The PCS Diary: Part Five

 Day 2:

I don't know how I did it but Day two is full of somewhat spontaneous detours and amazing adventures. The second day of our trip is by far my favorite day of the whole trip.

Waking up on Tuesday, June 28 was the last thing I wanted to do that morning. I was still so tired from getting in late and I had a hard sleep but got no rest. Breakfast was short and sweet at the motel before we were back on the road. It felt good to start our second day on the Historic Route 66, I bought my first magnet of the trip here. Through out the rest of the day we continue to drive on or along side Route 66. It felt more real and important to be traveling along side History.

Now that we are back on the road and have a better understanding our gas mileage we decided that we would take today a little slower by adding in a few extra stops along the way.

I convinced Christopher that I would die if I wasn't able to see the Grand Canyon, since we were so close and it wouldn't be that far out our are way. So we rerouted our navigation for the Grand Canyon. Along the way we ran into some of the crazy wind I have ever felt. Christopher was clearly stressing out over the way the wind was pushing us off the road and it was taking all of Christopher's strength to keep us safe. “His butt hole was clenched really tight” as he said. The crazy wind did bring one cool think with it though and that was the random Dust tornadoes I Kept seeing. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that. Oh and the only radio station we could pick up was the Travel station. Talk about boring information I don't care about!

Apart from the dust storms and the crazy wind, most of the trip up to the Grand Canyon was uneventful and boring with the vast nothingness that was the desert we were driving through. We did stop in a cute little town for lunch and to change in to nicer clothes. The town was full of cute little stores and you could tell that they used the tourism from the Grand Canyon to their advantage. Once we got to the Grand Canyon National park, I was ready to jump out of my seat.

We parked at the south rim of the Grand Canyon and got out. The heat was incredible the wind was even hot, I was surprisingly comfortably for being in a sleeved T-shirt and a pair of jeans. I was excited to finally see one of the seven natural wonders of the world and it was going to be a first for both Christopher and I (that made it even more special to me). Its a little bit of a walk to the rim of canyon, but it was all worth it. The view of this Natural Wonder took my breath away. I loved the pureness of it all and the was the colors and shadows painted a beautiful landscape. Christopher just said “Yep, its still a big ass whole in the ground.” I love him and his sarcasm sometimes. I wasn't allowed to stay very long, “We were on a schedule” as Christopher put it and in out rush to leave I completely forgot to go to the visitor center and get a Grand Canyon Magnet. (So if anyone ever goes to the Grand Canyon can you please pick me up one?)

So its back to the Uhaul. Once we back on the road we got to endure more crazy wind and dust storms but this time we get to add steep uphill grades that Christopher already hates to the core. We drove on HWY180 to head towards Flaggstaff, Arizona. As we went we started to notice that the orange and yellows of the landscape was slowing becoming many shades of green and brown. And that is when we passed through two national forests and the San Francisco Peaks. We trekked up this slowly rising mountain as we passed 6,000ft in elevation to 7,000ft. As we came to a slightly flat and open portion of road we drove right by Kendrick peak, it was a beautiful site to see nature's true beauty untouched and unharmed. As we continued on down the road, we noticed that we were still climbing higher in to the mountains (the Uhaul was not making the trip easy) and for the first time in my life I was above 8,000 ft above sea level, 8,046 ft to be exact. We also passed through Snow Bowl, Arizona which apparently has amazing skiing in the winter. And then we hit Flaggstaff, which claims to be first “Dark” city in America. It was a quite little town that appeared to have a different pace than the rest of the world bustling through to who knows where.

Kendrick Peak

Highest Elevation point I have ever been

Flaggstaff was the last town we hit before we drove through the Open Cattle Ranches, which just a nice way of saying a really boring stretch of road.

Christopher decided that we could not take anymore detours after the Grand Canyon but then we started to see the billboards for a Meteor Creator. Since we were not going to make anymore stops today, I brushed off stopping and started a conversation about the nothingness of the drive at our current location. But Christopher decided that it would be okay to stop once more since we were already behind schedule. If you are military and are passing through Arizona on I?? you need to stop to see the creator. This is a nice stop for Military members and their families because if you have your official orders on hand you can get in to see the Creator for free. Its a small stop with a nice gift shop (where I bought another magnet) and a chance to see a part of the random history that shapes our great Nation.

The Cool Lizard we saw at the Crater 

Once we were back on the road, Christopher would not stop bringing up that we were passing several casinos. And with every one we passed he would give me the same puppy dog eyes that I got when I refused to detour to Vegas. And during all this I got in trouble for passing a gas station with gas for $3.07 a gallon, let's just say I watched the signs more closely after that. When we finally did stop for gas it was another Truck stop that did not have the ability to print receipts, but it was at a Pilot Truck stop so it was easily forgiven.

Random TP on a Hill

Our final stop of the night was Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have Spelled this city's name wrong so many times that it started to even annoy me. But I will never for get how to spell A-L-B-U-Q-U-E-R-Q-U-E again. We were trying do decide on where we wanted to crash for the night, it was to be clean but close to the road so we could get on the road early to get to San Angelo, TX before nightfall. Well a plan is only good if you follow through, and this is one of those times we did not follow through...

All it took was one Billboard and I was looking up directions to Albuquerque's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Yes, you read that right.) After all my arguing we still ended up going to a Casino. The Hard Rock Hotel is a wonderful site to see. The lobby itself is magnificent with glass windows and high ceilings. Since we got there so late we thought that it would not be hard to get a room; we were wrong. Actually, they were all full because of the New Mexico Fires. We got lucky though, the receptionist who was working said that if we stuck around he would be able to get us into a room because he had a few no shows; ten minutes later we were heading up to our room and changing to go get a celebratory drink, (right before last call).

It's a Jim Jones (AKA Papa Orr)

After our one drink, Christopher convinced me to gamble for the first time in my life. I agree since I wouldn't be able to sleep till he got to the room anyways. We played it safe and when to the penny slot machines. At first I could not figure out how to play and I was getting so frustrated that I just wanted to quit. But the I won $20 talk about an exciting experience. But is must have messed with my ju-ju because I did not win another penny. That night we won $50 dollars and called it a night.

Overall the second day was a constant change in scenery with wonderful company. We traveled to 8,046ft above sea level, saw the Grand Canyon and the Meteor Creator, and traveled through deserts and national forests. As I laid my head down to fall asleep I decided that the second day of the trip was indeed going to be my Favorite.