An Interlude in Travel; Expounding on Spring in Wisconsin

Silver Drift Ornamental Crabapple

Silver Drift Crabapple © 2013 Bo Mackison

There are bugs, no-see-ums, in Wisconsin.
There are crab apple trees so heavy with white blossoms you know they are really
floral bouquets gently swaying on the earth, in Wisconsin.

There are skies dense with clouds, white, gray, pink, puffy, dense, beribboned, in Wisconsin.
The red maple stands tall, branches widespread, deep in greening leaves, sturdy, in Wisconsin.
There are tiny bugs that buzz about my ears, in Wisconsin.

The rain pounds the earth, sheets of water, and thunder snap crackles,
The rain barrel is overflowing, in Wisconsin.
Gnats swarm in my eyes, follow me in a haze of flight as I dodge and swat, in Wisconsin.

The yard is green, abundantly so, not cultivated,
we chuck the hang tags from the pesticide companies,
greens of clover, purple and white violets, and wildly growing,
rampant spreads of escape-artist mint.
I pick the mint sometimes, the runners squirm loose from the earth with a tug, in Wisconsin.

The paper birch is pregnant with leaves, they drag upon the grassy understory, hide the neighbor’s yard from view, in Wisconsin.
Its bark once pale and baby skin smooth those many years ago
when we dug a hole and set it in the black earth,
the bark’s now rough and deeply textured, full of character like its caretakers, in Wisconsin.

The moss creeps between the flagstone, a tiny community for ants and beetles,
littered with maple spinners and bits of dried purple scent
from the overhanging lilac, in Wisconsin.

Two ashes we planted a quarter century ago began as sticks,
each with a lesser god’s headdress of leaf, and now
they rise taller than our two-story home, in Wisconsin.

The hummingbird feeder has fresh nectar, but the sighting of a hummer
is a rare treat, in Wisconsin.

The perennial garden we planned, painstakingly mapping color and height,
bloom time and sequence, it weathered the harsh winter with fair results, in Wisconsin.
The pink spikes of the coral bells wave two feet above its fluff of purple leaves,
but nothing else is yet in bud. There are spaces now for three or four new sets of plants.
The ornamental grasses and lavender were lost to winter’s brutal cold, in Wisconsin.

I dawdled this year,
unwilling to leave Arizona for the greener spaces, of Wisconsin.

There was work to finish, meetings to attend, and the lure of the desert remained strong.
I watched the saguaros bloom. I lingered.

I wasn’t ready to depart, and then I was.

Fate had other plans. A disabled car 300 miles down the road
and an engine overhaul, delayed parts,
led to weeks of side adventures into red rock wilderness and the Grand Canyon.

When I return to get my car,
I’m told there is another week’s delay, it is the same day Slide Fire begins
scorching beloved Oak Canyon, and a pyrotechnic smoke show hovers over Flagstaff for days.

Fire, twenty miles distant, throws up orange walls of smoke to the south of town,
obliterates the San Francisco Peaks to the north. They stand, shrouded in gray.
And then a black looming cloud, reminiscent of sci-fi saucers, settles on this city of 70,000, and blots out the sun. We breathe through makeshift masks, in Arizona.

The blooms are late-coming this year as was I, to Wisconsin.
Respite from my travel, the lilacs and crab apples, the dogwoods and magnolias in flower.

The sandhill crane, squawking its rattly ka-roo-roo, flies over my home, in Wisconsin.

Lookout Views from Cape Royal Road – North Rim of Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon -Kaibab Plateau

Point Imperial © 2014 Bo Mackison

We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation. ~ Theodore Roosevelt (1906)

Point Imperial, 8803 feet in elevation,
Overlooking Grand Canyon to the east, and beyond, the Painted Desert.

Grand Canyon -Kaibab Plateau

Vista Encantada © 2014 Bo Mackison

The lack of power to take joy in outdoor nature is as real a misfortune as the lack of power to take joy in books. ~ Theodore Roosevelt (1906)

Grand Canyon -Kaibab Plateau

Cape Royal © 2014 Bo Mackison

When your spirit cries for peace, come to a world of canyons deep in the old land, feel the exultation of high plateaus, the strength of moving waters, the simplicity of sand and grass, the silence of growth. ~ August Frugé

Cape Royal, the point, the southernmost view on the North Rim,
the widest panorama of any Grand Canyon overlook
the gorge has a view of about 270° of the horizon.

Look to Marble Canyon in the north, gaze south towards the Palisades of the Desert.

Grand Canyon -Kaibab Plateau

Angel’s Window from Walhalla Point © 2014 Bo Mackison

How the striking of the great clock, whose hours are millions of years, reverberates out of the abyss of the past!
~ John Burroughs

Grand Canyon -Kaibab Plateau

Angel’s Window, North Rim of Grand Canyon © 2014 Bo Mackison

. . . each man sees himself in the Grand Canyon – each one makes his own Canyon before he comes, each one brings and carries away his own Canyon. ~ Carl Sandburg

Grand Canyon -Kaibab Plateau

Grand Canyon Rock Formations © 2014 Bo Mackison

We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so. ~ Theodore Roosevelt (1906)

Graffiti, Dam, and Dinosaurs — All in a Day’s Travel

Colorado River, Glen Canyon Dam Overlook

Colorado River, Glen Canyon Dam Overlook © 2014 Bo Mackison

Day two of bonus travel.  Page, Arizona.
I take a detour on a scenic view road,
discover the Glen Canyon Dam Overlook.

Glen Canyon Dam Overlook

Logan and Sam, Volunteers Removing Graffiti  © 2014 Bo Mackison

On my climb down the red rock trail,
I meet three college kids hard at work,
scrub brushes in hand, cleaning graffiti from the red rock.

They tell me their story while they work.
They’re honor students from Southern Utah University
visiting Glen Canyon – hiking, exploring, and volunteering.

Glen Canyon Dam Overlook

Sammi and Graffiti Removal at Glen Canyon © 2014 Bo Mackison

Logan from St. George, Sammi from Tontopah, Nevada
and Sam from Salt Lake City, all intent on cleaning the hot rock.
Logan laughs as he says, “We’re the nerdy kids, not the cool kids.”

I disagree. I think they’re the cool kids.

Glen Canyon Dam Overlook

Jayci and Alyssa with Park Ranger Cynthia © 2014 Bo Mackison

Hiking on the red rock towards the Colorado River,
I meet more volunteers removing streaks of
unsightly graffiti from the red rock.

Glen Canyon Dam Overlook

Ranger Cynthia Sequanna Demonstrating Graffiti Removal to Damaris

Jayci from Cedar City, Alyssa from St. George,
and Damaris from Salt lake City work with Park Ranger Cynthia Sequanna.
A big thanks to these students. And to the Park Ranger, too.

I’ve discovered positive energy on these red rocks, for sure.

Revived, I get back on the road,
Kanab Utah 73 miles.
Carl Hayden Visitor Center 1 mile.

Glen Canyon Dam at Carl Hayden Visitor Center

Glen Canyon Dam © 2014 Bo Mackison

Elevation 3827 feet.
Waters of the Colorado River are backed up 185 miles
by the Glen Canyon Dam to create Lake Powell.

During prolonged droughts, released water
provides for the desert cities to the south.
Full in 1980, now the lake fluctuates near the 50% mark.

I leave Arizona, enter Utah.
Its motto – “Life Elevated.”
The rock is layered in more colors than I can imagine.

Not only reds and oranges, there’s shades of gray,
white, green, blue, yellow.
Hard to drive, there’s too much to see!

BLM Dinosaur Visitor Center

Big Water Dinosaur ©2014 Bo Mackison

Big Water, Utah.
Rocks like chimneys, puffy clouds like smoke.

Big Water Visitor Center. Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument.
Tiny building in the big desert, but inside are huge dinosaur specimens,
bone not plastic,  from digs in the immediate area.

Merle Graffam and His Dinosaur Find

Flyer about Dinosaur Discover Merle Graffam © 2014 Bo Mackison

Adding another  bonus to my bonus travel,
I have the pleasure of meeting local paleontology expert Merle Graffam.

Discoverer of the first Therizinosaurus found in the Western Hemisphere,
an entirely new dinosaur species, now scientifically known as Nothronychus Graffami.

All because he decided he needed more exercise
and thought the Utah sands would be an ideal  outdoor gym.
And that claw he saw sticking out of the gray sand – yes indeed,
Graffam’s very own dinosaur.

His autograph is on the flyer, it even says “to Bo”
but Bo was so stunned by a celebrity sighting
she forgot she had her camera slung over her shoulder!

On a Sidetracked Adventure – A Visit to Northern Arizona

Sunset Crater

Sunset Crater © 2014 Bo Mackison

Day Three of my cross country trek brings me no closer to home.
But I add another day of adventure to the trip.

Leaving Flagstaff at 1:57 pm,
a late start but there was computer work to be done
and I’m heading to a “No Service” region.

Sunny and 55˚F. Breezy.
The San Francisco Peaks glow with a snow halo.
Perhaps I leave Flagstaff with an angel riding on my shoulder.

Historic Route 66 through Flagstaff.
Establishments from the Route 66 travel heyday – Wonderland Motel. Arrowhead Motel.
66 Motel. Royal Inn. Americana Inn 66.
Miz Zips Cafe. Lets Eat Cafe. Pony Soldier Inn. Motel El Pueblo.

Grand Canyon South Rim 79 miles.
Grand Canyon North Rim 159 miles.
Add a couple of stops and its a 285 mile trip.
Dawdling travel. “Do something for a week” travel.

Gas at Safeway just north of town $3.49 a gallon.
Page Arizona 127 miles. A collapsed road and detour adds 50 miles. More to see.

Moose. Next 28 miles.
Road Work Ahead. Fire Danger High.

Cinder Way. Girls Ranch Road.
Sunset Crater Volcano. One mile ahead.

Elevation 7000 feet.
Layers of golden sacaton grasslands, bands of forest, the painted desert beyond.

Sacred Mountain Book Store and Art Gallery. Closed.
Telephone poles cut a dirt swath through the cedar/juniper forest.

Wupatki National Monument

Wupatki National Monument © 2014 Bo Mackison

Elevation 6000 feet.
Antelope Hills. Sinagua Trading Post.
Wupatki National Monument. Ahead one mile.

Babbitt Ranch Annual Colt Sale. Jul 12, 2014.

Stripes of tar road repairs, drum beat.
Grazing cattle in sparse grasses.

Navajo Nation Scenic Road

Navajo Nation Scenic Road © 2014 Bo Mackison

Gray Mountain.
Sacred Mountain Not For Sale.
Buckle Up. It’s the Navajo Nation Law.

Cameron Arizona.
Cameron Trading Post. Yes. We are Open.
I pass the road to Grand Canyon, South Rim.

Moenkopi Wash. Dry and dusty. Orange earth.
Explore the Navajo Museum.
Tuba City Ahead.

See Real Dinosaur Tracks. Turn here.
World War II Navajo Code Talkers Memorial.

Road Work Ahead.
Caution. Caution. Caution.
One Lane Road Ahead. Prepare to Stop.

Old Red Lake.
Red and white striped mountains capped with two white chimneys.
A school bus drops off one or two kids at the dirt road turnoffs,
parents in pickup trucks wait.

A Big Red Rock

A Big Red Rock © 2014 Bo Mackison

Cow Springs. 4 Miles.
Brightly painted turquoise house. A mural, a hand, covers one wall.
Page 64 miles. Highway AZ 98.

Asphalt roads change into red rutted dirt a few feet from the highway.
Two police cars and a med-vac helicopter at a level spot off the road,
blades whirring, the crew works over a stretcher.

54 cyclists zoom past in double formation.
Gray rock formations piled to the south, like giant cow pies.
Vermillion cliffs rise in the north.

Driving AZ 98

Salt River Power Plant © 2014 Bo Mackison

Chimneys in triplicate. Coal burners. Electricity for Phoenix and Tucson.
Grasslands line the road. Ten miles from Page, a glimpse of Lake Powell.
5000 feet elevation.

Billboards. Upper Antelope Canyon. Lower Antelope Canyon.
Antelope Point Scenic Site.
Antelope Wash – dry and dusty.
Kids are sledding on saucers on the sloping walls.

Electric high wires string along the highway.
Cross the roads. Power is Page’s Business.
Welcome to Page.

Historic Road of Little Hotels.
Mesa Movie House.
Big John’s Texas BBQ.
Page Boy Hotel.

Time to stop for the night. I need a power recharge.

 

Traveling Cross Country, Interrupted – Still Learning Lessons

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Sedona View on High © 2014 Bo Mackison

I’ve been riding shot gun with tow truck drivers lately – one taciturn,
one surly, and one with more problems than I could keep track of.

So I’m not expecting much when the current tow truck driver
readies my car-in-need-of-serious-help for a tow from Sedona to Flagstaff.

He surprises me when he opens the door for me, and gives me
a steadying hand as I navigate the metal steps into the cab.

Sedona

We admire the Sedona scenery on our way out-of-town.

He says “tough luck” on hearing my recent history with car repairs, and means it,
and I respond with acceptance – no choice there – and comments about lemonade.
Then mentions the people he tows who do nothing but curse and complain.

“What the whole world needs now is kindness. Kindness is the key,” he says.

I nod. Angels come in all shapes and sizes, and occupations, I’m thinking.

View from A Tow Truck

After four hours of diagnostics, both the mechanic
and the service department manager shake their heads, and frown. Deeply.

The news about the car is not the kind one wants to hear 300 miles
into a 2000 mile trip across half the country.

“It’s a head gasket.”
They might as well tell me the car’s developed an allergy to road dust.

“Big job. Should be ready by next Monday at closing time,” says the service tech.
But today is Monday.
Oh…

“See, I gotta take the engine apart and then put it back together. Takes me five full days.”
Simple explanations. I get it.

Then the good news. “It’s covered by warranty. So is the loaner. Unlimited mileage”

I may not be an auto aficionado, but I can learn Basic Auto 101.

“You need my car for a week, but I get a replacement…and I can drive anywhere?”

“Yes.” He nods. Then frowns slowly. “But not all the way to Wisconsin…”

“Right. Not to Wisconsin…”

I can embrace crankiness
or I can do a quick re-frame and consider the possibilities.

The possibilities win out.

After I send out a request on Facebook, I immediately get a dozen recommendations
on places to visit in or near Flagstaff. A car breakdown becomes a magical gift.

OK. Confession time. I am a phone-phobic.
If I can talk someone else into making a phone call for me, I will. Except,
I am alone in this predicament.

Time to grow into this independence and self-sufficiency even more, Bo. Sigh!

I figure out a schedule, calculate distances,
then spend several hours tracking down available hotel rooms and rates.

The angels once more do their work,
and in a synchronous social media moment,
two friends independently suggest a meet up with the same person,
a photographer who just happens to be a park ranger up the road.
When consulted, she agrees to a meet up.

Lemonade. Perhaps she likes lemonade, too.

(To be continued…don’t want to ruin any surprises.)