Day Seventy

                                     

Since we were traveling during the time change none of our clocks at home were changed until Friday. It was a little confusing to wake up on Friday morning and not know what the real time was. Thank God my cell phone automatically changes! PS- my duct tape watch finally died a couple weeks ago. This is the replacement. I miss my old one!

Day Sixty-Nine

While in New Mexico, Mal and I had the chance to catch up with an old friend, Candace! Candace and I had a random chance meeting on Myspace about 3 months before I left for college. Yes, it does sound crazy. I don't remember who found who or how, but we found out we would be freshman at the same school so we started chatting. When we got to school and met for the first time it was like we had been friends for years, not at all like random strangers on myspace. It was great to have the three of us back together for a little bit. It brought back great memories of late night laughs! I hope that the next visit will not take as long to happen as this one did!

Day Sixty-Eight

Meet our trip tour guide Gwyneth. What would we do with out a GPS? Maps are great, but having a gadget that tells you were the gas stations and resturants are is almost priceless when traveling. It was really like traveling with a tour guide through every city.

Day Sixty-Seven

I do not think I have ever been more happier to see the sun rise than I was the morning on the mountain! It was a beautiful sunrise. It had been a crazy night. After the sun went down, the heat went with it. I put on basically all the clothing I had brought up, which wasn't much. We then started a fire for some heat. After that died down, we decided to head to our tents for some sleep. Thats when the wind started. I'm not sure what the wind speeds were, but it was enough to break one of our tents and threatened to break the other one. With one tent broken, we stuffed all five of us into a three person tent. Cold was no longer a problem, but trying to find a comfortable way to lay with five sardines in a can was. Even inside the tent, the wind was blowing dirt and sand in. If my head wasnt covered I was eating dirt. At some point I managaned to cover my head and fall asleep. As soon as it was light out, I was out of the tent. It was proabably the most unfomfortable night I've ever had. We all survived and I think I would do it all over again. Next time, I will be better prepared.

Day Sixty-Six

We made it to the top! It was quite a day of hiking. The first part was basically out in the open trekking up a steep hill with the sun blazing on us. I think it took us about 5 hours to climb to the top overall. We took lots of water breaks and time to let our legs rest. Towards the end of the hike it became more like rock climbing. There were parts that seriously seemed vertical. I had no problem going up, but I was more worried about getting back down the steeper parts. The one mistake I made was not buying hiking boots/shoes. I just wore an older pair of running shoes that still had some tread left. Unfortunately that was not enough. I felt every rock and didn’t have much traction. I really enjoyed every part of the hiking trip. Some of it was hard, uncomfortable, and not glamorous, but there is just something about strapping weight to your body and climbing to the top of a mountain. It was very empowering.

Day Sixty-Five

Welcome to Arizona! Our first night we stayed at a KOA camp in Apache Junction just out side of Phoenix. After two long days of driving, we settled in for a nice sleep on the ground. Even though I brought a pillow for the car, I wanted to prepare myself for the night on the mountain so I let someone else use it. I got creative and balled up my extra clothes for padding. It wasn't too bad. Having a mummy sleeping bag really helped. The only thing I needed was a hat to cover what wasn't covered by my sleeping bag. I woke up early to the sounds of babies and kids crying. I had serious de ja vue and thought I was back in Africa. I had a night just like it, in a tent, hard lumpy ground, and the sounds of kids surrounding our tent all night long. I slept a little better in the KOA camp than I did in Africa. Both are good memories.

Day Sixty-Four

I'm going to be honest, I do not know what state this is in. It could be Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona. There wasn't a whole lot to look at during the drive for most of it, but I didn't mind. I've never been past Oklahoma going west so all of it was new to me. I love visiting new places and seeing new landscape. I'd like to vist all 50 states before I die. When I say visit, I mean drive to the state and actually see what is there. Catching a connecting flight there doesnt count for me. If I only counted airports then I would be a little over half finished with my goal. I think I've got about 30 states left on my list!