Machete Memoirs

Friday, May 11, 2012


Day 1

So . . . today Caitlin and I started out our awesome sister road trip. We are on our way to Arizona from Tennessee. Not really sure why we decided to come on this road trip--but I think it's pretty hardcore.

We left this morning at 6:30ish after saying goodbye and all that to the family. Doesn't sound that interesting, but having your dad say things like, "I packed a little tool kit for you guys . . . and a knife . . . and some machetes" definitely made me feel like a rugged beast! I guess if someone trie to mug us we'll be capable of the proper amount of "fierceness." (Yeah, we have to be fierce.) So that was dad's goodbye. Mom made us freakishly delicious eggs and Gracie was mostly asleep and Onnolee said, "Well, this is going to be one crazy weekend . . . thanks a lot girls. -_-" Very Precious. Heh.

We drove for about 8 hours today, and, ummm . . . I've lost any skills I may have once had at stick shift. We felt pretty dang grown up setting up our own campsite, then we felt like beasts hiking(ish).

Basically, it's been really fun so far. No cell service, haven't killed each other, haven't been mugged or murdered, and . . . ummmmmm . . . the Ozarks are really beautiful! The weather is basically perfect (although we may freeze to DEATH tonight).

We're living off of peanut butter, tuna and oatmeal. (Plus a couple of other essentials like tea.)

Had a little time to talk about some great stuff. Like "love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it isnot self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with truth. It always hopes, always perseveres . . . the greatest of these is love." I don't think we give love enough credit--it's so complex.

Trying to examine my heart when I tell people that I love them and make sure that I actually do.

Okay, so . . . . that's day 1.

Going to eat my little tuna dinner and make a little fire, then go to sleep so we can travel on in the wee little morning.

-N.

Saturday, May 12, 2012


Day 2

So last night was . . . . . . dramatic.

The sky decided to whimper all freaking night--and, well . . . . I'm a naturally fearful person (very fearful), so it sounded super creepy outside and my little brain was trying to convince me that evil murderers were frolicking around outside the tent, and about to come in for the messy, gruesome kill. I actually was quivering and completely terrified. Cait was really sweet about it though--she braved the evil night to get a machete for protection which kind of made things better (but not really, so we ended up sleeping in the locked car with two machetes in hand).

So, ahem, after our uhh . . .  interesting night without much rest we got up at 7:30, made breakfast (oatmeal, what else?), tried to dry the tent, then loaded everything up, brushed our teeth, and left the Ozarks by 8:30. At about 9 we finally had cell service again. Ha.

Our day was basically filled with a lot of driving. From the Ozarks in Arkansas to Red Rock Canyon in Oklahoma. Because the interstate was lame we decided to take a random highway, which ended up adding a lot of time to the trip, but definitely worth it. OK is so beautiful! My favorite so far on this trip! It's starting to look more and more like AZ, so I'm getting excited.

We got to our campground around 4. Set up the tend and stuff, then went on a little adventure hike thing. It was gorgeous and involved lots of sliding and a little bit of bravery (something Naomi's are low on).

And now we've just been hanging out and stuff. Cait tried to eat mac n cheese, but it made her sick. haha. She's basically bulimic. I won't go into anymore detail about that--for obvious reasons.

Talked to the family briefly on the phone :). Also texted Cary, Apryl, Summer and Hannah--I wish it was easier to share the wonder and excitement -__-. I wish everyone could do this.

Okay, so I know I'm forgetting a lot of great stuff, but really fast, two amusing anecdotes:

"The Trolly Incident"

Caitlin was driving. We just finished going through an extra crap part of Arkansas (Ft. Smith) and finally were in a really cute little downtown area. I think it was historical or something. Anyway. She stops at a red light. I look over, and there is a vicious trolly speeding towards us, threatening our very lives. . . . So she backed up. Doesn't sound too hardcore, but when you liken it to Nell & Dudley-Do-Right then . . . .

And the second also sill not be entertaining to anyone but Cait and me, buuuut:

We went to a little store to get some sustenance and there were a bunch of funner teenagers running the store.
"Are you guys new in town?"
"Oh, no we're just visiting."
"I'm sorry 0_o . . . At Red Rock?"
"Yeah . . ."
"Again, I'm sorry."

Basically, the town is very tiny and seems very poor as well--I suppose not the most exciting place to visit, but not bad to pass through. :)

As a side note. I have not bathed or shaved yet . . . . I feel like a freaking cave woman. Not sure if that helps my toughness, or repels predators. haha.

It's 9:30 in mountain woman time--that means time for bed. We rise and set with the sun . . . kind of. :P

-N.

Sunday, May 13, 2012


Day 3


Well, definitely an interesting day. We got up at 6:00, left by 7:00--same sort of pack up as last time and everything.

Early on in the trip we passed a semi that had gone off the road. The trailer was bent in half (that's the only why I know how to explain it) and the driver's door was open and I think I saw the driver hunched over inside. We called the police and reported it--but it was on my mind and heart for the rest of the day. I still wonder a lot of things.

Also, Cait and I listened to a really good Paul Washer sermon; it was perfect for some things that I've been thinking a lot about lately. Kind of about what Christianity really is and how we're sort of sending people to Hell when we tell them just to pray a prayer and then they're saved--in reality, if their lives aren't changed, they aren't saved. It's hard to sum up . . .

During my half of the driving (we drom from Oklahoma through Texas to New Mexico, by the way.) I had a travel buddy most of the way. :) And during this entire trip we have had a few ongoing . . . no quite "jokes," but basically.

First: "Good Fellow" basically means idiot. (We use it a lot.)

Second: We call semi drivers "The Semi People" and make up ridiculous stories about their heritage--pretty much, they're cooler than the Indians and deserve respect.

So we got to Albuquerque, New Mexico yesterday somewhere around 2:00. We decided to stay in a hotel there because there was nowhere to camp. Best part = shower. The city . . . I hated. At least the part we went to. Very sketch/creepy/crappy. We decided to take a tain to Sante Fe and back (as suggested by Tilly), but because of the time change we accidentally got to the train station an hour early--so we spent time walking around the creepy city--which definitely didn't add any love for it.

The train ride was fun though. And very beautiful. Like 4 hours long, but Sante Fe was a very cool city. I would love to go back there for a visit--I think it was basically a place full of cool art people.

In our hotel room we brought up our little cook stove and tried not to burn the place down. haha.

And then, since we had wifi and stuff we watched New Girl, checked facebook (I know, lame . . . but why not?) and went to be kind of early because, well, we're lazy and tired little travelers. :)

-N.

Monday, May 14, 2012


Day 4


Arizona! :) We left New Mexico at 7 this morning, after packing up our little hotel room, fixing up the car, and eating quasi-breakfast that Days Inn promised us. We crossed the Continental Divide on our way, so we got out to take our stereotypical tourist pictures and buy post cards for all of our adoring fans. Haha. Really though, we have a lot of post cards to write. 0_o

We ended up driving until around noon, when we got to flagstaff. It would have been later, but there was another time change (now we're two hours behind home). Flagstaff was gorgeous! We drove up a mountain thing there for a better view, I think it was called the Snow Bowl or something. We ate lunch up there and took a little adventure trail that was really pretty. After that we drove around town a tiny bit to waste some time.

Before Sedona (which is where we are camping tonight) we bumped into the Oak Creek Canyon Overlook. It was very beautiful and looked over all of Sedona and the rest of this giant, beautiful valley. There were some really friendly New York sounding guys that we talked to a tiny bit--it was nice to bump into someone friendly for a change. People seem to be getting nicer and nicer though for some reason. They all seemed so harsh in the beginning.

So we drove down into the giant valley to our campsite. The location is awesome--the tight quarters aren't so much. It's kind of like we're living in a little neighborhood. Hispanics on one side (three guys), trying to cook and be rugged while still maintaining their jock look. Weird staring people on the other side and across we have very friendly and very . . . very hippyish neighbors. The lady just bathed naked in the creek behind us. Haha. Shouldn't have told her that it would be suitable for washing. :P

Also, down the road from us is an incredible swimming place called Slide Rock, or something like that.

Basically, it was the bottom of a canyon with water flowing through it--but it formed the perfect place ot be--a lot of people were there swimming, cliff (or rock, really) jumping, wading, sunning themselves, etc. Plus, the weather was fantastic.

And after that we drove to the actual town of Sedona to see what it was like and all. And now we are back at the neighborhood place.

A lesson that we have learned, by the way, is never to cheep out on can openers. We have the can opener from . . . well, you know. It's terrible. When this trip is over I am determined to obliterate it. I am also determined to bath in the creek tomorrow . . . only, I'd not do it hippy style if you know what I mean.

Well . . . that's all I think. Wish I could remember more.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012


Day 5


Our second day in Sedona and it was wonderful.

We slept in until 8, which was fantastic. :) And then we went off on a little adventure, trying to find a rock from our childhood. We went to Red Rock State Park, or something like that (?). We hiked there for maybe a little over an hour. Then we went back to our campsite for lunch, grabbing some stuff from the store on the way (H2O) and ice cream from McDonald's (which by the way, has a green arch here). Called mom for a tiny bit. I miss my family and Carey a lot. :( Then after lunch we swam at the slide rock again.

After that we decided to bathe in the creek behind our campsite. Where crazy-neighbor-lady went all natural on us. Haha. We were clothes in swimsuits. XP Surprisingly, I felt quit good afterwards--even though there were guys there fishing who were entertaining themselves by watching. -_- Lame.

Then we had dinner and headed off to the actual rock of our childhood for sunset (whilst talking to mom we were able to get the actual location of it).

It was completely beautiful! :) And we made some neat new friends there. An older couple named David and Margie from Maryland, and a sweet little girl named Hayley from Australia. We talked with them all for a long time. We talked about traveling and college majors and life plans and religion and . . . I guess a lot of different things. It was fun getting to ask Hayley about her life in Autralia and being able to tell her about America. As beautiful as the sunset was, it was also kind of sad, because we all left and I will never see any of my new friends again . . . :(

(And this is where I have to pick up where I left off, because I didn't actually finish journaling on our trip -__-)

I went to be freakishly early on day 4. This night though, Cait and I watched a movie on my laptop in our little tent. It was "Our Idiot Brother," and we adored it. It was kind of nice to stay up a little later for a change.

-N.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012


Day 6


Grand Canyon Day!! :D We get up at 6 and left by 7, starting out our long driving first to Lake Powell in Utah, then to the Grand Canyon.

It was a fun day. The driving was pretty boring for the most part though. The landscape was so bleak and boring . . . and hot. And for some reason unknown to us people seemed to think it was fun (?) to bike around in the middle of the desert. It was actually pretty dangerous cause our speed limit was like 75 mph and there was no shoulder. At one point we had to slam on our breaks because there were bikers way too close to the road and drivers coming from the other direction, so we wouldn't have had room to move over for them. That was a little frustrating (more so for Cait than for me . . . probably because I wasn't driving at that point :P).

The pretty part of the drive was going through this area where the sand was different colors. I thought it was pretty fantastic. :)

When we got to Lake Powell I have to admit that I was a little . . . unimpressed. It was beautiful, but having to pay a $15 entrance fee may have killed the joy a little bit for me. Besides, it was just water and a LOT of hot sand. There wasn't really anything to do there, actually. So we ended up laying out for an hour and then leaving. But it was alright because we had the Grand Canyon to look forward to! :)

We got to our campsite sometime in the afternoon. I think it was probably around 2:30 or 3:00. We camped AT the Grand Canyon, which I thought was pretty cool.

Set up camp, maybe ate something (?), and then walked to the closest overlook. It was fantastic and overwhelmingly vast and beautiful. There aren't really words to properly describe it. The crazy part about it is that God is so much deeper and greater and more beautiful. It was important to worship the Creator rather than the creation for sure.

There were people from all around the world there. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but throughout our little journey there were people from all around the world (especially in Sedona and at the GC), which was so fun. I loved listening to all of their accents. :) Germans and Spaniards and Chinese and Australians and . . . a lot of others. I loved that.

After a while of Canyon viewing we headed back to our little campsite. When we got back an evil crow had ripped apart our garbage and spread it around the site. A crow. -_- Creepy. Also a little funny. I assumed at the time that it was a dog, but realized the next day that is was definitely the crow.

So after dinner we needed to wash our dishes, and for once there was actually a dish-washing-station, which was a huge step up from washing things with shampoo, bottled water, and paper towels. (No, we didn't plan for dish washing well at all :P). But this time we had finally gone to the store and purchased dish soap. So we met some fun people at the dish washing area who loaned a sponge (which was surprisingly helpful in our dish washing pursuits). I don't know the guy's name, but he was from Pennsylvania. He was in the area to visit with his girlfriend and her ex-step-father (complicated...0_o). He agreed with me that green tea was very important and must not be violated by a dirty thermos.

Uhh, so we went to bed pretty early. Or tried to anyway. We had kind loud-ish drinking neighbors right next to us, so it wasn't the easiest thing. Besides, with ultra bruised hips it gets a little hard to be comfortable. But anyway.

Thursday, May 17, 2012


Day 7


Going Home!!!!

Cait and I rose with the sun, basically.

Actually, I was awoken by the freaking crow that ripped into our garbage the day earlier. At 5 am I heard a plastic bag rustling around (the bag that we had put our clean dishes in the night before), and feathers flapping. I went out of the tent to find the stupid little (actually, it was huge) crow attempting to fly away with our wooden spoon. Ridiculous.

And that was the beginning of our last day.

We hopped into the little car after calling the family and chatting for a bit and packing up camp and eating our last bowls of oatmeal for a long time. We decided to drive straight through if we could safely, because we were both ready to be home and definitely didn't feel like camping another night, and certainly didn't feel like camping two more as was originally planned.

So we drove and drove. Around noon when we reached Albuquerque, though, we had to stop for an hour at Wal Mart to get our tires adjusted somehow because the car was having a bit of trouble. While we were there we get a bunch of Starbuck's energy drinks for the rest of the journey home.

Left from there and drove straight home basically. Somehow I was extremely full of energy and hyperness. I guess I was happy to be headed home.

Took lots of green tea shots to keep up the happy vibes. :P

Around 10 pm we stopped by a Redbox and got some movies to keep us awake during the night hours and a gas station to fill up. At the same time I started drinking my energy drinks. I drove from 10 that night until 6 the next morning. It was actually pretty fun. Cait watched two of the movies starting at 10 going until around 2, but the third one was such crap that we couldn't even handle it, so she went to sleep and I kept myself entertained for the rest of the time.

Somehow I never even got tired. Then Cait took over and I think I slept for an hour or something.

We drove until 12:20, when we finally pulled into our beloved driveway and finally got to see our lovely family! :) We surprised the girls--they thought we would be home the next day.

It was so good to be home, but our trip was a huge blessing and definitely something I would not ever take back.