Currently Listening To: Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Miles Traveled: 3157.0
Current Location: Lake Powell, AZ
I slept again in the campsite outside Flagstaff last
night. I spent hours trying to
fall asleep, and when I couldn’t, I just lay there, thinking. This trip has had a lot of thinking
time. Practically the past week
and a half, all I’ve been doing is thinking, not because I specifically want
to, but because when there is no one to converse with, I turn to myself. Things I haven’t given myself time to
think about, or places I haven’t allowed my mind to venture have been
thoroughly explored… I’m still contemplating whether or not this is helpful to
me. For sure, I’ll be ready to be
back this semester and to get busy again.
I’m determined to make it a great year.
I drove to the Grand Canyon this morning, and stayed briefly
at the South Rim. I took a good
amount of pictures, but I got tired of having so many people all around me, and
having people in my shots that I left and started driving to the North Rim. The Grand Canyon is
huge. That’s a definite
understatement, but my brain is having issues grasping the hugeness of it, so
that’s all I've got. I climbed over
the fence at one of the look out points and climbed down the one side until it
came to a complete cliff. I took
some great on the edge pictures for my mom to continue the tradition I started
at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. I
really like how Arizona changes so much within the state. When I crossed over from New Mexico, it
was flat with little variation in vegetation.
As I drove north, there were big green trees and less wide-open desert-ness. As I am driving around
the Grand Canyon area, there are the deep, layered canyons surrounded by the
forests. As I was driving towards
the North Rim, I passed by the Painted Desert, which was totally different than
anything I had seen on the trip so far.
The landscape really did look as though it was painted. When I reached Page, AZ, the earth
turned orange, and the dust swirled over the road creating drifts at the
shoulders. I am staying the night
by a lake outside of Page, and I’ve already forgotten the name… It’s incredibly
blue, and I stood on the beach – yes, there’s a beach – and watched the sun set
over the hills. It was
beautiful. If I don’t sleep again
tonight, I’m going to make sure I’m there for that sunrise. I think that driving through the states
has given me an actual appreciation for the places that I’m passing through, as
opposed to if I had flown.
Like I said, I’m staying near Page, which is around two
hours from the North Rim. I can’t
figure out how to get to the North Rim because the main road is closed, which
is why I had to stop here anyway.
I can drive north into Utah, and then circle around down, but it’s an
incredibly out of the way trip, and I’m trying to decide if it’s worth it to go
now, or just stop when I go through Utah on the drive back.
I’m thinking about this trip would have been with other
people. The dynamic would have
been entirely different, and I think I would have enjoyed it just the
same. I’m enjoying being by
myself, but there are some things that would be more fun with more people. I believe when I do this next time,
I’ll do it with a small group of people.
That is… assuming I can get anyone to go.
Well, that’s it.
Tonight is one of those nights that I wish I wasn’t here by myself, but
I’m surrounded by campsites and I’m going to try to sleep.
More to come. Oh, and the lake is Lake Powell. Btw.
