South by Southwest - Week 5: Awe and wonder

It's been a week (and a few days) of awe and wonder in the Szakos household. We started the week at the Grand Canyon. We'd been there before, when the girls were in middle school. We had camped on the North Rim, and it should have been amazing, but there were forest fires to the west of us, and the entire canyon had filled with smoke. In three days, we never saw anything below the rim.

This year, the North Rim campground was closed - for fires, again - so we went to the more visited South. We'd been experiencing a bit of canyon fatigue after all the national parks we'd been visiting. Majestic towers carved from the earth by time - amazing, yes, but we'd seen a lot of them. But now we know why this canyon is called Grand. Wow! Up to 18 miles across and a mile deep, stretching for 277 miles, it really is awesome. Pictures can't begin to do it justice, and mine certainly don't. We ended up staying for three days, hiking the various parts of the rim and camping in the nearby National Forest.

On the third day, I took a chance and signed up for a 2-hour horseback ride through the National Forest. After 21 years, I wasn't sure how my body would hold up, but it was a lovely ride with no soreness and no regrets. After the Grand Canyon, we headed east into Navajo country, where we feasted on fry bread - both loaded with taco ingredients and plain in its original glory. Yum! 

One highlight of Navajo country was Monument Valley. We (including granddog Nash) took a ride with a local guide and spent almost three hours among the fantastical natural monuments. Sam told us the history and stories of the area, but left lots of silence to let the majesty of nature settle on us. It really is awe-inspiring.

Then, on Saturday, after standing on the point where four states (Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico) meet, we darted back into Colorado for No Kings Day in Cortez. What a hope-inspiring event it was. In 60% Republican Montezuma County (pop. 25,000), at least 500 folks showed up in defense of democracy. There were frogs and unicorns, of course, and dogs, and children and grandparents, and beautiful hand-made signs. The police were out in force, but their only actions were three times when MAGA folks drove by, revving their truck engines and belching black smoke, and were immediately pulled over and ticketed, to the cheers of the crowd. 

Saturday's No Kings events reminded me that democracy is not lost, and that millions of Americans believe that all should be equal under the law, that immigrants are people, that love is love, and that fascism is bad. A French friend in Lyon told me that they even held a protest there in support, as people did in cities around the world. 

We enter this sixth week of our trip renewed and hopeful.

Roads

We avoid highways on our journeys. Sometimes that puts us on some rough terrain; other times, we find ourselves on historic byways. 

The night of the No Kings protest, we went to camp in BLM land near Farmington, NM. The road had two crossings of a wash - a dry creek bed. The first was sandy and slidy. The second defeated our trusty van, which ended up bumper deep in sand. Fortunately, a man we had seen camping up the road (in a giant RV with a giant American flag painted on it) towed us out with his off-roader, and invited us to come stay in the campground where he and his friends were parked. 

The Grand Canyon

Just pictures. 

Navajo Reservation

We found the dinosaur tracks we visited 23 years ago, feasted on fry bread, and admired the majesty of Monument Valley.

No Kings (and Four Corners)

The Map is Complete!

You may have noticed the map of the U.S. on the back of the van. When we spend the night in a state with the van, we can add that state's sticker. On Saturday, after the No Kings Rally (and after getting stuck in the sandy wash), we earned our 48th sticker: New Mexico. Our quest to camp in all 48 contiguous states is complete.