Roadtrip with Jordan!

The past week of life has been quite good! Here's a little recaperoo...
So on Saturday I got to see my cousin Julia perform in the Nutcracker ballet in New Jersey. Now this kid has been dancing for a looooong time, and I would say it's her second nature, but maybe actually it's her first. So it is really cool to get to see her in her element. Even though she's just about to turn 16, I really feel like she has a really good child-like sense of humor and fun, but emotionally/mentally she is pretty far beyond a 16-year-old, and I think you can see it in her dancing, too. Although she stayed in great rhythm with the other dancers, her movements seemed more intentional and slow and peaceful than the movements of some of the other dancers.
Sunday morning hopped on a plane and went straight through the clouds. The people who sat across from me on the plane had unusually raucous laughs, and lately I've been appreciating those more and more, so that was all I needed to have a good time on the plane. They also gave out frosted animal crackers, probably the most exciting plane snack I've ever been offered.
Jordan picked me up from the airport and we went to Maya's new house for Sean's birthday brunch. Seeing everyone I'd just said good bye to two weeks ago was reallllllly awesome. Everything felt just like Austin always feels, which has really started in some ways to feel like home.
Monday we left at 7am for Santa Fe! Where we stayed with a couchsurfing host named Peter Weiss. Now I could write for hours about this guy. He is a human encyclopedia and we talked the first night from like 8pm-1am, then the next morning from like 7am-3pm, and then we came back two nights later for some more. You're thinking... isn't talking that much exhausting, and shouldn't you be out exploring Santa Fe while you're there? That's a double "no". I've never met anyone quite like Peter, he really makes your imagination and your aspirations take off.
Oh goodness, I'm feeling antisocial at Jordan's relatives' house going on and on on the dang ol computer. Let's move faster...
In Santa Fe we hung out with a homeless man and traded drawings with him, stayed with another couple and stayed up late playing catchphrase as a drinking game/some people played video games til 6am (definitely not me). Met a gypsy traveler at Peter's house who just sailed from Hawaii to Seattle and is now slowly making her way home to Florida to help her sister who isn't doing too well. Then we drove to Flagstaff for some karaoke and dancing (which Jordan rules at so it was super fun), Jordan made someone's 40th birthday by accidentally singing the song they wanted, and I got to two-step with my favorite man in the place, Tyrone. Then we had a jam session in the parking lot from all the musical inspiration, in the 20 degree weather at midnight. Drove to Kaibab Nat'l Forest and car camped in the Hotel Hyundai, aka the front seat of Jordan's car, cuz there was snow on the ground and we didn't feel like sleeping in it.
Got up at 6 and I drove Jordan's stick shift Hotel Hyundai to the entrance of the Grand Canyon under his able instruction (usually I even have trouble driving automatic, not one of my strong points). Used the parks pass we got at Petrified National Forest (which we were initally going to camp at but the campsite was actually creepy as hell so we left) and went straight to the backcountry office to get a permit to camp at the bottom. Well, the next 24 hours were unbelievable. We met so many cool people, some of who we made plans to meet up with again, and since we brought a guitar down to the bottom of the canyon (which none of the rangers had ever seen before!), a lot of impromptu serenadings and jams went down. Plus the canyon is unbelievably beautiful =0)
Now we're at Jordan's relative's in Sedona so I'm gonna go. Hasta la vista!