I love this week’s travel challenge by Ailsa: Waves. So many memories come to mind, but here are five favorites. Smooth waves of petrified sand at Antelope Canyon, with its neighbors Owl and Rattlesnake Canyons easily the most breathtaking landscape I’ve explored, ageless and intimate 2. Sinuous streaks of lava on Hawaii’s Big Island — … Continue reading
“Railroad iron is a magician’s rod, in its power to evoke the sleeping energies of land and water.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844) Did you know that 11 May is the National Train Day in the US? Celebrations, big and small, are taking place around the country. Sadly, I can’t go this year, but what a … Continue reading
“Living in the Desert is a spiritual cathartic a great many people need. I am one of them.” (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1949) Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s “desert camp,” has been on my must-see list ever since I fell in reluctant, unexpected love with his Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob in Pennsylvania (visit them, if you haven’t yet). … Continue reading
Though not the brightest nor the most astonishing memory, I keep thinking about one day of our American Southwest vacation: the day we visited two very different craters, walked among lava flows and cinder hills, and saw ruins of ancient Native American dwellings just as the dusk approached. Arizona’s Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater Volcano National … Continue reading
“…for glory of scenery and stupendous scenic effects [Zion] cannot be surpassed…It is a marvelous piece of Nature’s handiwork that is worth going a long distance to see.” (Thomas Moran, artist) We almost missed Zion. It was difficult to tear ourselves away from the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, and, for a moment, we even thought … Continue reading
When geologist and poet Clarence Dutton first came upon the hoodoos of Bryce Canon, he perceived them as “the work of giant hands, a race of genie once rearing temples of rock.” The view does inspire quiet, stunned astonishment. From northern Arizona with its bewitching slot canyons and other geologic wonders, we rushed to catch the sunset … Continue reading
Our charmed morning among the labyrinths of Arizona’s breathtaking slot canyons behind us, we headed to Utah for our sunset destination: Bryce Canyon. Five miles south of Page, Arizona, though, a brief stop was in order–the Horseshoe Bend Overlook, a distinctly-shaped meander in the Colorado River, its waters, emerald-green against the bright-orange sandstone, flowing regally toward the Grand … Continue reading
Antelope Canyon on Navajo Lands near Page, Arizona, had been on my must-visit list for years: fleeting light beams, smooth waves of petrified sand, and warm shades of peach and orange–I wanted to see it all with my own eyes. Naturally, this was one of the most-anticipated stops on our October vacation to the American … Continue reading
“Lovers of science, lovers of wildness, lovers of pure rest will find here more than they may hope for.” (John Muir, Chapter 8: Bathing in Salt Lake, Steep Trails) Seeing Antelope Island for the first time is like entering a dream, a vision of a Dali landscape, its colors subdued. The largest of ten islands … Continue reading
“The air is wild with voices, avian dialects are being spoken from every direction. The sky vibrates with wings.” (Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge) One of the things I love about going to Utah is the inevitable early mornings: I wake up before dawn, otherwise a painful procedure. Last week, such early morning happened to be … Continue reading
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