Next week I am embarking on another trip west to Arizona… First half of my trip I will be buttoned up in my suite working in a hotel, but once my conference is over I am trading in my high heels and black suite for a pair of hiking shoes and my LL Bean jacket. However, this blog is not about the trip I am about to venture on, but more so a reflection of a past Arizona road trip… I figured before I return and blog on my upcoming second trip to the west, I better rehash about my first experience out west. But beware.. this is a long one! I experienced to many adventures to not share them all!
My brother moved west two years ago to pursue his love for flying, which lucky for me, it gave me a reason to travel, to spend time with my wonderful brother and a place to lay my head for a few days. He lives five hours (driving) north of Phoenix Arizona in a small town called Page where he flies twin-engine airplanes and gives tours to the French tourist.
My Journey started from my flight from Orlando, FL to Phoenix Arizona. We did not have much of a plan in place except to rent a car on our arrival and to head north…. Five hours north…Hop, skip and a jump from Utah North. We were a race against time, or more so, against the “Painted desert”. We were chasing the sunset in hopes to watch god’s face “Paint the Dessert”. We made it to the painted dessert at the very end of God’s face dissipating into the earth. A combination of the stratified rock layers and the dusk sky looked like someone took a painters bush and fine oils to the earth… if only we made it 15 minutes earlier… Could you imagine?!?!?!?
September 22, 2010
Page, AZ 8 pm arrival
We settled into our new little home and then set out to a local bar- “Kens”- where we sipped on beer and listened to a Lynard Skynard Cover band. We made it an early night due to the East coast/West coast time change that our bodies had not yet adapted to.
Morning came and we sat on the front porch drinking hot tea enjoying the sun birthing over the Indian reserve creating silhouetted plateaus and watching a line of planes take off ( Literally only a small street and a chain linked fence were the only barrier to protect us from those choppers!)
My brother picked us up to go peer over Glen Canyon Dam:
Then we headed to the runway to see the West from the air.
The Best Pilot EVER aka The Best Brother Ever
Glenn Canyon Sky View
What a View from the Airplane!
What we looked like in the air...
After we landed we changed into our bathing suites and headed to lake Powell on the high-water side of the dam where we bravely plummeted to the freezing water below ( I stuck to the small Cliff– I learned that day I have a fear of heights!)
My Brother, brave and “macho”, took to a higher cliff with a running start:
..Hike to Horseshoe Bend..
Looks like a horseshoe... Hints to the name...
Relaxing...
Pk & I
…Beaching it in UTAH….
After our short hike to the Horseshoe we headed to Lone Rock Beach in Utah where campers resided next to the water and dogs and children danced in the water.
We left mid afternoon to gather supplies for a return to Lone Rock Beach that evening for a bon- fire.
Supplies:
- Smores ingredients
- Hot Dogs
- Miller light
We set up our bon fire close to the water, enjoyed ice-cold beer, snacked on dogs and and admired the diamonds in the sky and even a shooting star ( or two)!
That was our last night in Page, AZ before we jumped back in our rental and headed back south… with no plan…
“Half the Adventure is not knowing what the next adventure holds”- ME (Written in my travel diary)
7:30 am start on September 25th, 2010
First Stop: Grand Canyon
I decided I didn’t have the words to paint the picture of how surreal the Grand Canyon was to see, actually I don’t even have pictures that capture how utterly incredibly amazing and massive this natural wonder is! but i’ll share anyway:
After admiring the beauty and greatness of the Grand Canyon and receiving a short history lesson from the State Park Ranger on ” Theories on How the Grand Canyon was formed” we headed to higher elevation…. Flagstaff, AZ.
We drove for a few hours into Flagstaff, then found ourselves on a desolate road where the closest gas station was 25 miles away (according to my handy App on my iphone, “Around Me”) .We drove until we found a dirt road that lead us far in the woods where we set up our parachute hammocks in the trees.
Middle of nowhere, AZWaking up in the forst
We laid in our hammocks and listened to elk buguling and the wolves howling… It was incredible to feel so apart of nature and so far away from the real world.
Morning came, we packed up and headed south…
Red Rock Country and a visit back in time to the Wild West of Jerome, AZ.
Walking the streets in Jerome, AZ
Our trip concluded the next day and my new adventure begins in 1 day…. Page, AZ here I come to conquer you again… round two!
The Simple Life 