We're not in Kansas now!

Leaving Scotland and returning to the USA via our MegaTransect is great in so many ways. It’s so great, I’m hoping that we’re not setting ourselves up for some kind of crash when we reach the Boston area and have to settle down for a while. The past 5 years have been a steady stream of new and stimulating experiences. Now we’re travelling across the USA, engaging and being engaged in an intense stream of relational encounters, adventures, and new experiences.
On Tuesday we drove from Kansas across the Oklahoma panhandle, making a second foray into Texas, and then across New Mexico into Arizona. New Mexico is a place of phenomenal natural beauty. The color in the spring foliage as well as the geological diversity is simply amazing.
A special little bonus for this part of the trip is that we are pretty much following the historic Route 66. Our stopping points provide no end of weird 1950’s era nostalgia and trinketage. On the major plus side, many of the little towns we’re passing through actually have distinctive character and locally owned shops and restaurants. I like it.
On Wednesday, we took a day off to explore the Grand Canyon. We woke up to bright sunshine and warm desert temperatures. We drove through a blinding dust storm (never done that before). Then we turned north off the I40 towards the Canyon. Suddenly we found ourselves driving through mountains and pine forest! Not what I anticipated on the way to the Grand Canyon. We arrived at the Grand Canyon and were dutifully impressed at its size. I was not prepared to find it so colorful, too. We did not have long to bask in wondering amazement, however, as we were almost immediately hit with a blizzard. Here’s something I learned: the Grand Canyon is actually really high up in terms of altitude. So it’s not unusual for there to be snow there up into mid-May. So usual, in fact, that the North Rim is not even open until May due to snow and ice. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t see as much nor get the big hike into the canyon that we had planned on, but we had a most adventurous day working our way around the South Rim in the snow.
We spend Wednesday night in Williams, AZ. Williams is an old west mountain village (frozen and snowy) that is fully capitalizing on its Route 66 heritage. A quaint town with some really excellent eating establishments.
Today we drove south. We visited some cliff-dwelling ruins that were most interesting. Then we drove on into the desert – real cacti and everything. We’re looking forward to some family time here in Tucson, and gearing up for the next big phase of the MT – the West Coast.
Andrew