GC Part 1 - Day 32

Pictures can't come close to demonstrating the beauty. Words could never come close to describing it. I can only write this attempting to convince you that pictures and words are not up to the challenge of describing it and you have to go see it for yourself.

Innocently approaching the southern rim of the GRAND CANYON from the east, I paid the $25 vehicle entry fee and was immediately thrust in front of the most jaw dropping, mesmerizing, enchanting and entrancing raw beauty that is likely the best this country has to offer, and perhaps the best Earth has to offer. If you live in this country and you don't see the Grand Canyon during your lifetime, you screwed up. Period.

From the initial view at the watchtower, til the end of the 27 mile drive of the southern rim drive, there is not a single place that you can stop your car that you should skip. Stop every time. Even if you think it is just a pass-by area, don't pass it by. Every new vantage is an advantage to see more of the best. My eyes have never taken in such all encompassing beauty.

I won't try to describe the indescribable; but, I will denote how I felt after the terrifying beauty the canyon provided. I walked around the normal barriers of the scenic overlook, and followed a fellow tourist along a short path that led to a small perch 6000 feet above the bottom of the canyon. After watching him step out onto this death plank, I offered to take his picture for a return of the favor. When it was my turn to step onto the precipice, I didn't. I got down on my knees and delicately rotated by body to sit on the edge. Gingerly I stood up.

About 15 minutes later, as I was driving down the road, my heart was racing, my hands were quivering, my legs were still tingling. There's not a roller coaster in the world that gives a thrill that compares to standing on that precipice. While this was the best thrill of the trip, many were comparable.

I am not done with you GC...not yet. I really expect to be rafting through the bottom of the canyon, as well as walking out on the new Skywalk. Both of these would be accessed best from the west, probably Las Vegas.

Again, I am only trying to convince you how imperative it is that you all see this in person. It is so infinitely much to behold.

I will write part two about the helicopter tour I took to end the day.

Still Not Off the Reservation – Day 31

After seeing the Canyon de Chelly near Chinle, AZ at daybreak, I had a good appreciation for how great the Grand Canyon would be. I haven’t seen as dramatic a landscape yet on the trip. By the end of the day, it paled.

The Canyon at it’s highest was 800 feet of sheer cliff, and my fear-of-heights nerves were tested by short or non-existent barriers. There were many signs about protecting children, because they could just walk right off. The base of the canyon continues to be inhabited and farmed by the Navajo. You can take tours of the canyon floor by jeep, but I didn’t. Maybe the next canyon, but not because the Canyon wasn’t spectacular…it was.

After that, I headed to Four Corners, the only place in the country where you can be in four states at once (AZ, UT, CO, NM). Check. Done. That’s about all there is to it, other than some small stands selling trinkets and one food stand where I got “authentic” Navajo Frybread. It turned out to be a round half inch thick zeppoli smothered in powdered sugar. Far superior to a doughnut, and a perfect brunch.

From there I went through Mexican Hat, UT, and dropped down into Monument Valley. The Valley has been a star in many a western movie, and is recognizable to anyone who went through a cowboy phase as a child. I stopped on the side of the road a dozen times before coming to the visitor center. It’s all such an unusual vision, it is like seeing a UFO. The eyes just aren’t accustomed to something so unique.

For five bucks at the visitor center, you are allowed to take your car on a 17 mile dirt road loop around the best structures of the valley. This is a place worth going far out of you way to see.

This coming Saturday, at this visitor center, they are hosting the third of the Red Bull Air Race series. From what I can tell, lunatic pilots are going to be flying at super high speeds around a course that incorporates the structures of Monument Valley. I think they did it in San Francisco last year…any comments Max’s Mom?

For the last 36 hours, I have been on Indian reservations that are outside Verizon’s coverage. Last night I tapped an open internet access point. If this gets posted tonight, I’ll have probably done so again. Hoping to get back to the wired world again soon.

Apache to Navajo - Day 30

For those of you who don't like the verbose descriptions of beautiful, scenic places I road trip to, you can skip to the last paragraph for the food update portion. You can check out the pictures; they're worth 4K words. Today was all about the scenery.

After the Loff's decided they needed a married-couple-away-from-their-kids night, the possible trip to Vegas was scrapped. This opened up a chance for a solo road trip to some of the picturesque regions of Arizona.

From my base in Phoenix, I headed east past Scottsdale and the sprawl. Globe, AZ was the start of ride on Rte. 60 that traversed two Apache Reservations. They have beautiful land that traverses the Colorado Plateau and plunges to the Salt River Canyon. It's so beautiful it is hard to remember to watch the road...and mistakes could mean flying off a cliff. When I see canyons like this and the Rio Grande, it makes me want to delay touring the Grand Canyon. I'd want to save the best for last so it won't spoil my appreciation of all these. (Tomorrow may be the best yet.)

As the canyons ended in Show Low, I continued on a route that led across a mesa. The crossword puzzle clue for mesa is: A flat-topped tableland. With planes that you see all the way to the horizon without a hill in sight, and this at an elevation of 7000 ft., the clue doesn't do the word justice. Breathtaking, in-the-clouds, endless, panoramic tableland would be a better clue.


The mesa was rimmed by Ansel Adams Pines. The ones you can see endlessly through.


Then came the Petrified Forest. Since you've all seen pictures of it, even if you didn't know it was this petrified forest, I won't need to go into the beauty it contains. But there were so many varied stopping points in such a short distance, that the $10 fee was meaningless. If you pass by this area, you MUST do this route. Towards the end of it there was an historical marker for Route 66...this is just the first of it I have seen, but there should be plenty more as the trip continues.

I pulled into Chinle, a town with 3 hotels, and not much else. Verizon is off the grid here, so no phone or internet (I am piggy -backing off someones weak signal.) But this town should be a great place to kick off another day of adventurous sightseeing...location.

I ate at A&W Root Beer, the food was awful.

Week 4 Ends

End of Week 4. (7:30AM, GMT - 5/06/07)

I am testing a new feature and trying to get the map I have been creating uploaded. Unfortunately, to really use the map as I am using it would require software for your machines. So it is just an image file. Perhaps when I am done the trip I will figure a way to enhance this.

Not Much Going On - Days 27 - 28

With the Treason's working Friday, I was able to get in a round of golf. We had dinner at Tonto the night before, and it sat right on the Par 3 11th hole of the Rancho Manana public golf course.

I walked on as a single and quickly caught up with the threesome in front of me. Lori and Dale were in from St. Louis visiting their daughter Emily who had moved here with her family a year earlier. Lori and Dale had already played 4 times during their week here and said this was the best course of them all, so I may be bringing Battlestar here next Friday.

The course was a little short (6100 yds.), but it was unforgiving. If a shot misses the fairway and skimpy rough, it is rattlesnake fodder. At $107 a round, plus about $20 worth of lost balls, it is a bit pricey, but it sounds like that's about what reasonable golf costs here at this time of year. Two months ago, it would have been $180, and two months from now, it would be $50. Prices go down as the temperature goes up.

After the Treason's work was done, we headed north into the desert, and went to a cowboy bar and restaurant. They had a pretty good fish-fry for the desert. Yesterday, we entertained TP's cousins and celebrated Cinco de Mayo by returning to the Dos for Margarita's and Mexican food.

Thus concludes my first four weeks on the road. I'm beginning to get a little antsy, and may head off for a trip on Monday, but still need to work out the logistics. If all works out, I may spend the night in Vegas with an old college roommate and his relatives. If they'll have me.