The road to Zion

Day 3

Wednesday began with a quick checkout from our hotel and a couple of cups of coffee from the joint across the street- one guy working his ass off; taking orders, making espressos, taking the money and delivering food to tables. Soon we were on our way back to the Grand Canyon Rim but heading east and checking out new views.

Gotta say that you can't get tired of looking at the thing. It's like an eye massage. It's hard to get used to looking at something so big and 3D. It is a negative 3D since you are looking at hole but it is the cliffs that define the hole. Abby and I agreed that at some level, it looks "fake"; pristine like a computer generated background. And it is tough to get your mind around the dimensions. I enjoyed reading one of the instructional boards that describes the first Europeans setting eyes on the canyon. They were looking at boulders they reckoned to be the height of man that turned out to be 10 times that. It is truly a unique wonder to be seen in person at some point in one's life.

The last gawk was at a place called "Desert View". Clearly the biggest tourist spot we encountered, it had nice bathrooms, gift shops, a restaurant and an architectural feature, a cylindrical tower built in the 30's (also a gift shop) that offered great views (most of them through glass windows) and some native art. The architecture was designed by a woman and was pretty cool but it was way too crowded and touristy and neither Abby nor I was interested in shopping.

And so we left the park, speeding off to the east and north, looping around the Grand Canyon toward Zion National Park.

This driving phase took us through Navajo country. We quickly decided to engage some of the locals at one of the numerous jewelry and crafts set-ups along the road. We found them to be very friendly and cool and so it was easy to have a conversation that leads to buying stuff.

We cut north and crossed the Colorado River, or "Little Colorado" on an unimpressive, short bridge. There were not many roads up there so we were a bit surprised to see a "road closed ahead, please take detour" sign. We were forced to take a pretty big loop toward our destination and after finally calming down our protesting GPS, I predicted that this amended route would lead us to great views and conversations.

Abby and I are both introverts so there was never a lot of conversation but there was plenty of good music and deep thinking. The land along this route is very sprawling and seemingly barren. Singular rock formations grow larger and more distinctive as you approach them. They are incredibly beautiful and I found myself imagining scrambling over them or maybe being teleported to the top or to an interesting ledge. Small abodes could be seen at the most unlikely places. Way out in the middle of nowhere you would see a shack and wonder, "Why there?" There are no other buildings, no electricity, very little shade, no obvious way to get there from the road, no garden and you wonder whether there could be water anywhere in the vicinity.

As a motorist, it is striking that there are so few places to stop and get food or gas. There are no billboards or civilization for miles upon miles. When you do see a little community, you do not see any stores or commerce of any kind and certainly no invitation to draw you in from the road. And the drivers tend to be either the slow driver at the head of the line or the aggressive "bully" drivers who pass one car at a time whenever they can find the smallest gap. Both kinds of drivers provide some anxiety for me.

I also got to thinking about food. I always think about food anyway but traveling with Abby, we are always on the lookout for vegetarian options. But it struck me that this land was not veggie-sympathetic. You did see livestock grazing on the small and unappealing blotches of greenery but you never saw so much as a garden or any kind of farmer's field. I think if you are a localvore in this region, all you can really eat is meat. When on those very rare occasions we rolled through a small town, we passed by BBQ joints and steakhouses but rarely anything that could make us believe there would be much in the way of greens.

Around dinnertime (we skipped lunch) we found ourselves in Kanab, Utah, about 45 minutes short of Zion. There was major resurfacing of the main drag going on so it was difficult to see how to approach any restaurant and find a place to park. But a sign for "Charlie's Oasis" leaped out at us with the words "Vegan Entries". We were the only ones in the joint and the friendly owners talked about how much the construction was hindering their business. The guy waiting on us was wearing a "Detroit Tigers" shirt and we established that he was from Warren, Michigan. He and his wife were both vegetarians but the restaurant was mainly known for their awesome 1/2 pound burgers. Abby and I split an order of capptavi pasta with cheese and vegan sausage. It came with a salad that you make yourself and some fresh out of the oven, homemade bread sticks. All very delicious!

After dinner we asked the owner about our chances for lodging if we continued on to Zion. He said it would take about 45 minutes to get there and it it would be just getting dark. Lots of the places fill up by that time and they tend to be more expensive near the park. He recommended we stay in Kanab and relaunch in the morning. Since we were pretty road-tired, we agreed with that assessment and also accepted his recommendations of where to stay. It was a locally owned motel called, "Quail Park Lodge". Quaint and friendly with clean, modern, tasteful rooms. They have great wifi and Eric at the desk offered free DVDs, continental breakfast and a glass of wine. Yep. Go to the office and they'll pour you a plastic cup full of red or white.

Eric also gave me directions to the local grocery store and I stocked up on car food while Abby caught up on social networking. We did a Skype call to Alice in LA who had just completed her move to a new apartment and was anxious to see us arrive sooner rather than later.

Abby and I spit a container of Ben and Jerry's, watched the Daily Show and Colbert Report and then crashed.

This morning after continental breakfast, we'll be in Zion within the hour and ready to take on whatever the day brings us, including the decision of where to go next.