I have been meaning to write about this and many other events for a while, but with school, the play, etc., I haven't had the time. Luckily I was up till midnight typing this personal narrative up for an H. English assignment a few months ago. Now I just figured I could use it for the blog.
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Divine Simplicity
The sun woke the world bright and early that summer morning, like a child ready for play. Our camping trailer, which was packed nearly to bursting, was hooked securely to the back of our Excursion, and it was the one time we weren’t moaning at our alarm clocks for waking us up. We were going to Utah! My family of eight buckled up tight with our two little dogs, Zoe` and Armani, on our laps, and merrily chanted “Goodbye Arizona!” as we rode away.
The first major day of our trip was spent driving to Devil’s Backbone Ridge. We left our trailer at a desert-mountain campsite and drove up the thin road of another mountain, thick with lush green pines. We were shocked at how fast the temperatures changed from uncomfortably hot to chilly, especially as we stopped for peanut-butter-and-jellies beside a lake. The large lake was shadowed by the many trees and dark clouds overhead, yet somehow it still glittered like a thousand sapphires. The air was thick with relaxing freshness. We were reluctant to leave the wonder of it all, but knew we had much left of the day’s journey.
Much to our elation, we discovered a stream gurgling through another part of the mountain. We were again pulled out of our car by the beauty of nature. Thud- we hopped from rock to rock, until eventually our flip-flops were tossed onto the dry ground and our bare feet ended up splashing through the stream. The first stabbing moment of freezing cold went unnoticed. We just admired the way trees could cling to the bank from their roots, or how the water came tumbling over a dam of broken branches.
It was another couple of hours before we approached Devil’s Backbone Ridge.
“I’m just warning you, it’s supposed to be extremely scary!”
Devil’s Backbone Ridge is a small bridge across two mountains. My dad pulled the car over after driving across so we that could snap some pictures. Panic was scribbled all over the faces of two members of my family, but I didn’t mind. Below us was a straight drop of six hundred feet. To accidentally lean too far over the rail would mean a plummet to the death, yet I was fascinated by the giant white rocks tinted a clay-red, and the trees and distant mountains that seemed to swallow up the horizon. Just like the lake and the stream, all there was to it was a sigh of Wow...
The next day, we traveled to see the Devil’s Garden and some dinosaur tracks. I had never realized how long it could take to drive only a couple miles. Much of the road was plagued by bumps and weeds, especially after not being driven on by many people. When we finally arrived at Devil’s Garden, I was puzzled. The brochures claimed that the place was amazing, filled with rocks that looked like the gargoyles on ancient cathedrals. All we could see were three, giant, odd-shaped boulders balanced on other rocks. Don’t get me wrong, I thought. This is really neat, but why so much excitement over these three rocks? We shrugged it off and decided to observe. My dad boosted us up onto the base of one of the large stone shapes. I placed a protective hand over the shoulder of my four-year-old sister as she, too, was allowed up so dangerously high for pictures. With difficulty, we climbed back down and went around to the back. That was when our jaws dropped to the ground. We realized that Devil’s Garden was not just three boulders- it was a sea of boulders. In the middle of this desert really did teeter miles of nature’s own gargoyles, created of sandstone of different streaks of whitish, reddish, and mixed. With their absurd shapes, it seemed as if they would topple over any minute, yet they had been standing like that for thousands of years. We climbed through them, edged our way around them, slide down them, and had the time of our lives.
This, too, we were slow to leave, but we were also ready to drive to the dinosaur tracks. In my mind, I had pictured one or two large footprints, but I was certainly wrong, just like with Devil’s Garden. We carefully climbed up a steep, round, sandstone mountain until we found ourselves on a giant plateau. Where are they? I wondered. My mom started pointing out little marks in the ground. Realization dawned on me that, what before had just seemed like nothing, were the actual footprints left by hundreds of dinosaurs. Anxiously we dropped to our knees and examined.
“Ooh, look! I think this little round shape here is one! And see its three toes?!”
There were many different shapes and sizes. It was almost dizzying when my mom showed us a giant one; how strange it was to think of how overwhelmingly large the long-dead creature once was. Other tracks were rippled. When the dinosaurs had taken steps in the water, somehow mud had preserved the tracks immediately so that we could witness the moment. We walked the same path that so many living creatures walked millions of years ago. This day taught us how spectacular that thing called time is, and what the world can be after many of years of change.
The day after, we drove on Burr Trail. First it snuck through a canyon. The canyon was also huge, with its towering red walls on both sides. Some parts of the walls had random, small holes in them, while others had large, round crevices, as if a giant hand had scooped out a bit. Many sections of the walls looked as if they had been painted by God, with pretty streaks of black or other colors that blended perfectly.
Burr Trail eventually led to Lake Powell. My parents decided it would be fun to go there, despite the many hours it would take to get there. The road introduced us to yet more glorious beauty. The mountains stretched out forever ahead of us seemed heavenly, with their many colors, and both distance and fog making them seem unreal.
We were not expecting the sign ahead of us:
As we came around a corner, our hearts leapt into our throats as we saw where the road had taken us. It zig-zagged down nearly a straight drop of a cliff, thin, not paved very well, and without any guardrail. Although my mom, sisters, and I questioned us continuing on this obviously dangerous road, my dad took the challenge head-on. Giggling, my brothers encouraged him to drive this wild road like the Dukes of Hazzard. The fact that a bit of mud was oozing down the mountainside was not helpful. Our vehicle was huge, and it took my dad lots of care and concentration to get us safely down the mountain. The sighs of relief that escaped the throats of my family could have cause a whirlwind.
Even then, we discovered that we were not completely safe. Previous rain caused parts of the road, which at this point was completely dirt, to be flooded and muddy. Our car was filthy with brown gunk by the time we had gone through the first big puddle. Eventually we got to a point where we almost got our tires stuck in the mud. We trembled as we barely escaped the unforgiving clutches of water and dirt. Chucking the idea of going to Lake Powell, we turned back around and carefully drove back though the mud and zig-zagged back up the mountain towards the canyon. Afterwards, we swung our heads around in the direction of which we had just been. To our shock, it was pouring there. If we had not changed our minds about to Lake Powell, we for sure would have been stuck in the mud and trapped there for days before someone discovered and rescued us. Our drive on Burr Trail was spectacular, but sure a good way to get our hearts pumping!
Our Utah trip included many other wonderful things. We watched the breeze sway the tall grass of a colorful meadow,
This vacation was a glorious one that I shall never forget. If there is one thing I have learned from that experience, it is that the most spectacular creations of man are not nearly as beautiful as the even simple things of nature.
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Some things I was forced to leave out of my PN because of, well, the already long length, and religious reasons.
One day cows crossed our road.
During the trip, I got to read some more of my favorite series, The Work and the Glory.
This was an early LDS church building.
Another time... It took us forever to try to get to this lake. Just as we were about to start walking there, another family rolled their windows down.
"Hey, FYI, your kids may freak out a little bit when they see the leeches."
We were all worried that my dad would say, "Oh, come on, it's just a little bit of leeches," but we were relieved when he told us that swimming in the lake didn't sound like that great anymore.
We also got to swim in another stream.
In the PN, I talked about almost getting completely stuck in the mud. I didn't say that I was prayer that brought us to safety. Our whole trip was filled with spiritual experience. For example, in the when trying to get to a lake we heard was beautiful on the third day of our trip, we were forced to give it up due to the much-too-bumpy road. I told my parents that it is like life. Life will be filled with many challenges that will make us almost yearn to just give up, but if we endure to the end, we will make it to the magnificent Celestial Kingdom.
I cannot say enough how much I am grateful that I was able to go on this wonderful trip with my family.
2 comments:
Sound like u guys had sooo much fun!!! the pics r adorable!!!!!
Thank you! Yes, it was amazing!
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