Monday, May 24, 2004

lovely arizona

The last time I was in the grand canyon it was as part of a field trip for the "Olympics of the mind" national championship I went in 5th grade. Aside from some vague memories about the actual championship, I can remember that it was my first trip to Circus Circus, and that we drove for hours in the boiling hot desert, in a car lacking air conditioning, with me and Rachel Weiner crammed in the front seat. Finally, we stayed for a grand total of about 2 hours before heading to the next destination! In any case, The grand canyon is one of the natural wonders of the world, and given that it's relatively close to us here on the west coast, c and I decided to pay another visit.

We went by way of Scottsdale, where we saw Taliesen West, Frank Lloyd wright's Winter Home. I loved Taliesen west. It was my first visit to a FLW official site, and a good way to get some more insight into the way of life of the man and his apprentices. Although I really don't have the attention to detail and the capacity for tremendously difficult, and oftentimes unrewarding work that is expected before being able to stand on ones own as an architect, I had a fleeting interest in being one when I first started school. That small flame was rekindled--briefly--when the docent was talking about the apprentices living in the wilderness, and the evenings of culture and performance that were inherent to their time there. It sounded fun!

After a beautiful though hot afternoon there, we sped over to the Grand Canyon where we were just in time to catch a sunset. We then spent the next day hiking up and down the elementary levels of the canyon, and taking a guided tour of the flora and fauna in the surrounding area, collecting some breathtaking views along the way. There really is nothing like a 20 mile wide gorge to give you a better perspective on how truly small you are in the world. Anyway, check out some pictures, and make sure to take a look at the captions which are crammed with lots of info.