Sorry for the delay in writing, dear readers. I’ve just been a little crazed…anyway, on with my story:
Week 2:
I have to say that the second week of the trip was my favorite week. We saw so many incredible sights, and managed to experience things that I had never imagined I would be fortunate enough to experience. The sadness of leaving NJ started to subside, as well as the fact that we had all become accustomed to the idea of being on the road and experiencing the trip.
Day 1: We left Arkansas early in the morning and we began the trek to Amarillo, Texas (8 1/2 hours). As we left Arkansas and entered the state of Oklahoma, I started to sing in my head the theme song to “Oklahoma” the musical. OK,…maybe I sang it out loud. At the top of my lungs. With my children staring at me like I was a crazy person. Whatevs! Anyway, I have to say this about Oklahoma. It is very flat and very windy. (They really researched the lyrics for the musical!) That’s pretty much all I have for Oklahoma. I think one of the best things that happened to us in Oklahoma, was that Violeta managed to take this picture. Even if you’re not religious, I still think it’s pretty cool.
When we got to Texas, I was pretty excited. I had been to Houston and Dallas as a child, and I remember really liking both cities. But, Amarillo is certainly not either of those cities. It’s fine. It’s just more of a town as opposed to a city. We got out of the car in Amarillo, and the first thing I smelled was manure. Not a great first impression. Despite that, we did go to a steakhouse that was pretty good. (I know, I know…the manure smell…but hey, I was in Texas. It seemed wrong to not eat steak) The decor of the restaurant was really nice. Very Joanna Gaines from that show, “Fixer Upper”. Unfortunately, I can’t find the really good pictures, so you’ll just have to imagine it from these pictures.
Day 2: The next item on the agenda was to visit the Cadillac Ranch just outside of Amarillo. If you have never heard of this, it’s a place in the middle of nowhere, where there are 10 half buried old Cadillac’s in the ground. The added bonus to this site, is that you get to spray paint on these cars. It’s supposed to be an ongoing piece of art. My kids loved it! Neither of my kids had ever used spray paint before (I guess what 8 and 3 year old uses spray paint?) I really liked it too. Being able to legally spray paint on some cars is pretty cool.
After the ranch, we headed onto New Mexico. We stayed in Santa Fe. I knew it was an artist town, but I didn’t realize how amazing it would be. All of the art galleries, mixed with the Mexican style buildings, mixed with the Native American influence, was really picturesque. We only got to spend one day here, but it is certainly a place I would like to go back and visit.
Day 3/4/5: I can easily say that the next stop was the highlight of the trip. The Grand Canyon. If you haven’t had the chance to visit it yet, I highly encourage it. If you have already visited, then you know what I’m talking about. We woke up super early (5am – well, that’s early for me) and got on the road. We needed to be in the Grand Canyon by the early afternoon in order to make it to our Sunset Tour. One benefit of getting up early was getting to see this sunrise.
When we got to the Grand Canyon, we checked into our hotel, which was within the National Park. I think that this is definitely the way to go. If you’ve come all of this, spend the extra money so that you can wake up and go asleep with the Canyon at your doorstep. We stayed in the South Rim, since during the month of December the North Rim is closed due to snow. After checking in, we headed off to our tour. This is the beautiful sight that we managed to capture.
The next day, we toured the Grand Canyon on a guided tour. Normally, I don’t do tours, but given the fact that we only had a few days and I wanted to see everything possible, it seemed to be the smart idea. All I can say is….amazing.
The last day in the Grand Canyon, we just decided to explore it on our own. We re-visited the places that we loved and just walked through the forest.
Day 6/7: We left the Grand Canyon for the short drive through Navajo country onto Page, AZ. What’s in Page? Not much was actually in the town. But, right outside the town is Antelope Canyon.
When I first decided to do this trip and started mapping it out, I read an article about the 29 most surreal places to visit in the US. Antelope Canyon was one of the places on the list. Looking at the pictures online, it looked amazing. I wanted to see for myself if the place was real, or just photoshopped.
We got to Page late in the afternoon. It was too late to go to the Canyon, because the lighting wouldn’t have been right. While we checked into the next hotel, we tried to figure out what we should do next. Luckily, Violeta found an amazing place to visit that was only a few miles away, Horseshoe Bend. It was just before sunset when we got there. I’m so glad that Violeta found the place because we were able to see this:
(Can you tell which picture was taken with my Canon and which was taken by my iphone?)
The next morning, we woke up and got ready to see Antelope Canyon. We had read that the best time to see it was around noon, so we booked a tour for 11:30am. The only way to see the canyon is through a tour, something we learned when we got to the hotel. We picked a tour that was owned and operated by the Navajo.
Antelope Canyon lived up to the pictures that I saw online. It was amazing! The crazy thing is that I didn’t alter any of these pictures. It just looks like this. Can you believe it? Places like this really exist! It’s amazing! (I feel like when reading this blog, you should do a drinking game. Every time that I write the word “amazing”, you drink. You’ll be drunk in no time. You’re welcome. I’m thinking that I really should invest in a thesaurus.)
Looking back, I think the reason that I enjoyed this week in particular was because, it was the first time that I really realized how very small I am. I realized that the world had so much beauty in it, that I had yet to discover. Any doubts I may have had about what I was doing with my life, they left me as I stared at the vastness of the Grand Canyon. Leaving was a scary move, but it was the right move. If I hadn’t have left, I wouldn’t have seen these beautiful sights. Maybe I would have gone to these places someday, but maybe I wouldn’t. Anyway, I am sick of waiting for someday. Life is short. Scott’s death taught me that. I have to live life. Not put it off.