Day Sixty-Four: Deep in the Heart of Texas

Since we weren't able to get to the Four Corners yesterday, we started off today with it. We were able to pack everything up in 20 minutes and were out of the campground by 6:00. After stopping for gas and breakfast, we headed out to the Four Corners. Once you leave the town of Cortez, Colorado, there isn't much to see. The 4 Corners landmark is managed by the Navajo Tribe. We were able to get there at 7:05. We walked around to the corners of each state, read the marker for each of them, took some pictures and then headed off. We were glad we got there early, but it would have been neat to see the exhibits and shops the people were setting up. We didn't want to waste too much time, so we would be able to make it Texas tonight. After the 4 Corners, we headed towards Texas. We were told it would take 14 hours to get there. We already lost an hour or so, and we were super confused with the time changes. The first city we got to was Albuquerque, where we stopped to load up on some snacks (because that's what we do). We were told there wasn't much to do here, so we continued on.
After what seemed like driving through New Mexico for EVER, we made it into Texas. The first big city we got to was Amarillo. We stopped to get some coffee- boy, are there some strong accents here!! Eventually, the sun started to set, so we missed everything in between. We heard that was a good thing, since it wasn't very attractive. We did stop at one of the nicest rest stops- playground, picnic area, and tornado shelter! Even Sarah knew which one I was talking about when I mentioned it to her! (She says she knows all of the rest stops in the South.) Finally, we made it into Dallas-Fort Worth, which was the only point where Robyn got feisty with me- which is totally impressive at 11:00 at night. Although, I must say, the GPS was the culprit! We finally made it to Erik and Sarah's at 11:30 at night. We spent a while talking and catching up, and now it is definitely time to got to bed after such a long day!

States Visited: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho,Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming (19/50)

Day Sixty-Three: Experience the Impact!!!

We decided that today would be a good day to leave Arizona and head for our next stop. We started a little later than we would normally have liked, which kind of changed our plans for the day. After leaving Scottsdale, we headed towards Colorado, with a few stops in between. The thing about Arizona is that there are only two major roads in the state, so we ended up having to backtrack to Flagstaff, and then out to New Mexico. Our first stop was to Meteor Crater (that's where the title comes from). It is in Winslow, Arizona (made popular by the Eagles' song, "Take It Easy"), which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Everywhere you look around you, it is flat. As you drive, you can tell where this hole is because it kicked up some of the earth. So, in the middle of flat land, there are hills, with the hole on the other side of them. The hole is ginormous! It's about a mile wide and 500 feet deep. There are points of interest, such as the rock the size of a house and the astronaut in the middle of the hole (they used to train astronauts here because it was supposed to mimic the moon). There was a lightning storm in the distance, which was neat, and luckily we were there before they closed it due to the weather.
We continued along I-40 (the one route east and west), and went to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Also, in the middle of nowhere. We weren't exactly sure what was supposed to be there, but we went anyway. It was totally worth it, though. The first part was the Petrified Forest. When you enter the park, you expect a 'forest', but it is far from that. There are no big trees standing up. There is a ton of petrified wood, which is is wood with quartz and other minerals. If you look at it from afar, it looks like a regular log, but when you look closely, it is obviously rock and mineral. There are also "tepees", which are huge rock formations that have multiple-colored rocks. The layers are all different colors. They also have a large collection of petroglyphs, which were interesting, too.
Like all of the parks we've been to, it took us longer than expected to drive through. We continue on through the Arizona desert and into New Mexico. There's not much in between. We stopped to refuel ourselves at Starbucks and continued on. We were able to see the sunset, but it was behind us. Luckily, since the sun was set, we didn't have to see everything, or nothing. Since it was so late, we weren't able to go to the Four Corners tonight. We were looking to get it done tonight, and not have to worry about it tomorrow. Now, we have our first stop tomorrow. Around 10:00, we made it to our campground. We were able to set our tent up in 10 minutes (new record), before it started to rain. Now, it's time to go to bed to wake up nice and early tomorrow morning!
(Annie and Tyler- Thanks for everything, guys! We appreciate everything. It was great to see you guys again! Annie- Robyn was not very happy with you and your sneaky ways...)

States Visited: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho,Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming (19/50)

Day Sixty-Two: Good Times with Great Friends!

To everyone else, the last few days would seem kind of boring, but let me be the first to say that Arizona is a difficult place to spend a lot of time outside. Annie and Tyler are hard workers and Robyn and I are the boring ones!!
So, we decided to do what we do best, and did some shopping. We found the craft store, and since we haven't been to one in two months, it was like walking into a candy store for us! We came up with a few more projects we would love to start, including ideas for our scrapbooks. We also caught up with all of the new stuff that has come out since we left, (especially the Cricut cartridges!) We got some stuff for a project we are going to work on with Sarah. We went to a few of the other stores there, too.
Later, we went out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant. We had a few drinks and spent the night talking. (Katie- you were missed!!) It was a lot of fun remembering some random things. It was pretty late before we headed off to bed.

Day Sixty-One: The Land of Red Rocks

Today we decided to go to Sedona. It is about 90 miles away from Scottsdale, and is supposed to have a "vortex" and a place of healing. Luckily, we are all healthy enough and didn't need to worry about it. We left somewhat early, so we wouldn't have to hike in the nasty heat. Toby really wanted to drive, but had to sit in Robyn's lap, instead.
We got to Sedona at about 10:00. We decided to take a shorter trail (compared to some of the recent ones). The entire trail was about 1.5 miles. There was a little stream that followed the trail, so Toby enjoyed that a lot. He didn't find the sticks that were thrown to him, though. The end of the trail was at Cathedral Rock. It is a huge monolith in the middle of open land. It was getting warm, so we decided to head back to the car. Toby wanted to take another swim, but there were two dogs on the other side. I guess that's good, because no one wants to spend an hour in a hot car with a wet dog!! The way home was uneventful- Toby and I took a nap in the back while Robyn and Annie navigated us home.
When we got back, Annie gave Toby a bath. He ran around the apartment getting everything wet. Or so I'm told. But he did smell good afterwards- with his curl-enhanced look. Since Annie and Tyler both had to work, we made them dinner. We hung out a little and now it is time for bed!

Day Sixty: Another Low-Key Kind of Day

It has been so nice relaxing for the last few days. I feel guilty that Annie and Tyler have to work. Since they were working, Robyn and I had some free time. We didn't do too much. We spent some time playing with Toby (can't help it!). We also went to the store to spend some more time. Robyn made dinner for everyone (delicious!) and she was so happy to spend at least some time in the kitchen.

Day Fifty-Nine: Dog Days of Summer

We spent today hanging out with Annie and Toby. Tyler had to work today- he was missed, of course!! We started the day at the dog park- we bought Toby along, of course! We met all of the local dogs, like Dogstein and Shorty (and their mom). A lady there asked if we were mother and daughter (sorry Annie- it's unfortunate, you're the older one!!) We then went to Starbucks, to cool down a little bit. It is unbearably hot- record high heat, around 114 degrees. Yuck! Anyway, Toby picked up all of the old guys, and the old gals, too! We stayed there for a while, then headed back to the apartment. We learned all about potentially harmful bites and stings that can happen here. It's a long list that I'd rather not have to deal with. I could do without scorpions and snakes.
Our afternoon was rather exciting. Robyn and Toby took naps while I tried to look through all of our pictures. After dinner, we went back to the dog park. There were a lot more dogs there tonight. We met a few more puppies, got up close and personal with some of them, too. After the park, we went out for some frozen yogurt. These do-it-yourself yogurt places are awesome! After talking for a while, we headed back and headed to bed.

Day Fifty-Eight: It's Great to See Friends!

So after a nice breakfast (that didn't consist of dry cereal!) it was off to Scottsdale to see some friends! It was about 2 1/2 hours down. We made a couple of stops along the way, but finally got there! It is too hot down here! I don't know how they live here. I guess the AC and misters and pools help, but still! When you start sweating as soon as you walk outside, gross! After a hardy lunch and some time to cool down, we went for a hike. We went to Phoenix to Camelback Mountain. Apparently it is something to do when you come down here. I wonder why... It was probably the toughest three mile climb. It was harder than yesterday's hike. It was more like rock climbing, which they didn't warn us about... After yesterday's hike, and then this... But, when we finally got up to the top, it was totally worth it! The view from the top was amazing! We were able to see all of Scottsdale and Phoenix. The way down wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. We were able to see the sunset, which was beautiful! It got dark pretty quick, but we made it down just in time. After the hard workout, we went out to dinner, and came back to the apartment. Since everyone is pretty tired, we are heading off to bed, to recoup from the last few days!

Day Fifty-Seven: Down is Optional. Up is Mandatory.

Since we finally decided that we were going to hike the Grand Canyon, we set our alarms for an early start today. It turns out, our alarm was going off for 30 minutes, and we didn't wake up. We woke up to our neighbor packing his tent, and fell back asleep. When we finally woke up, it was like 7:00, which was actually much later than when we wanted to start. And it was another hour to get there. Everything that we read tells you to start before 7:00. Off to a good start!
In the car, we decided which trail we were going to take. One was for experienced hikers (not us) and another was longer, but got you to the same place. We decided to take the shorter one. This was the trail we started yesterday. There was a sign that said "Can you run the Boston Marathon?" (If I qualified for it...) Then it continued with something along the lines of "Well, so-and-so could and she died here". Great...We decided to continue. For the first 4.5 miles, they have water and aid stations. They also have rangers who warned us against continuing today because it was so hot out. At least we were somewhat prepared. We had a gallon of water and some food. There was a family of four from Albania in front of us. They had one water bottle to share between them, the mother and daughter were wearing sandals, and the son kept running down the trail. We told ourselves we would keep an eye on them. At Indian Garden, which is the last aid station, they stopped. They were the smart ones. There was a thermometer that said "This is your brain on sun" and it was at 90 degrees. And we still had another 3 miles to go to get to the Colorado River. We ventured on anyway. This was when we stopped seeing people...We figured that as long as we saw or smelled the mule poop, we were heading in the right direction. The bad part was that you could see the trail all the way down from that spot. It's one thing to know that you have to walk another 3 miles, but when you can see it and tell that it is actually quite far down with all the switch backs, it doesn't look fun. There were a couple of nice little streams along that part to cool off, which definitely helped. We finally reached the bottom, around 12:00. The Colorado River was quite swift today. We took our pictures near it, but didn't want to go in because the signs said that it was dangerous to go in. Don't want any accidents. We spent a few minutes down there and started on the way back. We would've waded in the little spring that was down there, but it was crowded! Go figure!
The way back was not as much fun as the way down. I think we had talked about everything and anything on the way down, so there wasn't much more to say on the way up. We decided that it would be best to just talk in the shady parts and get through the sunny parts. There weren't many shady ones! We passed a couple of people back on the way up. One kid (not really a kid, our age probably) lost the rest of his group. "They were too slow for him." We ended up meeting up with him again back at Indian Garden, so at least he wasn't lost too, but he hadn't seen them yet. I hope it wasn't the couple that we saw farther along and that he was actually behind them... We had lunch there and made acquaintances with another group of hikers. The squirrels are smart there. They definitely knew we had sandwiches! One of them kept trying to jump onto the bench with us. He made it, but we kept startling him when we would jump up! Needless to say, he didn't get any of our sandwiches, or the other group's sunflower seeds. I think the squirrels were bummed about it! Back at the 3-mile rest area, the signs said to wait till 4-4:30ish to keep going since most of the trail is shaded. So we spent some time there, having some snacks and water. We didn't wait quite that long, but knew that we only had 3 more miles to go, so we pressed on. We took short breaks every 10-15 minutes which definitely helped. The trail wasn't really steep, but after 12 miles, it was steep enough! We made some more acquaintances along the way. One group hiked down one side and across the river and back up! Crazy! We got to the point at which we turned around yesterday, so we knew we were close. We basically ran the rest of the way up. Okay, maybe not ran, but were really excited! We made it back to the top around 5:00, so we still had a couple more hours till sunset. We were again going to stay till then, but decided that if we were going to make it to Flagstaff before it got too late, we should get going. We took a few pictures back at the top and went over to the bookstore. I'm glad that we didn't see their best-seller beforehand! It's called: Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon. It has a skeleton laying on the ground of the Canyon, and a nice rainbow going across the sky, as if that helps. Well, we didn't get that book to read.
We then stopped at McDonald's to get some nice salty French Fries. Mmmmm... and headed out towards Flagstaff. Luckily there were only two directions- 30 miles down one road, 30 down another. We did see a bear crossing the road (haven't seen one since Montana, which is a good thing!) We had decided that after that 15 mile hike today, we would get a hotel, which was definitely a good thing, so that's where we are now. Hotel was a great choice! Off to see Annie, Tyler, and Toby tomorrow!

Day Fifty-Six: Another State, Another Park, Another Successful Day

Today was a pretty full day. We started today by finding the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign (luckily the back says "Come Back Soon".) I think this is the first time we have been successful in finding something so easily!! We took some pictures there, and our next stop was to Dunkin Donuts. We found it! It was right near the sign, so it was rather convenient. It was a little disappointing, though, because the girl who made it was new, so it wasn't as good as it could have been. I'm not one to complain too much about a cup of coffee, though. That made us two-for-two, which is an awesome percentage for us! An already successful day!
After that, we headed towards Arizona. We stopped by the Hoover Dam. The patrolman sounded a little skeptical when we said we were on vacation, but let us through anyway. Good thing we weren't trying to cross any borders! We drove a little more, but then saw that they charged to park, so we turned around, and went back to the free parking area near the new bridge. We walked over the bridge, which spans the border between Nevada and Arizona. It is also a great place to take pictures of the Dam, since you can't drive over it anymore. We walked back and kept going with our drive.
Our next stop, of course, was the Grand Canyon. After a few more hours of driving, we passed the campground we are staying at, and had to keep going for another hour. We finally got there, and walked around the South Rim of the park. This is where all of the tourists are. The views out were amazing, though! We walked about two miles out, found a trail, and walked down it a little. We wanted to stay to see sunset, but since we were tired and hungry, we walked back to the car. On our way back, some older Italian guy started hitting on us, saying we had some "wonderful blue eyes" and asking if he "could at least give us kisses", or so it sounded like. We kept walking. We also saw a lightning storm over the Canyon, but once we were ready to take pictures, it was over.
We drove the hour back to the campground and watched sunset. It wasn't quite as exciting as seeing it at the Grand Canyon, but at least it looked pretty! Soon, all of the stars were out, too. Somehow, from 3,000+ miles away, Dad was able to talk us into hiking down the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I guess as long as you have more than just lemon juice and you stick to the path. So, after we pitch our tent, it's time for bed so we can start super early tomorrow...

States Visited: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Idaho,Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming (17/50)