As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Today, I’ll just tell you the story.
A foggy, snowy looking mist absorbs your entire panoramic view. No, you’re not descending from the clouds. Can you guess where you are? I dare you. Do you think you would make a right guess if I hadn’t included the place in the title?
That is certainly not how the Grand Canyon looks in photos, professional or otherwise. Did you even know that it could snow in Arizona? To my surprise, of all the places, it snowed on one of the most famous US wonders of the earth. Isn’t it just part of a desert-like, dry climate?
The journey started when a dear friend decided to spend his twenty first birthday in Vegas, baby! Well, since we were already in Vegas, why not take a drive up to (or west to) the Grand Canyon? Never mind that it was December. It was December of the West Coast. That’s where the Northeasterners go in the winter sometimes to escape the freezing cold temperatures and snow. Little did we know.
We go all out. We rent a fancy Cadillac (I was outnumbered by boys). I am surprised no one thought about getting a convertible. We’re driving. It’s a bit of a drive, just under 6 hours. It’s a special occasion, however, so it (or my friend) is worth it.
We keep driving. The sun keeps disappearing. We drive some more. The sun is less. Instead, the clouds keep getting bigger. Someone says, “No problem, it’s just mountains up ahead, desert right around the corner.” Yep, no problem, whatsoever! “What is that white stuff on the road? Hmmm, that’s weird. It almost looks like snow.” We stop the car. We get out and check. Yep, it’s snow on the ground.
But still, no problem, we think, the Grand Canyon should be right behind the mountains. I don’t remember who our geographic expert at the time was. There were five of us. I just remember thinking (or at least being convinced) that there’ll be sun and desert just as we go over this hill up ahead.
To make the long story short(er), we finally get to the Grand Canyon. There’s only one little, tiny innuendo. We can’t see the Grand Canyon!
We know it’s there, so we just take pictures with the fog. We know if we take another step forward there’s a good chance it’ll be our last, and so we just take the pictures. We might have as well took all those pictures in Canada and labeled them the Grand Canyon. No one would know the difference anyway.
All we could do was laugh. We tried a few more times in the next 5 minutes to see through the white cloud of snowy fog. But all we could do was try and then take the 6 hour drive back to Vegas. It was a good time for some necessary warming Jacuzzi and spa treatment. That’s the story.
The worst part was that everyone we talked to in Vegas before taking this overall 12 hour detour, failed to mention that this may be a bad day to see the Grand Canyon. Neither the local concierge of the hotel, nor the local guy at the car rental place, who were both so excited with us, dared to think that it may be anything other than sun and dry air in the desert.
I guess the phrase “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” is multi-dimensional. Vegas is its own planet and no one cares where you come from or especially where you’re planning to go next.
And that is how I almost saw this grand wonder of a whole in the earth. All we could do was laugh. Who knew it could snow on the Grand Canyon?
No comments:
Post a Comment