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| Sun setting on McDowell in Phoenix |
Just like last year we asked ourselves why we were going away when it felt as if spring was just around the corner at home and the weather forecast promises temperatures into the teens for the coming week. There are no guarantees, however, and we know that it feels more like summer than spring where we are now. Again the scent of orange blossoms enveloped us on our walk from the light rail station to the hostel, the heat (28 Celsius when we landed) made quite bearable by the slight breeze; soon it cooled down since the sun had set during our trip from the airport. Now, the birds flying to and fro were not starlings but parrots, and they landed not on spruce but on palm trees. Three scant hours from home - what a difference.
Our plane touched down at 5:30 pm after a flight that felt like a sightseeing tour. One of the highlights was Salt Lake City with Great Salt Lake, stretching below us almost like an ocean. This was nothing, however, compared to what came only a short while later. To my great joy I realized that we were going to fly right over the Grand Canyon! When we drove south after our hiking trip last year I wouldn't have thought that I would see it from above so soon again.
The sun was low enough to bring out the patterned walls and paint them a rich dark crimson, while the deep crevices were already swallowed by shadow. A bit wistfully I watched the familiar contours disappear once again below me. Will we come back to repeat last year's hike another year?
There is so much to see, however, and this year we have picked a very different place and will try to get to know it a little. Tomorrow we will be on our way towards Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks. What will expect us there, I wonder?
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