Most Memorable Meal in Arizona

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Arizona
My most memorable meal in Arizona was on the last big road trip that I took with my mom in 2004. We traveled to Oregon that July. I was to attend a judicial seminar in Otter Rock, Oregon. Susan doesn't like to drive west because she doesn't like the desert scenery. My mom loved the west, so we drove together to Oregon and she flew out one day and Susan flew in the next day to Portland to meet up with me before we went to Otter Rock on the coast.
My mom and I went through OKC, where we saw an 89ers baseball game, then Santa Fe, where we attended church. At that congregation they had a seperate Spanish service at the same time as the Anglo service in the auditorium. The Spanish speaking members came back in after their service and had a closing service and prayer.
After leaving Santa Fe we stayed in Farmington in the Four Corners. I played golf at Pinion Hills, a great municipal course. Then we traveled to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It is more difficult to reach the north rim than the south rim, which attracts the greatest number of visiters, so there is considerably fewer people. We had stayed in a western cabin at the North Rim a few years before on our first visit there. These cabins are adjacent to the Lodge which overlooks the north rim. Several cabins are right at the rim of the canyon with great views. However, it is very difficult to reserve one of these cabins because they go quickly once the new season opens for reservations.
Going into the north rim is like going through an Alpine region, which is quite a surprise for what you would expect to be an arid desert area. The north rim is about 1, 000 feet higher in elevation than the south rim. That may explain it.
We arrived late in the afternoon, so we had one of the last dinners reservations, which was around 8:30. While waiting for our reservations in the lobby and out on the terrace facing the canyon, we visited with a newlywed couple from New York, who had taken a half day burrow ride down into the canyon that morning. They said they were not used to riding and they were so sore that they could hardly move.
The lobby opens into a sitting area that is all windows with several leather couches and chairs for lounging and taking in the spectacular views of the canyon. As we were sitting there in the lounge and as we were seated at our table in the dining room, which is adjacent to the lobby and lounge, which also overlooks the canyon and is all windows, thunderstorms were moving across the canyon. So not only did we get to see a beautiful sunset, but we saw a lightning display as we waited for our food.
I ordered brook trout from Utah for my dinner.
The next morning I got up early to watch the sunrise. I went out to a point that stuck out like a finger into the canyon just a hundred yards or so from our cabin. When I got out there to the point there were dozens of other people there like I was to view the sunrise. It was like being in church. Everybody was reverently quiet and sat solemnly awaiting and then taking in the colors of the horizon as the sun rose that morning.
The meal at the north rim of the Grand Canyon on that July 5, 2004, was my most memorable meal in Arizona.
JDk

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