America the GRAND
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| January 1995 My first trip to America's Grand Canyon |
Traveling I-40 west through Arizona one will pass the Petrified Forest National Park. I should note that while I have "seen" the Petrified Forest I have not actually SEEN it. I did however see the sign. Sleeping in the camper outside the entrance on my first trip across the country doesn't really qualify as a visit. So, since I have not seen it, and it doesn't have the word GRAND in its title, we will not be discussing the Petrified Forest tonight, even if it is a National Park.
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| I-40 West, Arizona |
Approximately four hours west of the Petrified Forest however, is one of God's greatest marvels and one of America's two Grand National Parks. The Grand Canyon, formed over the years by the Colorado River, is 277 miles long and some 18 miles across at its widest point.
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| I-40 West, Arizona snow/sleet giving way to blue skies in the distance |
As I made the journey across The United States in the winter of 1995 I chose what I call the southern route, basically Interstate 40. The decision to detour off of I-40 and see the Grand Canyon was initially a little stressful. In the few days since my departure from Atlanta I had encountered less than ideal weather and I was under time restraints with a new job only days away. Travelling through Texas the day before I had encountered heavy sleet and ice with the threat of snow? Little did I grasp that the elevation of Arizona can lead to snow in January. As I neared Flagstaff there was snow on the ground and a large dark line of clouds above. Off in the distance I could literally see a line in the sky where the darkness ended and Carolina Blue Skies reigned. I took a deep breath and told myself if I hit the blue line before the the turn off at Hwy 180 I was going to go for it and see the Grand Canyon. As luck would have it, the dark faded and the blue skies prevailed just a few miles before I reached Flagstaff.
Holding to my promise I turned north and proceeded along Hwy 180 toward the Grand Canyon!
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| Road to Grand Canyon's Southern Rim Sign for first "viewing spot" up ahead |
Well don't worry about that when it comes to the Grand Canyon. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
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| The Grand Canyon January, 1995 |
The Grand Canyon is listed as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, as if there are only seven.
I have now seen the Grand Canyon from the southern view point on two occasions, each as breath taking as the other. I plan someday before the body is too weak, to do a trip down into the canyon, hiking or rafting, preferably both.
The pictures to the right and below are of the Grand Canyon, January 1995.
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| Can you spot the people? |
The scenery of North America is truly majestic in its grandeur. On the second of my three cross country road trips I did a northerly route from Washington AC (that is "above California" as apposed to DC) through Idaho and Montana into Wyoming. From there, dropped down into Colorado and eventually picked up ole I-40 either in Texas or Oklahoma. The idea was to visit "Jackson Hole". Well here is a wee bit of trivia for all those who think they can find Jackson Hole on a map; you can't. At least not the city, because there is NO city named Jackson Hole. There is the city of Jackson; Jackson Hole is an area, not a city. I have always heard of Jackson Hole and just assumed that was the city. Live and learn.So the trip across the northern section, at least while west of the Mississippi, was to see Yellowstone National Park and to visit Jackson Hole. And we did. Yellowstone National Park (to be discussed later) is an amazing place and it is literally adjacent to the second of America's Grand National Parks, Grand Teton National Park. GTNP is located in of all places, Jackson Hole. Jackson Hole is actually the valley in the northwestern part of the state of Wyoming. Traveling south on the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway one leaves Yellowstone and enters Grand Teton National Park.
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Having NO idea what we would see in the morning we crashed after dark in one of the many lodging facilities available in the park. Maggie, one of the dawgs mentioned in a previous article, was snuck/sneaked in and we found the local watering hole at the lodge. With it being the last week of May in the grand year of 2000, almost everyone in the bar was apparently college students gathering for their summer work at the park. On a separate note: Moms and Dads, LET YOUR KIDS DO THIS IF THEY EVER ASK! What an experience these "kids" were having. As we listened to their excited conversations we gathered that several had just scaled a mountain the day before and were preparing to climb a different face the next morning....oh to be young, energetic and afraid of nothing. With a day of driving through Yellowstone under our belt we soon realized it was time to go; well that and they closed the bar. We reached our rooms, checked on the dawg and fell fast asleep with just a hint of disappointment that we had not been able to see some of the mountain peaks we had located on the Atlas Road map.PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTY!!
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| Grand Teton, The Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming May, 2000 |
Morning arrived and we headed back up to the lodge for a hearty breakfast. Here you will need just a little bit of imagination as I do not have photos to help describe everything within the lodge. As you enter the lodge at some point you encounter a set of steps, if you will, I say that cautiously as the steps were enormous halves of trees! Take a tree, yes the ENTIRE TREE, cut it in half....length wise, top to bottom, not side to side and then with the middle or flat side facing up, VOILA! you got yourself a set of steps. Steps big enough for John Henry, Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan all together! I'm talking a serious set of steps.
Some 20 (?) steps up and easily 60 (?) feet across, obviously to handle the large seasonal crowds, these were some awe inspiring steps if I do say so myself.
As I ascended this grand staircase little did I know I was about to have a Grand Experience. Having only heard of the Grand Tetons on a few occasions and not actually knowing anyone who may have encountered them, I had no, zero, nada expectations of what to see. As I reached the top of the stair case I noticed a large lobby in front of me. To the right was a dinning room, cafeteria style, next to the bar we had visited the night before. What lay in front of me however was absolutely GRAND. Beyond a series of side beside windows, 100 ft tall if they were 10 ft, lay a lake and HIGH above that lake, GRAND TETON! I found myself staring across a room of tourist and sightseerers much like myself all standing in amazement as beyond the windows lay an unobstructed view of the Teton Mountains....well the proper name would be Teton Range.
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| not my photo, but you get the idea of the view |
I never planned on seeing these as I honestly did not know they were there, at least not in this magnitude or grandeur. I, like most people, had seen pictures of The Grand Canyon but I had no idea what the Grand Tetons were. As I said, we went to bed disappointed that we had not seen "some peaks" notated on the road map. I never dreamed of walking up a set of stairs and having a direct view through these floor to ceiling windows of such incredible majesty. I don't know, and don't want to research the mountain range or ranges behind the phrase purple mountain majesty as I believe in my heart that it has to be The Grand Tetons.
Grand Teton is the one in the middle of the first picture, it is also the picture below. Apparently I only have these three photos, which when laid over one another create the first photo above.
As I have mentioned before it is one thing to see these locations and another to actually spend time visiting and exploring them. Regardless of whether I ever get to explore them in more detail I must say that just having seen them was an experience I will never forget. Travel the world if you can, but be sure to take a moment and travel to these locations here in America. God worked really hard at making sure we have some natural wonders of our own to enjoy.
America's Grand National Parks INDEED! I highly recommend these among others of our National and State Parks. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading.
as always,
bkd
* know in your heart there is a Supreme Architect by whatever name you wish to recognize him by *
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