Top 10 Unusual Things by Sam

One of my favourite shots of the giantic-o cacti

Since it's my 10th birthday (or well it was a couple days ago,) I am listing my Top 10 weird and unusual things we've seen so far on our road trip (at least the ones I can think of right now.) They're not in a certain order.

1. A man sitting on a grimy toilet in the middle of a plaza in Guadalajara, completely painted (including the toilet and himself) grey and green. I have no idea why.

2. At Badlands National Park, a bighorn sheep climbed up the steep rocks to visit the visitors at the lookout. It was casually strolling along the path, not a care in the world.

3. We saw a sea lion group at Jolla Cove in San Diego and I got so close I could hear them breathe.

A good book is handy for road delays

4. The cacti are amazing. Some of them taste like cucumber, some are very prickly, some of them are three times taller than my dad, and some are even shaped like beaver tails!

5. There was a huge chipmunk and ground squirrel colony that were so friendly, one even clambered onto my hand.

6.In La Bufadora, Baja, there was an erupting geyser of water that was gigantic. Every time a wave crashed into the space where it was, it would shoot really, really high, splashing those watching.

7. Just before we got to Baja, there had been a hurricane there that damaged many things including the roads. There were lots of washouts including one where we had to drive through the river and the water came up to our hood. The snorkel came in very handy. People cheered when we made it through.

8. I got to have nutella banana crepes for my birthday breakfast (not unusual for some, but is for me.) The night before we slept in a parking lot and the night of my birthday we slept on a ferry crossing the Sea of Cortez. The rocking of the ferry made us unbalanced. I loved spending time on the top deck where you could see the ocean, islands, and other ships. And, in the morning, we watched Ice Age 4 in Spanish in the movie room!

Colourful tap dancing

9. Tonight, when we were trying to pick out a dining place in the squares and plazas of Guadalajara, we saw a man who had a pet squirrel with a leash on his shoulder and tap dancing indigenous people.

10. Bryce Canyon National Park is famous for its hoodoos which are spires of rock that have been eroded but appear to be twirling up into the sky. When you looked across the canyon to all the hoodoos lined up, I thought about how it would be a good setting for an action movie because the hero could be jumping from one to the other and the evil villain would get pierced. The park looks it's an alien but beautiful landscape.