Aidanology: 2013

Sorry I didn't get to write, I was kinda busy the past few days. But I will tell you all of it in this one big, super long post. First we went to Disneyland! It was awesome! We woke up at 6:30 AM,which was a big thing for us, because we aren't used to waking up early.we walked across the street, because we we were in a hotel across the street from Disneyland.When we got there we walked up Main Street, USA, where there was a plaza that had four streets going off of it; one to Tomorrowland, one to Fantasyland, one to Frontierland, and one to Adventureland. Critter Country was after Adventureland, New Orleans Town Square was off of Frontierland, and Mickey's Toon Town was after Fantasyland. My favorite ride was the Space Mountain, a roller coaster that was in a mountian-like, "futuristic" building in Tomorrowland. you couldn't see anything, so it was really scary.there were little white lights that were made to look like stars everywhere, like space!! We also went to the Jedi Academy; it is a show where children are picked by the Jedi Master to come train.I was one of the children chosen. After we trained, Darth Vader and Darth Maul came and tried to get us to come and join the Dark Side, but we fought them off.and I got to fight Darth Maul!! Later that day, I made 2 make-your-own droids with novelty hats, and a make-your-own lightsaber. I made it purple with parts from every available Jedi/Sith lightsaber. At the end, there was an extravagant fireworks display. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next day, we went to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful!we walked the 2 billion year trail, which is a trail that has markers that signify certain years, up to 2 billion. It was about 3 miles long. Afterwards, we stopped at the outpost and souvenir shop, and I got a bandanna and a book on the geology of the Grand Canyon. then, the next day, we went to Canyon De Chelly. It was very cool. The rocks were very beautiful, because of the sediment layers. The wind was a light breeze in the morning, but in the afternoon it was very heavy. In the morning, we took a trail that led to the bottom of the canyon, where we saw ruins of "the White House," a building that has white walls inside, thus the "White House".I also bought a piece of stone that has a picture story engraved on it. In the afternoon, we stopped at many different outlooks, such as Spider Rock Outlook. It had a tall spire that was about 800 feet tall. It was amazing.afterwards, on the next day, we went to many different places. We first went to Sand Island Utah State Petroglyph Site, where we saw a petroglyph that looked a lot like me. We had lunch at the Bluff town Outpost. I had a Sheepherder sandwich, which was made of frybread with roast beef, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. We also went to Hovenweep National Monument, which was really awesome. We saw a lot of ruins, such as Hovenweep Castle, and we went down 80 feet into the canyon and then back up. It was relatively easy, and very fun and beautiful. I also did the Hovenweep "Junior Ranger" activities, and I got a badge. Then, the next day, we went to Mesa Verde National Park. It was awesome! First we did the Balcony House guided tour, which was at the end of the park. We climbed 4 ladders, ranging from 32 feet tall to 4 feet tall. We also crawled through a 12-foot tunnel, which was my favorite part of the day. After that, we had a very normal lunch. I had a burger. After lunch, my dad went and got the Junior Ranger activity booklet, and we went on a tour of "Cliff Palace", a big town built into the biggest alcove in Mesa Verde. We learned all about the Ancestral Pueblo (A.K.A. Anasazi) Native Americans. I also got the Mesa Verde Junior Ranger badge. We stayed in Durango that night. That morning, we went to Silverton, and later to the Old 100 Gold Mine. We looked in a few antique stores, the we had lunch at a B.B.Q. restaurant. I got a ham sandwich with fries. Later, we went to the Old 100 Gold Mine, where I panned for gold, and we also went on a tour of the mine, which was 1/3 mile long, and very fun. We then drove back to Durango and did some shopping, and I got a super-cool aviator-like hat. the next day, we went to Santa Fe. We walked around downtown, and we saw the Basillica of Saint Francis, which was very beautiful. We also went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. I got a free audio guide, because I'm a Junior Park Ranger,and the woman at the front desk is a Senior Park Ranger. I think that her paintings are very original and creative. We then ate at an awesome Mexican restaurant, and I had a blue corn enchilada. Afterwards, we left for Dumas, to go see my great-granny Frieda. The next day, we went to see my great-granny Frieda, like I promised. She lives in a retirement home. We went to see her while she was in the exercise room. She then took us to her bedroom. We had a nice, long chat, and I really enjoyed it. We then drove through Kansas, and we stopped in a little town to have lunch. Afterwards, we continued to Wichita, Kansas, and spent the night there. We watched TV and got takeout Thai food there. The next morning, we drove Lawrence Kansas and had more Thai, but it was pretty crowded because of a bike race. We then drove to Hannibal, Missouri. We arrived at 7:00 PM, after everything was closed except two bars, and we had lunch leftovers for dinner. Then, that morning we woke up and went on tour of Mark Twain's boyhood home, Huckleberry Finn's house, Becky Thatcher's house, and the Mark Twain Museum. We then went to eat, and I got a Club sandwich. We then came here to South Bend, Indiana. These were my cross country adventures. Cool, right?