Road Trip I

This past weekend was my much anticipated tear to the Grand Canyon. The drive includes 1.5 hrs to Phoenix and then another 4hrs from there to the Canyon.

Originally, there was us 3 girls going with the plan to meet up with some people from Tucson for a quick dinner in Phoenix and then drive straight to a motel just outside of the park.

1 day before the trip, we find out that a 4th girl would join us, one of the other girl's colleague and she had a cheaper plan for us...to stay the night in Phoenix with her friend. Then we would wake up early and drive to the Canyon.

This 4th girl did not arrive punctually to meet up with us on Friday after work so we were late heading off to Phoenix. My friend, the driver, began stressing about not meeting up with the other dinner mates on time in Phoenix...uh oh, bad start to the trip already.

We head off to Phoenix, dinner venue has changed from chinese restaurant (fast & cheap) to Cheesecake Factory (expensive and waits on Friday nights). After dinner ended at 9pm, there were a few in the larger group who want to get gelato, so guess what? we're off to The Gelato Spot.

Girl #3 did not read the email properly and is only nowrealizing our new plan was changed to crash at girl #4's friend IN Phoenix, and now that she knows, she objects...why not continue on and stay out near the Canyon instead as it is our objective anneehow. Girl #4 is not the most accomodating (ie. high maintenance) type and is adamant about us staying in Phoenix as her friend prepared & is expecting us.

We quickly realize that she is using us to meet up with her "male" friend. My friend (the initiator of the trip, the driver and the one who invited Girl #4) is much too nice of a person and wants to accomodate her still. So she is wafting back & forth about whether or not to stay or go. Girl #4's friend lives in an area that is back from where we are, so that would mean backtracking to go stay with him.

As we wait for my friend to decide, masked by eating gelato and taking many photos in the gelato shop, it is fast approaching 11pm and Girl #4 is pouting that we aren't staying. She finally makes her own decision that she will not go with us, and that she will ask her friend to come pick her up instead. This was fine by us, but Girl #4 does not endear herself any further by trying to argue that we stay too. That since it is raining, and that we're hanging with our friends, that we should just stay the weekend in Phoenix and try for Grand Canyon the next weekend, when those 3 Raytheon girls have their off Friday, but I don't.

Girl #3 is visibly annoyed as wait there with Girl #4 for her friend to come fetch her. Finally Girl #3 shouts that we should just get going as we've been waiting for a while. Luckily, the Tucson guys with us at the gelato shop volunteer to wait with her. Poor guys, they looked "scared" to be left alone with her....but I digress....

It is 11pm and raining but we decide to drive out to Flagstaff and stay the night there, which is 2hrs from the Canyon. We get into Flagstaff at 1am and it is and has been raining pretty hard our whole drive, as we look and decide on a hotel within our budget.

Every place we stopped at is booked up! We finally found one that had 2 rooms left, but it was for $160/night for a non-smoking room. It was not the best looking place for that kind of price, but we had no choice.

As we settle down for the night, the weather is very wet and looking very dismal. I am still keen on heading to the Canyon the next day but word is that when it's wet, you can't see a thing.

When we wake up, it's still a bit wet so we head down to breakfast to have a "Pow wow" to decide whether or not to go to the Canyon...

(it was wet and raining so much, Flagstaff did not look like the pictures on the website to us at all)

Road trips are all about balancing group dynamics, and I would say I'm pretty easygoing, flexible and accomodating. I also value practicality and efficiency. And let's just say, my friend the organizer is not very good at those 2 as she is too nice & wants to accomodate everyone.

Friday dinner should have just been a quick grab and off we go, but it got so delayed because we had to have dinner with the Tucson friends whom we see in Tucson anyway.

I need to blog Part 2 later this week as it would be too long of a post to post in one shot. Maybe I can also get some photos from girl #3, the lone camera owner of us.

Grace to you, Vien