This will be a quickie because I am freezing cold so am going to rug up in bed!
Early up and at ‘em today! We wanted to take some pictures of the Grand Canyon as the sun is coming up. It is damned freezing but this is too special to miss. I dress up in what I can only describe as something you would wear to a bad taste party. I needed to keep warm so was using what I had. If I needed to make a fashion statement or introduce a new fashion trend at this time, so be it.
The walls of the canyon literally changed with each passing minute. As the sun hit them they developed a silvery sheen – almost sparkling. Lower in the canyon a blue tinged mist remained this was a stark contrast to the brilliance above. I snapped away happily whilst still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I was standing in front of one of the “Seven Wonders of the World”. I again felt very humbled.
We set out again and headed for Durango, Colorado. It has always been a dream of mine to see the Rocky Mountains. John Denver left me wondering if they were as beautiful as his lyrics suggested. We stopped to have a bite to eat before hitting the highway once again. We stopped at every opportunity to take more photos of the canyon but we had to draw the line somewhere as we really needed to get some miles behind us. Once out of the national park the scenery changed from alpine to desert plains. We passed a sign that indicated that there was another lookout and given that we could see that there was something worth looking at, we turned where the sign indicated to do so. We found ourselves on something which looked a little like an Indian tribal land – there were several Indians setting up stalls with handmade pottery and jewellery.
We stopped by the lookout quickly and then stopped at bathrooms that were up near the highway. We were in the middle of whoop whoop again and I was a little concerned about how the toilets would be. The Bear went in first and came out reassuring me that whilst the loo was the hole in the ground type (or Thunderbox) they were very clean. I was busting to go so weighed up going in a hole in the ground or peeing my pants. The need to pee meant I would be visiting the little Indians room. Sure enough they were very clean but I was seriously concerned that a rattle snake was going to slide up and bite me on the butt! *shudders*.
Back on the road we passed several reservations that the Indians lived on. They are clearly poverty stricken although there always seemed to be nice cars that were parked there. Mind you, there were about 10 cars to every shanty. The scenery kept changing over and over again which was startling. This was something you would never see in Australia. It really is quite fascinating.
I had my first drive on the right hand side of the road. I don’t mind telling you that I HATED it. Sitting behind the steering wheel on the left hand side of the car was nothing short of bizarre - and I had the most overwhelming feeling that I was going to fall out of the car door. It felt as though the chair was lopsided although the Bear assured me it was not. I drove very carefully and was barely game to get to the speed limit. The roads over here are amazingly good so I guess that helped a small bit. Whilst I was driving it was the Bears responsibility to take the photos. I take photos of absolutely everything and it was clear that he would not. I had to point out things that I would have taken photos of – he was letting the side down. I was prepared to forgive him but that was until we went through a small township (I can’t remember the name) where I had to pull up at a red light. The Bear exclaimed that there were cows right beside the road at the intersection. I looked...yes there were two or three cows. Now B take a photo! As I was moving off from the red light, he exclaims again that there was a horse standing in the servo. I looked back – and sure a enough. There was-a horse standing in the service station minding his own business. I asked B if he got a photo of it...but no he hadn’t. I won’t let him forget that in a hurry! Driving through “Monument Valley” (you know where the cowboy movies are made) I insisted that he go berserk with the photo taking. I was still very tense at the wheel of the car and was very glad to pull over and let the Bear take over the driving.
We went through some of the most amazing terrain and whilst a lot of it was boring, I wondered what stories the land would tell if it could. We drove to the “Four Corners Monument” where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet however there is a $3 charge per person to get to it, and we decided to pass. Once in Colorado we experienced some of the more ugly terrain which came as a surprise to me. I thought all of Colorado was the beautiful travel brochure stuff. Not so. However in the distance was snow capped mountains and the Bear told me that was a part of the Rocky Mountains. I was excited! Nearing Durango we climbed through some absolutely gorgeous terrain which bore none of the ugliness earlier on. It was lush and green with almost every type of fir you can grow, and the quaintest of houses. There were spots of snow....it looked like Christmas. Just beautiful. Coming into Durango I saw that it was picture postcard material....and it is from there that I type this. It is absolutely stunning.....with the main street right out of a movie. I can hardly wait to photograph it tomorrow!
We got to the hotel and found that our room has a little kitchenette. We figured that we would just pop down to the supermarket and by something that we could take back and eat at the unit rather than eating out again. At the supermarket we got few things – including “Chimichangas”. Now I had thought that these were a made up term for “Two and a Half Men” however they are very real. We bought a beef one and a chicken one to try. The Beef was yummo....but the chicken wasn’t nice at all. But....we tried it!
It is minus 4 as I type this with the expected minimum to be minus 8. That fashion statement that I referred to earlier will definitely be catching on in these parts! Tomorrow we head to Santa Fe!
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