Wednesday, September 29, 2010

...


SO, MY YARD MAN AND I WERE NOT QUITE done with the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River...Yesterday's trip on historic Route 66 (with the Burma Shave signs*) and the long, fascinating, nail-biting journey on an unpaved road took us right to the western end of the canyon and a splash in the Colorado. But first I should tell you about Frank, whose last name means Eagle Soaring Freely, and who works at smoothing out the 600 miles of dirt roads on the Hualapai Indian Reservation, through which we traveled. He's the one who climbed off of his enormous dirt-pushing piece of machinery and told us we were indeed on that tiny gray road that angled across our map.
But we may not make it all the way to the river in our rental car, he warned. "The road gets pretty bad at the end; you'll probably have to walk the last mile or so. If you see the ranger," Frank said, "he might give you a ride."

Reassured we were on the right path, we continued bumping along for nineteen more miles, passing exactly one vehicle coming our way (a pick-up truck; was it the ranger?) And sure enough, the road bed began to deteriorate as the scenery became more canyon-like and we neared the river.



"I'm just worried about the oil pan," said the yard man, as he deftly steered the car around yet another small boulder in the road. (I'd have to say, Dear Reader, that I had just a few more worries than that). Our cell phones were now unusable, and we seemed to be the only humans in an eighteen-mile radius. Neither one of us, I can tell you for sure, was packin' protection against rattlesnakes, either! "Forget about walking a mile." I told the yard man. "I'm not about to drag you that far if you get a snake bite or a broken leg!"


Eventually, though, with a lot of derring-do, the yard man did maneuver the car very close to the river. Or at least we figured it had to be close--the road looked too soggy and treacherous to go any further. We agreed we'd walk around the next curve in the road and check on conditions there, see if the river was in view. We hopped from the car and the yard man pulled a change of clothes from the trunk. Soon after that, he tossed the clothes he'd been wearing into the trunk and slammed the lid shut. And soon after that, he got a strange look on his face.


"Uhhh...I think I just locked the keys in the trunk..." he said.
And I said, "Are you serious?!!" hoping for all the world it was just another JWET!
But he said, "Yeah."
He was frantically patting his pockets.
Then he said some other things.
And I said some other things.
Then it was very, very quiet in that valley, miles and miles from civilization.
The sun was shining fiercely.

"Oh!" my yard man said suddenly, "Maybe...." He stepped over
to the driver's side...and opened the door!
Turns out he hadn't locked it.
He punched the button to open the trunk.
I nearly collapsed with relief.
Then we laughed like it
was the grandest joke on earth!




Celebrating our stroke of magnificent good fortune,
we walked ahead around the next curve in the road

...and there was the river!

As it turned out, there were four or five other humans at the river. Nowhere near enough to be called a throng, but plenty enough to look downright angelic had we been contemplating a nineteen-mile walk to cell phone connection!
















The river was lovely, like the half-hour we spent appreciating its beauty. The yard man and I agreed, however, that the beautiful, rugged terrain through which we had traveled to get to this spot really made the adventure worthwhile.

Which was fortunate since we got to see it all again on the long drive out!





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*Here's one of the Burma-Shave signs we saw on old Route 66:

You can drive
A mile a minute
But there ain't
No future in it
...

Hmm, sixty miles an hour-- reckless driving?
I pointed out to the yard man that the idea expressed on the next set of signs we saw was more timeless; he should pay heed. (Helpful in
avoiding traffic tickets, as well!)
...

If daisies are

Your favorite flower
Keep pushing up
The miles per hour
(If you're too young to remember
these signs, Dear Reader, check them
out
[You missed a time when life was
more simple!])
...

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