A few days ago, we celebrated our one month of road trip in the USA. I had left you mid-June in the town of Page, where we were taking a few days to relax after the exciting visits of the canyon. It is therefore from where I'll start writing again. Red and orange colors, forests, landscapes to make you dream of Africa, the ocean, the mist & fog, a feeling of French Brittany or New Zealand, the madness of Vegas, the beaches of Los Angeles and Malibu, the Death Valley, a random Danish village in the middle of California and my 3 big favourites: Antelope Canyon X, Zion National Park & Bryce Canyon. So, shall I take you with me? En route!
PAGE & ANTELOPE CANYON X
Page is known for two things: its lake in the middle of this golden canyon and the access to the famous Antelope Canyon.
The visit of the latter, sacred to the Navajos community, can only be done on a guided tour. Despite the countless number of tourists, prices are soaring... We had heard that the X part of the Canyon was less crowded because it was a little further away, more affordable and the scenery was just as magical. We therefore opted for this alternative. And how lucky were we...!
Not only, there were not too many people, but in addition, we had the best possible guide. It was for me the richest and deepest connection and exchange of this trip so far, & also the most intense experience in terms of sensations.
Van, our guide, was born here & seem to play a big role in the Navajos community, the indigenous people living in this region of the United States. He was also the oldest of all, the other guides we met during the visit constantly referred to him for questions from visitors. A real chance then...
Already that this place is naturally magical by its cut, its colors, its play of lights and its resonance, Van made it even more supernatural by sharing a little bit of his culture, his language, his traditions, with so much generosity. Not even talking about his numerous photo activities for tourists, like us.
Despite all the respect I had for the somewhat secretive and protective character that the Navajos have for their culture (and going back to History we understand why), I couldn't help but ask him questions every 2 minutes . Lucky once again, he had a real pleasure to exchange and share some anecdotes with us, within the limits of the secrecy of his people. Old-fashioned hunting to trap antelopes in the canyons or ceremonial marches to the sound of flutes to be in harmony with nature, these have made this moment a unique experience that I will never forget...
ZION NATIONAL PARK
After all these orange colors, what a pleasure to hit the road at dawn to reach Zion National Park. Between rocky mountains and Safari-like trees, this park gave me the feeling, for a day, of having landed in Africa. Each time my gaze rested in the distance, I hoped to observe giraffes, antelopes and elephants. But no, we were indeed still in the United States.
One of the downsides to this park was the crowds on this Sunday of June. I think that Americans like to go on adventures in their National Parks on weekends... With such incredible landscapes, you'd have to be crazy not to do it...
On the way back in the direction of Bryce Canyon, we discovered a tunnel that looked like the inside of a Dragon. We made a quick detour to capture this special place before taking the road towards the last canyon...
BRYCE CANYON
After another early alarm to arrive at dawn, we were stupefied by the stunning flamboyant colors of this place. It was also one of the most magical experiences of this trip. This open-air silhouette theater, these men in hats, these imaginary castles overhanging the hill, these dunes of rocks and sand, were responsible for many "wows" and many fictional stories in our heads. It was as if we were stepping into a fantasy movie set. So supernatural that sometimes the idea that such a setting could exist gave me the impression of being in another type of Disneyland that the Americans could have built... But no, Bryce Canyon is the work of nature, alone. A setting so engaging that it will have allowed us many discussions in complete intimacy and vulnerability with Emilie... Another beautiful opportunity to discover or re-discover ourselves once again through the eyes of the other. A precious moment.
LAS VEGAS
After the madness of these landscapes, we took the road towards other greatnesses, certainly more artificial but just as colorful: LAS VEGAS.
If you had told me that I would one day set foot in Vegas, I absolutely would not have believed you... And yet! This city, built in the middle of the desert, is a real open-air amusement park for adults. If hotels and casinos litter the streets, this city never sleeps. And it would certainly take several days to really get around it. Little Paris, Venice, Cairo, New York, casinos, themed places, circus, it's a "grand voyage"than to spend a night in Vegas.
Money, unsurprisingly, is the central element of everything: whether it's to put it in slot machines, for a ride on a carrousel, to launch yourself from a zip line in the middle of the street or to put it in a stripteaser's boxer or a policewoman's thong, there really is something for everyone...
We spent the end of the afternoon and the evening strolling on the strip, this famous avenue of a thousand colors.
I, who thought that we would have made the experience last as long as we were there, at 9 p.m., was already starting to yawn... It must be said that this influx of lights, this hubbub of music and sounds intermingling in the streets, the screams, the general euphoria, quickly got the better of my high sensitivity. I was completely exhausted. What a pleasure to find this large hotel bed we had booked at the end of the evening. Not to mention the two hot showers to get back on our feet...
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
Before leaving the interior and heading for the coast, we had one more park to do: the Death Valley National Park. Just the name put me in the mood, as I had struggled until now to bear the 35°C of the previous parks... I was so afraid that this would be too hard for me or the van to handle, that my condition to cross it was to go there late at night and very early in the morning.
We slept in an abandoned campsite, just at the entrance of the park. A rather special experience in the middle of this empty desert. In the early morning, we took the road to Zabriski Point, for one of the most beautiful sunrises of this trip. A few dozen photos later, we began the rest of the visits: salt lake, endless roads, rainbow-colored rocks, sand dunes in the middle of the desert... The place was empty of tourists and although the heat wasn't as unbearable as expected, we still got out quite fast of this place with a killer name.
LOS ANGELES
THE SEA. THE OCEAN. FINALLY. This trip to the interior of the United States will never have made me think so much of the sea.
No more interested than that by the visits of movie studios (too expensive) and by the big Hollywood sign, we concentrated our visit of Los Angeles by visiting Venice Beach and Santa Monica. The Board Walk is in a very popular area mixing tourists, locals, rich and marginalized. This mixture, this hubbub and this mess will have left me a little tense...
The stroll on the side of the famous "Santa Monica Pier", this wooden pier looking like an open-air amusement park, will have been more pleasant. Enough to walk along the beach and "peep" at the lifeguards in red jerseys... And yes, that's where part of the Baywatch series was filmed!
ON THE COAST
MORRO ROCK - RUGGED POINT - ELEPHANT SEALS POINT - SOLVANG - SANTA BARBARA
After the hustle and bustle of cities and parks, we took the road to the Californian coast to go gently up towards San Francisco. Enough to slow down the pace quite markedly and find simple pleasures like sitting by the water and watching sea otters having fun, seals hugging, squirrels and others prairie dogs approaching us with curiosity...
The landscapes since, have only surprised us. Sometimes I have the impression of taking the roads to New Zealand, other times, those of French Brittany, & to these cities, Solvang, as straight from Denmark and Santa Barbara with the appearance of a Spanish city or from South America. This trip definitely has no borders...
Santa Barbara will still have capsized my heart for a day, with its Spanish architecture, its somewhat fancy shops, its Italian Gelato to die for, this mixture of cultures and peoples and the Spanish language more present than English. A real trip in the middle of the trip.
PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK
As we were actually hesitating at first to go visit the Pinnacles National Park, a forced detour because of the Highway #1 closure gave us the perfect excuse for a rather surprising hike. We found back some canyon-looking-like rocky silhouettes, but in a more neutral colored style and with a lot of green around. Caves, peaks and lake, the hike we had chosen allowed us to do a complete tour of the park in less than 5 hours.
MONTEREY & AROUND.
One thing we didn't expect when we arrived near Monterey was the thick fog and the strong daily wind, both of which came from the sea. This made the days quite cold... so much so that I only swam once since the start of this coastal trip.
If Mily seems to claim the sun a little more than me, I was happy to browse these landscapes that look like Brittany & Ireland. There is something magical for me in this fog... almost like if this lack of visual depth plunged me into the abyss of an even greater introspection... A bit like if the mysteries and secrets of this sweet hidden fog were just waiting to be revealed!
THIS INNER JOURNEY...
As I finish this article, we are in Santa Cruz, where we had decided to spend a few days while waiting for the national holiday of July 4th. We are in a cafe and today I must say that the view is not too bad... It's a series of single surfers, very nice to watch, who keep sitting at the table just behind the glass. It reinforces the clichés about Californians a bit, that's for sure.
But that's not the point, let's get back to this article... ;) These last three weeks have once again been rich in learning.
Not only did I become aware that my fears on a mechanical level make me completely "hypo-car-driac" if I may say so (meaning hypochondriac of the car...)
But all this time spent in these natural parks and artificial cities also allowed me to understand a little better my desire and need for authenticity... When you come from a country as old as France, North America can sometimes seem a bit rootless. Living in the middle of a desert with air conditioning and imported products really makes no sense to me... In other words, if the land I'm on isn't naturally viable (climate, temperature and agriculture) so I have nothing to do there. It's radical, but the further I go, the more obvious it becomes...
The new rhythm that we took also allowed me to realize how much I need these "slower" times, despite my physical and cerebral hyper-activity...
This time spent near the ocean is also so important. If you have been following me for a few years on this blog, you will remember that after my time in Voss & the Lofoten Islands, in Norway, I had promised myself to stay close to the ocean. At the time, I was 2h30 by road from the sea and it felt so far... Today, living in Nelson, It's more than a 8-hour drive... Enough to make me rethink my location for the future...
Reconnecting with the Spanish language. A simple pleasure that I had forgotten...
And all the lessons learned with Mily. Sharing a trip with someone so close to me, who has been part of my life for so long, who is family, that is the most beautiful lesson in life. I rediscover myself every day through her eyes. The portrait of me that she sometimes paints surprises me. I re-discover myself differently. I'm learning a bit more each day to accept myself. I understand that our similarity and our differences also allow me to be less hard on myself. I see myself in her as an image of the past. And sometimes I see in her, this future for me. It's quite a magical situation although, let's face it, there are times when it's far from easy. But I don't think there is another person on this planet I could have done this trip appart from her.
I'll write to you in a few weeks with the rest of the trip.
lots of love,
Co.
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