Vacation - Wednesday, 2:30 in the morning

Pin It We arrived back in Hurricane at about 12:30 this morning, yet, for some reason, I find myself unable to sleep. It eludes me, like the words of that song I love so much. I have tossed and turned for the past two hours, and I still find myself completely wide awake. It could be from the heat, still lingering from the day. Or, it could be from the torrent of thoughts racing about my head, unstilled and unquieted. Perhaps there is another reason which I still have yet to fathom…

The reason for this insomnia is unclear, but it is certainly not welcome for the sun will rise and a day will need to be spent. I do not wish to spend it in a slumber. However, after the seventeen-hour excursion today, one might consider it justified.

Since the rest I so urgently desire is unavailable, I will instead comment on the trip.

Snowflake was a town which has the bluest skies and the most beautiful clouds. I couldn’t help but notice this because of the lack of looming mountains which can impede a view of such sights. Though it is a town that a visit to may be nice, I would not want to live there…the same would go for all of the towns we passed between here and there. There were a few photograph-worthy moments along the way, but these still lay within the solitary confines of my camera, and I do wish to walk across the room to retrieve it so as to upload them. This I plan to do later today, or perhaps even tomorrow.

Originally, my plan was to leave later today for the familiar sweeping landscape of the San Rafael Swell. I miss that place, I long to be there…the place where I can close my eyes and hear the world around me, arrayed in spotlessness. I think, perhaps, I will instead leave on Thursday or Friday. I need to have at least one more visit with my aunt and cousins, and there is one more photoshoot I need to make for my friend, Michelle.

The desert will wait for me…it always does.

I do need to make yet another attempt at sleep. I will leave this post until later today and will plan to finish it.

Until I wake…

Vacation - What I've been doing (posting from Snowflake, Arizona)

Pin It I am currently in Snowflake, Arizona with Michelle and Mattie. This is going to be a long trip. It is expected that we will be 12 hours on the road…I’m going for support, mainly. I also decided to bring along my computer and work on a few projects along the way. I love how one can access the Internet just about anywhere there is civilization.

I went to church down here on Sunday with the Monks. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any clothes which would have been appropriate, however, I was offered the use of a neighbor’s clothes (because they were away on a trip). It felt strange going to someone else’s house and going through their closet to find stuff to wear. However, I do have to say that I looked pretty sharp nonetheless. It felt nice to wear new clothes, even if they were only on loan.

Yesterday was a busy day too. I ended up going to Coral Sands State Park. It was a pleasant excursion and I got a few nice photos. The rain was coming down like you wouldn’t believe, and I was caught in a torrential storm. Though it was nice, it was also good to have it finally end. I do have to say that the rain gives the desert that wondrously moist smell. There’s something about it which makes me love it down here all the more.

As I was driving down in the Kanab area, I passed this small airline service which took people on tours over the Grand Canyon. I stopped to check prices and found that a one-hour flight cost $150. I thanked the man, and then went back to my car. $150 was a lot of money…on the other hand, I never did stuff like this…I can’t recall how often I will go hungry instead of paying $12 for a hamburger at the only hole-in-the-wall eatery while on a trip if I know I can get a $5 meal at Burger King in a few more hours.

I stood at my car, caught in indecision.

Jason, you never do anything like this…isn’t life supposed to be all about experiences? How many of your friends have been to Hawaii or gone to foreign countries before? If you’ve got the chance to see the Grand Canyon like this, won’t you regret it afterward if you don’t go? How many breathtaking photos could you take from the lofty wings of small aircraft? Didn’t the man say that we’d, at several times, dip down into the canyon itself? It would take you three more hours to get to the Grand Canyon and back…isn’t your time worth $150? Also, gas is so expensive it would be pretty pricy to drive…not that you’d planned to see the Grand Canyon at all on this trip. Wouldn’t this be a memory worth the price tag which was attached? 

Didn’t the man say that flights left whenever there was a customer who wanted to go? Couldn’t you do it right now?

Yes.

I shut my car door and walked back in through the door, feeling a rush of excitement. I was already envisioning climbing aboard the small plane. “Okay, how soon can we take off?”

The man looked at me, and then back at his paperwork. “Tomorrow.”

Tomorrow? What the—“Held our last flight for the day already.”

“What about all of that, ‘We leave when a customer is ready to go’ stuff you told me earlier?”

“Well, that’s only until about 10:30 or 11:00 each day. You already missed the last flight…it took off right before you walked in the first time.”

I remembered the plane I'd taken a photo of (see above), just before entering the airport...I could have been on it if only I'd been there ten minutes sooner. I walked, somewhat dejectedly, out of the building and back to my car, feeling an immense feeling of letdown.

I wouldn’t be flying today. I wouldn’t be feeling the rush of flight over the Grand Canyon after all…

Curses.

As I climbed back into my car I smiled as a sudden realization hit me. After all, I’d just saved $150...

Vacation - Friday & Saturday Photos

Pin It

Admittedly, this “shoot” is what I would refer to as a “hodgepodge” of sorts. Many of these are random shots which don’t really seem to fit together with any type of rhyme or reason…

Perhaps I should explain these here, and you can then know when/why these were taken.

The cat: I was sitting in the living room and the Monk’s cat chose to lounge in a shaft of sunlight coming in from the window. I thought it might make an interesting shot, so, lying on the floor, I took it.

Window of Leeds: This was taken in an old building for the Civilian Conservation Corps which, during the great depression, employed thousands of young, men who would build fire lanes, construct facilities in national forests, and plant thousands of acres worth of trees. The two photos farther down of the doorknobs are from similar buildings adjacent to this one.

Gas Pump: An interesting pump with a price we can only now envy. Found it in St. George.

Vase & Handle: These two photos were taken of an old pitcher and bowl in a bead and breakfast located in St. George. The inn is aptly named, “Green Gables.”

Alley Windows: Behind some buildings along the old main street, I found this little alley which reflected the light in a nice, eye-pleasing way.

Wood: This is actually a garage door in Toquerville. It had so many hues in the wood, I couldn’t help but stop to take a photo of it.

The Fence Latch: This was taken also at Green Gables and was one of the only surviving, original fences of one of the oldest surviving homesteads in St. George.

The Tractor: This shot was taken just before my excursion with the rattlesnake I blogged about just a few days ago. While I was taking these photos, the orange light of the setting sun glossed the landscape around me…it was breathtaking.

Quail: On my trip to Silver Reef I saw numerous quail. This one just seemed to be waiting for me to take his photo.

Red Sands: This was taken just outside of Leeds. I was taken in with the beauty of the sand after the rains from the night before. I love the patterns left by the wind and rain.

Flowing Water: Snow Canyon State Park. This was taken right after a rainstorm. The water is not usually there, however, during and after the rain, there were cataracts flowing over the smoothly-weathered sandstone formations…a good time and place to be caught in the rain.

The Safe: Old, rusty, kind of cool. Not much else to say.

Lightning: It looks like a tree, but it is a small bush only about three feet tall. I choose to call this, “Brought to Life” or “The Burning Bush” not sure yet to be honest…

Like I said before, this is a hodgepodge…

Vacation - Saturday Visit

Pin It Okay, are you able to guess which town I went to on Saturday morning from the images? AND do you know what movie was filmed here?






Sorry that the shots aren't so great...I was in my car for all of them. They aren't the best, and I do have to admit that I was a bit underwhemled visiting this town and the house. It was much more impressive in the movie, to be honest. By the way, if you couldn't guess the movie, you can find out what it is by going HERE.

I did, however, also go to Silver Reef, an old mining town, and found a few mine shafts (all blocked...bummer). In fact, this one goes straight down for as far as you can see, and then vanishes into blackness. Even though I was standing on a strong grate, I felt a bit leery when standing over it. Old mines and old towns intrigue me...


Oh, I even found another rattlesnake; however, I saw this one LONG before it saw me.

Vacation - Sunday's Inspiration

Pin It

I was trying to do a post of current photos, however, blogger is not being very cooperative at the present moment. I will instead, post something I saw on another blog…

This hit me, it hit me hard.

I can’t say that I wasn’t moved, and wanted to share it with everyone who is a part of my world..

Vacation - Thursday photoshoot continued

Pin It Hopefully you aren't all sick of photos on my blog by now. I thought I'd post a few more from that photo shoot from yesterday.

Vacation - Thursday's possibility of death

Pin It Last night I took off after my little photo shoot with Michelle’s grandkids to get some photos of…I don’t know…SOMEthing. Well, after a small drive up by way of the roads to Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon, I turned off on a back road and then began to hike.

I found some old tractors and such which people had left behind in distant fields to rust away. I started taking a batch of photos, most of which didn’t turn out quite like I wanted, and I decided to head up to the top of a hill to see about getting a few shots of the sunset and the distant mountains. As I walked amongst the stones and undergrowth, I suddenly heard this sound which was reminiscent of a punctured aerosol can. It was LOUD and I was wondering if I’d perhaps bumped something which had indeed punctured said can which someone may have dropped up on their way up that desolate hillside as they were…oh, I don’t know, fixing their hair or something.

A sudden realization flashed through my brain like a shaft of lightening, my heart bounded into my throat, and I leapt to the top of one of the boulders. I will admit that my astounding agility would undoubtedly have won me a gold medal at the Olympics.

Rattlesnake.

I began to shake and felt sick. I saw the snake some three feet from where I’d been walking. His rattle shaking to beat all. Thoughts flooded through my mind, a cyclone of images of what would have happened had he bitten me. I had a snakebite kit…I’d bought last year, I could have sliced the wound, and pumped out the venom, however, I’d never used the kit before, and hadn’t even read the instructions on how to use it. Plus, I’d left it in the car along with most of my gear; after all, I hadn’t planned on this being a long hike.

After a few moments, my heart started to slow back to its steady rhythm; I looked down from my perch and saw the reptile, undulating in the brushwood. The sound of its rattle made me feel nausea seep through me like slipping into a pool of icy water.

Shakily, I lifted my camera and took a few photos. Granted, they were a bit blurry as I was not taking them carefully, after all, my arms were still shaking and my mind was still flooded with images of what could have been.

But what a great story that would have made too…how I tied a tourniquet temporarily on my leg, sliced open the bite with a jagged rock, and forced the blood out of my wound. Recollections of old westerns with cowboys slicing open the wound and sucking out the venom swam to the surface of my mind. Of course you wouldn’t want to suck out the venom; I remembered learning that in Boy Scouts.

The thought made me sick.

As I stood and looked about, discovering that to escape I could play a game of leapfrog of sorts from boulder to boulder. I did so, and the horrid sound of that rattle playing in my ears diminished in intensity as I moved further away from that lethal reptile.

My journey down the hill was through open spaces where I could see the ground plainly. I also moved slowly. It took me far longer to walk down than it had to go up.

When I arrived back at my car I closed the door, took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and leaned back on the seat. I blew out the breath, and turned the ignition. The car’s engine roared into life, and at once my stereo belted out the words of the song which had already been in progress.

Fergalicious

I smiled.

And drove back to hurricane.