grand canyon: day 4

the place we stayed the last night of the trip was called the globetrotter lodge. it was a super cute and a newly renovated motel we found when we stopped in holbrook, arizona. we were actually going to stay at a place where your room was a teepee and decided that this place looked infinitely better. we were right! the owners were very kind and had moved to holbrook from europe before opening the lodge only a few months before we were there.  each room had a different theme and a custom made sink in the bathroom. ours had sunflowers and i thought it was a nice and unique touch.

the owner went to the store in the morning to pick up a delicious breakfast for us. we had coffee and tea and ate toast with jelly and a few doughnuts. it was super cute and a lovely way to spend breakfast.

before we left, the owners had us sign their route 66 sign that is on the side of the building. i thought it was a super cute idea to have everyone who stays there sign their name and where they are from. he was super excited to have us sign it and could not stop smiling. i love it when people get super excited about the small things in life. it makes my heart flutter!

once we were all packed up and ready to go, we headed to the petrified forest and painted desert. i had never heard of the petrified forest and had no idea what to expect. i wasnt even sure what petrified trees really were. we stopped by the gift shop before entering the park and picked up some information about the petrified forest and each specific lookout point. we even learned about the different elements that make each specific color! i used to remember some of them, but apparently that knowledge was quickly brain dumped. thank goodness we purchased a postcard that tells you about each color!

it was super windy the day we were there and made it feel like it was 20 degrees outside. we walked around a few trails, but were unable to do the super long ones because it was so incredibly painful to be outside of the car. despite the pain, the petrified wood was absolutely beautiful! it was super colorful and each piece had unique colorings. some were brighter than others and had a lot of different colors and some had only a few.

the painted desert was also very beautiful. these colors of the dunes are created by the same elements that color the petrified wood. the red ones reminded me a lot of oklahoma.

the remaining part of our drive was relatively uneventful. we made sandwiches, sang songs and drove in the darkness in order to make it back to okc with enough time to get some sleep before handsome had to leave for family celebrations.

our trip was the most amazing vacation ever. we have already decided that we are going to make another trip to the grand canyon and camp at the bottom where the river flows, or at least close to it. we saw many people hiking up the canyon after camping and it seemed like they really enjoyed it. i seriously cannot wait for our upcoming adventures! nothing less than amazing awaits!

love.