Scott was up before 7 this morning. I had to ask if he has been setting an alarm as he seems to be getting up at exactly 6:45 every morning. At home I am usually up later than him and up earlier. Unfortunately ever since we have had kids I have been easily woken up and not so easily gone back to sleep. Consequently with the nighttime rainstorms and extremely strong winds I spend quite a few hours of my sleep time thinking about how nice it would be to be asleep. It is a great time to get some reading in though. Between taking care of the kids’ needs in the van and working on the blog there isn’t as much time as you would think to read. I have been making a conscious effort the last few days to spend more time sitting between the kids and looking out the windows watching the world pass by, so I am a little behind in the blog. This means more errors and less thoughtful insights, but at some point I need to strike a balance with being present in the moments while I have them.
Pictures from Scott’s roaming while he waited for us to wake up. He finally pulled the fly off the tent at 8. Good Morning World!
We were able to get in some quick showers today. Scott doesn’t always like to waste time on showers, as we could have had some yesterday. However, Cody has been complaining about itchy skin now. Their skin is so dry and they just love playing in the dirt and water. There are definitely times we say no to this, but overall keeping things in perspective – we are camping, they are happy, and it is cheap entertainment for all of us. Thus they become mini adobe creatures. This was the first campground where we didn’t have water within a few feet. It was also the first shower where we had to hit a button to keep the water running. Sometimes you would get one second and sometimes it gave you thirty seconds of water. I have only played the slot machines a few times in my life, but every time I hit the water button in the shower I felt like I was playing the slots, “Come on baby! Give me thirty seconds!” I’m wondering why those buttons aren’t opposite the shower head. I felt like I was developing new dance moves trying to rinse my hair with one hand and reaching behind me to keep the water going with the other hand. Since I didn’t get up to work out I should be thankful for the extra exercise!
Welcome to Arizona! Another new state for the kids. I’ll be repeating that for a while until we start heading back east. Another time zone too. We are now two hours behind Central time. The Arizona rest stop we stopped at just over the border was not the most welcome introduction. I had to take a picture of the signs because they entertained me. I saw a woman taking a photo of something on the brick and had to see what she saw. She said she has lived in Arizona for quite some time and had never seen anything like it. She was actually petting it. She proceeded to explain that they grow everything bigger in Arizona than in Michigan where she is originally from. Her petting the “moth?” reminded me of Scott’s sister Tiffany who was petting the gigantic bumblebees when we visited Alaska shortly after Scott and I were engaged thirteen years ago. The woman at the rest stop continued with detailing the large size of the snakes and the tarantulas. I had to mention that we were camping. She quickly covered with, “Well, I haven’t seen the tarantulas all that often.” Yeah! I feel better now.
Petrified Forest! The inn at the Petrified Forest. When we entered the park we explained very carefully to the kids that they cannot dig or collect anything from the park. Scott was glad he had tied the shovel up onto the roof as Cody + shovel (might) = jail time. We are already carrying sticks and rocks from multiple states and I’m sure there are more to come.
Scott drove and I either took pictures in drive-by fashion or I ran out and grabbed a quick photo. I mentioned how warm it was to Scott and he had to check it out for himself. “Actually it’s nice out there.” Scott stated. The official temperature? 99 degrees.
Petrified wood is already impressive, but when you consider it is about 220 million years old you have to pause a moment and reflect. The park video did an excellent job of explaining exactly how the trees were swept down a river, left in a swamp filled with sediment and silica-filled ash, and how the silica sealed and took over the cells in the logs. The video also mentioned that petrified wood is not rare. In fact it is present in all fifty states. Who knew?
We questioned whether we would have time for the kids to complete the Junior Ranger badges here. A lady and her kids were coming out with badges on our way in, and Brooke and Scott were sold. Normally we like to take our time, but we are on a mission to catch some fireworks in Flagstaff. The Junior Ranger Activity books were once again well done. They even connected creative writing with the children’s five senses used at the park. Brooke’s teacher has trained her kindergarteners well. Brooke took the graphic organizer and whipped together a poem in five seconds flat. Scott couldn’t write fast enough. The main goal of the Junior Ranger badges is for the children to reflect on the park, gain appreciation for the park and the life in the park, and finally for children to have a desire to help protect the park for future generations.
One of the Junior Ranger activities asked the kids to hug a log of petrified wood and describe how big it is. Cody refused to do most of the activities at first because he was tired and in great need of a nap. The minute I moved on to the next activity he wanted to go back to the last one. It always has to be their idea… He actually posed while hugging the petrified log. He didn’t want to smile, but beggars can’t be choosers, especially with nap-deprived young’ens. The kids have to raise their right hand and take an oath to protect and preserve the park. Cody went from cranky little man to Mr. Serious very quickly. Then he jumped to oh-so-proud-of-my-badge mode. I was explaining to a ranger how Cody was so proud of his first badge that he showed it to everyone at a park in Oklahoma. The ranger said, “I understand. I am very proud of my badge too.”
The rangers were extremely kind and patient explaining things like how the skeletons behind the kids when they said their oath weren’t dinosaurs, but really archosaurs. She explained that it is like dogs and poodles. Poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles. Dinosaurs are archosaurs, but not all archosaurs are dinosaurs. I wanted to hop in with my math teacher two sense and say, “Oh! Like squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.” I resisted.
I put the diagram in, so that you might have a better picture. I of course then had to ask, “Why are they different?” She explained that it had to do with the ankle and femur (thigh) bone structures. Since Cody is developing a love for dinosaurs I need to brush up on my dinosaur background knowledge just like I had to learn all about trains and construction equipment. I’ll never forget many years ago when Cody was still a baby, my neighbor James who was about three, very quickly corrected me when I called a dinosaur the wrong name. I don’t even remember the dinosaur. I just remember looking underneath the dinosaur, seeing the name, and thinking, “I’ve just been schooled by a three-year-old!”
Cody begged to visit the excavation site in the visitor’s center again before we left. The kids took paintbrushes and brushed away the ground up rubber in order to discover bones and fossils. Brooke and Cody both jumped at the mention of coelophysis and phytosaur in the Petrified Forest park video. They connected back to the Triassic Period information from the Ghost Ranch. As we left the visitor’s center a couple from Philadelphia stopped and chatted about the slightly distracting attraction on our roof. They had a son who loved to raft and travel with his three and six-year-olds. They had to take a picture of our van before they parted.
I’m sure from the photos above you can guess the theme of this quick roadside distraction. We had to play “Take it Easy” on Interstate 40 on the way to Winslow. Not to worry, every store on the blocks leading up to the corner of 2nd and Kinsley was playing an Eagles’ song. “Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona such a fine sight to see…”
We don’t really eat out, but we ate at a Denny’s in Flagstaff tonight. Kids eat free on Tuesdays and Thursdays. While we ate the rain didn’t just come down, it pelted everything with hail. We were thankful that the first rain we have had of this kind during meal time was avoided. We are “dispersed camping” tonight. A.K.A. – follow a gravel road for a few miles and look for the sign that says “camping allowed.” This is our first non-campground camping on this trip. Brooke asked where the picnic table was. Cody asked if he could dig. Scott had to explain that without water we wouldn’t be digging tonight. Cody handled the bad news better than I thought he would. He is reading Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site instead.
My how times have changed. When Scott and I traveled the country for a year it was his goal to find places to camp that didn’t require paying. Sometimes this actually included parking lots. Wal-Mart was a favorite. Scott has come a long way in actually looking for campgrounds that include playgrounds and other families, so that the kids will be entertained, despite the cost. Although Scott also points out that our salaries are a little higher now than they were in college.
We were on a quest to make it to Flagstaff for the fireworks, but it turns out the weather had other plans. We made it to Flagstaff and had an incredible lightning show, but no fireworks tonight.
