April 8 – “What time is it?”

What time is it around here, anyway?  I think we must have entered into time change Twilight Zone or at least have crossed the time change barrier (Is that anything like the sound barrier?).  Ever since we have been in Arizona, strange things have been happening with time.  My watch would automatically change to one time, but it wouldn’t match the clock in the hotel room.  Then, while in the car driving down to the river, the time on my watch would change, but the car would remain the same.  Then both would change to match the room clock again.  And that was just when we were in the same town.  Chris final found on google that the Navajo Indians decided to reject the decisions of the Arizona state legislature and to go on daylight savings time anyway.  So anytime you are on Navajo reservation land – DST.  Very confusing.

 

So … we left the hotel at 6:40.  Or maybe 7:40.  I don’t know.  But we headed for the Grand Canyon.  On the way I had to call the pharmacy back home to have them hold one of Chris’ med refills until we get back.  It’s great to know your pharmacist.

 

Oh!  I forgot to mention another bit of wildlife we saw at Zion.  A turkey.  Wild turkey.  Know what that said to me?  Guess we’ll have Thanksgiving dinner “when we all get to Zion.”

 

The road to the canyon was pretty sparse.  In fact, there were occasional signs that said, “Watch for Wildlife.”  Not sure if they were put up by the department of tourism or by whoever has to clean up roadkill.  Anyway, about the only thing we saw moving was a horse.  I think it was a wild horse.  It was grazing in the middle of nowhere.  And later we saw even more skinny-looking wild horses hanging out together. 

 

Just outside the canyon (by about 40 miles or so), we had to … wait.  There is front of us was … no, not some exotic form of wildlife … it was a one lane road.  Construction.  And it was one of those where a truck had to lead you, so we had to wait for the other side to get through.  It really didn’t take all that long.  But that one lane lasted about three miles.  And the road work?  Well, one guy was all by himself chopping grass on the side of the road at one point.  The later three guys were drizzling hot tar over road cracks. 

 

We finally made it to the Grand Canyon Visitor’s Center.  After our parking lot debacle at Zion, it was with fear and trepidation that we entered this parking lot.  But soon we were chuckling with glee.  One whole lot was completely empty.  And we ended up with a place in the closest lot to the center.  How’s that for good luck?

 

After a quick stop at the visitor center to grab that first stamp for Chris’ book (of course), we took off on our first big hike of the day.  We trekked the rim trail of the Grand Canyon.  It wasn’t that difficult, but it was long.  Two and a half miles long.  We got some great pictures of the Canyon, though.  Of course, they can never do justice to the real thing.  Oh, and we were accosted on the trail.  A tiny alien hidden inside the body of a terribly cute squirrel followed alongside us for several minutes before I finally stopped to see what he would do.  He stopped, too.  Then he turned toward me.  Then we made eye contact.  And that’s when he did it.  He reared up on his hind legs like Freddy wanting a treat back home.  He put his tiny little front paws together and bounced them up and down.  He wiggled his cheeks with his tiny little front teeth sticking out.  I gotta tell you, it was a deadly approach.  Deadly cute.  Of course, I snapped a photo.  He held the pose.  I called Chris over, and she snapped a pic or three.  Still, he hung around.  I finally revealed that we were not proper agents, so we didn’t have the appropriate sustenance he was seeking to continue to help his body adapt to the earth atmosphere.  Downhearted, he slowly trudged away from us to sulk under a nearby bench.  But about that time, another park attendee strolled up, and her curiosity got the best of her.  She stopped and wondered what was going on.  I introduced her to the little critter.  He came right out, of course, ready to perform once again.  I heard her exclaim as we strolled out of sight, “I’ve never had a woodland creature do this to me in my whole life!”

 

We completed the entire distance, then hiked over to where the bus could take us back to our car.  We did find another visitor center along the way, and who should be in there but one of the compatriots of the squirrelly little creature we ran into on the trail.  This time I couldn’t resist.  Yes, we have another traveler with us.  A so-called “squirrel” (Sure, it looks like a squirrel.  But really?).  Oh, and his name we found out is Boley.  That’s right.  It’s “like a bowl that you use to eat.  With an ‘E.’”  I think maybe it’s French.  Thanks for the name, Ezra.

 

We stopped at one other point of interest in the park as we were heading out.  It was supposed to be a tower we could climb.  But the tower, though still there to look at, was closed to climbing.  Oh, well.  Time to move on anyway.

 

But wait.  A problem has arisen.  Between the park and our next target viewing site down the road … there are absolutely no hotel rooms available.  None.  Nada.  We tried everything we could think of until we were forced to retreat.  That’s right.  We booked a room at the same hotel we stayed in the night before – two and a half hours away.  But guess what?  By this time, we had accumulated enough points to qualify for another free night.  So … good wins out over evil.  And to our surprise, the free room was upgraded for us.  We were placed in a king bed suite.  Two rooms.  Two TV’s (No coverage of the Astros opening day, though).  Best we have ever had.  I would say it was worth the long drive back.  But of course, I didn’t drive the long drive back …

 

Psalms 4:8 says, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

 

Father, thank you for this surprise upgrade.  Please be with us as we head back east for some more experiences.  Amen.