A loud ringing bell pierces the air
followed by a couple of low hums. Groggily I turn away and try to muffle the
irritating noise with my pillow. The loud sound is the breakfast bell, so it
must be 7:00am. I let out a deep sigh. The best quality of sleep is that it
doesn’t matter where or what time you fall into a deep slumber; it is always
just as satisfying and rewarding. I slowly get up and hit my head on the frame
of the tent. I hear a faint hearted laugh from Kate, but decide its not worth
the energy to defend my pride. Kate pulls apart the tent flaps and the blinding
ray of light slaps me on the face. A little stunned I get up and follow her
outside. The campground was surprisingly quiet and there were only 3 other
families in the dining hall. Kate’s eyes gleamed hungrily at the table to my
left and I turned to follow her gaze. A buffet table was set up with eggs,
bacon, and many other extravagant breakfast foods. We both hurry over to the
table and fill our plates with pounds of food. Soon there was only grease and
scraps of meat left on the plastic plates. We thanked the manager and pushed
the heavy double doors open. Our car was right outside and the early morning
dew was still dripping down the chilled metal. We hopped in and I turned the
key to start the engine. The rich, heavy rumble broke the silence and then shut
off just as fast. I trickle of fear ran through me. I tried again and the same
conclusion occurred. The nearest car shop was about 50 miles from here and we
had no way of getting there. I closed my eyes and slowly turned the keys once
more. The engine rumbled to life and kept its fast heartbeat. With a sigh and a
cheer from Kate we traversed onto highway 40.
After a couple of hours, we saw a
said that read, “Tonto National Forest.” We saw some absolutely beautiful
landscapes, ones that were much more exciting than dirt and sand. I wished we
could stop, take a hike, snap some pictures, and soak it all in, but I knew we
couldn’t. I promised Kate that one day, we would come back and enjoy it with
the company of our families.
The view from our car of Tonto National Park!
The highway seemed never-ending and
abandoned. It was present through the end of your sight and only occasionally
did a car appear. The sun was still very much present but its rays of heat were
noticeably cooler then yesterday. There was a slight breeze from the west and
it took control of Kate’s hair, thrashing it about in the wind. The conditions
were perfect, but the landscape was still bare as ever. The road, as straight
as a ruler carried the car across land which only sand and small bushes could
thrive. A blinking red light turned my attention to the dashboard. The cause
was the gas signal. The next exit was Kingman and we decided to try our luck.
Luckily we spotted a shell gas station and with a quick fill up we were on the
road again. Kate turned on the radio and the only channels that we could
capture without being interrupted by static were country songs. I personally
did not mind the genre, but Kate’s constant remarks about
how most of the lines were the song didn’t even make sense installed a little
bit of longing for some different type of music. Kate’s verbal assault was
halted as a billboard came into view. It read Holbrook, Arizona next left.
Under the giant letters a list of resting places and restaurants were evident.
My eyes caught the Dairy Queen section and I aggressively swerved to make the
exit. The clock on the dashboard read 1:26pm and hunger was started to spread
through me like a disease. We pulled up into the parking lot and entered
through the double glass doors. I felt as if I walked into a barrier when the
air conditioner ran over my head. With a joyful countenance, I walked up to the
cashier without looking at the menu. I ordered two classic Grill burgers and
asked Kate to refill our water bottles. The overall cost was $4.38, a good deal
for something seemingly priceless at the moment. We both sat down in one of the
booths to wait for our number to be called. I leaned farther back in my chair
and smiled. Wherever we end up in Arizona, there better be a Dairy Queen.
The Dairy Queen in Holbrook, AZ
After we finished lunch, we were
right back on the road again. The sky was getting darker, and I was worried
that we were going to hit a storm. I turned on the radio, and we found out that
there was indeed a huge rainstorm in Denver. It was supposed to be moving
north, which was lucky for us. I didn’t pack a raincoat or rain pants, and we
didn’t have any umbrellas either!
We continued our drive along I-40.
I was feeling a bit more positive than I was the day before. I knew that if we had
run into the tempest in the north, then our driving would have been almost been
cut in half! And then we most definitely would not have made it to Sarasota. At
the rate we were going, there was a really good chance that we would be in
Florida in three days.
In order to pass the time, I
decided to play an audio book that I’d bought on my iPod before we left. I
chose the Hunger Games, a.k.a. the most amazing thing ever. Trevor and I share
an obsession with that book series, and we decided to listen to all three books
in order to review for the movie. We agreed that most likely, the movie would
not look exactly how we imagined, but we wanted to see it all the same. I
bought the audio books before we left because we didn’t have enough room in the
car to take the actual books.
We
arrived in Gallup, New Mexico, just as we were finishing the tape of the first
book. We were running low on gas, so we stopped at a 7-Eleven. Trevor filled up
the tank and we both used the restroom before we left. I also refilled my water
jug: I get dehydrated pretty easily, and the last thing I wanted was to faint
during the drive and delay us for an hour while I recovered.
The 7-Eleven Store
I
decided to open up the container of Pringles. While normally I ate organic and
healthy foods, during this trip, I was only concerned with the price of my
food. As long as it was pretty cheap, and I only had to live with it for a
couple of days, then I could eat anything. Trevor and I were going to try and
make our snacks last for the whole trip, so I tried to ration out our food
appropriately.
I
was so thankful that Trevor had offered to drive after lunch. I was completely
and utterly exhausted, even though all that I had been doing was sitting in a
car for five hours. I slept for about two hours, and when I woke up, we were in
Albuquerque, which was only half an hour away from our campsite.
Before
we checked in at the campground, we went to Subway down the street to buy
dinner. I bought a Veggie Delight Footlong, and Trevor had a Turkey Breast
Footlong. While we were there, all I could think about were the commercials that I had always seen for 5-Dollar Footlongs! We grabbed our sandwiches, and drove right down the street to Red
Arrow Edgewood Campground.
The Subway where we ate dinner
Trevor
and I checked in, and drove our car right over to our spot. We ate our
sandwiches in the car, and then got ready for bed. We knew we had another long
day of driving ahead of us, and we needed a lot of rest. For tonight, since
they hadn’t provided us with a tent, we slept in our car. After listening to
some more of the Hunger Games before bed, Trevor and I were asleep as soon as
our heads hit the headrest.
Details of Day 2:
Route:
Continue east on I-40 to Edgewood, just outside of
Albuquerque.
Breakfast:
Served at campground.
Cost: $0.
Lunch:
Cost: $4.38.
1001 Navajo Blvd
Holbrook, AZ 86025
(928) 524-6553
Dinner:
Two $5 footlongs
at Subway in Edgewood.
Cost: $10.
5 George Ct Ste A
Edgewood, NM 87015
Hotel:
Stayed in Edgewood at RV Park.
Cost: $30.
1981 Old Us Highway 66
Edgewood, NM 87015
Gas:
Stopped in Kingman to fill up
tank.
Cost: $43.75.
Kingman, AZ 86401
(928)757-2799
Stopped for a second time in
Gallup, NM. Completely filled up tank.
Cost: $61.25.
Gallup, NM 87301-5395
(505)722-9493
Money Spent on Day 2: $149.38.
Money Left After Day 2: $943.06.
Miles Driven: 561 miles
Hours Driven: 8 hrs., 40 min.
Bibliography:
Unknown. 2 7 11, Gallup, NM. Flickr.com. Web. 20
February 2012.
Unknown. Subway Restaurant. BeTheBoss.ca.
Web. 20 February 2012.
Unknown.
The-Hunger-Games-Books-1-3. Hungergamesdwtc.net. Web. 19 February 2012.
Unknown. Tonto National Forest. Landingaday.wordpress.com.
Web. 19 February 2012.
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