Road Trip
The kids were good,
the scenery was great,
the family was swell.
What more can you ask for when entering what could have been Road Trip Hell??
We had some snow on the drive down,
but it wasn't slippery.
Our hotel fucked up everyone's reservations,
but we all had beds in the end.
It rained on the day we were going to swim and hike,
but we went bowling and saw "Blades of Glory" instead.
(loved the movie, but don't see it with your 13 year old neices and nephews if they're mormon...it's a little inappropriate!)
Our first stop was Goblin Valley, and it was a lot of fun.
Lots of climbing and running around for the kids and the weather was perfect.
My little goblins, in a cave.
From my notebook:
The road between Goblin Valley and Zion National Park is scattered with scenery, more national parks, and towns so small they are hardly more than a loose collection of houses. Some of them make an impact on the 2-lane, twisting state road passing through them; some don't. Scenes of future based-on-a-true-story horror movies flash by the windows, the faded signs and peeling paint stabbing me with regret for having missed these towns when they were alive.
Here, "ramshackle" is the new "black".
Cameron tells of one town that was buried by a flash flood and left there, a miniature and dusty-western version of Atlantis. No buried treasures, no mystical creatures--just farm houses and rusted-out tractors.
The backseat hosts 3 sleeping boys (for a little while, at least), and my husband drives, so I am left to simply watch the road change shape in front of us. It feels like a long rope being held by a large, strong hand and given a shake--it coils and twists with such elegance and slow grace that we do not lose our way, but continue swallowing the yellow-dotted length of dark grey with the gaping mouth of our car.
We see herds of elk, and round a bend to surprise and be surprised by a deer--caught momentarily in our daytime-running headlights before bounding elegantly to the other side. Hawks circle against the bright, deep blue of the sea-like sky. I want to open the sun roof and stand up in my seat, opening my mouth to let sounds of joy permeate this serene world into which we've stumbled. There are few other cars and we feel wrapped in the solitude of our journey, safe in our rugged car packed with wholesome snacks and water. The handy little guage says we have 200 miles worth of gas left; we think there are fewer miles than that between us and the freeway--the real world. |
posted by Bored Housewife at
11:08 AM
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