Ready the Canyons

  
Grand Eye Opening:

Guess who slept later than he was supposed to again today!  Hahahahaha.  Yooooouuuuuuu guessed it.  Today’s Grand Canyon Day and a Grand Canyon visit was the only thing left on my Arizona To Do List. With the exception of dominating this Ranger Training, my Arizona To Do List is almost completely fulfilled and tomorrow is just my two week anniversary! If I’m secure enough in the funds, I might make a Vegas trip happen during Spring Break but I’ve been there twice in the last 6 years so it’s not necessarily a priority.

I woke up to the sound of Illinoyed scratching at my door like a cat and suited up in my Hakeem Nicks t-shirt jersey, North Face “ACG” pants, Sherpa fake fur lined hoodie, & my NYG 2^nd Season Reebok knit hat…assuming that it would be as nice as it was in Sedona once we got out there.  My bald head with faded chinstrap face was looking especially beautiful today.  I didn’t have time to grab breakfast so I had to run into Target for a sandwich when we got there and Nick & I headed out to meet up with our crew.  Nick forgot his gloves/hat so we had to double back to the house and on the way we passed a very angry looking female cop that was posted up watching for people to run a stop sign at the intersection around the corner from our place. We picked up his supplies and headed for the Target parking lot.

While on our way I got a call from an unknown number but I assumed it was one of our new crewmates.  I had Nick answer while I drove and I was right, it was future ranger trainee Jake. One of the students in our training program started a Facebook group over the summer so the members of the class could get in touch with each other and talk and whatever.  Well the activity has been very minimal since its inception but as more students arrived in Flagstaff, the more the communication there was on amongst the group.  We’ve been ping ponging questions about the program, Flagstaff, and trying to organize a few meet and greets.  Well Nick & I decided to get all of the future rangers from the WFR class together and go to the GC last week so we decided to spread the love…only one group member obliged…Jake.  My first impression of Jake was that was a near spitting image of my brother-in-law, Matt.  Their body types are similar but Jake keeps his hair a little longer and they dress very similar and are both very nice dudes.  Jake’s from Wisconsin and he’s a Vikings fan first, Packers fan second.

A “Grand” total of 6 of us were getting ready to trek out to the Grand Canyon today.  Jake (Wisconsin), Laura (Arkansas), Josh (Michigan), Travis (New York), Nick (Illinois), and myself (Jersey represent) were all joining forces to see one of the places we’ve looked forward to seeing our whole lives.  One thing I like about this whole Arizona ordeal is that it’s the longest I’ll be from home and what makes that cool is all of the people that come from all over the country to be here.  We got 6 states covered just in this day trip and Pennsylvania & California bailed on us.  We all come from different walks of life but that hasn’t stopped me from acting like a nut and introducing them to my zany antics filled with making up songs, singing, and dancing like a goof ball. Hahahaha.

Michigan, Arkansas, New York, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Illinois

The trip from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon (south rim) is one road from downtown Flag that ends at the Park’s gate.  On a good day with no traffic one could make it to the gate in about an hour and twenty minutes.  That’s about how long it took us to get there.  I drove Travis & Jake and Arkansas took Nick & Josh.  Travis has become one my top buds out here. The way we talked to each other kept making Jake ask us if we were sure we didn’t know each other before we got out here hahaha.  Arkansas was cooking in her Altima while my Matrix struggled. I didn’t mind because I got a nice long look at my FIRST EVER BALD EAGLE! The gorgeous bird flew maybe 15 feet over my car.  I didn’t get a picture of it but it flew directly over us on the road…just awesome! Travis & Jake couldn’t believe I’d never seen one before but what can you do…I’m just starting to expand my wilderness horizons.  

The Road Running Razorback made the only right turn on Rt 180 and floored it past Flintstones RV Park. Naughty Naughty Arkansas.  I guess she thought she could maintain the highway speed of 55-65mph but there was a sudden drop by the tourist attraction and the police officer coming from the other direction made sure she knew it; he flipped on all of his lights to deliver the SLOW DOWN message.  The road seemed to drag on forever, just enough time to give the Travis the idea of trying to get me into “Comedy Song Writing Business” and we had plenty of time to learn more about each other.  Jake was a general ranger that worked alongside law enforcement rangers. Travis was an animal packer at Yosemite. Both wanted to achieve full time status at their parks so they shipped off to Flagstaff. So far, it seems like I’m the only person in this program that left a full time job…with insurance, a pension, & benefits…to try to make something better happen for myself.

We were greeted by a ranger in a “toll booth” but admission today was FREE; ain’t nothing wrong with that.  We eventually caught up to Speed Racer and parked.  We made our way toward the rim and the group ran ahead.  I figured I’d document the first time I’d ever see the Grand Canyon so I attached the video here:

I was shocked to learn that there was snow all around the Grand Canyon and it was just about as cold as it was in Flagstaff…which thankfully wasn’t that bad. I love naturey things, obviously.  I’m more into wildlife and moving water.  The mountains and stuff are cool but show me a bridge near a waterfall and I won’t move from it for the rest of the day.  That being said, if you’re into nature & stuff and you haven’t done so yet…check out the Grand Canyon!  It’s crazy when you see how awesome the natural sights are.

King of the World

We snapped all sorts of pictures and made our way around the South Rim.  The North Rim was over 200 miles away and is apparently the “better” rim but we still had a blast.  There were a lot of areas with railings and observation decks but there were a whole lot more areas that weren’t fenced off and that was pretty freaky.  We made miniature snowmen, ran into a nice family with their 8 month old yellow lab named Atreyu (one of my favorite bands but they chose the name because the lady needed a hero and Atreyu was the hero in the Never Ending Story), and greeted whoever we passed. Travis spent a brief portion of the trip telling us how he was afraid of heights but then further clarified that he’s only afraid of manmade heights; he demonstrated that by venturing out onto every ledge he could find his way out onto.  He’d go to the tip of a lot of jagged ledges and when we were waiting for him to come back from one of them, Brad snuck up on us to say what’s up.  Brad, if you remember, was my real life “emergency” during the Mass Casualty Mock Scenario in the WFR course.  He was going to make this trip out with us if we came on Friday but couldn’t today because he had family coming for a visit.  He talked with him for a bit and then carried on our way.  

The Neverending Story's Atreyu (the boy, not the big white thing)

The lady's Atreyu with Nick

Somebody built the 1 on the right, Travis & Josh 1 upped them with the bigger 1 on the left.

 Travis impressed a couple of old ladies with his daring to climb down a little bit to get a cool photo of him on a ledge.  This particular ledge had a bit of a clearing around it so Jake & Josh went down with him.  I, Mr. Careful, didn’t see a way back up so I stayed back and it’s a good thing I did.  When they were done clowning around, Josh tried climbing back up between a couple of boulders but there were practically zero hand & footholds to get up.  Just when it seemed Josh had a good grip, his feet slipped and he slid back down the rock wall and he landed on the clearing….nearly smashing his camera in the process.  I took his camera and told him to try again.  When his shoulders were in reach, I bent down and cupped his armpit, picking him up to safety.  I did a similar thing for Jake but I only held his hand up while he got his feet underneath him to climb up.  Travis looked to see what other kind of trouble he could get into and found his own way up.

The group grew hungry so we set out for a hotel on the rim that supposedly had a restaurant in it.  Nick & Laura went ahead while Travis, Jake, & Josh did some more exploring…leaving me as kind of the lookout.  I stopped at the museum/souvenir shop that was across from the hotel while Nick & Laura checked out the food scene so I could direct the other dudes where to go.  As fate would have it, I arrived at the museum just in time for one of the rangers to give a “porch talk” program to a group of people.  Cool, real ranger research.  Nick called me and said the prices were too expensive and that we’d go back to the cars and head into town for food.  This meant jumping on 1 of the shuttle buses.

Ranger Alyssa Helping with a Craft During "Porch Talk"

Left My Mark on Some Old Chalkboard in the "Museum"

Our driver Connie was really cool from the get-go as she joked about leaving Travis & Josh behind when she saw them running.  Everybody was hungry so Josh broke out a bag of trail mix…which prompted Connie to snap her fingers at me to direct my attention to one of those bus rules signs.  At first I thought she was pointing to her nametag and I said…ok…then she snapped at me and pointed again. 

Me: OOOHHHHHH no food! 

Connie: Well I didn’t want to make the announcement over the radio.

Me: No problem. (cup my hands around my mouth making a megaphone) NO FOOD ON THE BUS JOSH.

All of the other passengers thought it was funny hahaha.  We picked Connie’s brain about mountain lions…apparently if I want to see one I gotta be around at night…and she joked around with us some.  We came to one of the stops and she told us that Richard would be taking over…we collectively booed the news.  As she gathered her stuff I led the chant, “We Want Connie”.  Some of the other passengers laughed while others looked very concerned.  Richard boarded so I switched it to, “We Got Richard.” Hahahaha.  Richard said we were crazy for doing the ranger program but that he loved working for the Forest Service when he did…he’s retired. We were good boys & girl, we saw an elderly man with a cane waiting at one of the stops so we vacated our front row seats for him.  Little did I know…it was a federal law to do so. HA!

For awhile, it was just us on the shuttle bus

Arkansas ripped out of the parking lot before all 3 of us got in my car.  We decided to eat at quite possibly the most expensive pizza stop in the country, where we saw 2 rangers coming out from their meal breaks.  I wanted to pick their brains but I decided it was best not to bother them even though I looked at them long enough to possibly make them concerned.  I got my first sub out in AZ and it was alright.  We got our grub on and headed home.  As soon as the road became two lanes Arkansas moved to the right land and this time I burned her! No more driving like a grandma jokes now ey? We were a good distance ahead of the other car the entire way home, with minimal speeding on my part, all the way until we got close to Flagstaff.  Nearing the border of Flagstaff, we started seeing lots of cars lined up on the side of the road.  They were apparently all gathering to go sledding and it caused a big traffic jam.  Once entering Flagstaff, there was another traffic jam.  All I could see these people doing was building snowmen…but the concern of people getting out of their cars and being so close to the road had the motorists driving with extra caution.  

Bunch of People Building Snowmen.

We got closer to the familiar areas and this guy (LP: Single D) put his family at risk by deciding he was no longer going to wait for an opening in the traffic and he peeled out of a gas station on the other side of the road, pulled into the middle “turning” lane and made his move to cut me off.  Being the nice guy that I am, I made it easy on him and let him in…which was well received by the other members of our party behind us as I saw them clapping in the rearview mirror.  The traffic was awful back near town and Single D got me caught up…I was stuck blocking the intersection because he wouldn’t move up but luckily that was remedied in a few minutes.  I should’ve learned my lesson last Saturday when Nick & I tried to run to the store downtown and the area was slammed.  Arkansas jumped in the left lane and beat a red light thus beating us back to Target. We pulled in and everybody left with the quickness.  Nick headed into Target & I chatted with La Stone on La Phone until he came back.  I did not want to drive anymore but the Steelers game was coming to a close so we cheated and cut through campus. We made it home and I got such a wonderful surprise! Aunt Pam sent me cookies, cinnamon bread, and Hershey Kisses! The cookies are AWESOME! We love them. We were able to catch the last 4 minutes of the game; Hell of a finish for Pittsburgh! I was hoping to see Atlanta make it to the Super Bowl but I knew the Packers were going to handle them the way they did today.  Maybe if I stayed awake the Falcons would’ve had a chance.

I kept dozing off during the game, something about this fresh air on these hikes.  Nick was watching the game in my room so I told him he could stay & watch if he wanted to but I needed sleep.  I fell asleep and the Falcons were up 14-7.  I heard Jane come check on the game and that slowly woke me up but she left for the night.  When I woke up the Falcons were down 35-14 and it was nearly over for them.  I got up and cooked the tilapia I had marinating and threw together some Rice-a-Roni & veggies for Nick & I.  I spent the rest of the night just chilling.  I watched the games on my laptop that I hooked up to my TV so I played around with that for awhile, molded my mouth guard for ranger self-defense, and watched a few movies.  Netflix is pretty cool!

Tomorrow marks my 2 week anniversary out in Flagstaff and I plan to celebrate by getting my disgusting looking car washed, hitting the grocery store, hitting up Aquaplex, and tying up whatever loose ends I have left to take care of before ranger training starts on Tuesday.

Flagstaff Observation:

1.)    Rich & creamy chocolate milk does NOT sit well with me.  It’s good thing Nick isn’t actually my ROOMmate because the vapors I’ve been expelling would probably kill him.  Yep…not quite mature yet hahahaha.  

2.)    I’m sure it’s the same in other areas but if you ever drive around Flagstaff, especially downtown, screw the law and drive in the left lane.  NOBODY knows how to drive out here, especially by entrances of various parking lots…which makes pulling out of them very hard to do as well. When going to the movie theater last night this guy had his blinker on for a right turn all the way down by another light…just under a quarter mile away.  I had my opening to turn left across the lane, the guy was nowhere near where he needed to be, and he threw his hand up and had a few words for me.  Learn how to drive moron. 

3.)    Target has a giant Aquafina bottled water for only a dollar.  It' rules!

Nice Thing I Heard Today:

1.)    “I can tell this class is going to be fun just because you’re in it.” ~ Travis.  Wasn’t that nice?

I’m starting to miss everybody back home so come see me. K?

Be Good.

MOUNT UP!!!