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Published: March 15th 2006
Me at the Grand Canyon!
Looks slightly superimposed on a canvas backdrop, but I really AM at the Grand Canyon!!Okay...major catch up now!
Even though it's still winter, I was apparently quite lucky to get a bed at the hostel in Flagstaff. I continue the trend of not booking ahead and counting my lucky charms I suppose. The staff and surroundings at the hostel were very welcoming, so I booked for a tour of the Grand Canyon for the next morning. Go go go!
I joined Aussie Emma, Americans Jen and Eva and a cluster of entertaining Japanese on the bus in the morning. All of us girls inwardly smiled at our tour guide Mike, as he was certainly the first pleasurable sight for the day! We hit the road and weaved between the dry hills glancing at whatever Mike was talking about. A quick stop at the grocery store and the restroom (I'm sure I wasn't the only one touching up my mascara!) before arriving at the world's seventh natural wonder. Hanging onto the person in front of us (damn-I didn't get to go behind Mike!!) we kept our eyes closed for those few steps before reaching the rim. Once we revealed the canyon, it all felt very surreal. 'I am actually standing in the
The Grand Canyon
and the Colorado River below. You should be speechless with the beauty by now Grand Canyon', a view that I've been able to recognize for years but only from photos. I resisited the urge to lick it up like an ice cream.
I popped my head into a gallery that half floated over nothing, and was impressed by colours and brushstrokes. Nice, but the realization hit me again...I'm in the Grand Canyon and viewing framed interpretations of what sits on the other side of the wall. I ran out and embraced Mike, I mean-the outdoors and took a couple of photos. People meandered along the trail clicking their cameras every other step. Some bored children made a mini snowman whilst another tourbus pulled in. This wasn't the area that we would be climbing into, so we jumped back into van and drove a few miles 'down canyon'.
My lovely little camera just can't quite capture the vastness of what I saw at every angle. The Grand Canyon is one mile deep and varying between four and eighteen MILES wide. The rich reds, the dark shadows, the layer upon layer of sandstone sitting under the few inches of snow was breath taking. And Mike didn't even come into that picture! After
Fi is flying!!
You'd be grinning from ear to ear too if a plane was controlled by your own hands! devouring our lunch, we followed the trail heading down to Phantom Ranch. We let the real cowboys (and cowgirl I might add!) march by us on their mules as they approached the top of the rim to collect supplies. Is this for real still? Yes, I'm just a tourist in the area but others really do live this life. Hhhhmmmm, maybe I can write a book whilst living on a ranch. The romance of it is of course appealing, but when I enquired further into this lifestyle and realized there were no mules available to deliver me a daily non fat latte, I realized it was just a short lived dream.
The point at which we stopped our mini hike was also a rest stop for the mules, so half of our group began another form of exercise, twirling around the 'mule rope up' bars. Remembering how it felt when I did a forward twirl onto the supporting post when I was six, I opted to just watch. It was just a joy to sit, on the edge of course. There certainly would be no bungying here.
After huffing and puffing our way back up to
Red Rocks
Sedona rocks was a very appropriate saying that day the rim, we drove to another viewpoint where we were able to see the Colorado River. And then yet another viewpoint where we were able to look and buy a few Navajo dreamcatchers or beaded necklaces. We had reached the end of the tour and it was time to put the cameras away. Just at that point I looked up and saw a horse silhouetted within the dry grasses and the Canyon behind. Just one more picture then.
I spent my next day completing a few domestics in addition to a mini tour of the town of Flagstaff with fellow traveller Emily, the Aussie. We discovered that Flagstaff certainly appreciates the finer things in life, as the coffee shops were a joy to absorb life in. Those that walked by on the sidewalk often had 2 wheels rolling beside them, another sign of the appreciation of outdoor life by opting for pedal power. After analysing coffee quality, our alerted senses were drawn to the male potential surrounding us. And surrounding us they were! The guys in town had the look I'm looking for, so in addition to the Grand Canyon, Arizona seems to have a lot of appeal.
Let the search continue!
The activities throughout the day had set a trend for the evening, it was time to sit on my ass in front of the tele. Watching the American commercials with a show thrown in for good measure was hopefully going to be a continuation of the hottie spotting from the day. But then living in a hostel, I was voted against watching the men building a treefort on the beach channel. The television viewing consensus? Rambo. Welcome to life in America Fiona. The only time I have actually seen this flick was at the influential age of 8 or 9, when Stallone just seemed like a big brute. Have times changed now that I've seen the movie in my thirties? Well... he did have a nice body. And of course, the scenery having been filmed around Vancouver, was stunning.
After a dreamy sleep long into the morning, my pattern for another lazy day in Flagstaff was set. The vibe in this place is worth the visit even without the Grand Canyon nearby. I sat in various coffee shops hoping to catch sight of a looker lookin my way, and instead just stared
into space. Everybody around me was busy tapping at their apple keyboards, another sign that this life is maybe meant for me. But as you know, I'm still catching up in telling you about this life!
After the overwhelming activities over my last couple of days, it was such a pleasure to join Sian for a night out on the town. I had managed to track down the notorious good looking guide Mike, and it seems 80's night was where it was at. We downed a few beers, told a few tales from the life of a traveller, and looked around for something else to talk about. It can be strange meeting up with somebody who had a lot to say in their host environment (touring the Grand Canyon) compared to a mutual meeting spot (80's night in Flagstaff). Basically, conversation is there or it aint, and it seemed as though Mike preferred celebrating a birthday with his roomate (which I don't blame him) so Sian and I hit the dance floor and got down with MCHammer. A few more drinks were downed and then it kind of became a blur. I remember running loops around the streetlamps
Mule Space
There was a bit of competition for trail space at times! These real life cowboys would trek up to the top to collect supplies from town before returning to the base of the Canyon before passing out on a couch. A few photos explained the direction of the night, but I really don't remember that encounter with the cop. Although I wish I did.
Sian and I had signed up for a tour of Sedona the next day (although Mike wasn't on call) but it turned out that we were the only tourists available and the tour was cancelled. As we sat over breakfast contemplating renting a car, we met Chris and Joffie, who were also contemplating the plan for the day. I explained that there was nothing to do around town and Sedona was where the cool people go. When Chris then pulled up his rented car in front of the hostel, I was suitably impressed. With a dvd in the backseat for us kids to watch, the daytrip to Sedona was born. Although, my hangover prevented me from figuring out how the dvd actually worked.
The drive along another section of the classic route 66 was absolutely stunning. Bulging boulders hung to the edges of the river canyon whilst the road twisted through the trees. Yeah, it was a slightly painful drive whilst developing my hangover, but we
Our tour group to the Canyon
I clearly lost my senses in that I didn't zoom in on our guide Mike...he was such a joy to walk behind! tasted the fresh air just in time. The pangs of hunger I then experienced were pulling me towards the tastes of Taco Bell, but I settled for an alternative in town. And then it was time to tour the town. What's to do in Sedona? There are lots of crystal balls to look into, tons of galleries to cruise, but the clincher is quite simply the natural red rocks surrounding us. As I haven't done much sightseeing from the air on this world trip, I was set on a few minutes in a helicopter. Luckily my Scottish compadre Chris was with me and he was the driver, so we were airport bound. The conversation took on a gloating manner, as Sian and Joffie and these two other donuts we were driving around town with, had opted to just watch us fly. Hehehe.
As soon as I got out of the car, I began to experience one of my most hyper moments yet. It must have been a chemical combination of hangover, food and excitement, which was momentarily dashed when we found out there were no more chopper flights for the day. Being in an airport however, it was
Canyon Playground
The Japanese group on our daytrip found the mule tie up bar to be a perfect acrobatic getaway! easy to find an alternative that happened to be cheaper anyways. I soon shook hands with Tom and introduced myself as his co-pilot for the day. Joffie and Sian couldn't resist the excitement either, so moments later we all broke into a Top Gun stride and cruised onto the airfield.
For a moment there seemed to be a competition for the co-pilot's position, but I held my ground. Age before Joffie I'm afraid! I'm not sure if our pilot Tom regretted his co-pilot confirmation upon witnessing my hyper mode, but we were about to jump into a tiny little plane and absolutely everything seemed hilarious. "I'm on the runway see? Must run run run!!" Although I did break my stride with a few cartwheels.
Finally we were buckled into our positions and testing our headsets in pilot code. I gave the welcome in flight speech and we were off. I think the spinning propeller in our direct view must have hypnotised our pilot into thinking my constant state of giggling would be able to master full control of the flight ahead of us. Holding onto the wheel (if that's what it was called!) caused me to
experience a few nerves when I felt our wings tip sideways slightly as I forgot to keep everything straight. Nerves can also be expressed through constant giggles I might add. And yes, I was really really flying the plane. I glided us around some pointy things below, and before long, brought us back down onto the runway. Of course Tom maintained some control, but I like to think I had the power.
Coming back to earth was a calming experience that we prolonged as we drove around getting a ground view of what we had flown above. I was almost more impressed with the beauty of surrounding Sedona compared to the Grand Canyon. But this really is just because the Grand Canyon is so so big and spread out. The rock formations that we were able to see firsthand, were lobsided and often in the middle of nowhere. There was even a church built into the edge of a cliff that seemed out of place at first, but then captured the beauty of fitting right in after taking a closer look. At the end of our own tour of the area, the only words I was left with
Trail
and the edge as we began driving back to Flagstaff, is "Sedona rocks".
The evening back at the hostel ended up being a night of preparing to hit Vegas as the boys taught me a bit about poker. Yes, I've played a little in the past with peanuts in Africa and real money in Vancouver, but as I'm about to hit the gamblers paradise, I suppose I had better brush up on my knowledge. Of course I was left with no chips and became the dealer as Chris and Joffie tried to outsmart each other.
My Arizona adventure has ended on such a high (haha get it? high...I was flying a plane!?) note that I cannot wait to experience the same again. And now I've hooked up with the boys for a road trip to Vegas as opposed to using my rail pass. I have certainly met some great people on the trains, but I've also met a bunch of ignorant morons so I'm looking forward to the road trip into Nevada. And you should be looking forward to the crazy stories to come!
Cheers everyone, keep the messages coming and I'll manage to write a little
Canyon 2
The shadows became part of the picture quicker I think!
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Jen
non-member comment
No picture of Mike? For sure I thought that would be the first picture =) No worries, the picture of you and the cop is just as good - although I'm curious as to how that came to be. I'm so glad we met in Flagstaff - definitely made my trip so much more fun!! Jen