September 2021 Road Trip With Minal
#September 2021 Road trip
Day 1: Friday September 3rd
With my sister,a vacation is planned during a preceding vacation. Last May(2021) we were at a ranch in Montana just outside Yellowstone National Park. We agreed on going out around Labor Day. Initially planned Arizona Utah road trip. She would drive from Dallas and we from California.
Suddenly she switched gears(which is normal for her)and said Tai,let’s do Machu Pichu. It is the best time to go when there is no crowd.
Machu Pichu has been on my bucket list for some time. But Peru was in lockdown since March until September 2nd. We argued and finally she saw the wisdom in not flying out of the country at this time . We were back to chalking out the Arizona-Utah vacation. This time adding Colorado to the itinerary. The Navajo Nation still had their territory closed for visitors but there were rumors they were to open soon.
September 3rd I was up at 4 am. Previous 2-3 days had been busy cooking after a day’s work. Masoor usal, paneer matar, pav bhaaji, egg curry, handvo, spicy chutney for sandwiches, fresh green mango pickle, thepla . Loaded everything into a cooler. Then packed everything into the car trunk. By 6:45 am Abhay and me were on the road. 45 miles into the drive, we made a ten minute stop at a German bakery in Tehachapi, a mountain resort town. Picked some bread, croissants and scones.
It had been nearly 10 years since the last time we drove through the Mojave desert, crossing the California-Nevada border into Las Vegas. Minal’s flight was arriving at 11 am. We were on time( I was behind the wheel the entire time 😉). She called to say she had arrived as we were filling gas. Soon we were four of us in the car. We sisters and our better halves.
After a quick lunch at Praya, a Thai restaurant in Northern Las Vegas, we were on the road for a long drive on northbound Interstate 15 . Taking exit at Hurricane on Highway 9 we were pleasantly surprised to drive past Zion National Park which was not really on our itinerary. Our destination was Page,Arizona. We had aimed to make it there by sunset .
It was a scenic drive past the majestic rock formations of Zion. We didn’t want to spend a lot of time, yet couldn’t help but take a few quick stops for some pictures. Took one against the backdrop of Checker Board Mesa. This drive was truly a precious bonus for a long exciting itinerary ahead.
Onto US Highway 89 we drove past the cute town of Kanab,Utah. An hour later, as we approached Page we passed by Lake Powell making a quick stop to view the Glen Canyon Dam.
By 6 pm we made it to the overlook for the Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona. The place gets its name from the curve the Colorado river makes around a tall narrow rock or incised meander. The river is about 3200 feet above sea level and the overlook is 1000 feet higher than the river, so about 4200 feet above sea level. Sunset time had drawn a lot of spectators. The hike to the overlook from the parking lot was a pleasant 3/4th of a mile. 90 degree weather was much cooler than the place normally gets. The locals joked that for them it was sweater weather😃. And it was definitely cooler by 10 degrees or more compared to Bakersfield. We were definitely in a good place.
The place itself has to be seen to know how beautiful it is. No matter how good one is with photography, nothing comes close to the actual scenery. And at sunset time the beauty multiplies manifold. After soaking in till the heart was content we hiked back to the car and drove to our hotel.
All of us were hungry. We had carried a lot of home cooked food but no plates, bowls, utensils etc. Decided to eat out that night. Found good reviews on Yelp for a Mexican restaurant: Fiesta Mexicana which was just a mile’s drive from the hotel. As we seated ourselves at our table we overheard Marathi exchanges from the guests on the table behind us. What were the odds of meeting Marathi people in Page Arizona at a Mexican restaurant? Turns out they were from Dallas so Minal found a few things to chat with them about the upcoming Ganesh festival besides other things. The food was really good. And the Margarita even better.
It had been a long day. We had covered nearly 600 miles since leaving home. Plus the sightseeing. Next day there was a whole program starting early morning. So we called it a day after dinner.
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