Wakey, Wakey Part 3 - The Final Episode

The final part of the trip lands us in Petrified National Forest. All my normal exaggerations aside, this place was incredible. Humbling.  I might have gushed a bit. Jeremiah's response to my gushing? "Dirt is 225 million years old. Do you feel humbled by dirt?" I think he was just cranky because he had been driving so long.

We started at the park entrance and then headed through, following the map and narrow road for the twenty-eight (?) mile route. At first we didn't see much petrification of wood around us and I was getting miffed. We only had an hour before the park closed and I was feeling discouraged. The painted mountains were gorgeous, though. So some perks.

In the above picture, I'm not sure if there was a fire and the stuff on the rocks was ashy stuff or if it was mossy stuff. Didn't really seem to be an environment conducive to moss.

This was totally intimidating to drive next to. Especially when you could see huge boulders that had already slid down the side.

Finally on the side of the road, I saw some petrified wood. I screeched to Jeremiah that he should "Stop the damn car!" and I hopped out and took some pictures.

All around the chunks of petrified wood are little (pocket-sized) pieces. I have never in my life wanted to steal as badly as I did at these moments. I'd get back in the car and Jeremiah would say, "Did you put some in your pocket?" All accusingly like. My response was "Do I look happy like I just stole something? No. I do not." Jeremiah's nature/park motto is "Leave only footprints, take only memories." which is posted at Effie Yeaw near where he lived in California. So he is my annoying conscience. Not that I would really steal, but holy crap it is tempting to take a piece of 225 million year old history.

The pieces don't look huge, but they are:

A little background for you:

We stopped at this tourist shop to get a postcard for my grandma. I get her a postcard on every trip I take.

We spent the night in a shady hotel. I actually saw a man smoking a non-plant-based material in a pipe outside while I was waiting for Jeremiah to get our room. I have never hopped over into a driver's seat so fast in my life. Seriously, I could have won a medal. I wanted to be able to leave the scene if I needed to.

I should mention that the dogs did fine on the travels, but it would have been much easier to travel without them, especially Spike. In the car, fine. In the hotel, barking. Not so great. Although, I don't think that that was the biggest concern with regards to our hotel.

The next day we headed for home, this time through Flag.

We are celebrating our 100 year birthday this year in Arizona.

Liars. Big fat ugly liars. I didn't even believe them on the way home. I scoffed at their signs.

I might have screamed a bit on the way home. Mountain driving is a beast. You are right next to the rail, where you can see little crosses put up in memory of those who did not make it back down the mountain.

Plus, you can see the semis heading north UP the mountain. One wrong move, and you are toast. I hope those drivers think about that. My life is in their hands.

When they redid the highway, they decorated/arranged the rocks to make it look pretty.

Here's our sign celebrating Arizona's birthday. Palm trees replace the mountains from the earlier shot.

Home sweet home.

Anyone else take any trips lately?

p.s. Dairy Queen story - On the way home, we stopped at a DQ that we visit nearly every time we head up to Flag/Sedona/Jerome/Wherever. The guy asked us if we wanted dog dishes. They were free, he told us. Not knowing exactly what a dog dish was, we said yes anyway. Mostly because I am in love with free stuff. He gave each of the dogs their own little dish of ice cream. Good Lord, those were some happy dogs. Spike was like the owl in the Tootsie Roll commercial, where the owl says "How many licks to the center of a tootsie roll pop? One, two, three!" and then the owl bites the pop. Spike took about three licks and then just ate the whole ice cream at once. Atticus, on the other hand, did delicate little licks while sitting on my lap. He kept looking up at me and his little whiskers and chin had ice cream all over. Took him a good five minutes. So cute.

Wakey Wakey, Part Two

I told Jeremiah that I was trapped. I think that freaked him out, but that was how I felt. I just needed to go somewhere. I was tired of being here in Phoenix. I needed to move.

So a few weeks ago, we started planning. Time-wise, Jeremiah would only be able to take a few days off. Plus, the dogs. And cats. We decided the dogs would come with us and the cats would stay home. It took forever, but we also decided (the morning of) that we would be heading towards Petrified Forest National Park. I'd wanted to go since I drove past it with my dad nearly six years ago. Plus, that way we could stop in Winslow, Arizona.

We woke up on Tuesday, packed a suitcase (plus books, maps, guides, gps, etc.), packed supplies for the dogs, and took off to the gas station. Holy crap, gas got expensive, didn't it?

Anyway, being that my car is still new to me, I wasn't keen on the idea of Jeremiah driving. So I drove. About ninety miles. Then we hit the hills/mountains and I was screaming and white-knuckling the steering wheel and my eyes were closed and Jeremiah was all, "Um, maybe it's time I drive. You know, for the safety of the four lives in this car." So I pulled over at a small gas station and he took over.

For the rest of the trip.

Be careful what you wish for, babe.

Anyway, here we go on our picture journey.

First, we decided that if the dogs were comfortable, we probably would be happier, too. So we packed the dog bed that they love. 

Atticus is wearing his harness. I LOVE this harness, as it is breathable and does not cause him to lose fur or get red, irritated skin.

Seeing snow in AZ is pretty much the highlight of any trip. I get way too excited.

 So this sign just ticks me off. I kept saying to Jeremiah, "Any minute now, we're going to see one of those beasts - an elk or moose or whatever that is!!!" and guess what, Friends? We never did. Not one. Except at one point I think I might have seen one. It shall now be infamously referred to as "The Elk Shrub". And stop laughing Jeremiah, it totally could have been an elk. You don't know.

 Friends, I know for a fact that I've posted pictures of the tall grass like this before. But it seriously is so cool and I just love it.

Jeremiah: This is one long straight-ass road. Emily: Yes it is! I am going to take another picture!

 And then we reached a point where it was flat, with orange ground and blue sky. It was kind of awesome.

 The scene in the backseat looked like this. How can you not MELT when you see that little face?

Way out in the middle of nowhere, we passed this building. I guessed prison, because what a perfect place for criminals. If you escape, you're screwed. There's nothing else out here. I guessed right. I always do.

 We reached Winslow, Arizona. We stopped and GPS'ed the exact corner of Jackson Browne. I am not at all ashamed to share that we totally touristed it up.

"Standing on the corner of Winslow, Arizona..."

I was all, "Let's stay there on the way back!"

 Okay. We passed this HUGE HUGE HUGE power plant. I think it was nuclear. I am not sure. I CAN tell you with certainty that I prayed for it not to explode the entire time it was in sight. It was way intimidating. I didn't care for it.

But I did love the tacky dinosaurs and made Jeremiah slow way down. The street next to this was named Bloody Bucket Street, which I am pretty sure is the most awesome street name EVER.

We could have stayed here, too. But we did not. I am glad. When we stopped for gas next door on the way home I saw drunks stumbling back from the bar. Not my scene.

This is my scene. And I have a DQ story for the next part of this picture trip.

 We are going to end here for today. Mostly because I am tired of explaining each picture. And a little because PNF is so cool it doesn't deserve to be with my pictures of tacky touristy stuff. Although I can't promise that some of that won't sneak into the next post.

Schoolin' & The Lake

For my final presentation in my research class, we had to give a brief introduction of who we were. We had to do PowerPoint, which I hate. I styled it up a bit and relied more on speaking than including my information in my slides. Which is technically how you are supposed to do PP anyway. Here's how I introduced myself:

I used Picnik for this. If you don't have Photoshop, this is a great way to do some special stuff to your pictures.

The point being, I went from being a Lake Girl (not to be confused with a Laker Girl) to a Desert Girl. Still sad about it to this day. I miss water constantly and I'm pretty sure that the ONLY reason I'm still here is because I have a pool that I can swim around and around while reading and drinking. And squirt gunning the dogs. Oh, and the sunshine everyday isn't bad, either. But I'm freaking done with the triple digit temperatures. You hear, that? Done.

While I was home (and dad was out being Ranger Robb) mom and I went out and took some pictures. Here's the lighthouse on the channel between White Lake and Lake Michigan.

 I love how the water sparkles and how it is endless. Water as far as the eye can see. Gorgeous.

In fact, I'm going to end on this positive note and not even get started on water safety and how dangerous the lake can be. Look at that. No lecture for you today.

Where's YOUR favorite place?

Part 2: San Francisco

Okay. I mentioned that right after our conference let out, we would shuttle our way to the BART station, BART our way to a streetcar, and head towards water. Pier 39, to be more specific. And actually, the first day we walked from the BART to Pier 39. Go us.

Alcatraz

I think we figured that Pier 39 would have a little something for everyone. Food, entertainment, food, seals, food, shopping, and...food.

Jeremiah and I had our picture taken here one of the times we visited.

To be honest, I had a great time. I traveled with fun people, which makes a trip even better. At the same time (Scooby Doo says "rut row") I was a little sad that I wasn't re-experiencing all these things with CLH. I'd only ever been there with Jer and it just wasn't the same.

Sleepy Seals

I did get some fun pictures and loved being near water. Being in a desert for five years will do that to you. I also loved the mix of people and the various cultures. Plus, it just feels like a city. Phoenix doesn't have that feel to me. And at night? It got cold. I freaking loved it. I had to wear LAYERS. And I got to wear a (new) SCARF.

And just when you thought this post couldn't get any more exciting...

Ignore the bad picture and my many layers and my wispy hair. Focus on Zoltar, people.

ZOLTAR! From the movie Big! Remember? Zoltar? He had the power to turn that cute little kid into a cute young Tom Hanks! Wow. I was psyched. I didn't want to risk getting a bum fortune and then getting stuck that way, so I didn't get my fortune told or make a wish.

On the last evening, we strolled (I enjoying strolling while traveling. You go too fast and you miss things. Like the man that smelled of black tar heroin.) to Ghirardelli Square. Did we get sundaes? No. We were too filled with nommies from dinner.

So that was San Fran. The short, evening version. My only purchase (besides ice cream. A lot of ice cream. And salt water taffy. And fudge.) was some splurge-worthy lotion that smelled like heaven. Correction, smells like heaven. Sigh.

So I haven't been home much to post house-y stuff, but I still have some Michigan things to post, a chair to share, and some exciting food news. I'm also on the last leg of my class (my other one finished at the end of June, so I'm down to just the one, instead of two. Yay.) and it's a beast.

Anyone else traveling? Having an interesting summer?

You Want Me to Go Where?! Part 1

When my principal came to me and asked me if I would be interested in attending a math intervention conference IN OAKLAND I was hesitant.

Because, you know...It's Oakland. Oakland! I vaguely remembering Jeremiah pointing it out on the way to San Francisco. The conversation went like this: "And that's Oakland." and we kept driving.  I know that the reason for the conference was to gain knowledge, but part of the fun is going somewhere new and exciting. Oakland was just new. And maybe a tiny teeny bit scary.

Here's the thing, though. I wanted to attend the training and get my professional pants on. I want to be involved and help my students and all that stuff.

So I said that I would go.

And I did. For a whole week I got my conference on. During the day I learned and in the evening I went (with my colleagues) to San Francisco.

I thought I'd share some Oakland pictures with you today. Sort of as proof that it isn't all ghetto. I mean, ghetto exists, for sure. But parts of the city were cool. Oh, and our hotel wasn't in that cool area. Not at all. I would recommend it to anyone going to Oakland, though, because the staff was incredible, they offered free breakfast, and free shuttle service. Our trips to San Francisco cost $6 on the BART (round trip) and $2 for the streetcar. Not too freaking bad.

First of all, my conference was held at the Kaiser building in downtown Oakland. On the twenty-fifth floor. I felt very professional. They even had emergency/disaster kits. I didn't ask about them but I made a mental note. Just in case. A religious coworker was hoping/praying for an earthquake and I wasn't sure if he had an in with God so I figured it wouldn't hurt to make a mental map of the kit location.

 For lunch we went to the parking garage roof. Gross, right? Oh, no. Because it looked like this:

 Gorgeous. I managed to snap lots of pictures. There were fountains, bridges, flowers, and walking paths.

Here is a picture from our conference room:

 You can see a very modern church with the lake off to the right.

And lastly:

 If you squint or zoom, you can see some San Fran bridges and buildings. Great views from the Kaiser building.

Anyone else doing some summer traveling?

Stay tuned for Part 2: San Francisco