Hey noodle what did you do today?

Well I woke up at about 7:30 and lazed in bed, until eventually getting up and packing some stuff. I wanted to get all my stuff carted from the room, but it was getting too close to 9 so I left it and headed down for breakfast. Earlier that morning, Draikabread was telling me about a self-making waffle thing he saw at a hotel when he visited LA, and I told him that there are many in the US's hotels (And showed him a pic of the Texas waffle I made).

Sure enough this one had one as well. I made a waffle, got some tangerine slices that were preserved in that weird slimy juice, a banananananan nut muffin, and 4 sosag links. When I got back to the waffle thing, the worker, an older gentleman of Hindi (?) descent “helped” me get my waffle out. It tore into a bunch of pieces and stuck to the frying thing, but I guess it's the thought that counts! I ate while watching local news, about a fire in a tire store (street closure) and the news anchors getting attacked by training dogs in a human interest piece.

After eating and drinking my apple juice, I thanked the man and headed back to my room, packed everything up (most of the clothes were still wet to some degree) and loaded the car. I did swing by the ice maker and snag some of that as well.

Then I was off again, back up toward the Petrified Forest once more! I arrived in about half an hour, took some photos out front, then went inside to see what the hub-bub was about. It was slightly busy, but after getting my token (This one was rectangular, not circular!) and a little souvenir (an arrowhead trapped in a smol bottle), I headed through the park!

Petrified Forest is a lot like Saguaro, in that it's largely made for car driving. I drove south to a couple scenic overlooks, South to the spot where Historic Route 66 used to intersect (There was a rusty old car there, and I tried to find the cache on it, but too many people kept appearing...I'll leave that adventure unfulfilled), south through colorful mesas. It was amazing to see all the starkly contrasting layers of colors, and it's easy to see how it got the name 'painted desert'. I stopped at some ancient Indian ruins and took photos of their petroglyphys (one looked like Kirby), then continued South to see Newspaper Rock, which is a stone with hundreds of glyphs. I wonder if that was the Facebook of their day. If so, do you think they were just as mean to one another? Do you think Mark Peubloberg banned people from his rock?

As I journeyed further south, petrified logs began to appear. I did a little drive-around on one trail (Agate forest), then a .75 mile hike on a trail (Crystal forest). I asked the ranger standing there and monitoring the trail if the logs had been zircon dated, but she didn't know. As I walked I snagged a few small chips of the petrified wood. I wanted to get this nice chunk about the size of a baseball, but didn't wanna risk getting caught. As I walked I called mum and dad to wish them a happy anniversary. Dad was heading north on a business trip and was talking with mum, and they conferenced me in, but because the winds were too billowy they couldn't hear me so I ended the call.

When I got back to the car I called mum again, and she sounded a bit tired? That call didn't last because the hills around us were interfering with the call. I eventually parked in the South lot and called her back. We chatted for a bit, then I headed inside the station, marveled at the little museum within, and headed out. Destination: Grand Canyon.

As I drove I gave grandma a call and told her of my adventures, and she told me to stay safe. I stopped in a town for some Taco Bell (Burrito Supreme meal with a steak quesadilla on the side and a 4 pack of cinnabons), then got back on the road. I was worried I wouldn't get to the ranger station in time and would have to spend the night at Grand Canyon (I am really bad when sleeping in elevated lands), but I saw the South Rim's station was way closer. Perfect!

I rerouted myself that way, even tho I remember the ranger and this one customer at Big Bend recommending the north station. Eh, I'll still see it!

The Southwest is really interesting, in that it's like a u-bend pipe for society. A lot of crud might wash through, but you'll find some interesting stuff as you pass. It's the kind of landscape where a person with a blow torch, some scrap metal, and a free afternoon can cobble together a piece of art that will find itself a permanent home along one of the busier highways.

However the desert and its eccentricisms yielded to alpine forests once more, and I passed by some mountains and deserts and into Keibab National Forest. I kinda felt sorry for it, since it's right next to one of the biggest natural features in America, so it likely gets very little love.

At some point in this forest an impossibly large canyon opened up to my right, swallowing up large parts of the landscape and a bit of the horizon as well. There were many trashy looking wooden booths along the rim hocking authentic Indian blankets and jewelry and the like. However I passed through these, into the park, and got to the ranger station! Ye!

This was by far the busiest park I'd been to. The parking lot was a madhouse, and when I walked to the visitor center, which was designed to look like a Peublo-style tower, people were just swarming. I stamped my passport, then asked if they had any tokens. They said they were out, but the station in the village might have them.

Was I willing to drive 40 minutes out of the way for a $1 token?

Yes.

But first I wanted to explore the area. I climbed to the top of the tower, and even though it was all inside, I still felt a sense of acrophobia. I made it to the top, then climbed back down to this outlook on the tower's first floor balcony. There were loads of tourists from all over (I even saw a nun in a gray dress!), and I snapped a few photos for people, and they snapped photos of me! Teamwork!

After that I went to the nearby trading post to check for tokens, but the guy working there said it was his first day at that station and didn't think so...Hecc! Village center it is!

My Jeep-frand called and we chatted a bit, but then he got a beep on his end and said he'd call me back. He never did!

I got to the second station in Grand Canyon village, and it made the first parking lot look empty by comparison. There were sooooooooo many people, and even a guy dressed as Cookie Monster standing by the bus area! I went inside for some swag, but they didn't have tokens either! Gah! I grabbed a patch and accepted my losses. I did walk out to the nearby rim tho, and I met 4 bikers named Ryan, Dan, Mark, and also Ryan. They were nice and had biked all the way from Flagstaff (82 miles!) and were waiting for their wives to pick them up. They took a few photos of me, then wished me luck, then I headed out! I will say tho that that rim is just...There...All those tourists, and it would be so easy to just fall to your death. x_x

I drove back the way I had come, past numerous outlooks (One was called 'Moran Outlook'....Heh), then out of the park and into Reservation lands. When I passed that I spent the better part of 2 hours on winding roads before passing through a town, where I got some BK. I ate the chicken fries and normal fries and mozerella sticks en route, but feeling tired I stopped when I got to Utah. I parked at a visitor station for monument valley, ate the BK taco (It was okay...Had a good spice in the meat, but the shell was inconsistent), then typed a bit.

I wound up going to bed around 10ish.

I hope everyone has a Grand Canyon day! <333