August 19, 2017 Day
72
My alarm went off at 03:30 and then again at 04:00 at which
point I threw my clothes on with a pair
of sweatpants over my shorts and climbed out into the darkness. Sunrise is at 05:25 am and I wanted to be at
Cathedral Rock around that time. This
early in the morning the moon and stars were still out and the landscape around
me is peaceful with only the earliest of birds out singing a tune every once in
a while. By the glow of my galley light I boiled some water to make a cup of
fresh tea. The light above my camper
door was throwing a party for every moth within the vicinity and I played a
game of opening and shutting my door as fast as possible to not let any of them
inside while prepping my camper for the drive.
With tea in hand I headed towards Sedona in the dark jamming out to
the radio.
Pulling into the trail head parking lot I was relieved to
discover that I didn’t have to pay the $5.00 fee since I had an Access
Pass. The hike was only 0.7 miles to the
top but a difficult hike for it was all uphill and one had to use their hands
to climb up some of it. In all honesty,
it should not have been as difficult for me as it was. I was breathing like I had asthma or was
missing a lung; which I just don’t understand how that can be possible after
all the hiking and activities I do every day!
Once I reached the top the view was worth every bit of sweat. Sitting up there I was able to watch the sun
peak up over a distant mountain/hill and then when I turned around I could see the sun
creeping over the valley behind me where air balloons were taking off in the
distance. Eventually, I climbed back
down and at my camper I made a protein shake for my drive.
I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do today so I settled
on driving back to Flagstaff to do some laundry and would figure it from there. The laundromat was a nice one; however, it
cost me over $9.00 to do two loads of laundry and dry them. My blue blanket was practically brown so it
had to be washed no matter the cost.
While I waited for my clothes to be done I called my mom to talk to
her to pass the time and ask her if she would be willing to get me a legit copy
of my birth certificate so I could get a new passport; since mine was stolen
back in South Carolina. We talked
until my clothes were washed, dried and folded.
I wish more than anything that she would be able to join me on my trip
for I think she would benefit greatly from it and she deserves to take a break
and treat herself for once in her life.
With my laundry done I brought it back out to my vehicle and
climbed in to go get some food. Before I
could leave though an older gentleman knocked on my window and wanted to see my
camper. So I shut off my vehicle and gave
him the grand tour! We talked for at
least twenty minutes about the camper and how it was built etc. He was a very sweet man and I love showing
off my camper so I don’t mind taking the time to talk to people about it. One thing though that I find over and over
again which bothers me, I get it (somewhat) though, is how everyone is stunned
and questions the fact that I am a single woman doing this adventure alone. I just don’t get it. To me a man could be raped, attacked and fail
just as easily as a woman can. So
although it frustrates me it also only strengthens my resolve in doing this
trip and verifies that this is something I have to do and see to the end.
Once I left him I decided to break down and actually buy
some fast food to eat for lunch. So I
stopped at Wendy’s and got the number 8 chicken sandwich with a vanilla frosty
which was so divine. Unfortunately, my
body did not think it was so divine and was assaulted by the new food in my
body and once I had finished it all off I felt like crap and like I just gained
about 15 pounds. While I was eating the
said heart attack I drove to Meteor Crater National Monument; however, upon
arriving I found out that it was not covered under the Access Pass and they
wanted $18.00 for me to look at a hole in the ground! I think not.
So I got back on the interstate and headed to the Coconino National
Forest to camp for the evening. I
originally wanted to camp near Long Lake but the road to the lake was barely
suitable for a truck let alone my poor little camper. So I just pulled off to the side of the road
and camped there for the night.
I had arrived at the above location around 14:00 was
planning on going into a food coma but it was so hot inside my camper that I
only fell asleep for thirty minutes at the most when I was woken by the
heat. I gave up after a while and put my
clothes away and made my bed which in itself took at least fifteen
minutes. Making a bed in a confined
space and being a perfectionist is not a good combo. When it was as neat as it
was going to get I wrote a letter to my grandparents back in Wisconsin, studied
up on my GRE flashcards, spoke to my friend Travis and called it a night.
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