Flagstaff, AZ
Aug. 31st, 2006 01:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llcoolvadToday was pretty good. Up at 8 and to breakfast (yay, more waffles!), on the road by 9. Stopped at a couple of rest stops — the one just over the border into Arizona was nice — and had lunch at Subway with about 25 women of a certain age (we speculated that they were having a reunion, or that they all worked together — but it remains a mystery).
Patrick finally decided that I could drive for a while, but we went about one exit before I noticed a sign for the Petrified Forest, so I pulled in and we decided to go. Patrick resumed driving duties so I could take pictures — but of course he never relinquished them later...you may draw your own conclusions.
The Petrified Forest was pretty cool — it's a small corner of the larger Painted Desert, and it totally lives up to its name. The park itself is pretty nice; about 28 miles of access road that you can drive through and stop at nice little parking areas to see stuff. I took a ton of pictures, of course. Very quiet there — only a few people walking around with us, some stops no one at all, so there was no traffic noise, and pretty much no animal noise either. I've lived in either cities or suburbs my entire life and have never really heard this kind of deep silence — silence that isn't just local to me, silence that is as far as the ear can hear. Very impressive.
Incidentally, I am convinced that there are no animals left in the wild at all. Other than domesticated cows, horses and dogs, I've seen several dead things, a lizard, several beetles, many flies, a bunch of hawks and crows, and a deer. Wherefore is this nature of which I've heard? Patrick, that rat fink, saw a fox today, but naturally I missed it. He also saw a bunch of dead armadillos along the roads in Arkansas, which I am happy to have missed.
I am in a Quality Inn in Flagstaff right now, which is 6.5 hours from LA, 4 hours from Vegas, making us basically done with the required driving part of our trip. We're doing the Grand Canyon tomorrow, which I'm pretty excited about. The Petrified Forest really whet my appetite for looking at scenery. The weather is supposed to be good in the morning, so I think we'll get an early start for the Canyon. It's a Thursday, so here's hoping most of the tourists aren't here yet for Labor Day weekend, and all the ones with kids are already back in school. Go, school! I'm certain it will probably be pretty busy, though, being one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I don't suppose you get days off.
Had dinner at a place recommended by the hotel staff, Buster's, which was a little high-end, and the food was very California. So that was sort of mediocre. But the rest of the day was good!
I spent tonight writing post cards I should have been sending all along, so again with the no pictures. Tomorrow, for sure.
Patrick finally decided that I could drive for a while, but we went about one exit before I noticed a sign for the Petrified Forest, so I pulled in and we decided to go. Patrick resumed driving duties so I could take pictures — but of course he never relinquished them later...you may draw your own conclusions.
The Petrified Forest was pretty cool — it's a small corner of the larger Painted Desert, and it totally lives up to its name. The park itself is pretty nice; about 28 miles of access road that you can drive through and stop at nice little parking areas to see stuff. I took a ton of pictures, of course. Very quiet there — only a few people walking around with us, some stops no one at all, so there was no traffic noise, and pretty much no animal noise either. I've lived in either cities or suburbs my entire life and have never really heard this kind of deep silence — silence that isn't just local to me, silence that is as far as the ear can hear. Very impressive.
Incidentally, I am convinced that there are no animals left in the wild at all. Other than domesticated cows, horses and dogs, I've seen several dead things, a lizard, several beetles, many flies, a bunch of hawks and crows, and a deer. Wherefore is this nature of which I've heard? Patrick, that rat fink, saw a fox today, but naturally I missed it. He also saw a bunch of dead armadillos along the roads in Arkansas, which I am happy to have missed.
I am in a Quality Inn in Flagstaff right now, which is 6.5 hours from LA, 4 hours from Vegas, making us basically done with the required driving part of our trip. We're doing the Grand Canyon tomorrow, which I'm pretty excited about. The Petrified Forest really whet my appetite for looking at scenery. The weather is supposed to be good in the morning, so I think we'll get an early start for the Canyon. It's a Thursday, so here's hoping most of the tourists aren't here yet for Labor Day weekend, and all the ones with kids are already back in school. Go, school! I'm certain it will probably be pretty busy, though, being one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I don't suppose you get days off.
Had dinner at a place recommended by the hotel staff, Buster's, which was a little high-end, and the food was very California. So that was sort of mediocre. But the rest of the day was good!
I spent tonight writing post cards I should have been sending all along, so again with the no pictures. Tomorrow, for sure.
