A Moment in Time

Well it seems that many of us might have a little bit of time on our hands.  I hear people saying that they don't know what they are going to do with all this time or that finally they have time to get caught up on their 'stuff' or how much time is this going to take until we can all get back to our normal life.  Time is such an interesting concept.  Hypothetically it is endless.  I will love you until the end of time brings a tear to many an eye during a RomCom as its intention is forever and ever and ever...and who wouldn't want that undying expression of love.  And yet time is finite.  With a deadline approaching fast and furious, time can seem very very finite.  And I find as I grow older time becomes even more finite. I do not say this to be morose or depressing but in recognition of the fact that with the passing of each year I become more aware of the end of my time. And that awareness makes me more aware of  moments in time.  It makes me more engaged in making the most of those moments.  It makes me more open to considering momentous opportunities. More open when one of my children throws out an opportunity to join them in an activity, and I try to take advantage of the moment.  In doing so I have found myself bouncing off boulders while whitewater canoeing, poised on a mountain top with a pair of sticks strapped to my feet against my doctors advice (thats another story) or being snorted at by a moose in the night after invading her island in the middle of the North Saskatchewan River.  These memories and  many more have become moments in my time that are treasured even in their hilarity.
So when I got a call from my Dad asking if I could join him and my Mom on a trip to the south primarily as the driver on the trip but also to share a roadtrip together, I knew it was an opportunity for a special moment.  It would be time together when these days we do not get to spend very much time together anymore and it really was a moment not to be missed. So with my husband and my kids offering up some of their time to cover duties on the ranch, I hopped a flight east and settled in behind the steering wheel of my Dad's truck to start our 10 day roadtrip southwest.

Before the journey began though I took time for a visit with my sister. Lots of laughs and memories is always time well spent and the only way to kick off a moment in time.

The wonderful Sophie joined us on our expedition and many a time was spent strolling with her under blue sunny skies.  Dogs do that for you.  They convince you to take time and go outside and have a look about.  Its good for their soul and yours.

 

The first couple of days we spent just trying to get away from winter.  And trying to figure out our travel patterns, the road trip dynamics and the darn GPS in the truck.  By day three we were pulling into Branson Missouri.  We arrived with no more snow on the ground and a temporary peace with the GPS lady.

Branson is a town built for tourism. It reminded me of Niagara Falls without the Falls.  Instead there were big Show Houses featuring every genre of country music with a little gospel thrown in the mix.
And really you cannot go to Branson without meeting Elvis...

And Garth Brooks....

And that guy from Season 9 of American Idol that you had no idea where he ended up....

With our fill of country music we hopped in the truck and headed towards Texas.  The weather was warm, the skies were blue...and then this dark cloud gathered...and then I saw this sign at a rest stop.  Yes there are worse things then snow...Our cloud just spewed out rain with a little bit of hail thankfully.

And then blue skies again and joy of joys I even got to drive on Highway 66. No Dad, the Interstate is NOT Highway 66.  Highway 66 is that little ribbon of road that you can sometimes see from the Interstate and may even drive on it especially if you are going to one of your favourite places called Tucumcari to see if the Tepee Curios Shop is actually open this time.  And more joy, it is actually open.  And even greater joy, it is full of touristy kitsche!

We pulled into Santa Rosa with the sun shining and had an amazing Mexican feed along with the worst Margherita I have ever had in my life.  Which was fine too because it was warm and sunny and a moment is a moment.

And then come morning it was not so sunny....

After a harrowing drive on I-40 which was reduced to one lane as we crept along in a long line up of transport trucks, we finally made it to Santa Fe and checked into the historic La Fonda.  A little bit of blue came peeping through the clouds which was a predictor of our most excellent stay.

After a bit of sustenance (French Onion Soup) at the Cafe Versailles it was off to explore this wonderful old town.

 


Following up with a warm up around the fire.  What fire you say?  So did I.

Such a beautiful old hotel and we did eventually get a roaring fire and enjoyed some fine meals in the dining room.

And my Dad got to revisit this church that he had seen on an earlier visit with its charming story of its spiral staircase.  The Church was part of a convent in Santa Fe.  The nuns would have to climb a steep dangerous ladder to the loft for each service.  So they prayed for a solution and a carpenter arrived on their doorstep.  He stayed with them for a couple of years building a curving staircase to the loft that remains an engineering marvel to this day.  It has no central supporting system but just rises in curves to the loft.  Self supporting and architecturally amazing. Originally it did not have a railing but rather stood as freestanding stairs rising gently to meet the loft overhead. I certainly took a moment in that church to reflect upon the beauty of the staircase and how it contributed so naturally to an uplifting space.

Off we went again on our way to Winslow, Arizona trying not to let the sound of our own wheels drive us crazy...And on our way we took an unexpected detour just because every roadtrip should have an unexpected detour.  El Marapais National Monument.  How I loved thee.  Its a lava field with lava cones and remnants of homesteading attempts from many years ago and a National Park Guide who was utterly exceptional in her disinterest in the site. I loved her!  No I am not being sarcastic.  It takes a lot of stamina to maintain the level of disinterest that she exhibited in the face of my obvious interest.  'Yeah well its a lava field.  Not much more that I can say' followed up by 'Well I suppose you could drive in on this road if you wanted to see it better' and then 'its really just a bunch of lava'.  When I noticed a trail called the Continental Divide Trail that cut through the National Park and from the map could see that it extended all the way from the Canadian border, through the Park and down into Mexico and then became quite excited about the discovery of another potential backpacking route I might adventure onto she actually groaned and said 'Yeah the Dividers will start arriving in the park in about a month'.  Then she leaned against the counter and exhaled a long sigh. I laughed about her for hours. I still laugh about her now when I think about her.  I laugh even though she would not provide any more details regarding the Rattlesnake postings about the site other than to say 'yeah there's snakes'. Now that was a moment and it was time well spent on our little roadtrip detour. I hope to visit again and maybe I will encounter her again vigorously brushing her teeth in the Visitor Centre washroom just as she was when I first encountered her having no idea that she was actually the guide and would soon be sighing over the fact that people actually want to see a lava field...and not see a snake.

Off we trotted to Gallup, New Mexico and my favourite stay.  El Rancho was built in this tiny little town to house Hollywood stars while they were filming in the surrounding landscape.  This is the heart of the American West and many many westerns were filmed in the vicinity.  The Hotel was built in the style of a ranch house just to keep everyone on theme.  It continues today with very few changes and with the rooms named after the actors and actresses who once stayed in them.  I loved its quaint character and raw charm.

And there was good homestyle food served in the hotel restaurant where the waitress rules and calls you Honey and tells you to clean up your plate and compliments your eating prowess when you lick that plate clean. That makes for a fine meal and a lovely memory.  I was wishing I had my National Parks Guide with me for some of this down home lovin'.

Our final day of roadtrip touring was a doozy filled with Painted Deserts, Petrified Forests and the grand daddy of them all...the Grand Canyon.  Oh and a raven who was a poser.  Love posers.  Speaking of posers,  first we had to get our group selfie abilities sorted....

 

And I had to get my Highway 66 feels going with this stop at the original route of Highway 66 through the park which no longer exists because there is the Interstate now...which is NOT Highway 66 Dad.  But you could see the remnants with an old car and hydro poles stretching off into the distance holding nothing in place anymore and simply representing what once was a road in another moment in time.

The Painted Desert...so many colours against a blue backdrop.  Formations and colours all representing the passage of time. It was wondrous and overwhelming.  You became aware of the passage of time and the many generations of previous inhabitants both human and animal that had wandered the landscape.  It tells the story of the infinity of time and yet barely scratches the surface of history. 

And then there is wood that is not wood but rather rock.  And yet within that rock you can count the circles of the years and understand its age when its life ended as wood and began as rock. 

Then came the poser.  The preamble to the truly indescribable.

I don't know what to say about the Grand Canyon.  I have heard many others sigh and say that they have no words to describe it either after a visit.  I now understand the reluctance they had to minimize it with words.  I absorbed it.  I barely grasped its immensity.  It is a wonder in this world.  I will return as I need to walk down into the Grand Canyon and feel its presence surround me.   But on this journey I was satisfied with exploring its depths with my eyes and absorbing its magnificence.  I stood on the edge in silence.

Ten days we spent on the road together.  Meandering along ribbons of highways revisiting old haunts that my parents had enjoyed visiting in the past and wanted to see again.  We mixed it up with a little bit of new simply because life cannot always be about the old haunts but should always hold the promise of a little bit of new. We chatted, we laughed, we argued, we lived.  And we made the most of a moment in time.  We made memories.