My heart was pounding a little faster than it should have been for someone who was standing stationary. My mouth dried up, and my lips felt as though they'd not met each other in years. The killer sun beat down on my back, reminding me I am nothing more than a mere dot on this vast earth. And what could be more vast than the canyon stretching out before me: The Grand Canyon. And isn't it just...
*
So, after our Vegas adventure, we headed back to LA LA land for some more fun (which involved a tour of Universal Studios, more time in Hollywood, and a wicked night out at a bar called 'Bird' in Franklin village... and this time it was MY turn to pole dance, only Karlos missed the whole thing as he was outside having a smoke. He really needs to give that up... ;-) ).
After a couple of days though we were back on the road. This time with a sweet Malibu Chevrolet... which I could not wait to drive! I was hoping to get to drive a '57 Chevrolet whilst in the states (all because of a song about one my Grandad and I were fond of), but a 2010 model with have to do... not too shabby, let's be honest.
So after literally an entire afternoon getting lost in LA on route to pick up Johnny Mac and Stasia, followed by several hours crawling out through LA traffic... we were on the open road to Arizona, the 3rd state to tick off our 'been there, done that' list.
After a few more hours driving, we got to a little town called Kingman, a couple of hours from the Grand Canyon National Park. By this stage it was around 11pm - so we decided to stop and get some sleep. So the four of us found a sweet little hotel room for $80 and had ourselves a slumber party. It was fun. We watched murderer documentaries on HBO for an hour or so, had some giggles, and then we all fell peacefully asleep... when I say "we all fell peacefully asleep," what I actually mean is - everyone ELSE fell peacefully asleep; I would spend the next few hours in and out of nightmares and jumping at every single god damn bump in the night. "What was that!... oh Stasia snored... WHAT was THAT!... oh Karlos farted..." and so on. In the end I had to tell myself off... "NO ONE is going to break into this hotel room and abduct you Hayley, EVEN IF psycho motel IS next door. And besides, if they do - Karlos is nearest to the door anyway!" Hahahaha. So I eventually did fall asleep... guns though. I kept thinking about guns, the abundance of them in this country... someone could actually shoot the lock right off the door, and then what???... sleeeeeeeeeeeep.
Next morning Karlos suggested I give this driving on the wrong, sorry I mean right, side of the road thing a go - so I did. And it wasn't a bad experience at all. In fact, because I was so focused on doing it right and not smashing into anyone, I think I actually drove a far sight better than I usually do at home! I found it relatively easy to get my head around being on the right side of the road and all that - I reminded myself, the steering wheel needs to be in the centre of the road the whole time. So this helped me when I turned left at intersections etc.
It is strange having the drivers seat on the left side of the car though... I'd say this was probably the most difficult part for me, as it took me a little bit to find my position on the road, I kept hugging the right hand side of the lane, but of of course you need to hug the left hand side of the lane over here - making you closer to the centre of the road. Anyway! Totally uneventful ride - 2 long hours of straight desert road mostly - the main thing is, I stayed awake, we all got there in one piece. And - I did it :-)
Photographic evidence below, courtesy of Karlos:
And so this brings us to the Grand Canyon. After parking the car, and walking through the trees (surprising amount of trees out here in the Arizonian desert) we reached it. And I don't know what else to say but - she was impressive. All of a sudden, she is there. She is right there - like WOAH, THERE SHE IS. You are standing on the edge of a VERY high piece of land (and pretty much too close to the edge for my liking actually) and in front, and in all directions around you, as far as the eye can see, lays the largest amount of open space I think I have ever attempted to comprehend. It's intimidating actually - how powerful mother earth is, that she can carve out something as magnificent as the Grand Canyon. And how insignificant I am, just standing here looking at it.
We took lots of photos of course. Many of which I've whacked into an album on ye olde facebooke. But seriously, no photograph can be taken to capture the beauty, and the granduer of this place. You can't even take it all in with the naked eye. You have to move your head up and down to get a full picture, not to mention side to side and beyond.
Karlos and I took a walk along the canyon's rim. There are paths that you can walk along, with large boulders/rocks put into place to act as a boundary between the path and the edge of the cliff. We, however, as many others were doing, crossed the rock boundary several times to get closer to the edge. This always made my heart beat a LOT faster than I wanted it to, to be honest. Thankfully though there were trees dotted here and there along the edge, so I would strategically position myself next to one for those closer look-outs... something to grab hold of 'just in case,' I figured.
My biggest concern was Karlos though. Sheesh. That daredevil likes to deliberately freak me out, I'm sure of it. (He won't admit this). He got a little too close to the edge for my liking on a number of occasions, and I think I almost fainted up there. Not from the altitude, but with the amount of 'calm deep breaths' I took, I nearly hyperventilated. Thoughts of - "that's a long way down" rattled around in my brain most of the way, let's be honest. And some stupid sign just had to write something about "you could fall and die here" somewhere at the beginning of our walk - which didn't help.
We were at the Grand Canyon though. And I have to say - thoughts of plunging to my canyon death were all a part of the experience. All a part of my realisation that - mother earth is something special. And I am a blessed being to be living on her, and she deserves my respect. I came away from the Grand Canyon feeling both healthy after a 4 mile walk around her, and empowered. So often my days are spent looking inwards - studying, working, performing, or whatever it is - but every now and then it pays to look outwards. To place yourself amongst the great outdoors, and to remind yourself of just how insignificant you are, how you are a miniscule part of something far greater than you can ever know, most likely. And just how lucky you are to be alive and breathing this clean air, from this beautiful planet.
Peace and love planet earth!
~ Comet xo
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