Way Out There
On Thursday morning, after a delicious and filling breakfast at Waffle House, we finally got on the highway and began our long trip. To keep us occupied, the car had Sirius Radio (which we didn't use often; I mean, why use it when you got a 1 GB MP3 player full of music everyone likes?), a TV, and a power adapter to use for two laptops (though we later discovered that the adapter only half-worked and later stopped giving sufficient power for the laptops). Using all these technology made us wonder how we survived driving for three weeks without TV or Internet. Speaking of Internet, throughout the whole trip, it was entertaining to go war-driving through certain areas, though it really doesn't work when you're on the move. War-driving, as I learned from my fall computer class, is when you use your laptop to find a wireless signal in a certain area. I tried it on several occasions but most of the time couldn't get a signal until we had stopped and found a signal with free, easy access. Anyway, we had plenty to do to keep us occupied, including the complete second season of "Criminal Minds," which we enjoyed and actually finished on our way home. On our first day of driving, we drove over twelve hours from Atlanta to Houston, Texas and encountered a lot of lovely rain, something we had a lot of on this trip (I think it followed us everywhere just about everyday).
After our visit in Houston, we drove north through Dallas to Oklahoma City, then turning around and going to Amarillo. The day was very hot and very windy (even blowing some of my Pringles away during lunch), and we were surprised it was that hot for that area. Texas and Oklahoma are flat though not too unattractive. A common sight for that area are giant wind mills with blades six times as long as a car. On the drive that day, Dad accidentally went the wrong way, so we had to make an hour-long loop back to where we were supposed to be.
On Sunday, we drove from Amarillo, Texas to Pine, Arizona. The land turned from plains to shrubs and desert with large herds of cattle scattered everywhere. Much to our surprise, the temperature was only in the 80's the entire day (often dropping, depending on if it was raining or not), which was odd compared to Oklahoma's hot weather. One our way to Pine, we passed by the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, where we saw a reddish-colored dust storm developing and growing, and also by the town of Winslow where the huge crater is.
Texas Visit
We arrived in Houston, Texas late at night and were ready to go to bed. The next day, we just relaxed, talked, watched movies, and played with the dogs Shesou and Rozzo. Those two little dogs were cute, energetic balls of fur who loved following us around. After breakfast, we kids played with the dogs for a while and enjoyed it. Everytime we sat down, they would dash to us and settle in our laps. Sometimes, they even playfully fought each other for lap space, which was cute. However, we kids sadly wore the dogs out, and they were quieter for the rest of the day. Another memorable thing was Aunt Susie's little coffee/tea maker that we all enjoyed using during breakfast. Aunt Susie also gave Mandy some jewelry, which she loves, and Uncle Cal gave Mom his laptop, so she now has her own. The visit to Texas was short, but we all enjoyed it.
Touring Arizona
We arrived at Pine late in the afternoon and were greeted by Grandma Gail, Grandpa Tom, Uncle Jack, and his girlfriend Judy. We enjoyed a family dinner together and took several family pictures.
On our first day in Arizona, we woke up early to go to the Grand Canyon. It was the first time Mom and Dad had ever seen it, so it was nice for them to be with us. We enjoyed a tour that took us to several points of the canyon and allowed us several different viewpoints. At one of the places, we were on a ridge with no railings, which was terrifying and made me nervous to get near the edge. It was even more nerve-wracking to watch people nearby get dangerously close to the edge. I think whenever we go to the canyon we must impact the weather because it rained on and off all day, which happened last year when we kids took the trip. It took us two hours to get to the canyon, and it took us two hours to get back to Williams. On the way back, we were "robbed," and I had fun recording the whole crime. They won't get away! :) After a delicious dinner at a Pizza Factory on Route 66, we drove back to Pine.
Our second day in Arizona was a relaxed day. Grandpa Tom took Mom and Dad on a motorcycle ride, which they enjoyed, while Grandma Gail took us kids out for lunch and for bowling. We had fun bowling three games, and I think I may have finally figured out a method that works for me when I bowl. When we grilled out that night, we saw a small herd of elk across the street. I wish I could have gotten pictures of them, but they were too far away and I didn't want to go out into the rain to take the pictures. Lazy me.
On our third day in Arizona, we spent the day touring. We went to Tuzigoot, the old Indian ruins, Jerome, where we ate at the Haunted Hamburger and toured the shops, Sedona, large red rock formations, and Montezuma's Castle, a large Indian dwelling built near the top of a cliff. After driving back to Pine and continuing to flee from the rain that had followed us around all day, we relaxed. Grandma Gail showed Mom some pictures and gave her a few things to take back with us to Georgia. Our rental car didn't have room for the stuff Grandma and Aunt Susie had wanted to give us, so we only took a few things with us; Dad is thinking of going back out to Arizona this winter and picking up everything.
The Journey Home
We left Arizona early on Thursday morning, bidding farewell to Grandma and Grandpa. We drove from Pine to Oklahoma City, over twelve hours. We had an unending battle with flies who kept getting inside the car and annoying us. Every time we thought a fly had been gotten rid of, another one appeared. When we finally arrived in Oklahoma City, we went over an extremely bumpy road, which we didn't expect on a highway. When we went to bed, we were all awake and kept talking and laughing over random things.
On Friday morning after a delicious continental breakfast, we began our long, over twelve-hour drive to Atlanta. In Arkansas, we were happy to notice that we were headed towards more heavily wooded areas and coming out of the plains and deserts. When we stopped for dinner in Birmingham, we had an incident with a traffic light. The light refused to turn green after several minutes, so Dad turned, made a U-turn, and then made another turn that bypassed the light. We finally arrived in Atlanta after eleven PM and spent about thirty minutes cleaning out the disaster of a car (the car was filled with snacks, bags, DVDs, and the like, and it looked like a tornado had gone through it).
Foreign Bathrooms
Before I end the post, I wanted to mention something else on this trip: bathroom cleanliness. When you make a long road trip, you will inevitably end up using a bathroom at a gas station or rest stop that is not up to your standards of cleanliness. There were some pretty bad bathrooms at a few places. One place in Mississippi had yellow water, which freaked us girls out at first. One rest stop in New Mexico was infested with flies, which was disgusting. Another place had three bathrooms, all three of which were out of service. But not all bathrooms are bad. There was one place in a remote part of Texas that looked like it would be gross, but the place was actually one of the best bathrooms we stopped at on the trip. Strange gas station and rest stop bathrooms definitely make you appreciate your own clean bathroom.
All in all, it was a fun trip. We hadn't been on a family vacation in a while, it was nice to spend time together. It was also enjoyable to spend time with our western family, something we don't get to do that often. Thank you, Uncle Cal and Aunt Susie, for funding our trip, and thank you to them and to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom for letting us stay with them on the trip. Hugs and kisses to you all!
1 comment:
I really must check this space out more often. I felt like I was there with you on your trip. Glad you had sooo much fun!!!Aunt Susie
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