Day 12: Drive from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Tulsa, Oklahoma…
… and stop in Amarillo, Texas for ice cream!!!
where we saw these two cars. would have been nice to drive, especially since we drove in 114 degree heat all day long^^ thank you Lord for air conditioning!!!
Day 11: Visit downtown Santa Fe…
… and fall in love!
the art… the jewelry… the adobe! I fell in love with Santa Fe! even the heat didn’t bother me… it was soooo, DRY. my hair stayed flat. who knew it could do that???
Day 10: Drive to Santa Fe, Arizona…
…and take ZERO pictures???
I can explain! Really… we drove ALL day without stopping. We went out for dinner. And then my parents dropped us ‘kids’ (at 26 years old I have become a ‘kid’ again anytime my parents talk about me on vacation, it is hilarious, I love it) off at the movies. I went to take a picture of my little bro and I waiting to see Super 8 and realized my camera battery was completely dead. Hence, no photos.
The title of this post is my favorite line from the movie (which was hilarious, the child actors were legit good).
I have learned a lot of things from this road trip, and I can now tell you that my brother talks/walks in his sleep every single night. Last night, I got hit in the face (with his elbow) three times. I yelled at him when he was trying to open the door (we had a chair in front of it) to go outside in the dark. Several nights ago I was peacefully sleeping and I heard a knock on the hotel door around 1:30 a.m. I thought I was dreaming so I ignored it. The knock sounded again, and again. Finally, my dad got up and a sleepy little brother stood sheepishly in the hallway (that was when we started blocking the doors, which is why he had to move a chair out of the way last night).
The scariest moment was our second or third night on the road. I woke up screaming because my brother jumped up and had both hands out as if he was going to grab me YELLING at the top of his voice because people were chasing him on the trail. I escaped (literally, ran to the bathroom) as my parents tried to convince him that he was sleeping (he was NOT convinced easily). I am still alive though, phew…
Day 9: Drive to the Grand Canyon…
… and SEE the Grand Canyon!
We had a lovely day hiking walking paved trails around the grand canyon. what. a. view. It was almost surreal.
Driving back to Flagstaff for our third and final night at the nicest hotel we have stay at yet (we got a deal, God’s favor!) I couldn’t even keep my eyes open… I kept thinking about how nice it would be to get back and soak in the hotel’s whirlpool.
Which reminds me our first night at the hotel in Flagstaff. Jordan and I went to check out the pool area, we thought it would be nice to have a dip in the whirlpool. We opened the room to the indoor spa area, only to find the whirlpool overfilled with 10-15 firefighters, who we found out were staying at the hotel for a convention. I immediately backed up and ran away. Literally. Ran. Away.
Thinking back, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I could have watched Jordan take a dip in the almost empty pool, I could have forced him to enjoy the refreshing water while I conversed (you know cool big sister conversation) and gradually made my way over to the whirlpool. mer. I admit it. men make me nervous. really nervous!
Day 8: Hang out at the Marriott in Flagstaff, Arizona…
…and do absolutely nothing^^
It was nice to have a day where I did nothing, nada, zilch. Okay, as far as driving goes… I didn’t get in the car once on day 8! I went outside in the courtyard and I laid my sun-deprived body (there is only smog in Korea…usually) on one of those chairs, AND I did grad school work. REALLY.
I got so much stuff done, and man 0 man did it feel good. I finished all my case studies, thought up a future school I want to open in the Philippines, and wrote up a summary for a research article. I know, you are all so proud. Especially since it is not all due until August. Next step… write the first three chapters of my final project document. oh dear…
Day 7: Wake up in Page, Arizona…
…. and do a WHOLE LOT OF TOURISTY STUFF!
After a delicious breakfast at Denny’s (I love America!) we headed out to Horseshoe Bend, hiking 3/4 mile over sand dunes and rocks to get to the best view we’ve seen yet. There were NO railings whatsoever so my mom had a bit of a heart attack, but she really is doing very well conquering her fear of heights during this trip.
After hiking back we went on the reservation and a Navajo guide took us to Antelope Canyon, currently the most photographed canyon in the world. And as you can see from the pictures, for very good reason! It was like a whole different world…
Finally, we headed to the Glen Canyon Dam where we received a free tour (the picture is of one of the side rooms)! I have never been interested in dams before, but holy cow are they worth studying.
We finished all of this by 3:30, so we decided to drive to Flagstaff, a couple of hours away. One step closer to the Grand Canyon!
Day 6: Drive from Montrose, Colorado through Utah to Page, Arizona…
… and feel as if we were transported back in time to the old country western days!
Most of the pictures I took are already on my fb^^ these are a few that didn’t make it into the album. It has been absolutely amazing driving on the open road through these states. I honestly had no idea how beautiful the west is! The USA is breathtaking, who knew??? I am still learning.
Day 5: Celebrate Father’s Day with the good ol’ Pop…
… and meet Avery!
After driving over to Nate and Jen’s place in Colorado Springs to meet their new baby, we headed to the Royal Gorge. We actually didn’t get that close to it, walking over a bridge cost a good $25 per person. We decided to spend our money elsewhere. For dinner, we took our daddy (or our daddy took us!) out to a nice meal to celebrate Father’s Day and when we ate our fill (seriously the portion sizes in this country are RIDICULOUS) there was a BEAUTIFUL double rainbow shining brilliantly in the sky.
Day 4: hike take a train up to Pike’s Peak…
… and make a new friend!
As you may have noticed I am becoming extremely addicted to my new editing software: Adobe Lightroom. Day 4 of vacation was a full day! While Jordan and I headed up to the top of Pike’s Peak we had the pleasure of meeting Hannah, from the lovely land of England. She is busy traveling around the States during her gap year before college. We invited her to hang out with us the rest of the day, she obviously accepted (because we are SO COOL). After we ate some world-famous donuts at the top of the mountain we were picked up at the bottom by the parentals and headed over to the cliff dwellings… once we were finished there we decided to take Hannah to Garden of the Gods (since we were rained out the day before) and had a fantastic time.
p.s. I left out my pictures of fences this time… but they WILL be on fb!
Day 3: Drive to Colorado…
…and see cool stuff!
We got stuck in the rain… unfortunately these trees did not provide much shelter!
Our first day in Colorado Springs was busy, we arrived in the afternoon and headed straight to Garden of the Gods. It rained on us, then hailed… so we decided to find a hotel. Colorado is a lot like Michigan though, just wait 15 minutes and the weather changes! After dinner we headed to Seven Falls, where they light up the falls at night (we didn’t stay until it got pitch dark as it would have taken forever, but it was still cool). Jordan and I climbed over 264 stairs, my exercise for the week? DONE.
