Grand Canyon, which was an hour and a half drive from Flagstaff. The drive to the G.C was rather disappointing as with Bryce and Zion the drive was almost as beautiful as the sites themselves. This drive was rather straight without the elevation changes and hairpin curves. The road was lined with forest that did not keep my attention. But on the other hand it was cool to think that at some point this unimpressive forest would open into such a vast and wondrous canyon. I could not help but feel stressed that we would be fighting the onslaughts of people to get good views of the canyon as it was the height of tourist season. We made our way to the first parking area and got out of the car to get our first views of the canyon. The crowds were not actually that bad, although I saw a couple of big tour buses parking that were filled with tourists who had itchy-shutter fingers. We walked to the overlook area and there below me was the Grand Canyon! Grand is an understatement for what I saw! The vastness and hugeness of the canyon made it difficult to grasp a sense of scale. A truly magnificent site that demonstrated the awesome power of the Colorado River, which I could barely make out meandering far below. I saw a bird soaring through the canyon below and at that moment, I felt so jealous of that bird. It was one of the rare times I actually wanted to trade places with an animal so that I could fly through the walls of the G.C and glide all the way down to the river while the throngs of people watched from the canyon rim wishing they were me.
We drove along the road that lined the south rim and found more spots to take in the canyon. My favorite spot allowed Emily and I to follow a trail away from any crowds and led us to a beautiful spot where we could sit and privately enjoy the moment. The scary part of this rock that we sat on was the fact that we were just inches to a certain death below as huge drop offs occurred in three directions. Emily was more daring than I to get close to the edge but a rush of vertigo kept me from getting any nearer. I enjoyed the fact that the canyon wasn't lined with railings to protect the crowds of people. It added an element of reality and a connect
ion to nature that made us vulnerable to suffer the consequences if we happened to fall . After climbing up to the top of the watchtower (great sites of the canyon and the desert to the east), and grabbing lunch in the snack bar, we headed out of the area bound for Monument Valley. We all agreed that despite the wonder, beauty, and awesomeness of the Grand Canyon, we all felt more of a personal connection to Bryce and Zion. Perhaps it is the fact that it is easier to grasp a sense of scale at Bryce and Zion. Perhaps it is the fact that Bryce and Zion vary so much with each blink of the eye. A slight turn of the head to the left or right brings a whole new landscape of awe-inspiring beauty. Perhaps it is just the uniqueness of those places. You see rocks, landscapes, and formations that you will never seen anywhere else in the world. Sure the Grand Canyon is unique as well, but it is so utterly popular and photographed that you can close your eyes without ever being there and know exactly what it looks like. The views are more uniform and consistent throughout the canyon. Perhaps it is the underdog factor. People like to root for the underdog. Bryce and Zion are not as known, as popular, as overrun with people so maybe that is why we felt more intimately connected to those places.The drive to Monument Valley happened in the blink of an eye as I could not take my eyes off the scenery. Monument Valley is deep in Navajo country so as well as a unique landscape there is a unique feel to the people, stores, and towns. The most frustrating aspect of being in Arizona was the time zone changes. In Utah, we were on Mountain time but as soon as we got into Arizona we were on Pacific time as Arizona does not recognize daylight savings time. But the Navajo nation does recognize it so whenever we were in those areas the time would change. There were many times where we had no idea which area we were in so had no clue what time it was!
Monument Valley was a mixed experience for these roadtrippers. On the positive, we arrived at the perfect time as the sun was beginning to set and turned the remarkable rocks an incredible shade of red. The light was ideal for photography and to view the rocks. We had to drive thirty or so miles to get to the Monument Valley visitors center and the area where you can drive on dirt roads to get a close view of the rocks. Here is where the trouble started. My Uncle Paul made it clear that on a road trip you have trials and tribulations and luckily we had not had too many bumps in the road yet. But as we were driving to the visitor's area, we were on a desolate road, and our oil light came on. Immediately following that the check engine light on our battle-tested rental Ford Fusion appeared on too. Maybe “Shania” (our nickname of the vehicle) had had enough of the 100+ temperatures, the hairpin turns, or the steep grades of driving up and down mountains. Maybe she had enough of the four travelers with all of their stuff. Maybe she had enough of the sudden stops as we passed many scenic views where we decided to pull in at the last minute. Whatever the reason, the lights came on and our stress levels increased. We pulled over and quickly realized that we had an oil leak. We made it to the visitor's center and had a tough decision to make. Drive the 17 miles on the dirt roads and hope that our engine did not seize but see the majestic rocks up close, or head back 10 miles to a gas station and g
et some oil into the engine. The sun was just about set at this point so we would not have time to get oil and get back for the drive so we decided to be safe and get the oil. We did see some gorgeous views of the rocks and snapped some great pics before leaving. All the hotels in the area were booked so we could not go back in the morning either. So although my experience of Monument Valley was incomplete, I did get a sense of the breathtaking imagery and got to put myself in John Wayne's shoes as he rode through the valley at Sunset while filming a Western.
We added a couple of quarts of oil and headed to Chinle at the base of our next destination the following day, Canyon de Chelly. During this drive we noticed that the stars were abundantly shining down so we pulled over on the side of a very desolate road and turned off the lights soaking in the stars and enjoying a great moment. We even saw some meteors as well! We arrived very late (around midnight) and checked into a Best Western exhausted and stressed about our oil leak.
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