Cross Country road trip Day 2 The Grand Canyon

Travel

Day 2 We woke up in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was still dark outside and boy was it cold. We were on a mission to get to the Grand Canyon for sunrise. We had our morning cup of coffee and was listening to Chet Baker on the way when in the middle-of-the-road we could see a pair of shining red eyes. We slowed the car down and slowly crept forward until we realized it was a big black cow standing in the middle of the road staring us down like he was the guarding of the road. So very gently I tooted  the horn as if to ask him his permission to pass and very kindly he obliged. Slowly as the sky became lighter we could see that the surrounding countryside was blanketed in a beautiful white snow and barely we could see some smoke coming up from a few farm house chimneys off in the distance. The ride from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon is about an hour and change. I kept playfully saying to Jana “where is this little canyon”.  I kept the joke up as we bundled ourselves up in blankets and scarfs and began walking toward the first look out point and suddenly in mid sentence, out of no where, through the trees we caught a glimpse of this massive gigantic sleeping monster. It took our breath away.  I immediately ran towards the edge with my camera to embrace it.  But Jana’a reaction was a little different. Truth be told She’s a little afraid of heights. Later she told me that the feeling she got was as if an old Native American chief were whispering in her ear to respect the  awesome power of the canyon. She said she felt like at any moment the canyon could just swallow us up and we would disappear into its belly forever. She was a little nervous watching me walk out onto rocks. But eventually she was able to relax enough to snap a few photos and take in it’s unexplainable beauty and awesome presence. They call it the “7th Wonder of the World”. I love that, “Wonder of the World”. It did inspire so much wonder and awe and many different feelings that we tried to put into words. Phrases like “eternity etched in stone” or “the aged lines on mother earths forehead” came to mind. It even inspired Jana to research some of the poems that have been written about it but truly no words can do it justice. All I can say is you have to see it for yourself. We live in an amazingly beautiful country. Arizona has become our 2nd favorite state. It is sooooo beautiful here. Jana wants to retire here but I don’t ever want to retire BUT I can see us living here one day. I encourage all y’all to come and check it out for yourself.  You will not be disappointed. So we can now say that we’ve seen “the 7th wonder of the world” can’t wait to  see the other 6. But until then…it’s on to New Mexico.

Story and photos by Dave Baez

PS!!! We drove Dave’s Prius to AL from LA its cost us 140.00 Can you believe that!
street_style_jana_williams_photographer-2 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-3 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-4 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-5 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-6 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-7 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-8 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-9 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-10 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-11 street_style_jana_williams_photographer-12 street_style_jana_williams_photographer

2 comments

comment

  1. Hi Jana and Dave,
    The pics are absolutely gorgeous. Great job.. Hope you enjoyed your trip.. Again, it was so nice to have met you while visiting in Florida.. Happy and healthy New Year to both of you!!

    Wendy .. Regards to June.. Tell her I said Cindy.. Lol!!!

Comments are closed.

 

Jana Williams
Photography

Visit the Website
powered by chloédigital