We started off the day in Tucson, planning to head north to Montezuma and then east to Petrified Forest. But, as our host in Tucson pointed out (and I had known before but didn't really think to consider the consequences), our trip would run into a delay when we got to the Grand Canyon because the North Rim doesn't open until two weeks after we're there. So, we did a quick bit of improvisation and instead of heading east to Petrified from Montezuma, we headed northwest and found ourselves in Grand Canyon.
Before we got there, though, we had about five hours to drive. Along the way, we found some cool things! We'd seen a bunch of Sonoran cactuses (I'm not calling them cacti because I don't possess the mental restraint to think of proper pluralities) on the way down to the Longhorn Grill, but I finally got a chance to snap a picture of some.
We saw a sign for a town (I guess) called Bumble Bee, and also Crown King. THE SAME SIGN. ONE PLACE. TWO AWESOME NAMES.
Also, there's this horizon line, which is sorta bonkers.
We drove through Phoenix and got to Montezuma's Castle, which is set in a huge rock probably less than a mile or two from the interstate. It's really cool, and a really great stop to get out and see something awesome and stretch your legs.
We stopped for lunch at a place called Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. It's a fast food burger chain in the south. Lunch was good -- both the burger and the custard -- but not picture worthy.
So, anyway, I'm driving to the Grand Canyon from Montezuma's Castle and all of a sudden Tom says, "Woah." I look out the window and I see what he sees, and we have to turn around so I can get a picture of it.
We had planned to camp at this campground "near" the Grand Canyon, but it turned out to be like 50 miles away. We checked it out, then headed north to the Canyon to evaluate our options. When we go there, our $25 car admission fee was waived (Hooray for free National Park week! This also saved us $6 at Carlsbad and $5 at Montezuma.), and we were told that there was camping on site, which would be really cool. We head over to the rim to catch the sunset, and it was amazing.
We head inside to check the costs of the rooms and see if there's camping available. We found out that there were no rooms available for less than, like, $170, which is too much for us to spend. We were going to try to get a camping spot, but we were sort of pessimistic about it because we saw a sign that said "FULL" on the way in. The woman at the front desk couldn't get a hold of anyone at the campground, and found out that they had left at 5 p.m. (It was around 8.) So, she disappears and comes back and tells us that she spoke to the manager and is able to give us the last room in one of the lodges, which is normally $190+, for $100. SOLD! People can really be great sometimes.
We're waking up early tomorrow to catch the sunrise, then do some more in the park and then head over to Petrified Forest. Should be another great day!
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