Day 3 The Grand Canyon

Hello Everyone!  Today was a great wonderful exhausting day.  We left our hotel very early.  Around 9am.  Thats early for me.  We made our way to The Grand Canyon National Park.  It was around 200 miles from where we started out.  We had some pretty awesome sites along the drive there.  I tried to take some pictures, but they only turn out so good taken  from a rolled down window of a car going around 80mph.  I loved the different colors and patterns in the rock.  Very beautiful.  We passed over  the Glen Canyon Dam.  While its not the Hoover Dam, it was still pretty great and scary.  We had to cross a bridge that was pretty high up over the dam and looking down kinda freaked me out.  

There were lots of Navajo trading posts along the highway.  They  were either trailers, teepees, or stands.  Most of the stands were empty.  I guess no business today.  We did end up going to a trading post that was actually a store.  It was filled with all different types of stuff.  You could get native american jewelry, art, dream catchers, t-shirts, and the like.  It was huge.  I got a pretty hair barrette.  Its blue with a white flower on it.  I also got a grand canyon magnet and David got some southwest candy.  He thought it was made from cactus, but it really only ended up being basically high fructose corn syrup.  We were not impressed.  LOL  

We finally entered the park.  We got to use our nifty annual pass that David got free from being in the military.  We have used it @sequoia, the gold spike, and now here.  It has saved us quite a bit of money.  Sometimes it pays being a military man.  Our first view of the canyon was spectacular.  It really took my breath away.  I knew it was huge, but its HUGE.  It really just quiets your soul and humbles you.  You realize how Great God is and how you are just so small.  God has a beautiful imagination.  I talked to God a lot while looking at the canyon.  

Besides the canyon, there is a really cool watch tower.  The bottom floor is a gift shop.  The awesome part is when you climb the steps to 3 upper floors.  There was native american drawings all over the walls and ceilings.  It was very authentic looking, but I don't think it was.  It was one of my favorite parts of the national park.  

We did tons of walking and I'm sure I burned a few pounds.  LOL  It was worth it  just to see the amazing views.  I wish I could describe it to you, but really no words come close.  Even the pictures we took don't do it justice.  Its something everyone should see for themselves.  I hope you all get to experience it one day if you haven't already.  We did end up getting some really great shots.  I like this one of David and me.  Its funny in all the pictures of me, my one eye is squinting because the sun kept shining right in it.  LOL

We left the canyon and started towards Gallup, New Mexico.  We see a sign for Cracker Barrel and of course, we have to stop there for dinner.  We actually hadn't ate anything since like 8am.  It was weird we didn't get hungry for a long time.  So we had a nice dinner.  The cracker is always delish.  I wanted one of their pumpkin custard desserts, but they were out of it.  I was bummed.  I love pumpkin.  

I took over driving for the night.  Tonight unlike last night was great.  It was just straight highways for me.  David said I'm not allowed to drive anymore unless its a major highway or during the day.  LOL  There was this ginormous dark ominous cloud going out as far as the eye could see.  It was so thick.   You could just see it was about to burst.  This cloud did have a silver lining, though.  Or I should say...a colorful lining.  It had the most beautiful rainbow coming out of it.  I wish you could see it the way we saw it.  But this pic will have to do.  We were afraid we would get caught in this huge rainstorm.  We did end up getting a little rain, but we were able miss most of it.  Its weird.  You can almost count on it being sunny and dry here in Arizona.  It never ever rains.  But when the Pettersens come to town...watch out.  Weird things happen.  LOL  

We made it to our hotel.  For some reason, the sink and counter are very low.  I'm thinking this room is meant for a little person.  I may be short, but these counters are even to low for me.  LOL  It was weird brushing my teeth.  Petey finally shaved off his beard and just left a goatee which I love.  He never gets to have a goatee because he has to shave every day for work.  Its always a treat when he has one.  I think he looks so gorgeous.  I might be just a tad biased.  LOL  =)  Ok, I'm going to go night night now.  I will hopefully be back tomorrow to tell you about day 4 and our trip to Texas.  I was hoping to be able to visit Roswell since we are in New Mexico, but its far from here.  Its sad.  I really wanted to see the alien obsessed little town.  Oh well, one day I will go.  Ciao!

PS  I have yet to find any state magnets.  Its a total bummer.  On a happier note, we did discover today that our rental has sirius xm radio just like my car back home.  All day long, I got to listen to my country music.  It really brings such happiness to me when I get to singalong to my favorite tunes.  =)