Sunday, May 27, 2001
We had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. We were headed out
towards the Grand Canyon, but decided to hit some sites on the way,
since it was not that far of a drive (comparatively speaking). While
on the way, we got to drive on the historic Route 66 and the curiously
named Route 666.
We cut down to the Petrified Forest National Park. This park has
two sections to it. In addition to have the Petrified Forest, it also
has some of the colorful Painted Desert. We were able to use our National
Parks Pass yet again, saving us another $10.
We cut through the Painted Desert part first. Once you get for enough
into the park to feel totally submerged, you feel like you are on
an episode of Star Trek or something. The terrain and the colors seem
totally alien. It is also amazing to think about how much time each
band of color in hills represents.
Then we went and saw the Petrified Forest. It was made a million
years ago when a volcanic blast encased the trees in ash. It was very
post nuclear apocalyptic looking. Unfortunately, I think we were so
blown away by the landscape that we forgot to take many pictures of
this area. I guess you will just have to go see it for yourself.
We continued on to Flagstaff, AZ where we checked into our hotel
and went to have dinner at Outback. We of course had a whacky waiter
(because they are drawn to Chrysanthemum for some reason) and he was
nice enough to tell about some of the local hangouts for us to check
out while we were there.
Monday, May 28, 2001 - Memorial Day
We decided to avoid the holiday weekend traffic up to the Grand Canyon,
so we hung out in Flagstaff instead. We had lunch at a great little
Mexican place downtown because we just hadn't gotten enough salsa
in Texas. We asked our waitress if she knew of any nearby parks we
could take Zero to and she was able to give us directions. We have
found that when you don't have friends in town to give you to lowdown
about local happenings, picking the brains of your waitstaff is a
close second.
We took Zero to the park which was on a lake. Unfortunately for the
people fishing there, Zero really likes to go in the water and really,
REALLY likes to splash around. He was very cute, though, and did have
a great time. He also enjoyed getting Belinda and Chrysanthemum very
muddy.
That evening, we decided to check out Flagstaff nightlife. It is
home to Northern Arizona University, so we thought it might have a
cool scene. We soon found out that Flagstaff is totally The Invasion
of the Collegiate Body Snatchers. It seemed as though everyone there
knew each other. Chicks in cowboy hats are apparently big there. The
place where we were mostly had a football game on the big TVs, but
would periodically play random clips from movies. We thought that
maybe it was just the club.
Tuesday, May 29, 2001
Flagstaff is only about an hour from the Grand Canyon and the hotels
there are much cheaper than those around the South Rim. We considered
taking a helicopter tour, but the timing of the tour would have killed
our day. It seemed like it would have been cool though and worth it
to plan ahead to squeeze it in next time.
I know that everyone says the Grand Canyon is big, but it is huge.
It takes a while for it to sink in and it to become real. We spent
the afternoon hiking around the rim of the canyon. They do not let
dogs below rim level. That is right, Zero got to go to the Grand Canyon
as well. He was a favorite among the other tourists there. Several
people stopped to take pictures of him. I'm serious. The pictures
we took, just don't do the canyon justice, so you will all have to
get out and see it for yourself.
That night, we went back to Flagstaff. We decided to head back to
the cool Mexican restaurant we had lunch in the day before for dinner
and to hang out. Once again we felt very out of place because it was
very obvious that everyone else there knew each other from school.
Flagstaff is a weird place and I think we got our fill of it.
