Grand Canyon Arizona
“You’re only human. You live once and life is wonderful, so eat the red velvet cupcake.”
-Emma Stone
WELCOME TO ARIZONA: THE GRAND CANYON STATE
Arizona is one of the most beautiful and dangerous places I have ever seen in my life. While driving through the state, all I could think about was the ocean. I felt like if we ever saw what the ocean looked like without water covering it, it would look close to Arizona. Sprawling vistas. Amazing scenery. Mysterious looking vegetation. And of course, the Grand Canyon itself, which looks beautiful, massive, deep and scary.
I actually went and visited Grand Canyon National Park, which is on the east side of the state. I did not know this but there is only one way in and one way out. I thought I would be able to drive in, take in the sights and move on over to New Mexico. NOPE! And this is where the danger comes in.
I ended up driving out of Grand Canyon National Park just after sunset and it was the scariest thing I think I’ve done while driving in a car. Why?
Well, to get out of Grand Canyon National Park, you have to drive about 42 miles. Your average speed is anywhere between 35 and 55 miles per hour. It doesn’t sound too bad but there are no lamp posts, so it’s dark dark dark!
AND … Grand Canyon National Park has signs for deer, bison and cattle crossings so you have to be on EXTRA alert while navigating out of the monument.
I spotted 7 or 8 deer but only 1 was actually in the middle of the freeway. Scared the crap out of me! As it turns out, my high beams were on and I think they are very much attracted to that light. So I used my high beams sparingly.
Consequently, what you see on TV is so true. When a deer looks into your headlights, it just stands there, in the middle of the road until you turn off your high beams or slow down so it can run away.
That was not fun at all.
The end of Grand Canyon National Park had cabins you could rent and places to park your RV if you had one but I didn’t have that kind of time and to be honest, I didn’t know those were options. It’s pretty cool.
