I actually thought we would get it. *cries tears of frustration as the wireless continues to search for a signal* At least we didn’t pay for that little extra.

But this is what we DID get. *feeling so blessed, really* We had curtains with such a droop I was tempted to prop them up with a stick. A few of the ceiling tiles in the bathroom were crumbling asbestos-like debris into the bathtub. And we were lulled to sleep by the sound of trains shrieking and wailing as they seemingly stomped on their brakes whilst rumbling by. Ahhh, bliss. Needless to say, we were up pretty darn early this morning and raring to go.

My cell phone had still not officially made the time switch but we were now in Mountain Time! *woohoo!!* And other than a brief comment on the screaming/door pounding upstairs that had interrupted our sleep at 2am, no other remark was made on my poor, POOR choice of accommodations. (Honestly, I think it was a drug deal gone bad. I’m glad we didn’t die! Then I would have felt even worse about picking that stupid motel. And dead…) Feeling hardly enchanted with New Mexico: Land of Enchantment, we left posthaste.

It turned out to a beautiful, gorgeous day with white, puffy clouds frolicking in a dazzling blue sky. The land was flat and stretched out as far as the eye could see and impressive riots of color bloomed in abundance in the median strips. Purples and pinks, yellows and oranges. I was hard pressed to stay hateful towards this particular state although I think I had good reason between the camp of doom and the motel from hell! (Or was it the camp from hell and the motel of doom…) We whizzed by the Continental Divide and decided to take make a stop at Santa Rosa Lake for lunch.

It was absolutely wonderful. There were little picnic shelters where we ate before tossing around a Frisbee. *annoyingly sweaty but still having fun* The water looked so crisp and inviting…until a bug jumped at me from the rushes! *convinced it was a tick while running away like a madwoman* Almost too soon, we were ensconced in our little mobile home and headed into Texas. Ah, yes. A state that likes to claim itself as the “Proud Home of George”. Blech… WHY?!? And with that, Mountain Time switched over to Central Time and we headed into the dark clouds of doom.

That wasn’t just a metaphor. The cheerful little weather forecaster announced rain, possible thunderstorms along with hail and a tornado. YES!! Just what I’ve always wanted. To die in a tornado. IN TEXAS. Woot. Ice cream was definitely in order. A gas station provided us with an interesting array of flavors; namely, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and bunny tracks. I opted for a safe choice and went with strawberry while Matt went wild and crazy for his bunny tracks. *just imagine it the way I write it, it’s more fun that way*

After being caller “partner” more times than my tiny mind could handle, we cruised in to a Comfort Suites in Amarillo, TX. Thank god, it was CLEAN! I was so glad to take a shower!! (Please keep in mind that I chose to pass on that option at the Roadrunner Motel. In my mind, mold and ceiling crumble do not make for good showering companions.) Between crying for joy over crisp sheets and hysterical delight over access to the internet, we put off making plans until morning. *please note: Matt was not participating in the crying, hysteria and other such nonsense only indulged by me*

Mileage: 425

The longest entry in all the land (NO JOKE)

We did wake up at 4am but we didn’t make it to sunrise. In fact, neither of us wanted to get up because we weren’t feeling very well. I don’t know if it was the drastic change in elevation or if we hadn’t had enough water yesterday but we were NOT about to get up that early. Eventually, we felt better and managed to crawl out of bed to make breakfast and see if we wanted to stay at the Grand Canyon for another day before getting back on the road. Hmm… *thinking REALLY hard* The weather confirmed it. We were not staying. The ominous clouds that we had spotted the night before were nearly upon us and the air felt heavy with rain.

Our tent was pitched upon a patch of red dirt that was sure to turn into the most perfect sinkhole of mud if given the chance. And since neither of us was in the mood for a mud bath, we thought we might just tuck everything back into the car while it was still dry. As for breakfast, Matt made a valiant attempt to make oatmeal and finally managed to succeed. (Although being nearly 7,000 feet up made it a bit difficult to boil the water.) While we waited, the Miata crew kept us vastly entertained as they emerged from their tents in their Miata wear. *hysterical laughter* I was able to sneak a picture of their cars through the trees while they weren’t looking. *feeling vaguely Paparazzi-ish* Matt kept telling me to walk right up to them and ask them to pose with their cars. AS IF!

We parked our packed up car back at Parking Lot D and caught the shuttle up to Pima point. It was a little harder to see today because of the haze but it was still beautiful. We hiked up to Hermit’s rest before catching the shuttle back down. (It seemed that a group of senior citizens were stalking us but I guess it could have just been that they were miraculously on every shuttle we got on. *glancing suspiciously at them out of the corner of my eye* I mean, really…EVERY shuttle?) We had lunch at the Bright Angel Lodge where the food was mediocre and the staff was downright angry. We tried to get out of there with a quickness. The only highlight of lunch being the root vegetable chips which were not only colorful but YUM! *drool*

Our timing was perfect. It started to rain just as we got back to the car. We did discover on our way to the exit that they had shower facilities and thought it would be nice to hose off before packing ourselves in a car again. We each grabbed three dollars in quarters and headed off thinking it would be sufficient. HAH! $1.75 for FIVE MINUTES?!? *incredulous* I was not about to run out to the car to get more change. Especially since Matt had the car keys and I didn’t want to holler into the men’s locker room in case it startled him into slipping on the wet floor and cracking his head open. (I have a vivid imagination…) So I had a five minute shower. *cries*

We made a brief pit stop in Flagstaff for groceries. (I also needed a potty break.) I found out the hard way that the lock on my stall didn’t work very well when someone walked right in. Hmm… Some small part of my mind was amazed at my ability to calmly ask her leave even as the other part of my brain was scrambling to forget this incident already. *face so red it was numb* Then Matt laughed at me as I skulked around the store trying not to make eye contact with her until she finally left the store. Then there was the issue with the $13 bag of cherries but let’s not gets into that. I think I’ve already sufficiently met my embarrassment quota for the day.

The landscape took a distinctly flat feel as we continued on towards the east. There were small rolling hills here and there but for the most part, we could see for miles. The ground was more of that red dirt interspersed with small shrubs and a scattering of long grass. Up close, we could differentiate between the three but if we looked far into the distance, all we could see was the grass. It was blond in color and gleamed like a vast expanse of white gold in the sunlight.

At some point, we came upon a billboard for a petrified forest. Cool! I wanted to go see. Matt didn’t seem all that excited but since he wasn’t about to go hunting for America’s largest ball of twine, I think he figured that this would be an ok compromise. We cut through town and I was completely bowled over by the Wigwam Motel that actually featured individual wigwams for guests to stay in. I wanted to take a picture SO bad but the light turned green at that moment and I missed my opportunity. *utter disappointment* (Luckily, the internet is a handy place to get pictures...)

The park was a number of miles from that small town we had just passed through. The road kind of creeped us out. At first we didn’t think anything of it. It was just a paved back road with one lane going in each direction. Then I noticed a rusty red color. My first thought was that an animal had been hit and had bled out onto the road. But then I came to the realization that it couldn’t have been otherwise the carnage on this road was equivalent to a slaughterhouse’s. Matt and I conversed for a few minutes as we contemplated the road and came to the conclusion that perhaps the red dirt had blown across the road when it was tarred and thus the asphalt had gotten stained. Yeah…that was our story and we were sticking to it. *nods emphatically*

And at last, we were at the Petrified Forest! But where the heck was the forest? Oh my god, Matt had a good laugh about that one. His response was, “You actually thought there was going to be a FOREST?” Uh, yes? It has forest in its name. How was I to know there wasn’t actually a forest?!? *hmph* We pulled up to the little ranger hut or whatever it’s called in order to flash our National Park pass (handy little thing, isn’t it?) and were then confounded by the next question.

“Do you have any wood?”

Excuse me??? We glanced at each other in bewilderment and hesitantly replied, “No?” The reply was hearty. “Good! Make sure you leave without any as well.” *light bulb clicks on suddenly* (Note to self: no stealing pieces of the petrified forest.) Then the nice ranger man informed us that closing time was 7pm and although we didn’t have to leave at that time, we did have to be “driving towards the exit without stopping.” (Weird!) Nodding our assent since we had no intention of staying that long, we pulled away. We stopped once to view the bits of wood up close and it was interesting to see how it had completely crystallized. We stopped again to view some petroglyphs and were amazed to find MORE miatas! FROM TEXAS!! It was like an invasion. *wondering if I should be worried*

Our next stop, the Painted Teepees. We weren’t quite sure what to expect and were delighted to find…STRIPEY MOUNTAIN THINGS! *air high-fiving myself because Matt was too cool for that* And then there were the pueblo ruins. *brief pause* PUHAHAHAHAHA. Let’s just say, Matt didn’t realize they were ruins. In any case, it was still cool even though there was a man who demanded that we hand over our camera so that he could take a picture for us. (Nice people can be so bizarre.) Soon after, we exited the park and continued on through the rest of Arizona.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving through Indian territory, looking at the masses of billboard dotting the Indian territory and realizing we were in the land of tractor trailers. I can’t say it wasn’t intimidating (BECAUSE IT WAS!!) to have semis hauling butt past our little car (on BOTH sides) and coming to the conclusion that we might be the only passenger vehicle for miles and miles. *biting nails anxiously* And to top it off, all the casinos were advertising big rigs as their major giveaway! *about to laugh until I realized I was the minority…*

It was starting to get dark when we entered New Mexico: The Land of Enchantment. *not particularly enchanted* It had been a long day. Since starting the road trip, we had tried not to drive more than six hours and to make sure that we got out and saw something cool every day. But after looking at our calendar whilst lounging about the Grand Canyon, we decided that we would have to drive straight on through some of the middle states in order to get to where we needed to be in a timely manner. And since we didn’t really have anything spectacular planned between the Grand Canyon and the Ozarks, that was the part we were going to madly race through. *hoping those states didn’t feel too neglected*

We had reached Gallup when our stomachs reminded us that we hadn’t had dinner yet, which in turn reminded us that we had no idea where we were planning to sleep. *suddenly extremely ravenous, utterly famished and even feeling a bit emaciated all at the same time* Matt asked if I wanted to camp. Hmm. In retrospect, I should have said no. *say no! say no!* But since I was trying to be “super nature girl,” I said yes. (Kids, don’t try to be someone you’re not. You might end up almost dying in the backwoods of New Mexico.) Wait, did I just ruin the story?!? DARN IT!!!

In any case, this is what happened. Here is Jen: “Sure! I would love to camp this lovely dark evening!!” *beaming good will to nature and all its inhabitants* Then, there’s Matt: “Great! I found a camping symbol here on the map just outside of Gallup!!” *super gung-ho about camping and all the goodness it implies* We pulled off the highway and began looking for the campgrounds. May I pause here and let the dear readers know that I was the unfortunate one driving…

We drove up into the hills. And lo and behold, no campsite. We did manage to find this small gas station in the middle of nowhere and Matt jumped out of the car to get directions. Here is Jen again: Huh. This feels familiar. Kind of like that scary movie where you stop to get directions from the only gas station for miles and the nice lady tells you that the place you want to be is just over the hill and people jump out the woods and KILL YOU. Hah. Ok, that’s not funny… Then Matt is back: “Hey! The nice lady inside said that the campground is just up the hill on the right where the wood fence starts.” (Is anyone else getting that creepy feeling?!?)

Meanwhile, I am still trying valiantly to convince myself I WANT to camp as I backed the car out of the gas station parking lot to continue on up the hill. It was dark. There were lots of trees. There was NO campground. As we got even further from civilization, I tried to express my doubts but Matt’s blinding optimism was hard to combat. Out of nowhere, Matt yelled, “Here! Turn right!!” Against my better judgment, I quickly turned off onto a little dirt road that led into even deeper, darker woods. *horrified* My already overactive imagination went into overdrive and I had a gut instinct that if the car stopped at all, horrible fiends would leap from the darkness to rip us from our car and kill us alive! (I know that doesn’t make sense I was so scared I couldn’t even think straight.)

Finally, I convinced Matt that it was highly unlikely that this was the road to the campground since there had been no sign posted where we had turned off onto the dirt road. We agreed that we would get back on the main road and try once again. If we couldn’t find the campground by the next right turn then we would head back into town and get a motel. (Please god, let there be no campground. *silently yet fervently pleading*) Then I had to turn the car around. *had internal fits of terror* Since it was a tiny dirt road, I had to turn then back up and turn then back up and turn then back up… I think that was about the time I started crying.

I had just managed to compose myself when we found the campground. *joy…* It was dark. There were lots of trees. And there were NO people.

None.

At all.

I think Matt was under the impression that my hysterics were due to lack of food. So his solution was to have us park (in the furthest lot from the entrance), pee (because he needs to mark his territory) and to try and unload the car so that I can have some dinner (awww…). It was very thoughtful of him. I was ok with everything until he asked me to turn off the car. (Oops. Did I forget to mention that I was still in the driver’s seat with the car on and both hands clutching the steering wheel in a death grip?) *deep breath* I switched off the car and instantly burst into hysterical wailing that went well with the waterfall of tears cascading down my face as I still refused to let go of the steering wheel with the hand that wasn’t occupied with the keys.

Maybe camping this evening was not such a good idea. Needless to say, we left. Although as soon as I felt I was out of danger, I had an attack of guilty conscious. Had I been overreacting? Finally after deep contemplation and reassessment, I did offer to go back and camp there as long as Matt felt it was perfectly safe. Do you have any idea what his response was?!? “Oh, sure. It was safe. I mean, I was still going to bring our big knife into the tent with us…” Oh HEEEELLLLLLL no! And in my haste to get us to a motel, I pulled into the first one I found - The Roadrunner Motel. But that’s a story for tomorrow.

Mileage: 322

Trying our best to get to the Grand Canyon!

After a quick breakfast and diving into cyberspace for a moment or two to print out some MapQuest directions, we were once again on the road. We were doing pretty well since it was only 9am. Poor Matt. *laughs* I get the feeling that he’s one of those morning people that causes me to wrinkle my nose in vague distaste. *feeling my nose start to twitch* I, on the other hand, consider waking up to be a traumatic incident that one must suffer through daily. It’s an absolutely horrid way to start a day! *shakes head* But we’ve been dealing with it fairly well. (And that means he knows I’m not quite human until after a shower. It sure does make those camp grounds with showers look a heck of a lot more appealing! *laughs*)

The first thing we did this morning was head off in the wrong direction. Not once. Not twice. But THREE times!!! (Well, now that I think about it. I think it might have even been more than three times. I couldn’t keep track. *hoping that wasn’t an illegal u-turn or at least that a cop was not in the vicinity*) I know we kept circling around for almost half an hour. There goes our early start! *cries* Then at one point we stopped and asked for directions and I was astounded to see that even the gas stations in Vegas had slot machines! *jaw dropping open*

Finally, we were headed in the right direction. Eventually, we came upon Boulder City and found ourselves about to go over the Hoover Dam. Wait. We weren’t going OVER it as in the image of a car accidentally shooting off the edge of a waterfall type of thing. We were driving over the bridgey part. *bonus points for technical terms…* It was pretty cool! Matt finally confiscated the camera from me when he realized I was trying to take pictures and drive at the same time. I think he was having that aforementioned vision. *laughs* As we were going across the dam, we stumbled across the answer to another dilemma we had been having earlier this morning: the time zone change.

We had been trying to figure out if we needed to adjust the clock in the car since we were heading into Mountain Time. But Arizona does not honor Daylight Savings. So what in the world were we supposed to do? *ARGH! brain cramp!!* But then there it was. The answer to our question in the form of two clocks, one placed on either side of the dam. One was in Nevada and therefore had Nevada time. The other was in Arizona with the time we needed. GENIUS! (Let’s just bypass the fact that the time was exactly the SAME. *sigh*)

Arizona was a whole lot of nothing for the first bit after we left Nevada. We were surprised to find that it was even more nothing looking that Death Valley. *bored* So we listened to our book on CD and found ourselves slipping into fake British and French accents with an alarming frequency. (Even in public! *embarrassed*) We drove through Kingman and encountered the famous Route 66. We decided not to take it in favor of a more direct course but it did have the annoying effect of getting that song stuck in my head. *flashbacks to high school choir with Mr. H*

It was getting to be that time of day again and we were in search of a perfect place for lunch. Well, we WERE until we got too hungry so we just pulled over in a gas station parking lot, hauled out our cooler and rapidly assembled sandwiched much to the bemusement of the public that may or may not have been watching us. I think we were past the point of caring. *stomach growling ominously* And then were back in the audio world of espionage and fake accents yet again. *content*

We arrived at the Grand Canyon at 4pm and did manage to get a campsite although it was surprisingly full for being a Monday. I think the lady that checked us in said it was already 75% full and that the entire place would be teaming with people by the end of the week. *shock* And then it hit us. DUH! Memorial weekend!! (It’s too easy to lose track of days and events when you’re on the road.) Not that it explained why the campground was so full NOW. The only big bummer was we were assigned a campsite instead of being allowed to pick one out. All in all, ours wasn’t bad and I didn’t have to make a 2-day hike just to make it to the bathroom. *sigh of relief*

We set up camp and were happily assembling our possessions around the picnic table when…SPLAT! Matt had been hit!! Some bird had perfect aim. (Ew. EW! GROSS!! I’m SO glad it wasn’t me. *barf*) I have to admire his ability to wipe it off his shirt with remarkable composure after a moment or two of shocked expletives that didn’t speak well of the bird or it’s family. I guess I shouldn’t have started the hysterical laughter at that point because he tried to hug me WITH THE SHIRT STILL ON. *running away in haste*

(Ok. So not quite as bad as this but I didn't have the foresight to take a picture and Google image search can only take me so far...)

Our thought had been to relax for an hour or two, eat dinner and head out to the canyon to try and catch sunset. What I hadn’t been expecting was to accidentally catch a blinding glimpse of French butt! The campsite across the way was inhabited by three French (possibly French-Canadian?) men and one decided to shed his pants in favor of another pair just as I was walking by to go the bathroom. Red speedo-ish underwear should be BANNED! *attempting to claw my eyes out* What can I say? Our neighbors are an interesting lot.

The weirdness was not about to end. As I was walking back, I spotted three cars pulling into the campsite next to the underwear-flaunters. (Ok, it was really only the one guy that did it but all three of them were forever tagged in my mind.) It was a Miata convoy! Three couple ensconced in vehicles of various colors: black, orange and cream. And they were all from Texas. Was there some sort of convention going on?!? *confused* I had to tell Matt. We were literally making up excuses to walk by so we could keep checking them out without being too obvious. (As if walking by ten times in the space of 30 minutes was inconspicuous. *rolls eyes*)

Matt was really excited to get going since he had never been to the Grand Canyon before so we ate our dinner and were soon on our way. We weren’t quite sure where the best place to catch sunset would be but figured we could just walk along the trail and just about anywhere would be fine. The canyons were incredible. Just the vast expanse of rock and the depth of the canyon, it was awe-inspiring. The earth tones melded in layers down the sides and the North Rim was barely visible on the other side. A strong wind whipped us merrily along as we traversed from Parking Lot D to a little past Maricopa Point.

Gnarled and twisted trees tenaciously rooted themselves along the path. By no stretch of the imagination were they pretty but they held within themselves a stark beauty of pure determination and strength. Their shape, size and even the very texture of the bark seemed to be shaped by an eccentric bonsai artist, namely the wind that beat and swirled around their misshapen limbs. As it turns out, we couldn’t see the sunset from where we were. It was just barely visible over a line of trees but it had still been amazing.

We were hoping to see the sunrise in the morning. Even I was willing to wake up at 4am for that. The only problem was the dark clouds that seemed to be converging in our direction…

Mileage: 277

Desert oasis? I think not.

When the morning dawned, the previous evening’s genial mood towards the current dirty state of my person had faded. ARGH! I was so GROSS!! *distastefully eyeing my reflection in the car window* Luckily, Matt had a bandana I could borrow to hide the monstrosity that my hair had transformed itself into. It was rather like slapping a bandaid over an injury requiring major reconstructive work but it was the best that I could do at that moment in time. *visions of showers dancing in my head* Moving on quickly before I break down and cry…

We had a quick breakfast, packed up our car and made our way towards Glacier Point (our final stop before leaving the park). It was a little bit of a drive but the view was incredible. On our way back down to the main road, we made a little detour and hiked down into Mono Meadow. It was a bit muddy but it was still pretty. We grabbed a snack of grapes and granola bars when we arrived back at the car and then we were off. There was a minor panic on my part at that point, much to the bewildered amusement of Matt, when I realized that sunblock had not been applied prior to the excursion out of doors and therefore there was a good chance that I had gotten TAN LINES! *gasp!* (I know, I am ridiculous sometimes.)

We saw snow as we were leaving! The Sierra Nevada mountain range was breathtaking. Occasionally, there would be a lake at the base of a mountain and the Sound of Music theme song would come to mind. *laughs* As we were making our way through Bishop, we stopped at Looney Coffee! Honestly, how could you pass it up with a name like that? Since we had been cruising with the A/C on, Matt casually asked “Hey, what’s the temperature?” as he started opening his door. I glanced at the temperature gauge on my dash and was dumbstruck (absolutely speechless) to find that it was NINETY DEGREES!! *faints*

So Matt got an iced coffee and I got a strawberry smoothie that Matt immediately dubbed “the best damn smoothie” he had ever had in his entire life. *laughs* We considered stopping for groceries at that point but we noted that there were a couple of large towns (cities?) coming up and so we put it off for later when we needed to get gas. The map was terribly misleading. Independence looked as if it would be a big place but it was TINY. But I guess the important thing was, we got what we needed. Although we practically wilted in the heat whenever we left the car. It was HOT! But it was going to get even hotter where we were going: Death Valley.

We pulled over on some cliffs just as we were entering the valley. The winds were so strong they whipped the doors right out of our hands. It buffeted us around and it was hard to maintain good footing. Death Valley stretched before us in a vast expanse of nothing. There were few shrubs but mostly dirt and rock and a scattering of sand dunes. The only thing we could see for miles was the road in front of us. The emptiness was startling and bleak but starkly beautiful in its own way. And so we continued on into the heart of the Valley. (Where, by the way, gas was $4.39!!! *agog and aghast all at the same time*)

The heat was insane. Shirts were discarded and the windows were opened to their fullest to maximize the wind since A/C use was discouraged. (Something about it potentially overheating the car…?) It ripped into the car in a deafening rush and tried to tear loose everything that wasn’t battened down. Angry that all it could do was mess up my hair that was already wretched to begin with, it did its best to push the car off the road like a thwarted bully. Matt did a good job keeping us on the road. *laughs* It was FUN!!

We made a quick stop at Stovepipe Wells where the elevation was at a lofty 5 feet and the temperature peaked at ONE HUNDRED AND NINE! *sweating like crazy* We continued onward past the Devil’s Cornfield and passed by the lowest point on the California Highway System, 242 feet below sea level. Even though Death Valley seemed a monochromatic visual wasteland when we first arrived, it began to take on more life as we drove through. From vivid red dirt to tired green shrubs along with mustard colored rock formations, there was something about Death Valley that was captivating.

When we finally emerged, we were STARVING! *stomachs growling ominously* Although we had generally agreed that we wouldn’t be eating fast food on this trip but the sun was already starting to set and we didn’t really have the time or a place to stop to make anything. The two options offered in Pahrump (which was the town we were in) was either casino buffets or a variety of fast food. We were hungry but we weren’t THAT hungry so Sonic it was! *drool* And there was a fantastic sunset as well. Then we were motoring on down the road into Las Vegas.

For a while I was wondering why the sun hadn’t completely set since it was getting well into nighttime when Matt said the glow off the hills were actually the lights of Vegas. *agog* We hadn’t planned on making a stop there because we were more interested in getting to the Grand Canyon. But I had never been to Las Vegas before so since we were already there, we decided to cruise down the strip a couple times so I could see all the fabulous hotels. To my dismay, my camera had difficulty capturing the night lights so I don’t have any pictures. *cries*

(I stole this picture off someone's website... *GUILT!!)

It was getting ridiculously late by that time so we decided to stay the night at a nearby Marriott Courtyard hotel. It had been a long day but we had seen a lot of cool things. And we should be at the Grand Canyon by tomorrow afternoon which is super exciting!

Mileage: 476

Hiking up the falls

When we woke up, it was COLD. *brr!* I made the mistake of suggesting we have yogurt with granola for breakfast. Cold food on a cold morning is NOT a good idea. *nods head emphatically whilst shivering* But it was still yummy! *laughs* We needed to get gas for the car before heading into Yosemite and figured our best bet would be Fish Camp. Unfortunately, we were wrong. Thankfully, we had asked the camp host prior to leaving and she was nice enough to tell us that the nearest gas was in Wawona. Darn…because it had looked to be fairly expensive when we had gone past it the day before.
AND HOW! Good grief, it was $3.91 a gallon!! *faints while mentally cursing the oil gods* So we gave in and tried to get some gas. Tried being the operative word because apparently the pumps didn’t want to give it up. Since it was still early, there was no attendant at the station therefore we were out of luck. We figured we had about 70 miles worth of gas in the tank and it looked like the route we wanted to take today was about that long. Did we want to risk it? WHY THE HECK NOT?!? *feeling a wee bit reckless*

Our first stop was the Day Use Parking Lot in Yosemite Valley. The plan for the morning was to take the shuttle from the parking lot over to Vernal Falls and hike up to the top. On the way to the parking, we had fantastic views of Half Dome, El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls again. *PRETTY!!* We found a great spot to park the car in the shade and made our way over to the bus stop only to realize that the scheduled route goes in order by number, we were at 1 and the stop we wanted was 16. (Um, yeah. Not happening…) It would have taken us FOREVER to get to the falls. After an impromptu group discussion with the other park patrons who were waiting for the shuttle, we came to the general consensus that parking closer to the falls and walking would be a good idea. (The people are so nice here! *laughs*)

So that’s exactly what we did. The walk up to the start of the trail was picturesque and the hike itself wasn’t bad at all. The first part up to the base of the falls was taken at a leisurely pace and there was a spot where a tiny stream trickled out of the rock and someone had built a little stone pool underneath to catch the water. People walking by would rinse their hands, splash water on their faces or wade through it to get the dust off their sandaled feet. We were greeted by a roar and a fine misting of water when we finally got to the bridge that spanned the bottom of the falls.

After a moment or two to enjoy the coolness of the water, we began the second half of our hike up to the top of Vernal Falls. It started similarly enough with a dirt trail meandering through the trees. But then it took a decidedly steeper tone and soon there were more rocks than dirt in our path. As the trail drew us increasingly closer to the thundering cascade, it turned into stone steps that were cut into the rise of rock under our feet and the gush of water over the top of the falls ricocheted off the surrounding walls and drenched us in its spray. A rainbow arched over our path, frozen for a moment between the mist and the sunlight.

That was when I realized that I had applied sunblock to my face prior to leaving the car and it was currently dripping IN MY EYE! *ouch, ouch, ouch* But we did eventually make it and sat on a slab of rock at the top to dry off in the hot sun. (And to have a snack. That’s the important part! *grin*) Matt accidentally spilled some almonds on the ground and the squirrels were having a heyday. Actually, we did try to pick them up since feeding the wildlife is a big no no but one sneaky squirrel nearly hopped over my shoulder in its haste to shove the lot into its mouth. *astonished*

The hike down was good. It also made us glad we had started our trek up to the falls early because there were a TON of people heading up the trail. (And we all know how much Matt LOVES crowds. *making our escape with a quickness*) We ended up having lunch just off the parking lot in the shade of the trees before driving over to the Yosemite Visitor Center. The inside of the car had a fine coating of dust from the inch of open window we had cracked earlier when we had parked it. *holding up a finger covered in grime after sweeping it across the dash* Oh, well!

We strolled along the walkway towards the visitor center once the car was safely parked back in the Day Use Parking. After a brief perusal of the contents of the visitor center, we made our way to the base of Yosemite Falls. It was impressive but ice cream was calling my name (it does that with a distressing frequency) so we found ourselves back at the general store before heading back to Wawona for that gas we needed earlier. On the way, we passed by a few of the campsites and were glad to have camped in Summerdale. They were so full that they looked like a jumble of tents, much like a Hobo Town. *wrinkles nose*

We were both rather sweaty and dirty between the hike and the hotness of the day. Unfortunately, our campsite was sadly lacking in shower facilities. Matt seemed ok with it but it was definitely something I was not used to. *yuck…* After a while of contemplating whether one day of dirtiness was going to kill me, I decided it wasn’t such a big deal. (Although my minor OCD concerning dirt was having an internal convulsive fit.) Eventually, it even felt kind of liberating. *smiles* It turned into a relaxing evening of blogging and postcard writing and the night sky was crazy beautiful, a brilliant star spangled sky.

Mileage: 79