Tuesday, July 17: Petrified Forest to Canyon de Chelly
Jim has a major “oops”
As I sit here typing this, I don’t know whether I have a camera or not. Hopefully tomorrow will bring better news.
We left Flagstaff after a mediocre free breakfast. Once one heads out east from the city, the elevation drops, the trees disappear, and the terrain becomes rather bleak.
We drove for a couple of hours until we got to the south entrance to the Petrified Forest park. We visited the visitor’s center, then we had lunch at the nearby picnic area. Lunch consisted of leftovers from the Tibetan meal the night before.
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We continued through the park. Amy was fascinated by the views, myself less so. Michael spent most of the time in the car. We eventually ended up at the historic adobe inn at the north end, where we hoped to get some ice cream. (We were a bit hungry due to meager food.) But we found that it was a historic landmark and not a functional inn. There was no food there.
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So we continued on to the northern visitor’s center. We checked out the restaurant there, but it was about 3:07 and they apparently close at 3. So we went to the mini-mart at the gas station and got some prefab ice cream bars from the freezer. We went to the courtyard to eat them. Then we made a final bit stop (at a flush toilet), and then headed out for the final drive.
We bought some hot dogs and buns (for Mike), then drove in to Canyon de Chelly and found the camp ground. We set up the tent and made tortellini and (not together) hot dogs for dinner.
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It was after this that I looked for my camera and couldn’t find it. I know that I had it at the plaza after I ate my ice cream. I don’t think it made it into the car. I’m pretty sure that I hung it up in the men’s bathroom stall when I was using the toilet, and then I forgot to grab it on my way out.
I called the park around 8:00, but the visitor’s center closed at 7:00. The entrance person called security, and they said that it wasn’t in the plaza and wasn’t in the bathroom. My main hope at this point is that someone found it in the bathroom, turned it into the visitor’s center, and that security has no record of it. I’ll have to call after 8am tomorrow, and see what they say. If I’m lucky, they have it, and I can spend 4 hours driving down and back to get it.
In other news, this evening has not been my day. During dinner (when I wasn’t actually eating), a bug flew in my mouth (causing me to gag). Just now, one flew into my eye. I think it is time to call it a night.