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11:51 pm - Vacation -
Day 6 (Grand Canyon)
 Today
we visit the Grand Canyon. We got up early and drove up scenic highway (Alt)
89 and stopped in Oak Creek Canyon where we purchased some wonderful Hopi and
Zuni jewelry (yes, Christmas gifts for those who know who they are). Oak
Creek Canyon is an outstanding scenic area with panoramic views and, of
course, many majestic rock formations. We even observed our first view of a
little snowfall at the bottom of the canyon. It wouldn't be the last.
 We
continued up 89 past Slippery Rock and headed toward Flagstaff. Winding and
scenic, this two-lane road is one on which I would never care to drive at
night. Winding around the side of various precipices, the ride is reminiscent
of Highway 1 on the California coast – without the Pacific Ocean, of course.
As we continued to climb we soon approached beautiful Mt. Humphreys, the
highest elevation in Arizona, with its snow glistening cap looming before us
as a warning to all who dare intrude on its domain.
We drove through Flagstaff and noticed that the temperature had dropped to
the freezing point. We both made a mental note to cross this town off our
designated retirement locations. Not wanting to cut over to the larger
Highway 17, we continued on the smaller Highway 180. Mistake. From Flagstaff
to the Canyon has to be one of the most god-forsaken vistas in the U.S. I'm
convinced that we encountered only one car coming toward us from the opposite
direction in 50 minutes of traversing what I can only describe as a moonscape
dotted with cactus.
We we're rewarded for our travails once we entered Grand Canyon Park. Well,
that is after we found parking and stepped up to our first view of this
magnificent wonder. What can I say about the Canyon? Words won't really
describe it and pictures cannot truly capture its panoramic scope…but you
knew I'd post some anyway, didn't you?
  
We drove the eastward length of the Canyon while listening to a Native
American CD (Zuni, I believe) that we picked up in the Canyon Village. It was
just a beautiful and blissful drive during which we made numerous stops at
various views and vistas. At 32 miles long and 4 miles across and with almost
no railings, you can stand right up to the edge of the Canyon walls. I was
told that a number of persons must be rescued each year that have actually
plunged into various crevices.
As we left the easternmost boundary of the Grand Canyon park area, we decided
to continue on toward the Painted Desert and drive back to Sedona along
Highway 17. This placed us within the boundaries of the Navajo reservation.
At one of the small shops that dot the desert area, I struck up a
conversation with one of the native proprietors. While anxious to make a sale
before the sun set, he regaled me with some of the local history and he then
dropped the astounding fact that the state of Maine could easily fit within
the lands occupied by the Navajo Nation. I've seen other estimates comparing
the landmass occupied by the Navajo (or Dine'h as they refer to themselves)
to the size of West Virginia. Either way it is an incredible amount of land.
Traveling through the Painted Desert towards Flagstaff, we encountered one of
the most beautiful sites that either of us have experienced – a sunset so
glorious as to be beyond belief. I have seen (and photographed) some
incredibly beautiful sunsets over the waters of the Long Island Sound during
the month of August where brilliant
displays in the Western sky make you catch your breath. However, I've never
experienced that same brilliance covering the entire sky from west to east
and north to south continuously. The entire span of the sky (and ground) was
alight with dazzling combinations of fiery red eddies, blazing magentas
swirls and screaming yellow sparks. As we hurtled down the highway at
slightly over the state sanctioned 75 mile per hour speed limit, the earth
itself seemed to have caught fire and you felt that, in every direction, you
were looking into the eternal flames of creation. I took no pictures of the
fiery scene; it must live in our memories only.
As we descended in the dark from the mountains surrounding Flagstaff towards
Sedona, I realized that while I was driving like the wind, I was being passed
with ease by large automobiles and even larger semi-trailers easily doing
nearly 90 miles an hour around the curves of highway 17 – a final and
frightening ending to an unbelievably incredible day.
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