Sorry Jamie O'Neal - but there is an Arizona and it's beautiful. I don't know, maybe we're just too easy to please - but it seems like every day we talk about the "dramatic" and "unbelievable" scenery we see and we fear those words start to lose their impact. But if ever there was a day when those words were warranted, today was that day. We were glad to finally be driving Eastbound as we left Bakersfield - it just feels more like we're driving home now. We decided after some deliberation, to try to make it all the way to the Grand Canyon so we could spend two nights in a single hotel and have a whole day to invest in the Canyon - we hear it's big.
It turns out that the bubbly, sandy hills of yesterday were foothills for the jagged and impressive peaks that surrounded us today as we made our way through the Mojave desert. To call this place beautiful or pretty would be a mistake. My daughter is pretty and a flower is beautiful. If you were in this place 200 years ago, it would likely kill you. It is awesome and impressive in it's rugged, jagged, hot & dry beauty. The only water we saw was the Colorado river which we passed over. This was exciting because, as you know, it's the Colorado river which carved out the Canyon. As we plugged our way along, we saw an increasing variety of cacti (which really should be pronounced cactuses). Some look like plates stacked up messily with spikes on them, others like a bunch of snakes wrapped around each other with their heads in the air straining to see the sun and others (see image below) looked like they couldn't decide if they wanted to be a cactus or a palm tree. One of the cooler kinds look like a red thumb sticking out of the sand.
We stopped in Calico - a ghost town in Southern California. If you look closely at the picture you can see a white haze hovering over the ground next to the building. Okay, it's not that kind of ghost town. It used to be a mining community with 1,200 people (plus 22 Saloons and a red light district we were told) but it emptied out when the price of silver dropped. It cost us $6 each (not Livia) but it was nice to get out and stretch our legs. After the stop, we filled up our gas tank and didn't stop again till the tank was empty.
Oh yeah, we talked about oranges yesterday but didn't provide you with any pictures...here it is (in case you've forgotten what they look like). We ate one.
We pulled in to our (surprisingly busy) hotel around 6:30pm local time, having lost an hour on our drive today. After a rough start to the day, Livia was a very happy camper despite a rather short nap. She keeps herself busy reading books, playing with toys, listening to music, reading books to her stuffed animals and playing with her "boogie eyes" - known in the adult world as googly eyes.
We are staying in Grand Canyon Village for the next two days and have a nice (but not suite) room. Unfortunately, the bathroom is too small for a pack 'n play, so we are sharing the room with Livi. We put her down about 15 minutes ago and she had a good cry because we couldn't close the door. She settled quickly after a walk around the room to show her that there weren't any doors to close.
Looking forward to the Grand Canyon pics.
ReplyDeleteMichael, you'll have to go there for yourself. Pictures won't EVER do it justice. Catherine and Daniel will probably concur once they next post. NOTHING can compare to the amazingness of seeing a huge colourful "inverted mountain" before you and realizing that little set of dots half-way down are full-grown trees.
ReplyDeleteI saw countless pics (and even the ones I took) but pictures of the Grand Canyon are like taking a picture of someone's eyeball and hoping to convey their essence.
Dan and Cath, see if you can get a shot from this same vantage point: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11465390&l=3495a48324&id=774185533 It's a fun spot for pictures cause it looks like a straight drop down... but there's a ridge a few feet below. Also if you get to visit both the north and south ridge, that would be sweet. I only got to do the one cause they close the roads down in certain months because of ice and snow.
Nice to hear the report of the cacti. I LOVED them (still need to post that pic of me next to one three times my height) The Desert botanical garden in Phoenix is a worthwhile visit if you get there, as it showcases and names a large variety of cacti and desert fruit/flowers.