Dreams, Moments, Travels
Out in the middle of nowhere on our way back to Phoenix, Arizona. Besides the fact that there are no services for the next 57 miles or 92km which is unheard of in Germany, where Jutta is returning to in just four days, it was the sign about the prohibition of sheep and goats that caught our eye. Happy New Year, and welcome to 2014.
We are in Death Valley National Park on the last day of the year. With Jutta having been here a couple of other times, we decided to take her into a corner she hadn’t visited yet, nor had we.
To get to our surprise location, we had to head to the west side of the park and find the Emigrant Canyon Road turnoff.
Our route took us right into the snowline on this beautiful blue sky day.
We are at the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns that are now long out of use, but back in the late 1800s they were busy at work making charcoal for the miners in the area.
Our views were spectacular up here, affording Jutta sights of Death Valley that few take the time to see. From way up here, we needed to way back down there as Caroline needed to get to the visitors center before they closed so she could be sworn in for her newest Junior Ranger badge.
With a stroll down a boardwalk in Death Valley, we closed out 2013.
There are times when capturing photos becomes secondary to getting to a place, especially when leaving later in the day.
We were heading into the California desert with Jutta to her second favorite place in America, Death Valley.
The last photo of Caroline and her mom at the Grand Canyon and while sad on one hand, there are a thousand incredible memories shared here at the edge of this vast place of wonder.
While it might have pained Jutta to rise so early on freezing cold days, there’d be no missing sunrise in the Grand Canyon. There weren’t many photos taken and shared across these posts as on previous visits to the United States; we made every opportunity to capture the moments of my mother-in-law in every new place she visited. This trip was not only her last, but due to the hip she broke earlier in the year, her mobility wasn’t the best, so we just took things easy.
Of the other photos of our day spent along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, this is the only one that really mattered.
Just spending time with Jutta was enough and really, that was all she ever wanted anyway. Well, that and to laugh.
As it grew late in the day, we took in as much of the sunset as we could before heading in for an early dinner and sitting around chatting on Christmas Day.
It’s Christmas Eve, as we arrive late in the afternoon to catch the sunset in the Grand Canyon National Park.
This is Jutta’s first Christmas visit to the Grand Canyon of the nearly 12 times she’s been to this park during the ten trips she’s made to America. The Grand Canyon was a dream come true for her, and she’s never bored in her many visits, but sadly this is her last time here. When we made this journey up north for the occasion, we were aware of my mother-in-law’s growing physical weakness as she’s 78 years old in this photo, but the other part of the situation that’s looming is her declining memory. I can’t help but look at this photo and now see it as a toast to all the incredible times the three of us have spent together over the years her daughter has lived so far away. I’d give anything to see this old lady in the El Tovar once more for dinner and to wake up the next morning for sunrise over one of her favorite places in the world. Fröhliche Weihnachten forever, Jutta.