Day 70

August 17, 2017                                                                                                                Day 70

Like I said, during the night the pain in my foot kept me up for most of it and I had decided that I was not going to be able to do the six mile hike I wanted to do.  So I was pretty irritated with the fact that my feet are preventing me from experiencing things and not allowing me to do the hikes I want.  However, though I was irritated I was not mad and would not let it ruin my day or put me in a sour mood.  The couple that was three from me last night was up at the same time I was and as I was making a cup of coffee they took off.  For the first time that I can remember I decided to go into public in my comfy black workout pants that I wore to bed and my coat  and didn’t put any real clothes on.  I just went in what I wore to bed.  I just did not care one bit and walked around in my comfy clothes with my cup of coffee. 

I arrived at the visitor center on the west side of the park over an hour before they opened so I proceeded to make use of the restrooms and fill up all my water bottles including my five gallon jug.  Then I walked a little ways down the rim path and stepped off the path and sat down on the edge of the cliff.  There I looked out as the sun rose in the sky and threw shadows against the landscape. It was so peaceful out there and I felt like I could have sat there forever but I knew the crowds were not far away.  After over an hour, it was finally 08:00 am so I walked back to the visitor center and walked thru the doors.  As I entered the center, the woman who was working behind the counter started talking to me and we spoke for about fifteen minutes and with her assistance I picked out a sticker for my cooler.  I also purchased a Christmas present for my little brother.

Leaving there I headed back to my camper where I spent at least an hour cleaning and reorganizing my entire vehicle.  Afterwards, I began working on uploading all my pictures to Instagram and Facebook.  While I waited for them to load I took out my yoga mat and did a few rounds of exercises followed by reading my Dummies book for my camera.  I also went thru some of the GRE flashcards I brought with me to try to increase my vocabulary.   Once Instagram and Facebook were updated I then updated my blog and my journal.  Finally, I could get off the computer and move about my day without having to worry about going back on any sort of technology. 

I opted to take a shower but since the water was so hot from being left out all day I had to add some cool water to bring the temperature down to something that was more bearable.  Once I was squeaky clean, I started putting my shower away but then my friend Josh called so I started to talk to him but I had to let him go for my dad in Florida was calling me.   So I caught my dad up with what I had been doing and where I was at currently and vice versa.  We talked for a solid hour and then I told him I had to get going for I was starving and wanted to heat up some of my pasta from the previous night and make some new garlic toast.  While I did that though and ate I called my friend Josh back and we talked until I was done eating.   After saying good bye to him I started planning the next leg of my journey.

With somewhat of a plan started I opened my computer back up to update my Excel spreadsheets that I keep track of all my fiancés on.  That didn’t take long to update since I have been keeping up with it and so now it was time to get ready for bed.  I brushed my teeth and since I am trying to make this blog as real as possible I should probably mention some not too lovely information.  For a while now I have had to use the restroom quite badly but there are people everywhere and nowhere to walk off to and dig a hole.  So I only had one option which was not at all pleasant.  I grabbed a zip-lock bag and yes I went the restroom in that bag and placed it next to my vehicle to throw out tomorrow.  It may be gross but one has to do what they can when there are no other options.  It comes with the camping life.  Before I got under the covers, I took a cleansing wipe and wiped down my legs and feet and then bandaged up both my feet.   Crawling under the covers I was oddly not tired and I really wanted to watch Bambi but alas Netflix does not have Bambi so instead I watched Pocahontas II.