Day 5 Tuesday 6/25

As has become my normal, up at seven, and this time I’m the first one up. But sadly that came with a price, my back felt like it had a knot the size of Texas, and I’m in Texas, go figure. Well we all woke up in good time and got ready to leave.

Before we left we made sure to have a slight laugh at the name of different places and how the computers and phones pronounced them.

And then were off, and we left early, 8:44.Yes we consider that early. Though we did have to stop for has before even an hour went by, it was 9:20 when we got to the gas station. And be back on the road ten minutes later, with news that our budget is doing good.

At one point during our drive we had to stop for what appeared to be construction. It was 10:25 so we didn’t mind all that much, it was a tad annoying to just sit and wait thought, but we dealt. When we were let through we found that they were remaking the road, the whole damn thing. And at the point of crossing it appeared that as far as they got was stripping the old road so it was bumpy. Eventually we reached a smoother part of the construction area, and then the end, of sorts. They had only stripped so far so there was much that was untouched beyond being watered down and marked off. But once we reached the real end we continued on our way like nothing really happened.

Sadly we got to hit another construction effort about twenty minutes later…But thankfully it didn’t take us very long to get through it. And then a good bit after that we hit a THIRD construction sight, but again got through it quickly.

In time we pulled over and had our lunch, it was on the side of the road but we got an RV so we always got something to eat around here. Well we have a good lunch after a few inside repairs we set off again.

We would stop again at almost two on the nose for gas. We had a bit of trouble getting out of the station but we figured it out and went right along with our drive.

After a few more hours, we FINALLY arrived at where we will be staying for a good many days. We actually arrived at the campground 4:21. But it took us a good long while before we could even get our spot thanks to the fact that there was a line just to get one. Thankfully we thought ahead and got reservations. But sadly this line….well it’s a line what can you expect. So we settled in a bit and waited it out, what else could we do?

Well we eventually got our spot…and it was not the type of spot we requested. Dad was NOT happy or in a good mood by any extension of the word. But well we got a spot and settled the RV in, we’re going to be here a while so we had little choice.

But setting up…all I can say is that Oklahoma is somehow WORSE in its weather than Texas. That’s right we are in Oklahoma, and it feels like I walked into a toaster oven when I walk out there. Different weather things are saying it’s in the high 80s lower 90s, and with a good wind, but with the sun…well it sure doesn’t feel like that. And then you go into the RV, so much better. But sadly I can’t lock myself in it, so I just have to deal with the crazy weather, then again who am I kidding? You get between the mountains of west and the mighty Mississippi and you get a crap ton of heat. Don’t ask me why it likes that area it just does, I sadly can’t really tell you how high up it goes….I’ll say somewhere near Montana though is when it gets cooler again…..probably because it has more rivers. Look I don’t know I just it’s hot here and I don’t really care for it.

Well anyways, all set up and working things out, we got a good WiFi here so that’s good. Well after all the setup we decided to drive around. We went and took a look a few places we wanted to go to later and then went for some dinner, it was a decently good place.

Once done with dinner we had to go and shop, again. Well long story short we finished and came back to the RV and got about doing our own thing. And had a peaceful night.

Sadly I don’t think tomorrow is going to be as peaceful as today, we got a good amount of things lined up so it shall be busy, how busy? We’ll well have to wait to find out.

Typed up June 25, 2013.

Day 4 Monday 6/24

I can’t seem to sleep like I used to, the reason being: I had another early wake up, no one woke me up I just woke up by myself. Thought sadly I didn’t do much, but hey relaxing in the mornings seems like a good idea to me.

Well we all woke up in time, and so got ready to leave trying to stick as close to on time as we could. And well, we did. We left our camp before nine even hit us.

After about an hour of travel we decided stop at a camping world, we needed to get a few things. We left a little over a half an hour later. We had the things we needed so we went of again.

We were on the highway for a good long while before we got to a fuel stop at 12:50 and then while at the stop we had some lunch. We would be back on the road not even an hour later which meant more boring driving and watching the land run by.

In time we finally crossed into Texas, it was sort of fun watching and waiting for the phones to realize this and change the time.

As we drove we had to pass a few slightly interesting places. Don’t believe go onto a maps thing and look up Earth Texas. No joke, there is a town called Earth. And if you want more strange places try looking up the other plants names and even a few things from startrek, no joke there are cities and towns called that.

We arrived at our camp ground at 6:03, local time. And I say local time because we did pass into Texas as stated earlier so we are in yet another time slot. And let me tell you it WINDY and wamish hotish depending on your standing and weather tolerance. And the sad thing about a majority of Texas…the weather is mostly like this. And as a side note we have apparently gone 390 miles today. So that is what we can do when we only need to stop for gas, feels nice…and extremely boring.

Well anyways once we reached our camp ground for the night we plugged in the RV, unloaded the Van and got ready to go into town for some supplies. With supplies in hand we ventured back to the RV to finish up our dinner for the night and settle down a bit.

It has been a slow day, one with merely driving and the very few stops. But we are even closer to our goal. Our next day does not plan to be much different from one experienced today, but I have been wrong before. Only time will tell, so knock on wood, we’ll need it.

Typed June 24, 2013

Day 3 Sunday 6/23

Woke up extremely early this day, almost 6 on the nose. Why did I get up that early? Well I wanted to go for a jog, and I did making sure to bring one of the dogs along. Sadly the weather was so cold I didn’t get very far, or go for very long. I sort of hate that I couldn’t go for that long, but I couldn’t do much about it.

Well anyways I got to sit around for a few hours doing not much of anything while the rest of the family slept in and eventually woke up near eight. We packed up and got ready to go once all was up and done with morning rituals and all that.

We finally left camp around 9:20, for all the real good that did us. We apparently had to go back into the big hole in the ground, sorry the Grand Canyon. Sister and Nana had decided to forget a few things that they wanted to do, and since we apparently have the time dad decided it would be alright to go back in and go after said items. Not something I was actually looking forward to but hey, I’m stuck in the RV with the rest of them, it’s not like I have a complete choice I just had to suck it up and deal with it. Oh well.

We arrived at our first stop close to ten, it was sort of revisit but hey we got to see something new….if you can call it that. We got back on the road around a half hour later, still going through the park sadly we did have a few stops a view points for pictures and the like. I still it’s just a giant hole in the ground, a very big hole that is also very colorful and amazingly complex, but still a hole, or really a giant cut. But I Digress.

There was….a lot of stopping to look at things. It took us hours to get through it all, with mom and me sticking to the RV, her working a tad and me…a mix between falling asleep and trying to keep busy. I know, we are so proactive. But I’m generally of the mind set of seen one seen them all. Oh sure a lot of the stuff is cool and slightly interesting, but after a tad you get tired of looking at the same thing so that the picture savvy members of your family can take fifty photos of the same thing. I kid you not, they have taken over fifty photos of the same thing many times, just so that they could get different looks at it and different effects. But it is not my business to judge that so I just deal and silently complain…for the most part.

At one of the stops, I think one of the last ones we also stayed long enough to have lunch. The stop was at a sort of watchtower from the 1930s, it provided a nice view. Though sadly most of my mind was taken up with how I could use it one of the many stories I wright.

We finally got out of the park around 1:20, it sort of felt nice.

We had a scare during our drive, our door decided that it would pop open a tad. So we had to hold closed a bit and then do what we could to lock it, we can’t exactly stop and make sure it is closed all the way so that is the best we can do.

We in time had to stop for gas, near 2:55. Had to look a bit to find out, but we eventually found one and filled up. The road ahead was long, well of course it was. But anyways we traveled on highway for a the rest of the day. We all spent our time doing this and that, a few of us getting a nap in as we do.

But we had another fuel stop before we stopped, this one near 6:30, well actually 7:30 for we had passed into New Mexico by this point which means a time shift. We left not even ten minutes later.

We would arrive at our campground another hour later. We got ourselves situated and settled in for the night.

Day 2 Saturday 6/22

Wake up was early today, around seven to eight in the morning. We had a long breakfast with the relatives that we had stayed with, it was sort of a comfort for us to do that.

When we did leave it was close to 10:30. But we weren’t on the road long, we stopped around a half hour later at a small “ghost” town called Oatman, no Joke that is what it was called. We spent around an hour and a half there, walking through all of the stores. Bought a few things, took some pictures the usual. And then we were on the road again near 11:45, or something like that.

To actually move on we went through the only road the town had, which had a lot of Donkeys, thankfully the Jackasses didn’t impede us too badly, and I'm talking about the animal not the person alright so don't go attacking me. With through the town we had a windy drive up the hill.

We eventually get through the mountains/hills and back to a highway, oh thank you.

For a good while we are on said highway, then we come across our next fuel stop, at 12:40, sounds like lunch time to me. Though sadly it took as a bit just to be able to get some gas. Some of the drivers at the gas stop were impatient and decided it would be a good idea to try and block a few RVs and make it difficult for said RVs to both pull up as well as get out. Never a fun thing to have to deal with, but then again it was a Flying J so things like this happen, even if it is annoying.

Well, after we got that sorted out, we truly did indeed get some lunch. It was mostly what we could find around the RV, it seemed to have been good. But in time we finished our lunch and was back on the road near 1:15. More Driving, so much fun…

                                                                                                                                                       

We traveled in relative silence for a good while. To be honest it was uncomfortable, extremely so. But that is most likely do to the fact that I finished reading what I had to read and thus got bored…really bored.

But I eventually found a few things to do and settled in for the long ride ahead. It did hold me over until we arrived at our stop for the night, or day really. Our stop came around 4:45. But we didn’t stay to relax long. We plugged in the RV unloaded the car and got ready to leave in quick flash. Getting ready for a trip around the area. The area belonging to the Grand Canyon.

That is right, we stopped at the Grand Canyon, also known as a giant hole in the ground. As you can tell, I didn’t think all that much of our visit. It was long and according to different clocks it took us around five to six hours, a mix of walking and driving, and later having dinner and then a presentation. That presentation wasn’t the best and sort of ticked me and my dad off. But anyways we got back to the RV.

Once back we dealt with needed and well went about the night. But tomorrow starts anew and a full day of travel, and no real stops planned. So it should be an uneventful day, knock on wood.

Typed up June 22, 2013

Day 1 Friday 6/21

The first day of vacation is always a bit hectic. You have to run around the house to pack up whatever it is you are traveling in. For us, that means our RV. We’ve loaded this thing for so many trips it’s hard to count now, but for some reason, whenever we leave on vacation we worry more than normal and run around a tad more. That might be because we are going to be out for a good while longer that all other times we use the old bucket.

But I digress. We did have all sorts of things to worry about yes, but we did get out. It was near 4, but we did it. Though we didn’t go very far fast. We had a few stops to make first, and also to pick up another member of little group.

After that it was travel and after good time a stop at a gas station for, of course gas and a few food items. I sadly did not get the time on that one, but I can say it was close to seven.

I spent my time reading this and that, my mother sort of did the same thing and the other three…well they watched the road. And all for the rest of the drive, until we reached or destination around 11. Our stop for this day, the house of a relative in Arizona.

We did a quick set up, only power and then mostly powered off to bed. All in all, a boring and very normal first day of Vacation.

Typed up June 22, 2013