TWB June 19th 2023: 2023-06-18

Day 5- Painted Desert

Day 5: Painted Desert

Hello again from the Dopey's!!

Today, we woke up bright and early at 5:15 to the lovely sound of Ms. Beautiful's singing voice on the parade field of New Mexico Military Institute. As we looked out of the right side of the bus and vans to the dim Western sky, the bold, orange sun crept out from behind the mountain on the horizon. Our first stop was a Flying J where we loaded up with coffee delights and Cinnabon treats. We continued our trek through the deserted desert and saw a multitude of trains that went for miles, windmills that towered over our vans, and Pronghorn, a type of Antelope that we have never before laid thine eyes on.

Our next stop was the first rest area in the great state of Arizona. We took pictures, Ms. Beautiful sunbathed beneath the surprisingly cool Arizona sky, and had trucks honk at us! We continued our venture and ended up stopping at the wonderful world of McDonald's where we tested the skills of the local McDonald's workers and were presently surprised of the speed, service, and quality of our meal.

We then started our final approach to the Grand Canyon as the anticipation and suspense of Ms. Beautiful's stories and descriptions danced throughout our heads. Our eyes were glued to the windows! We pulled in with a warm welcome from highly missed, Program Director of the Year, Mr. Grant Deaton. As we stared in awe at one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World, tears filled the eyes of a few as the rest of our jaws stayed weighed to the ground. Pictures were taken as this special moment drew the people on the trip closer to their peers and counselors.

After we unloaded and set up our sleeping area, our fearless leader Grant, led the crew of 87 up the path to Mather Point to watch the crazy and beautiful sunset where again we took plenty of pictures and Hunter finally got the nerve to propose to Maddi. We now lay under the stars, planets, and shining moon in our hammocks and sleeping pads for a bright, exciting, and tiring day tomorrow as we hike the Grand Canyon.

Welcome to Arizona.

Ryan catches some quick zzzzzzzz's.

Sarah forgot a pillow so Mary Clair had to help out.

Ethan sleepin' in style.

Sneak peek at the Petrified Forest.

Mylee tellin' us about Petrified Forest.

Conner briefing the group on the Painted Desert.

The counselors almost fell!!

McDonalds for dinner!

Some REALLY liked it!

First glance of the Grand Canyon!

Say Cheese!

The counselors posing for us again.

Grant setting the rules of camp.

Elmo even came to see Buc-ee.

GOLDEN HOUR!

Sunset at the Canyon.

An engagement even took place. Such a special night for Hunter and Maddi.

Some smile, others like to spice things up.

Grant boggie down.

We can't wait to call and talk to our wonderful parents who gave us the opportunity to come on this amazing trip! Love y'all so much :)

Logging off for another night.

The Dopeys

#dopey4L #dopeydub

Day 4- Carlsbad Caverns

Day 4: Carlsbad Caverns

Hi everyone, we are the Dopey's!! Kate, Jocelyn, Lauren, Luke, Morgan, Sophie, Alli, Hudson, Auden, Noah, Ava, Mary Stewart, and Maddie. We will be in charge of the blog for the next four days.

This morning we woke up at a bright and early 5:00. The LED lights of the Shriner University gym were a pretty successful alarm. Some people tried to shield their eyes with their sleeping bags, but Ms. Vickie made it pretty clear that she wanted us up and out of there! Jyess she did!! On the van we slept most of the morning, and woke up to the beautiful Texas landscape: lots of oil rigs, cacti, and even a few cows! The bus, however, was pretty lively! They started a TWB bus playlist and the friendship bracelet factory has begun!

We must say that the Grumps are starting off strong as the cooks! We had a delicious breakfast of apples and muffins, a scrumptious lunch of chicken caesar wraps, and finally a delectable dinner of beef tacos and watermelon! If your child is a grumpy, give yourselves a nice big pat on the back!

Wrapping up our entry with our descriptive rendition of the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico: "They were nice and cold (I appreciate the small things)!", "Beautiful break from the 116 degree heat!", "After getting past the bat poop smell it was awesome!", "I liked the birds (there were no bats)."

Tonight, we sleep under the stars at the New Mexico Military Institute. And tomorrow, we visit the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest before FINALLY arriving at the Grand Canyon!!

Gia looking so peaceful in her slumber

Fridge is a whole snooze fest this morning.... ZZZZZZZZ

Luke finally gets much needed sleep after his Dramamine kicked in! Homeboy was knocked out

Spikeball was a hit on the field tonight!

Another shoutout to the Grumps for their amazing showmanship of cooking with their tacos

People already set up to sleep on the "Hump" tonight!

Nothing like nice watermelon on a summer night :)

A perfect picture describing supper tonight

Watermelon cut?

Ms. Beautiful taking over the group meeting to tell us where we can take our heavenly showers

Got enough buns??

Carlsbad group photo!

Post-cavern, pre-elevator

Dopeys logging off! See y'all bright and early tomorrow!!

Day 3- San Antonio

Day 3: San Antonio and the Alamo

This morning, we woke up in the dark at 4:45 AM and immediately packed up. Feels like we closed our eyes for only a couple of seconds!! We then got on the buses and vans where most of us slept until we pulled out and made it to our first stop, Flying J's! At Flying J's, we met Angela, a cashier, who was very interested in our group and said that she was going to follow our blog.... so hello Angela if you are seeing this! All of our meals today were traveling meals so for breakfast we had a gourmet breakfast of granola bars, banana or oranges, and on brand Capri-suns!! Yum!

Around lunch time, we arrived at Buc-ee's where many of us enjoyed brisket sandwiches, as well as, other snacks and drinks. Those that didn't eat at Buc-ee's waited to enjoy ham or turkey sandwiches on the road. While in Buc-ee's, we also stocked up on our Buc-ee's wear and could believe how big it actually was. There were 120 fueling bays!!

After just a few more hours and a lot of traffic, we finally arrived in San Antonio where we explored the Alamo in 104 degree heat. We also had free time to explore San Antonio's famous Riverwalk! Some people went into shops along the river or even picked up a scoop of ice cream. Leaving the Alamo and Riverwalk behind, we travelled on to Schreiner University where we spent the night in their gym. No competitions for us tonight, just showering (huge shoutout to Megan for making sure that we could) and getting some good sleep to prepare for the canyon in just 2 days!

Today's TWB Nappers: