We are entering the long 4th-of-July weekend here in the United States, with Caroline having just received her first U.S. Passport as an American citizen. She actually opened it last night, but I decided that it should go here at the beginning of the 12th trip of 2022, during America’s celebration of Independence Day. When her workday is finished, and I’m done with preparations, we’ll be driving up to Fredonia, Arizona, tonight. Just two months ago, we were passing through this small Arizona border town on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park. Tomorrow’s path will take us further north to Heber City, Utah, which will be our base for hiking in the mountains. While seemingly everyone else is lamenting the economy, inflation, the price of gas, the state of the union, and the myriad of other nagging issues, we are filling our tank, ice chest, and bags full of gratitude that even in the “worst” of times, this is still one of the greatest places to be. Happy birthday, United States, and thanks for welcoming my German woman to the fold.
The same procedure as every trip? Yep, the same procedure as every trip. Wait until the last four hours before we are supposed to leave, and I get busy with loose ends. I was certain I had plenty of time; most everything was already done, or so I thought. Pack clothes and toiletries, the ice chest, the crate with dry foods, silverware, and a couple of bowls. Take out the trash, wash any dishes that were used this morning or at lunch, remember that I needed to get ice that I forgot while I was over picking up prescriptions, vacuum, turn up the A/C, power down computers, unplug all plugs that don’t have to be plugged in, sweep the patio, and get everything into the car. I’m at Caroline’s office at 3:05, five minutes late, but that’s okay because she won’t get away until 3:30.
This is our normal and that’s that. We are on the road and driving north. I called our lodging for the night in Fredonia, the Grand Canyon Motel as it’s known, though it’s a good distance from that landmark, and told the proprietor Chuck that we’d likely not show up until between 9:00 and 9:30. Google is showing us that we’ll arrive right in the middle of that.
It’s that old blistering-hot temperature of summer as we left the valley, but up in the mountains of Flagstaff, it slips into the mid-60s, likely due to all the rain clouds in the vicinity. We only see a few drops, see a few flashes of lightning, and in a few minutes, we are on the other side of the city. Somewhere near Wupatki National Monument, we pulled over for dinner. Actually, we needed to pull over for photos of the god rays, and well, that was a great place to break into the ice chest and fish out the bologna, boiled egg, and lettuce in which we’ll be wrapping our sandwiches. A simple, fast, on-the-go dinner so we waste no time and simultaneously save money while dining in the greatest outdoor dining room of all time.
We had to stop a few more times for dramatic skies as a travel-themed blog post without travel photos would be like a bologna/egg sandwich without mustard. As a hint of things to come, this photo was shot near Marble Canyon between the North and South Rims of the Grand Canyon, where we’ll be staying in mid-October when I’ll be sure to bring my 70-200mm lens for photographing those condors that live nearby.
It was 9:15 when we pulled into a Family Dollar that was open, the only store open after 9:00 in this small outpost of Fredonia; we needed fresh ice for our provisions. Our goal on this trip is not to go out for meals; you see, I came off a 5-day fast on Monday and decided to dip right into a keto diet as I’m aiming to drop 20 pounds. By 9:25, we are checked in and heading to cabin 6, which includes a small kitchenette, for a miserly price of only $70. It’s now 10:00, and I’m skipping photo prep as I feel more pressed to jot down these few notes before we turn in. Come tomorrow, we have a 70-mile drive before jumping on our first trail, but more of that then.