Day 5: Petrified Forest and Painted Desert
IT’S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE BECAUSE THE DOPEYS ARE BACK AT
IT AGAIN WITH THE WHITE LAPTOP!!
We woke up bright and early to an enthusiastic “Wakey Wakey”
from Katie and Dallas. We rushed to take down our enos and pack up our sleeping
bags to load the bus to catch more ZZZZZZZs. Most of us slept until the first
stop where we gassed up and some of us did yoga while we waited for the bus. We
were extra excited this morning because we got muffins and Gogurts for
breakfast, one of the best ones yet! Back on the bus, we played Never Have I
Ever, swapped stories, and even picked up a hitchhiker! We were freaked out at
the thought of picking up a stranger, but we realized it was our old friend,
Grant Deaton!
Later, the vans pulled off to use the bathroom where Hana
Blair had a scare of almost peeing her pants while she sprinted with Sarah
Tolbert to the bathrooms! We snapped a pic with the “Welcome to Arizona” sign
and we felt like kids on a trip across America with our two picture-taking dads,
Daniel and John! Right before we reached the Painted Desert, Carolina Girl blew
a tire… but don’t worry! Daniel, John, and Gberry (Grant Berry) came to the rescue!
Once we made it to the Painted Desert, we took in the expansive views of
colorful rock formations. The rocks were almost as patriotic as we are with
their red, white, and blue stripes! We ate lunch along a scenic route enjoying
turkey and cheese wraps and apples. Caroline Harris and Claire Irving told us
everything we needed to know about today’s destinations during their research
presentations. We quickly arrived at our second stop of the day, the Petrified
Forest where we took group pictures on top of a petrified log- Dopey’s picture
obviously being the cutest. We loaded up on cute stickers in the gift shop and
discovered canned water exists (DejaBlue)! The reviews are in: it’s great! We
were tempted to call you by a payphone in front of the gift shop and tell you
how much fun we’re having, but we resisted the urge because we’ll call ya
tomorrow! We left the Petrified Forest to head towards our destination for the
night… the GRAND CANYON! We stopped at a shopping center to complete some of
our daily jobs including cleaning the bus and vans, shopping for meals, and
writing to you guys!!
On the way to the Grand Canyon we kept ourselves entertained
with a sing-a-long between the right and left sides of the bus. The right was
victorious with their rendition of “God Bless the USA” and the left side
followed closely with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” This ride was definitely
our favorite yet because we spotted elk on the way in and continued to sing our
favorite TWB songs. We can’t forget that Joseph taught the bus Sound Off for
the Marine too!
The counselors raced us off the bus and vans because they
were also so excited to see the sunset in the Grand Canyon. We took so many
pictures, but none of them do this miraculous place justice. Through his tears,
Wilson Moore summed it up best: “That’s not bad for a hole in the ground.” As
we set up camp for the night, visions of the Canyon will dance in our heads.
We’ll see you bright and early at 4:00 AM!!!! Sweet dreams!!
P.S. - Thank you for waiting patiently for the blog. The service is a little spotty here in the canyon. Dopeys singing off for today!