Southwest Road Trip

Friends,

I am writing this evening from the Bryce Canyon National Park as part of a father-son road trip to the Southwest. Rich came from Springfield, VA, and I from Whidbey, and we met up in Phoenix. From there we have spent four days traveling in Sedona, AZ, a day at the Grand Canyon, a night at a hotel on the Hopi reservation lands in Tuba, AZ,, and now at the Bryce lodge. We’ll be at Zion tomorrow, and then we will fly out of Las Vegas home later this week. We would have preferred an earlier start for our trip, but it got delayed several weeks before by illness and other problems before we could launch on November 10, and even then we did not know if our planes would fly, but they did. The good news is that mid-November is a great time to be here - few people and thus little or no problems with reservations for delicious dining at the restaurants, the bonus of deciduous trees adding vibrant fall yellows to the colorful red rocks, and quite reasonable temperatures so far - although it’s going to snow tomorrow! And an additional “bonus" is the Southwest apparently loves Christmas lighting, and the streets are already aglow adding a special festiveness to the nights.

As we have talked with people about their trips to the Southwest, everyone seems to have a favorite. I’ll note my own so far in the hopes it will remind you of trips you might have taken, or, if you haven’t been out here, I hope my reviews will offer you some encouragement to come as well. The trip is special for me because I had never been to this area before.

Because I have not yet seen Zion, I will only offer thoughts on Sedona, the Grand Canyon and Bryce.

Sedona was our introduction to the area wonders, and it was a good place to enjoy a reasonable hike for a couple of hours, freely choose restaurants and make other plans. The big thrill - and mental / physical stretch for my aging body - was a daring jeep ride up and over amazing rock formations. But I made it and congratulated myself for the courage of adventure. Of the three sites so far, Sedona was a transition from a focus on tourism into the more spacious, isolated other two sites.

The Grand Canyon is simply beyond imagination or description. It was not as particularly exciting as it was humbling. The vast vistas seem to take in miles of impossibly dimensional contrasts and comparisons in strata and color. The whole experience of spending a day shuttling and walking along the southern rim simply moved me with awe, sometimes even emotionally. I call the Grand Canyon my “soul” site.

Bryce Canyon, on the other hand, invokes a breathtaking experience of being introduced to a panorama of nature’s idea of imaginative creativity. Geological statuary of pillars and pyramids of all sizes and colors, called “hoodoos” by the ancient Paiute indigenous people, along with hundreds of other variations of contour and nuanced color filled me with delight. In addition to the particularity of the rock strata variations and the “statuary,” the sheer vastness of it all adds a spirit of nature's unlimited capacity for surprise and wonder. If the Grand Canyon is my “soul” side, Bryce is my “heart” site that draws me to imagination and delight.

I have a goal to daily experience and acknowledge some form of awe in my life. The opportunities, of course, are endless whether it is from relationships, nature, or my own sensitivities to life all around me. And the sister of awe is surely gratitude, to be gratefully able to participate in the mystery of the interconnection and interdependency in this grand web we call life itself, or God, or simply the un-namable awesomeness of the reality of the joys and sorrows that surrounds us. The awe and wonder of my every day is actually sufficient, but when the sheer grandeur of these canyons amplified it all, my heart and soul were filled beyond measure.

Peace and awe,
Tom