On the third day of our trip, we finally reached the legendary Grand Canyon. To be honest, I really didn’t expect much. Growing up, I believe it’s safe to say that we’ve all heard about or seen photos of how magnificent the National Park is. I guess I was pretty cynical – what is so great about a huge ditch in the center of Arizona?

First of all, the canyon is huge. Not that I didn’t already know it’s big, but seeing the size of it still amazed me to the soul. There’s a trail around the canyon that tourists are encouraged to follow, but there’s really no point in following the trail because the view doesn’t change much. It’s like an ant looking into an empty swimming pool. The juxtaposition is real.

If you ever decide to visit the Grand Canyon, you HAVE to drive the extra 20 something miles to Desert View Watchtower. Hop across the fence, hike down a little bit and you’ll see the this priceless view. My friend and I chose the spot below and just sat there in complete silence. Neither of us knew what to say. It sounds strange, but the landscape was so inspirational. For hundreds of miles ahead of us, there is nothing but rocks, sand and trees. Not only is it so refreshing to take a break from the bustling fast-paced city life, I felt empowered and energized from just observing the broad horizons. I remember smiling and thinking to myself: “there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

After the Grand Canyon, we took a detour to Phoenix to drop some of our friends off before heading back to LA. We spent the night in the city of Blythe, which lies on the boarder between California and Arizona. We arrived at a shitty little motel at 12am, and spent ten minutes ringing the bell at the front desk before a tired receptionist came out to give us our keys to a pretty rundown room.  Yes, taking a road trip with a budget leads to less pleasant experiences like this, but all the beautiful things you see don’t look half as good without these rough experiences on the road. I guess that’s a part of the charm of road trips.

Shot on Olympus EM-5 Mark II with 9mm Fisheye

Last post on our little journey will be up tomorrow: lots of sand & sun & smiles at Joshua Tree!

xx

– vivian