They Tried to Make Me Leave the Wigwam...

     The longest road trip I have ever been on was one my family took in Arizona.  Our journey started at the Grand Canyon and made a large loop throughout the state. We flew into Phoenix, rented a car, and began our three week journey that very night. 

      Our first stop was the Grand Canyon, which was blanketed in snow.  My sister and I disturbed the quiet of the winter landscape in our Stitch-shaped beanies as we ran around making snow angels and mini snowmen companions.   After several days at the Grand Canyon, we bundled into the car and drove for hours...and hours...and hours....or at least it seemed that long! 

     My sister and I were very active children, so sitting in the car for hours was a torturous challenge.   In an attempt to keep ourselves occupied, we listened to music, played games, read books, looked outside, and drove our parents up the wall with questions such as "When are we stopping next?" and "Can we eat? I am hungry!" 

     Our next destination was the Petrified Forest National Park.  I recall being thoroughly confused when I heard where we were going. Petrified Forest...Was the forest so scared it was frozen still?  My parents attempted to explain that petrified wood was wood that had turned to stone, and that we were going to see a forest of it.  I could not understand how wood could turn into stone. My imagination turned to witches and wizards bewitching the wood to transform into stones.  It was only when we got out of the car and touched the tree-stones that I understood what they were saying.  The logs looked like trees, but were rock solid.  

     That night, we did not stay in a hotel.  We stayed in a wigwam. The wigwam was the shape of a tee-pee, but made entirely out of cement. Despite the beautiful natural wonders we saw on the trip, the night we spent in the wigwam was the highlight of the trip for my sister and me.  The room was tiny and cramped with the four of us in it, but my family had a blast pretending that we lived in the wigwam. The next morning when we had to leave, my sister and I ran around the wigwam singing our own version of Amy Winehouse's Rehab song: "They tried to make me leave the wigwam," we shouted, "but I said NO, NO, NO!"  Several hours later, we reluctantly climbed back into the car and continued on our trip.  

     We continued traveling around Arizona, visiting so many different places I can hardly remember them.  Montezuma Castle, however, I can remember quite clearly.  Chiseled into the mountain side, Montezuma loomed above us like a magical place we had read about in a book.  Hours later when we left, I continued to look behind me at the castle. One funky shaped rock, however, caused me to stop looking back at Montezuma.  This rock looked exactly like Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip!  As a family who adores the Peanuts, we spent a good hour or so attempting to take pictures of the rock so it looked like we were holding Snoopy in our hands.

     Far too soon, we looped back near the Grand Canyon, ending our road trip.  As we boarded the plane heading home, my sister and I sang, "They tried to make me leave Arizona, but I said NO, NO, NO!"