Spring break
Last week, Linda and I enjoyed a spring break vacation with our older daughter and her family, including boys ages 2 and 9. We visited the Grand Canyon and other sites in Arizona.
Here are a few mostly impersonal notes from the trip.
At the canyon’s visitor center, a very entertaining and informative film told us that the canyon is etched a little deeper each year – about the depth of a sheet of paper, or .004 of an inch. At that rate, it has gotten .2 inches deeper, less than a quarter of an inch, since I first saw it 50 years ago. It didn’t look any different to me!
It’s still a place of incredible beauty and mystery. It beggars description. Any photo you take of it turns out to be disappointing because it fails to convey the sheer majesty of the place. Disappointing, that is, unless there are human faces in it. The faces of loved ones give you perspective on the canyon in the background.
What you see in the canyon changes every few feet that you move along the rim and every time the light changes. Magnificent!
The weather was cool, hovering around 60, but a brisk wind made it feel a lot colder. Spring break is apparently a popular time to visit, because by the end of our visit the park was packed. We had arranged to go our separate ways for a bit and then meet at the coffee shop for something warm to drink. I stood in line outside for 10 minutes waiting to get inside. At that point we were reunited, and we abandoned the idea of getting refreshments.
To get to the park, we drove about two hours north from Flagstaff. We arrived about 9:30 a.m., which we were warned is about as late as you can get there and still find a parking space. There are four or five stations at the south entrance, which is the most popular and the most crowded. Cars were backed up five or six deep at that time, but we had to wait only a few minutes to get through.
When we left the park around 3 p.m., cars were backed up nearly a quarter of a mile. Though the park is open 24 hours a day, the visitor center closes at 4. When we left, parking lot #4 was so jammed with cars parked in marked slots and willy nilly everywhere else that we had trouble picking a path out of the lot.
We had forgotten to bring our America the Beautiful lifetime senior pass to national parks, so we had to pay $20 at the gate for a one-year pass. Still, that’s a considerable discount from the basic $35 entrance fee. Age bestows few benefits, but a senior parks pass is one of them.
At the most popular overlooks, a sturdy fence keeps you from falling in. But elsewhere along the rim trail there’s nothing to keep you from toppling over if you’re not careful. We were surprised to see people venturing way out on rock formations. I’m not sure the view is any more spectacular out there, but the footing sure looks more precarious.
One fellow was walking along the paved rim trail while reading from his phone. He appeared oblivious of the people around him – and, of course, the beauty of the canyon just a few feet away.
Similarly, when we visited the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, I noticed a young dad with a baby in a backpack. The baby was napping, and he was occupied with his phone. He was playing a game of chess. Considering the loud turmoil surrounding him, I’m astonished he could concentrate at all.
To return home by air, we had to drive south from Flagstaff to Phoenix. Naturally, there was a snowstorm that day. Five inches of snow were on the ground when we left, and it continued to snow for an hour as we drove south.
Happily, road crews had done a good job of plowing and treating the interstate. Visibility was terrible and we moved at 40-50 mph for much of the way. Then we drove through rain for an hour or more. By that time, we’d reached a point where the grades are steep for 20 miles or so. I was happy the roads were only wet, not snow-covered, at that point.
Once we got into Phoenix, traffic slowed to a crawl. Apparently the evening rush starts at 3 p.m. and goes on forever. Yuk!
The worst traffic we encountered was in Sedona, infamous for its gridlock. It seems that the city never developed many secondary through roads, so all side roads feed to a single through road. Nice place to visit, but it’s hard to imagine living there.
Our rental car was a Chevy Malibu. It’s called “midsize,” though it seemed small to me, and when we got home and I got behind the wheel of my Honda CRV, I was amazed by how big the steering wheel felt. The Malibu was so low I had trouble getting in and out, but it drove well, even in the snow.
Generally, the less said about the electronic displays, the better. But I did like the large digital mph display. Why it is then duplicated by a hard-to-read and less accurate circular display, I cannot imagine. (I’m told that the Malibu is not being made for 2025 and will be redesigned for future years. Go for it, Chevy. I was happily surprised by the quality of the one I drove, but I was not tempted to think of buying one.)
Finally, a more personal note: Traveling with family is great fun, and ultimately the finest way to go.