Monthly Archives: June 2012

Something Grand

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No picture or video will ever prepare you for that moment when you arrive at the edge of those 7,000 feet cliffs and set your eyes into the vast, superb and majestic Grand Canyon. It’s such a breathtaking experience that will leave you in awe of nature and its wondrous works. Billions of years of geological and bio-atmospheric conditions have sculpted and modeled layers and layers of rocks transforming what was once a mountain into a plateau of diverse peaks and valleys whose colors change at every time of the day.

The sun bathes the rocks in different shades of yellows, oranges and reds making the landscape in front of you alive and of an intimidating beauty that will swallow you. The vista is also surprisingly different at every view point, one can never get tired but motivated to walk and explore this giant in all its splendor.

After parking our RV at the Trailer Village in the South Rim part of the Grand Canyon National Park, we went to the visitor center where we watched an introductory video on the history of the canyon. From there, we walked to Mather Point and spotted some more scenarios and wild life (some crows, hawks and turkey vultures flying over the plateau like they own it.) We caught a free outdoor Park Ranger program on the formation of the canyon and saw some three-dimensional models and displays with beautifully crafted artwork at the Yavapai Point and Geology Museum. Here we were able to use some big telescopes to get a closer view of the other side, the North Rim.

We decided to admire the sunset at the Canyon Rim, specifically at the Bright Angel Lodge, (where we also stopped for dinner, since barbecuing was prohibited at the campground for fire restriction alerts.) Again, no picture does justice to the real painting that dances in front of your eyes; it’s pure magic and poetry. I loved strolling around the little pathway that leads to the Lookout Studio and loved even more browsing inside this romantic little cottage. It’s a small store with a wide variety of interesting merchandise featuring art, photography, rocks and items celebrating the California Condors that frequent the area seasonally.

 

At dusk we headed back to the visitor center for the annual Star Party (I couldn’t believe our luck to be there right when this event unfolded) where dozens of locals or aficionados kindly display and share their huge telescopes with everyone to admire the firmament. The first planet I saw was Saturn and I was so excited to see all the rings and even the shades so clearly that my “wooowww!!” caught the curiosity of fellow star gazers. We made friends with a nice couple from the UK, some chaperones from Colorado and hopped from one telescope to another waiting for our turn to look into the universe. It was so pitch dark and exciting, it really felt like a party. We saw myriads of stars in a nebulosa (donut shaped) and star cluster made of 200 million stars! The sky was so clear and unaltered by any artificial light that you could almost see all the galaxies without any telescope, so fantastic! Back at the campground, I was so happy to fall asleep with our skylight open into the starry night.

The next day, we jumped in one of the free shuttles (they efficiently serve the South Rim Park at any time of the day with rides at every 10 minutes) and went up the red line to the furthest view point in the South Rim, the Hermit’s Rest. We so enjoyed driving through the beautiful road that traces the canyon; you can take pictures from the bus and decide where to stop based on the map but also on the driver’s suggestions. They all act as tour guides  as they drive, they graciously explain the features and characteristics of every sight and based on their advice, we got off at a couple of stops (Mohave Point being the best with close views of the Colorado river!) One thing that I was surprised to see is that, when you drive on the road alongside the canyon, especially in the sections where you’re surrounded by trees on both sides, you might think you’re in the mountains. The air smells so good and clean that you have the illusion that you’re even in Yosemite! I would never have thought that the Grand Canyon Park could be so green, I pictured it being just a giant collection of rocks inside out. LOL!  Also, by riding the bus, I noticed that the residential area is pretty big and well organized, when I imagined the Grand Canyon to be deserted (with the exception of the camp grounds, the visitor center and the grocery store.)

We continued our tour by driving East down to Desert View with the Watchtower being our destination. At 7,438 feet, Desert View is the highest point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and the Watchtower rises an additional 70 feet. Designed by Mary Colter (another woman architect!! Girl power!) and built in 1932, its design was based on towers Colter found at ancient pueblos in the Four Corners region. The Watchtower has a circular staircase that takes to a beautiful room featuring famed Hopi artist Fred Kabotie’s murals of petroglyphs, pictographs and artifacts. There is a second-floor rooftop terrace overlooking the canyon, the Colorado river, and Plateau, and Navajo lands. The tower also hosts a gift shop that offers authentic Native American arts and handcrafts, along with other southwestern gifts.

We exited the Grand Canyon through Highway 64 that cuts through the desert and the Navajo nation. This landscape is completely different than the green one you encounter by accessing the South Rim coming from Williams and it descends so rapidly, you don’t realize that you’re suddenly thousands of feet lower! The Navajo nation is desolated and sort of depressing…there are some scattered shacks and mobile homes, not real towns. This is a protected land with all Native American descendants that mostly work at the huge trading post. There’s a restaurant that have some traditional Navajo dishes, I tried the vegeterian taco but it’s so huge I couldn’t finish it. I almost bought an Indian talking stick, used by the tribe chief during the meetings; when the chief holds it, none is allowed to speak. I was tempted of getting one for when I have to make my point with the Duke, but then I realized I always make a point stick or no stick (!)…so I just bought a big Native buttery chap stick for my poor lips who looked and felt like sand paper. Note to self, always protect your lips in the desert if you want to be able to open your mouth at all!

Get your kicks on Route 66

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I just got back from a 5 day vacation adventure in Arizona and I’m delighted to report that I made it back in one piece! LOL…I’ve been to this neighboring state a few other times before, but never in an RV and it was quite an experience! I enjoyed the freedom that you get when renting a motor home; you can decide to stop anywhere you like in the middle of nowhere and still have the comfort of a bathroom and an equipped kitchen (with refrigerator, stove and microwave oven among other things.) You can move around while somebody is behind the wheels (although this is not recommended in winding roads), take a nap on one of the beds or read without getting a headache. The view is also better, as RVs are higher than other vehicles ..BUT, on the downside, it is quite noisy (all the pots and pans and things stuffed in the many cabinets tend to sing along and create a soundtrack of their own), also, if you want to save on gas and say, not turn on the AC for a while and drive with your windows open, you might seriously get a heat stroke. I managed to avoid that, but Arizona in the summertime is like the burning Sahara desert and you have to carefully choose your options and organize your trip accordingly. Say, drive in lesser hot hours and refill the water tank and empty the water waste. I was surprised to see that an RV runs pretty fast, but it consumes a lot of gas..so it can become quite pricy unless you go with a party of friends and share the costs. That said, RVs are fun and the real American way to explore the country; since we wanted to visit the quintessential  U.S. destination, the Grand Canyon, what other better way to do so than in a recreational vehicle? We packed our beloved dog and part of our royal family and started our journey.

Along the way we passed different flats which, with the exception of the towns nearby the Colorado river, were mostly desert-like and especially in Arizona (not necessarily landscape-wise, but also in terms of isolation there is land, land, land as far as the eyes can see.) We stopped, literally in the middle of nowhere, for our first lunch in our RV right next to a building shaped like a giant golf ball. At first we thought it was some sort of creative space or store open to the public, but it’s a private residence that has small UFOs, space shuttles and unicorns all over for garden decor. The real store sits in a trailer and has all Area 55 paraphernalia. We wondered why everything UFOs is so big in this state and we came to the conclusion that some areas resemble the surface of the moon or Mars, making them a desirable place for ET’s landing! Ah, just kidding!

We turned onto Route 66 from Highway 40 (about 100 miles into Arizona) to experience some of the “On the Road” thrill. We stopped in Seligman, a fun town that could easily be the right setting for a David Lynch/Spaghetti Western movie! Seligman doesn’t have more than twenty buildings on each side of the road; some of them are colorful and filled with all sort of tacky souvenirs and vintage classics, other ones are so dusty and run down that you’d expect some old drunk cowboys emerging and cause trouble at any time of the day!

 

Williams is only about 40 minutes away from Seligman and still on Route 66, but couldn’t be more different. It’s a picturesque mountain town with still all the Western charm (a rodeo performance was on the way when we pulled into town) but more polished and touristy. Each side of the street is decorated with flowers and flashy neon signs, cute restaurants and it has at least a dozen of different stores which carry the Route 66 paraphernalia, but also tons of native American and Arizona art. Since Williams is the very last before the Grand Canyon, we decided to check into an RV camping ground here.

Hearst Castle..it’s where I belong!

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Who said we don’t have any magnificent castles in the U.S.? If you’re eager to visit one, drive up to San Simeon to the Hearst Castle and you will not be disappointed! Although, built only in the 20th century, this 90,000 sf property combines historic architectural styles and features many artifact and art pieces from different eras and countries to rival some authentic castles in the old world.

The Hearst Castle is so exquisitely unique on many levels. Where to start? Architect Julia Morgan, commissioned by the newspaper magnate William R. Hearst, designed this estate between 1919 and 1947 (I find it very fascinating that this impressive property was conceived and completed by a woman in a time when women were just beginning to gain the right to vote!)

The castle consists of a central main house “Casa Grande” of Mediterranean Revival style, with imposing towers inspired by a baroque Spanish cathedral. Its southern facade has some Venetian elements especially in the windows (they remind me of the ones of the Doge’s Palace.) There are three separate cottages also in a Mediterranean style. Overall, the castle features 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world’s largest private zoo (although, only zebras still roam the grounds nowadays.)

The Neptune Pool is the most spectacular pool I’ve ever seen! It’s humongous and almost intimidating, as it looks like a floating museum. Well, I guess it is literally a museum, since it features an ancient Roman temple front, transported wholesale from Europe and reconstructed at the site. The indoor pool, also gigantic, is decorated with a myriad of mosaics.

There are different tours offered to visit this gem, the one I chose is the Grand Rooms tour which includes the Assembly Room, the Refectory, the Billiard Room and the theatre. The indoors are as grand as the outdoors and they are so well preserved. They are all decorated with the most interesting, refined pieces of furniture and art installations (the Assembly Room and Refectory have authentic seatings from an European gothic church. The Refectory even inspired the design of Harry Potter’s dining hall at Hogwarts Academy.)

These are the social rooms when every evening, W. R. Hearst’s guests gathered and entertained. Invitations to Hearst Castle were highly coveted during its heyday in the 1920s and ’30s. The Hollywood and political elite often visited, usually flying into the estate’s airfield or taking a private Hearst-owned train car from Los Angeles. Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the Marx Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, Dolores Del Rio, and Winston Churchill were among Hearst’s A-list guests. While guests were expected to attend the formal dinners each evening, they were normally left to their own devices during the day while Hearst directed his business affairs. The estate’s theater usually screened films from Hearst’s own movie studio, Cosmopolitan Productions.

If only walls could talk…

Feeling right at home!