I suppose this random tangent could also be the result of many hours spent alone in the car with nothing but my thoughts. Well, not just my thoughts, I mean there's O'Fortune and Wall-E, and my giant, magical bag of snacks, and my cooler of ice cold drinks and yummy fruit, and my camera. But these aren't really things I can converse with. Granted, I do have my cell phone, but that only gets sporadic reception in the relatively desolate places I am choosing to travel through, maybe unconcsciously for that exact reason. Being alone with one's thoughts is a rarity these days. If you were to draw a pie chart of what flows through a person's head each day, it would probably only get about 5%, as it has to compete with work, cell phones, video games, television, radio, traffic noise, airplane noise, the humming of the AC, iPods, friends, family, etc. Maybe 5% is a bit generous even!
Again, all of this seems random and unrelated to my trip. But that's only because you weren't with me today as I drove through the majestic beauty that is the state of Utah! And I only went through the southwestern tip! I can't even imagine what the rest of the state must look like, and luckily I won't have to imagine for long as I will be making my way back through Utah in a few days as I head to Arches National Park, Salt Lake City, and up toward Yellowstone. It was the perfect setting for me and my thoughts. A car ride is a good time for contemplating deep things, but usually I listen to music which distracts and keeps thoughts away. Utah was so beautiful I wanted to experience it outside in the fresh air and so I stopped frequently to do so, standing in the silence, just me and my thoughts for a few minutes, finally finding some much needed peace from the rest of the world and the stresses of life.
Today was all about the scenic drive as there wasn't a specific attraction to visit. I have become a master at taking pictures while driving. In fact, the majority of the photos I took today were done while driving! Don't worry, I'm using my Bluetooth so I won't get a ticket. I'm pretty sure the new cell phone law doesn't say anything about using a camera while driving, although they probably should enact one soon as I did a little swerving, but never near any cars. I am a careful driver, I promise!
It took me almost 8 hours to get from Las Vegas to Page Arizona, which is only supposed 5 and a half hours when driving by the Vermilion Cliffs, which was my sight to see for the day. The time difference wasn't due to traffic or construction or any unwanted delays. Those 2 and a half hours were full of fun and challenges and something I'd long forgotten about: silence. I pulled off the main road probably 7 or 8 different times onto those little dirt/gravel shoulders or scenic overlooks found on many two-lane highways. The ones off the 15 still had some traffic noise, but not nearly as much as that caused by LA freeways for example, which is what I was used to. I used to fall asleep to it every night while attending USC, it was just the norm for me. So when I pulled off the smaller, scenic route in a rural, uninhabited part of Utah, the first thing I noticed when I got out of the car, besides the beautiful scenery of course, was the silence. Not too many cars travel this route, and the silence was deafening to the point that when a car or truck did finally pass by me, it was so loud it was a shock to my system, a jolt, an unwelcome interuption of my one on one time with nature, a disturbance of my peace and quiet. I'd forgotten what silence sounded like as I am an electronics addict just like everyone else. I always have the TV on whether I'm watching or not, I always blast the radio loud in the car to help pass the time while sitting in traffic, and living in LA, I was constantly surrounded by noise from cars and traffic and overlapping conversations from the millions of passerby in stores and restaurants.
I enjoyed the silence and scenery as much as I was capable as I have limited experience with such peace and beauty. I didn't want to forget that feeling and what better way to capture the moment than with photos! I decided it was time to break out the tripod as I wanted to remember not only the sights, but the fact that I was actually there as well! Traveling alone means there's no one there to take your picture, which is why I borrowed/stole a tripod from my parents for the solo trip. I'm definitely not an expert yet! It's easy to frame a picture with the scenery you want to include, but it's a whole different thing using the self-timer and running into the frame before the 10 seconds runs out and hoping you look halfway decent and are actually in the picture! Parts of me usually made it in the shot, an arm, half my head, my hair blowing in the hot wind. On a few rare occasions, the pictures turned out pretty great, with me in the center of the picture with a beautiful backdrop of rocky cliffs and red rock mountains. Even the Colorado River was kind enough to pose with me for a couple shots as it leisurely flowed along the riverbed. I haven't done any hiking yet so running back and forth to get in the shot in under 10 seconds was my work out for the day! A lot of the pictures may seem redundant or repetetive but each one seemed important to me at the time so I'm leaving them all on Snapfish for all to see! Sorry about the sideways ones - I'll flip them around when I have more time!
Today was also a day of opposites. I started out in the bright, crowded, noisy, smoggy city of Las Vegas and a few hours later found myself among muted tones, empty spaces, silence, and fresh air in the awesome Utah terrain. Then I went from the the dry, desertlike terrain of the red rock shelves and cliffs to an elevation of 6,000 feet in the Kanab National Forest full of evergreens and a little rain, if you can believe it! The temperature difference between the two terrains was noticable as well, from dry heat to wet cool, maybe a 30 degree difference. In addition to changing states from Nevada to Arizona to Utah and back to Arizona just today, I also changed time zones several times to from Pacific to Moutain back to Pacific since Arizona is on Pacific time right now. What a crazy day!
Another random thought I had as I was driving through the beautiful Utah terrain is that while I am so grateful that we have roads that allow everyone to travel to and experience the multitude of natural wonders that the United States has to offer, I regret that some of the natural mountains and rock formations had to be destroyed or altered in order for the road to be built. I drove through so many mountains today that had been shaved through to accomodated the best path for the road.
While it was amazing to see and drive on a road slicing through a mountain made of solid red rock, it was sad as well that the beauty I wanted to see and experience came at a price. Everything seems to have a cost these days, even experiencing the seemingly free view of nature. I hate that in a way I am polluting these beautiful places I saw today and fell in love with by driving to see them in my carbon-emitting car. Granted, my little blue Honda isn't doing much damage by itself, but the cars driven by the millions of people that come to visit places like the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon must be having some negative effect on those natural environments. I'm not saying I'm going to start walking the rest of my trip to see Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. Obviously, that's not a logical solution. In fact, I instead want to encourage other people to get in their cars and drive to see these cool sights. I want people to see what a beautiful planet we live on hidden underneath those concrete jungles we keep building. I'm also so thankful for organizations like the National Park Service for working to preserve and protect these imporant lands in America from us animals of the jungle, so to speak. I don't want to start picketing and protesting for everyone to save the planet or anything too out there, but maybe in the future I'll make certain choices differently now that I've had these inspiring experiences amongst nature. Maybe I'll choose to live somewhere with a view of something other than the building next door or at least somewhere within walking distance from home so I can walk or bike to work and cut down on both pollution and stress! I'll try to be better about recycling and appreciating the planet's natural beauty and pausing to enjoy some much needed moments of silence and making sure I have time alone with my thoughts away from all the other distractions in life.
Anywho, I'm not sure I'm making sense anymore, which means it's probably time to say goodnight as I have another big day tomorrow. I'm off to the Grand Canyon next and I want to get an early start to hopefully beat some of the traffic and heat. I'm looking forward to the possible silence provided by one of the most breathtaking places in the world, that is if I can find a nice spot away from screaming children and tourists conversing in foreign dialects. Wish me luck, and if you can, find some silence in your life where you can be alone with your thoughts, if only for a few minutes here and there. I know it's tough in this busy, noisy world we live in, but trust me, it's worth it!!!
