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It was a very full trip.
Hub and I picked Mom up on Friday to head out to the airport around noon. She was pretty nervous but seemed ready to rock and roll. I am glad I went with her; she was having a hard time figuring out where to go and so forth. After accepting the fact that we would miss our connecting flight from Phoenix to Page and that we'd catch the next flight 3 hours later, it made for a much more relaxed trip. The Phoenix airport is jacked up, yo. Virtually labyrinthine. We landed in Page right at sunset.
Dad and Elaine were late picking us up, but it was fine as I enjoyed a few minutes to just look around, get a feel for the place, and breathe the air- which was like the air version of a fine champagnee. We went to a very bad steakhouse (Dad and his steak fixation) but sat outside, where the sky was like a Maxfield Parrish painting and darkened to a deep cobalt blue. Dad seemed pretty relaxed, while Mom and Elaine were nervous and trying to out-do each other by saying nice things to each other. We went to their home, now Mom's home too. It's a really lovely modular home, which is a fancy-ass mobile home that doesn't look like a mobile home. The thing cost more than our house here in Austin, but it had a spectacular view that I didn't see 'til the next morning. We all sat on the porch and chatted; the stars were beautiful and went all the way down to the horizon and their subdivision refused to put in streetlights for that very reason- nice. I went to bed at some point, but slept poorly and woke up around 4am and noticed it was getting light out, for crying out loud. In addition to being one time zone over (which wouldn't have made a difference) AZ does not observe Daylight Savings Time, which I admire greatly. It's weird seeing dawn start around 3:45 though. I watched the sunrise around 5am and went back to bed. In a freak of weather, it rained briefly as I slept.
I got up again around 8 or so (Saturday), and though it was very bright out it wasn't hot at all. When they talk about 'it's a dry heat' they are not kidding- even when the thermometer topped 90 it felt pleasant. But it was almost chilly in the mornings. The view from the front porch was amazing; mesas and stuff for 50 miles or so including a good view of Navajo Mountain and the beginning of Monument Valley (you've seen M.V. in a million westerns and in Roadrunner cartoons, trust me). Dad decided to take his daily jog at nearby Lone Rock Park, a park about a 5-minute drive away which contains part of Lake Powell, the reason why Page exists. Lake Powell was created by the dam at the Colorado River (not, as I was to learn, the same Colorado River that goes through downtown Austin. What the hell!) and destination of a zillion tourists between May and September. Lone Rock is visible from Dad's porch and looks like the top of a huge sombrero- it's also in Utah. So I got to travel to Utah for the first time!
Lone Rock was beautiful. You could hike about 1/2 mile from the park entrance to the lake shore. There was your typical desert scrub, tumbleweeds and such, growing from sand with clam shells in it. It was bizarre. The land was so firey and watery at the same time; it felt very powerfully magical in a way that's hard to describe. I hiked down to the edge of the lake and chilled for a bit. The hike back almost killed me; walking 1/2 mile uphill in sand sucks, and even though it still felt pleasantly breezy the Sun just beat down on me. I was panting and huffing by the time I got topside, but was able to cool down in time to see Dad jog up, having run 2 miles. Not bad for a guy who's almost 70 and had 2 heart attacks. We drove into Page and he pointed out all the sights, all 4 of them. Page is a really little town, and they don't even live in Page proper, but 10 miles out in a subdivision called Greenehaven. They get their mail in P.O. boxes at the gas station. Quaint!
Brö showed up around 5 with Mom's car and her cat, who was completely freaked out. They kept trying to rush introductions with the other cats, which I advised against repeatedly, and the poor thing was hissing and scratching anyone who came near her from under Mom's bed. *shakes head* We watched documentaries on Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, with the option to visit one the next day (Sunday). I pushed the Canyon, because we'd be visiting the North Rim and I heard that was the one that all the cool kids go to. Mom and Brö decided to stay home (Mom wasn't feeling well and Brö was sick of being in a car) so Dad, Elaine and I drove the 120 miles to the North Rim. It was a bizarre drive; the first half was brick-red desert, and the second half was alpine forest with aspens and pine trees that smelled like Christmas. It also dropped about 25 degrees- I think we were close to 9000 feet up. I got a good look at the Canyon which seemed to go on forever, and hiked part-way down a trail into the woods and just smelled the pines and listened to the wind blowing through the trees- always a most magical sound to me. There were a zillion people there but the trail was almost deserted. I fell in love with it, and before I die I hope I can rent out one of those cabins that were at the park and explore those trails at my leisure. Someday. But Elaine wasn't feeling well so after barely an hour she wanted to head back home. I grabbed a couple of souvenirs and we took off.
We got back and had some dinner (steak @@) and they started watching a war movie ('We Were Soldiers') which I wasn't really interested in. I read and just chilled, and looked at the stars some more. I even woke Brö a little after 3am because he'd never seen the Milky Way and all the stars in the Little Dipper, and hey- everyone needs to see that. I pointed out constellations and told myths and bits of astronomical and astrological trivia for until it started getting light (a half hour later!) and went back to bed.
We just sort of dicked around Monday, went into town to pick up a couple of things and generally helped Mom settle in. She was still trying to coax her cat out from under the bed; I hope she takes my advice to leave the kitty alone and let her come out on her own. We packed up and headed out to the airport for a tearful parting- Mom seems convinced that we'll never come visit, but I was sure I would. Brö and I got back to Austin around midnight, to incredibly sticky hot air- I love being home, but that was some great air they had out there. I had been thinking since I left about when to go back, maybe spend some more time at the North Rim, and decide if I want to come during a Full Moon, or when there's a meteor shower? Both have their advantages.
Now for the kicker. Elaine didn't want to worry us by mentioning it, but she got canned at her job. Since there is no place else for her to work within a zillion miles, they are going to be moving soon. Mom called the truck company that was going to be bringing all her stuff out there and told them to just park it all in storage until they figure out where they're going to land. Elaine's had a job offering in Littlefield, TX which is some little podunk town west of Lubbock. Dad really dislikes Lubbock for some reason, so I think he is trying to get her to hold out for something else. I am really sad, because I really liked Page a lot. I also worry about Mom, but am quietly relieved that my direct involvement in all this is over with. So though I didn't know it at the time, that was my only visit to Page, AZ. I will post pictures later.
Hub and I picked Mom up on Friday to head out to the airport around noon. She was pretty nervous but seemed ready to rock and roll. I am glad I went with her; she was having a hard time figuring out where to go and so forth. After accepting the fact that we would miss our connecting flight from Phoenix to Page and that we'd catch the next flight 3 hours later, it made for a much more relaxed trip. The Phoenix airport is jacked up, yo. Virtually labyrinthine. We landed in Page right at sunset.
Dad and Elaine were late picking us up, but it was fine as I enjoyed a few minutes to just look around, get a feel for the place, and breathe the air- which was like the air version of a fine champagnee. We went to a very bad steakhouse (Dad and his steak fixation) but sat outside, where the sky was like a Maxfield Parrish painting and darkened to a deep cobalt blue. Dad seemed pretty relaxed, while Mom and Elaine were nervous and trying to out-do each other by saying nice things to each other. We went to their home, now Mom's home too. It's a really lovely modular home, which is a fancy-ass mobile home that doesn't look like a mobile home. The thing cost more than our house here in Austin, but it had a spectacular view that I didn't see 'til the next morning. We all sat on the porch and chatted; the stars were beautiful and went all the way down to the horizon and their subdivision refused to put in streetlights for that very reason- nice. I went to bed at some point, but slept poorly and woke up around 4am and noticed it was getting light out, for crying out loud. In addition to being one time zone over (which wouldn't have made a difference) AZ does not observe Daylight Savings Time, which I admire greatly. It's weird seeing dawn start around 3:45 though. I watched the sunrise around 5am and went back to bed. In a freak of weather, it rained briefly as I slept.
I got up again around 8 or so (Saturday), and though it was very bright out it wasn't hot at all. When they talk about 'it's a dry heat' they are not kidding- even when the thermometer topped 90 it felt pleasant. But it was almost chilly in the mornings. The view from the front porch was amazing; mesas and stuff for 50 miles or so including a good view of Navajo Mountain and the beginning of Monument Valley (you've seen M.V. in a million westerns and in Roadrunner cartoons, trust me). Dad decided to take his daily jog at nearby Lone Rock Park, a park about a 5-minute drive away which contains part of Lake Powell, the reason why Page exists. Lake Powell was created by the dam at the Colorado River (not, as I was to learn, the same Colorado River that goes through downtown Austin. What the hell!) and destination of a zillion tourists between May and September. Lone Rock is visible from Dad's porch and looks like the top of a huge sombrero- it's also in Utah. So I got to travel to Utah for the first time!
Lone Rock was beautiful. You could hike about 1/2 mile from the park entrance to the lake shore. There was your typical desert scrub, tumbleweeds and such, growing from sand with clam shells in it. It was bizarre. The land was so firey and watery at the same time; it felt very powerfully magical in a way that's hard to describe. I hiked down to the edge of the lake and chilled for a bit. The hike back almost killed me; walking 1/2 mile uphill in sand sucks, and even though it still felt pleasantly breezy the Sun just beat down on me. I was panting and huffing by the time I got topside, but was able to cool down in time to see Dad jog up, having run 2 miles. Not bad for a guy who's almost 70 and had 2 heart attacks. We drove into Page and he pointed out all the sights, all 4 of them. Page is a really little town, and they don't even live in Page proper, but 10 miles out in a subdivision called Greenehaven. They get their mail in P.O. boxes at the gas station. Quaint!
Brö showed up around 5 with Mom's car and her cat, who was completely freaked out. They kept trying to rush introductions with the other cats, which I advised against repeatedly, and the poor thing was hissing and scratching anyone who came near her from under Mom's bed. *shakes head* We watched documentaries on Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, with the option to visit one the next day (Sunday). I pushed the Canyon, because we'd be visiting the North Rim and I heard that was the one that all the cool kids go to. Mom and Brö decided to stay home (Mom wasn't feeling well and Brö was sick of being in a car) so Dad, Elaine and I drove the 120 miles to the North Rim. It was a bizarre drive; the first half was brick-red desert, and the second half was alpine forest with aspens and pine trees that smelled like Christmas. It also dropped about 25 degrees- I think we were close to 9000 feet up. I got a good look at the Canyon which seemed to go on forever, and hiked part-way down a trail into the woods and just smelled the pines and listened to the wind blowing through the trees- always a most magical sound to me. There were a zillion people there but the trail was almost deserted. I fell in love with it, and before I die I hope I can rent out one of those cabins that were at the park and explore those trails at my leisure. Someday. But Elaine wasn't feeling well so after barely an hour she wanted to head back home. I grabbed a couple of souvenirs and we took off.
We got back and had some dinner (steak @@) and they started watching a war movie ('We Were Soldiers') which I wasn't really interested in. I read and just chilled, and looked at the stars some more. I even woke Brö a little after 3am because he'd never seen the Milky Way and all the stars in the Little Dipper, and hey- everyone needs to see that. I pointed out constellations and told myths and bits of astronomical and astrological trivia for until it started getting light (a half hour later!) and went back to bed.
We just sort of dicked around Monday, went into town to pick up a couple of things and generally helped Mom settle in. She was still trying to coax her cat out from under the bed; I hope she takes my advice to leave the kitty alone and let her come out on her own. We packed up and headed out to the airport for a tearful parting- Mom seems convinced that we'll never come visit, but I was sure I would. Brö and I got back to Austin around midnight, to incredibly sticky hot air- I love being home, but that was some great air they had out there. I had been thinking since I left about when to go back, maybe spend some more time at the North Rim, and decide if I want to come during a Full Moon, or when there's a meteor shower? Both have their advantages.
Now for the kicker. Elaine didn't want to worry us by mentioning it, but she got canned at her job. Since there is no place else for her to work within a zillion miles, they are going to be moving soon. Mom called the truck company that was going to be bringing all her stuff out there and told them to just park it all in storage until they figure out where they're going to land. Elaine's had a job offering in Littlefield, TX which is some little podunk town west of Lubbock. Dad really dislikes Lubbock for some reason, so I think he is trying to get her to hold out for something else. I am really sad, because I really liked Page a lot. I also worry about Mom, but am quietly relieved that my direct involvement in all this is over with. So though I didn't know it at the time, that was my only visit to Page, AZ. I will post pictures later.
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It was a bizarre drive; the first half was brick-red desert, and the second half was alpine forest with aspens and pine trees that smelled like Christmas.
The area closest to the Canyon is a *lot* like the Central Oregon desert... in fact, it's eerily similar ;) Pine and juniper trees, red rock, dry air, etc. Very cool. I really miss all of that sort of thing in the fall and winter, here, when snow closes the passes and I can't go out to the desert.
I'd definitely love to check out the North Rim sometime... all Miss Kick and I had the time to do was go to the usual touristy South Rim stuff, which was cool, but I doubt it was quite as scenic or nifty. (Isn't the North Rim higher in elevation? I think our drive up to the Canyon only took us to about 7,500 feet.)
I had been thinking since I left about when to go back, maybe spend some more time at the North Rim, and decide if I want to come during a Full Moon, or when there's a meteor shower? Both have their advantages.
I think it was a full (or almost full) moon the first time I was there, back in September 2002... it was very pretty, and, despite the South Rim tourists, it was quite peaceful too. :)
--yansa!
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Date: Jun. 2nd, 2004 10:36 am (UTC)From:I thought about you two a lot during this trip. There was so much kokopelli crap it got to be funny. My brother and I were getting the giggles by the end of it seeing how much stuff we could spot with kokopelli on it. There was even a Kokopelli Cafe in the Phoenix airport!
The North Rim was at least 8000 feet; they had elevation signs and there was one for 8k a good ways from the top, so I'm guessing it may even be closer to 9k. I wondered aloud why they posted elevation notices; is it so you'll know how long it will take to boil eggs? The conclusion was that maybe it was a health thing, but we were not sure.