Saturday, January 12, 2008

crossing arizona, baby!


Next morning, we woke up early, at 6:30 am, and we drove off heading north towards the Grand Canyon. It was a fun long drive through Arizona. We stopped along the way what seemed a thousand times to buy coffees at petrol stations, to take pictures and shoot silly videos of ourselves. That's what traveling with friends is about, about being with each other and having fun.

Sara and I hadn't spent too much time together for some years. We've been friends for fourteen plus years. We met at University. At first, Sara hated me, at least, that's what she confessed me when she finally gave in and became my friend. I grow on people little by little. I know that now.

Our first stop was at Sedona. Sedona's main attraction is its stunning array of red sandstone formations, the Red Rocks of Sedona.The Red Rocks form a nice backdrop for everything from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails. The place is full of North Americans who come for a ride on some strange pink jeeps. We, instead, stopped for a coffee, a very expensive one.

After the comforting cup of coffee we resumed our journey and went through the breathtaking Oak Creek Canyon where we first saw snow and continued north to Flagstaff. We arrived at the Grand Canyon at 14:00 pm after paying a 25 US$ entrance fee (that allows you to enter the National Park during one week).

The Grand Canyon is a stunning place although there was too much snow for the outfits we were wearing. We weren't prepared at all for that weather (-10 degrees Celsius at night). After spending the afternoon there, we left the park.

On the way back, Sara gave in and let me drive her automatic car. It was my first time to drive such a car and I must confess: I didn't like it. Not only did it lack a clutch but it also had the speedometre in Kilometres (the road signs are in miles), making the journey absolutely tense as I was trying to work out what on earth 55 miles per hour was in kilometres as well as looking for a non-existing clutch to change a non-existing gear. At the same time, Sara would shout at me ¨Slow down, slow down!¨ every time we went past a police patrol. Once, she even said to me if they stop us, you do not speak English. I could not understand what the reasoning was behind that statement, anyway nobody stopped us. Luckily.


2 comments:

Sarita said...

Ya tenía que salir el que me caías mal cuando nos conocimos.....jaja, pero es que ya sabes como soy...sincera... por lo mismo te digo ahora que te quiero un montón y que se te echa de menos en este México lindo y querido.
Vuelve pronto darling....
Sara

Unhinged Monica said...

je je