The Journey: Part II

Remember when I said I would never drive under the influence of marijuana again? Well, that lasted for about 12 hours. When we left Colorado Springs with the remaining edibles we had purchased, I had the bright idea, probably because I was hungry, to consume more before we crossed into New Mexico. What I didn't anticipate were massive storms throughout the state. What was most eery about these storms was "the great divide". To the left of the highway, the sky was clear as day, but to the right, you could see rain clouds hammering down and producing the scariest lightning I've ever witnessed. You think a conventional thunderstorm on the east coast is scary? Wait until you can see miles ahead of you in all directions and view different storm surges forming all around you. If I never witness another New Mexico storm, I'll be just fine.

A friend told me of the Petrified Forest National Park in Northeast Arizona, so we decided to stop, still high off edibles to see the colorful land formations and petrified wood in the center of the Arizona desert. What we didn't realize was the park was near closing, storms were forming in the area, and your car was checked upon exit. I rarely ever dabble with weed, and being especially high from the edibles freaked me the fuck out when we went to leave the park. I imagined the worst: There would be some sort of brief sweep through your car to make sure you didn't snatch any of their petrified wood. I had even convinced myself there were going to be dogs. I was about to get arrested in Arizona for having fucking weed cookies from a legal dispensary in CO.

We proceeded to the exit, glassy-eyed and tripping balls only to be 'waved' through by the teenage park attendant. All that freaking out for nothing. I could've stolen so much fucking wood and that little twat would've never known. Onto the Grand Canyon, where I figured it would be simple to park inside the park and camp in our car. Wrong, yet again. After realizing the town was miles from the crater itself and the park closed at a specific time, we sought help from an RV park that pointed us towards a desolate area a 1/2 mile from the main road. We noticed others doing the same, so we parked our car near fellow humans and tried to get comfortable in the front seats of my Jetta, which could not be reclined because of the inconceivable amount of shit I packed in the back. I figured I'd try and finish the edibles before crossing into another state before bed, so I doubled up on some cookies and fell asleep.

My co-pilot, Jourdan, had cracked her window for ventilation. I wasn't about to do the same with mine, because anyone could be in the woods surrounding us: axe murderers, serial rapists, rabid bears, etc. I tilted open the sunroof and fell fast asleep, very uncomfortably. I woke at 5:15 to get sunrise photos over the south rim and Jourdan informed me she heard noises all night and hadn't slept much... and that shortly after I fell asleep, she nudged me to roll up her window because she didn't feel safe, to which I replied, "you're fine". Whoops, sorry betch. Maybe you should've thought harder about having an open hole in your window, large enough to fit an arm, paw, or claw, in the middle of bumfucked Arizona forests.

We entered the park, I got my pictures, and we were off to Los Angeles- the home stretch! It didn't stop me yet again to eat more weed cookies, not knowing there was border patrol at the California line. Thank god I can't buy weed legally in this state without a med card, or I'd be tripping balls on the 101 every damn day.
                                     
*Sunrise, South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

-dylsny