1445 Miles

Normally when we visit my family we fly, but this time we had to drive since we had a car packed full of decor and foodstuffs for the party. My mom had sent me directions for their preferred route, along with some tips for the trip.

Don't drink the water!

Clinton and I both worked that Thursday and had the Friday off for the drive - we went home Thursday and ate early, then decided to take a sort of "nap" so we could drive through the night. Clinton was able to fall asleep quickly and easily - I, however, could not. I tossed and turned for a few hours before finally giving up and retreated to the 2nd bedroom to blog a little big (about my shopping successes that day) and then to make sure everything was packed and ready to go. I think I was just thinking too much about all the plans/everything I had to bring/do so that the party went well. I did end up going to lay back down around 8pm to relax and falling asleep around 9pm - unfortunately, our alarm was set for 10pm so that actually did me more harm than good at that point.

When our alarm went off we got up and set to packing the car like a game of tetris. I should have taken a picture of that, but at that point it was basically the middle of the night for me and I was super grumpy and out of it. We also had about a 1/2 hour delay because Clinton was freaking out since he couldn't find his wedding ring anywhere. He tore apart the bedroom looking for it while I was packing the car - he didn't end up finding it, and when I looked my luck wasn't much better, so we finally decided to just leave without it. Our vet has prescribed our little Emmy a light sedative since it was such a long drive, so I cut those into quarters and gave her one, and then we piled into the car and were off on our long drive.

Since I had "slept" so poorly and Clinton had gotten in a solid 6 hours, he took the 1st leg while I tried to get some sleep in the car. I stayed awake for the first hour or so until we were well on our way, and it was pretty cool - there was a crazy lightning storm happening behind us that we could see in the mirrors - lightning was striking every 20 seconds or so, and some of the bolts were so incredibly bright and clear. After we cleared that (the flashes would have kept me from relaxing) I decided to lay the seat down and try to get some rest. After about an hour I managed to fall asleep and I only woke up twice until our sort of "halfway" point. (Actually less than half, but close enough). When we stopped in Las Vegas for gas I woke up to go inside and get some snacks and drinks while Clinton refueled. The guy in the gas station was SO nice. Clinton had gone in earlier to ask for clarification on our directions and told me that the guy was nice, asking questions and stuff - and then when I went in he knew we were together (I mean, we were the only people there at like 4 or 5 in the morning lol) and told me to hang in there, that we had a long drive ahead of us. I told him that we normally fly and he responded with, "What happened, did your wings fall off?" Ha! Silly guy. I paid and thanked him, and he wished us a safe trip - I walked Emmy around some and then we took off again. On our way through/out of Vegas I took a few pictures:

The Bellagio

Caesar's Palace

The Wynn as we were headed out.

Stratosphere all by it's lonesome from the highway.



 After Las Vegas I was awake so I took a few more pictures. The beginning part of this leg was okay, since it was still dark and we watched the sun rise.



The rest of the drive was BORING. So boring. It also made us realize that Arizona rest stops have got us spoiled. Arizona rest stops are huge and big and clean - multiple restrooms, vending machines, plaques with infographics and such about the wildlife/fauna, dog-walking areas, huge parking lots - In Nevada, a "rest stop" constitutes as a little dirt pulloff that is shaped like a "U" and then goes right back onto the highway after like 20 feet. There was one "fancy" rest stop (the one in Armagosa Valley, mentioned in mom's tips) that had parking, but it seriously still was about 1/8th the size of the rest stops I am used to. There was one truck parked there (in a dirt field - not an actual parking lot) and then a guy sleeping underneath a picnic table outside. We thought maybe he was homeless and wanted to leave him a couple of water bottles or something, but then when we got a closer look (not TOO close - we didn't want to wake the guy), Clinton started to wonder if maybe it was the trucker and he just wanted to sleep stretched out or something, because there were sunglasses and a wallet and a jacket next to him. We put a water bottle on the table near him anyway, just in case.

A little ways outside of that stop I drove while Clinton slept for about an hour - OH MY GOODNESS, most boring hour of my life. The road is a 2-lane highway and it is S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T and F-L-A-T. It's so straight and flat that the road just disappears - you can't see anything a half mile ahead of you. I was so bored that I started counting mile markers just to keep myself awake! Luckily, Clinton woke up and kept me company on the boring drive.

Only got one photo because there's no point in taking any more - it all looks the same. Most of the drive was so boring that we had to pass time by making up outlandish stories about the ONE bull/steer who lives out in the desert, spending his life eating creosote bushes and being super pissed that there was nothing more interesting to do. We're not totally crazy - this stemmed from seeing one of those yellow warning signs to watch for certain animals - I mean, it's still pretty ridiculous and I'm almost positive nobody else has ever had the same (completely absurd) conversation that followed, but still, I feel like it's important to say that it didn't come from absolutely nowhere!

BORING.

There were some teeny little towns that we drove through but they were so small that they were over before I even had a chance to take any pictures - one of the towns made me sad though. It seriously took like 30 seconds to drive through and you could tell it had been a mining town at one time - there were a couple of buildings still standing that were dilapidated - a firehouse and a city hall - but you could tell that at one time they had been so grand. It made me sad because I just imagined these people coming into this area and building it up in the boom, full of so much hope, until whatever little bit of resource that had been there was depleted and the town was just left to die off. If we ever drive through there again I will stop and take photos, because the buildings really were beautiful.

In Tonopah, NV, we passed a place called the Clown Motel. AKA the Get Murdered In Your Sleep By A Crazy Person Motel. Or possibly the If Clowns Aren't Your Thing, Perhaps You Will Enjoy The View From Your Window Of A Haunted Prisoners Cemetery Motel. Not even making that up. Seriously, watch the video. Suffice to say, despite it being great blog fodder, I would never stay there even if my life depended on it. I would literally rather die than willingly put myself right in the middle of a horror movie.

[picture from Google. I was too scared to take any of my own.]

*shudder*

 After that, nothing else of note happened until we got to my family's house. The very end of the drive was okay, it was through a little farm town with some cute ranch houses, but I was driving so I didn't take any photos.

As soon as we got to the house at around 11am Friday morning we unloaded the car, and little Emmy (having woken from her drug-induced stupor) made a beeline for the doggy door to head outside and bask in the sun.

We spent Friday relaxing and recovering from the trip - I think I took a shower like the second I put my bags down, ha. Friday night mom made dinner (ribs and potato salad), Saturday was prep and the party (See here, here, and here) and then unfortunately on Sunday morning we had to turn right back around and head home to work on Monday.

We decided to take an alternate route on the way home - through California instead of Nevada. Google maps said that it added about an hour to our drive time, but we decided to do it since it took us through several cities and was mostly freeway instead of 500 miles of a two-lane highway getting stuck behind semis! The drive was a bit longer, but much more interesting.

What? Trees? Didn't see any of those on the drive up!

Topaz Lake, near the NV/CA border.

A 2nd view of Topaz Lake.

Passing Yosemite.

There were a lot of things that said 'Mt. Whitney' in this town.

I'm pretty sure Mt. Whitney is the one in the middle with the snow caps. I went there once before when I was about 8.

There are probably a billion of these pictures on Instagram. Everyone snaps this pic.

We made a couple of pit stops and didn't hit much traffic so the drive was much easier than the way there. Soon enough, we were back in Arizona, and driving into a storm. It was awesome.

The AZ desert can be shockingly pretty sometimes.

Crazy clouds.

 And that's the story of our road trip to and from Nevada all in three days! WHEW!

Red box is our route there, green box is our route home.

Again - red there, green home.

Puppy was all tuckered out by the time we finally pulled into our parking spot at home. I think this photo of her sums up how we all felt!

Mom, are we home yet?

fin.

Weekend Getaway.

A few weeks ago Clinton and I had a couple of days off of work so we decided to get out of town for a day. Even though it's only a couple of hours away, neither one of us had been to Sedona for something like 10 years, and we had both been wanting to get back. I planned out a day of activities, packed a picnic, and off we went!

After rounding a corner, our first real view of the red rocks.

A little ways up the road on the right there was an information center that we decided to pull over at so that we could stretch our legs and give Emmy some time to run around and take in the new smells before we started our day.

Tiny pups gotta get tall to see their new surroundings!

Gorgeous.

 Next up, we headed to Sedona Community Cemetery to pay a visit to Clinton's maternal grandparents. I never met either of them, but we brought a photo of us and his parents from the wedding. There was a little cherub there, but it was stuck in the ground and broken into a bunch of pieces, so Clinton tried to put it back together... I mean, it didn't work that well, ha, but it was cute that he tried.

I didn't take any pictures of the actual cemetery because I thought it would be kinda weird and disrespectful but man, if I wanted to be buried (I don't) it'd be nice for it to be done somewhere like that. There were some incredible views in there, and the grounds felt a lot more organic and in tune with nature than a lot of cemeteries do.

Next up, a kind of odd detour - a fast food joint that we don't even eat at. I had read online that Sedona has the only McDonald's in the WORLD that doesn't have the golden arches. Apparently when McD's wanted to build there the town had to vote on it and they said they could only do it if they made the building flow with everything else - for those who don't know, Sedona is a VERY nature/Mother Earth-centric/New Age place with a lot of spirituality linked to it, and everything there is just kind of made to blend in so that it doesn't take too much away from the natural beauty. I just found it shocking that of all the McD's in the whole world, this is the ONLY one that has different arches, and they are one of my favorite colors, turquoise.

We didn't even go inside, so I'm not sure if the inside looked different or not, but I just thought it was really interesting and wanted to take a picture of it.

After that quick stop, we backtracked a little ways to go visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This is a very famous place and I knew that I wanted to visit - I had been reading a lot of travel blogs that mentioned it and every one of them mentioned that it was an incredibly spiritual place (it's placed in a Sedona Vortex). I won't lie - I was a little bit let down. I really didn't feel any kind of intense spiritual experience here - I think because it's very touristy? I mean, they even have a gift shop. I wouldn't call myself religious, but I do believe in God and I have a spiritual connection outside of strict organized religion, so I did go inside and pray for a bit, but I just didn't really feel anything - so I was a little bit bummed about that. However, that doesn't take away from the marvel of the history and the architecture of the place, which I did still enjoy immensely.

I wonder how much mail this place gets? Probably way too much for the postman to ever actually put it in this box.

Inside the chapel.

Truly fascinating info about the architect and building of the chapel, Part 1.

And Part 2.

Guestbook.

On our drive to the chapel we drove past this CRAZY, INSANE, ABSOLUTELY BONKERS house mansion. It was the most elaborate house I have ever seen! I took a picture of it looking down from outside the chapel.

Just look at this place! And look at the view!

When we got home, Clinton looked it up and found out that this place belongs to the guy who created the machine for Lasik surgery! He also found out that the people who live in the other houses around there actually hate it! It's really an eyesore - as beautiful as it is, it's a huge distraction to anyone who drives by. Plus, it apparently screws up water pressure for everyone else in the general area. I mean... it's still a cool house, though, ha!





After our trip to the chapel, we did what I was most looking forward to - some hiking! We went to Oak Creek to do the Red Rock Crossing and go to Cathedral Rock.

First, we walked around at Buddha Beach - this is another vortex area.


The shallow stream meanders past the base of Cathedral Rock and through forested groves. On the bank opposite Cathedral you’ll notice dozens of stacked rock totems, looking like a miniature Stonehenge. This is Buddha Beach, considered to be the site of a powerful vortex. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states/arizona/sedona/red-rock-crossing-crescent-moon-ranch-picnic-area-thingstodo-detail-301351/)

This picture was an accident, but I love it! You can even see Cathedral Rock in the background.

We stopped creekside for a family photo op.

And I built a little totem to connect with nature.

After we had had our fill of totem viewing and making, we went back to the other side of the park to Red Rock Crossing - I forgot to take a photo, but it's basically just some flat rocks in the creek that let you get to the other side - and then we took Templeton Trail to Cathedral Rock.

Seriously, this is something that most people have only seen in movies.

It was a beautiful, sunny day.

Giving Emmy's tiny legs a much needed rest.

We hiked a good 2ish miles up Cathedral Rock to the part where it flattens out - there's a peak/needle that you can go up further for even more fantastic views, but we couldn't make the trek with Emmy, so we headed back down. We stopped for a quick rest back at the creek, and then went back down to the bottom to look back at the big ol' rock we had just trekked.

teehee

And then made our way back over to Crescent Moon Picnic Area to have a late picnic lunch, because the occasional piece of jerky on the trail just wasn't gonna cut it!

Emmy was so tired that she didn't even want to eat her favorite salmon jerky treat, and she almost fell asleep right on the table!

So with that, we decided to head home with dirty shoes, empty camelbacks, a sleepy puppy, and a full day of memories in tow.

Pooped.