Dopey's here! We are Marin, Merrily, Brynn, Maggie, Charlotte, T.J., Wriston, Ethan, MG, and Stetson.
We woke up so early this morning that not even the cadets at the military institute were awake! We packed up our belongings and loaded the bus and van for another day of traveling from New Mexico to beautiful Arizona!
The bus riders passed time this morning by napping, eating, and having a bus aisle dance party to a variety of soundtracks. Our members on the van had a sing-a-long and practiced their unique skill of animal noises (Anna won the competition with her jack rabbit noises).
After driving through New Mexico, we stopped for a photo shoot at the Arizona Welcome Sign, getting to meet others awaiting for pictures at the sign as well from all over the United States! We got to see three National Parks during our adventures today. Our first of the day was the Painted Desert, where we listened to many participants share their invigorating research projects of the past couple stops that were very interesting and creative, including Charlotte's military style report! Next we traveled a few miles across the park to the petrified forest and took in the views and had some group pictures taken!
We trekked to Flagstaff, Arizona, along Route 66 and the van stopped to get the fender repaired! The TWB participants had two gourmet dinner options: McDonald’s and Safeway grocery store. Our favorite meal choices included the biggest sandwich ever seen, chosen by Sam, and delicious chocolate-dipped cheesecake. We also got front row seats to a dance battle between Anna and Merrily in the Starbucks lounge of Safeway.
After our brief dinner intermission, we completed our last drive of the day to our final destination, the Grand Canyon. Participants were in awe as we ran to the rim of the canyon, and we were also surprised by Grant’s reappearance on Trip 2! We’re heading to bed early tonight as we prepare to hike the Grand Canyon at 5 A.M. tomorrow. Participants will be hiking between 2 and 6 miles tomorrow which we are all so excited for!
We would also like to give a birthday shoutout to Charlie – Happy 17th Birthday! He was gifted a card signed by each of the participants, a specially picked sticker from the staff from Carlsbad Caverns, and an extra gift was the playing of ‘Danger Zone’ over the bus speakers per his request.
We will be spending some time getting to completely engulf ourselves in all the Grand Canyon has to offer before hitting the road again to see the fabulous Las Vegas! We are ecstatic to see what all the city has to offer before traveling to Cali!
Corbin's presentation on the Alamo!
Our cooks, the Grumpys, getting our snacks prepared for our hikes tomorrow!
