I don’t think I need to point out the fact that we’ve covered a lot of ground on this trip. As we left Grand Canyon we had just passed 9,000 miles. All to say, the roads and highways and scenery can all blend together after a while. But our journey from Grand Canyon to Page, AZ was one for the memory books. Out of all the miles we will have covered by the time we get back to NH, I know this little stretch will have been my favorite.
It started with yet another mountain pass to get through, but not a super-challenging one. It was full of interesting geology, but the real treat came as we came down the other side, curved around a bend, and caught sight of the Vermillion Cliffs. Look at this.
We drove down into the valley and hit a straight, smooth road that just went on forever. These stunning red and orange rock faces just kept going by, and every mile had some new detail and surprise to reveal. It’s hard for me to put my finger on why I loved it so much. The driving was calm and easy, true. It was a short day, so there was no sense of dread or fatigue, also true. But there was something more, something undefinable, and that fact is fine with me. The mystery makes it all the more precious. I hope I will always remember the sense of contentment and happiness I felt on that seemingly infinite stretch of road, a memory I can try to recapture in hard times.
The day’s drive had a wonderful ending as well. In Arizona there’s a National Monument called Navajo Bridge, where we had been told California Condors nested. As we pulled in to the visitor center parking lot, Olive calls out, “I think that’s a condor!” I was driving, so all I got was a quick blurry view over my shoulder, but sure enough, a California Condor drifted right by us, catching a ride on a thermal updraft. It quickly disappeared before we got another look, but we took it as a good sign.
Navajo Bridge is a pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River that links Arizona to the Navajo Nation. There is an auto bridge paralleling it, and in the support beams there is where we got a good look at another condor. We hoped it would take off so we could see its famous wingspan, but, alas, it stayed put. Still, a great bird to add to the list.
On the other side of the bridge were some Navajo jewelry vendors. In talking with them, I discovered that they were part of a collective, and different vendors came each day, selling things that they themselves have made as well as things made by others they know. We all purchased a few things, and it was very cool to chat with them a bit and then listen to them talk back and forth in their own language. A perfect ending to a perfect day.
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