#5 -- Take the scenic route

This past weekend I drove myself and my family down to Phoenix for the weekend to spend a little time at my parents house. All my brothers and sisters came. Anyhow, normally this trip consists of traveling from Provo to Nephi on I-15, from there to Salina across the back roads, and then down 89 all the way to Flagstaff. From there on I-17 down to the loop 101 and then west to my parents home. A few weeks ago, however, a good friend of mine suggested that we take the scenic route of 89 (called 89A of all things) that stretches from Kanab, UT down to just south of Page, AZ. My wife and I had talked about taking that path before, but had never done it because it would just add more time to an already long day/trip, not to mention the application of my base engineering instincts that tell me to make everything as simple as humanly possible. My friend though, said that the view off the rim was absolutely amazing and that we should really just take it so that we could see the view. And it'd only add about twenty minutes to the drive. Not bad, I said to myself. And if the view was as good as he said it was, the slight detour might just be worth it.

Little did my friend know who he was talking to. My wife's family grew up taking the scenic route. They would go on trip after trip after trip, driving across long distances like water flows under a bridge (continually). And my father-in-law LIVED for the scenic route; the monument, the lookout point, or any other excuse he could find to stop the car and enjoy nature, our nation's history, or just life in general. He just loved it up. But from the way that my wife and her siblings talk about it, it's surprising that they ever made it anywhere after setting out for a particular destination. Always another sight to see along the path of life (read, roadway--no detour is too long for the experience). A favorite memory that is frequently brought up while they sit around the dining room table, or a low-buring campfire, is my sister-in-laws comment in a moment of frustration, "I don't see what the big deal is! If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all!" Lovin' it.

So, we hit Kanab, and instead of turning to stay on 89, I rolled on forward and took 89A by the horns. We hit Fredonia fairly quickly without much to see. More of the same as far as scenery goes. Then the road started winding upwards, back and forth, left and right, higher and higher towards the upper echelons of the atmosphere, towards Jacob Lake. About this time the kids movie got over. Well, the movie my son was watching got over, and the one my oldest girl was watching suddenly became very unappealing to her. Who knows why, but it did. So, my wife had the pleasant job of trading out their movies. And, of course, there were complications. The dvd players didn't want to work right: finicky, annoying, frustrating. And then the remote stopped working. Low batteries or some such, we figured. Anyhow, this made for lots more joy in her involvement with the movies. By the time she was done, lunch (or just possibly...age?) had done her in with car sickness and she was about ready to puke as we made our way down out past the tree line.

The vista spread before us was truly amazing. Jaw-dropping, in fact. But, unfortunately, I was the only one to be able to enjoy it in the slightest. The kids were zoned-out on Cinderella and Diego, the baby was asleep (really debatable as to whether or not she could really enjoy the view), and my wife was getting ready to redecorate the inside of the car with the contents of her stomach. And so it was, amidst trying to keep the car on the twisty, curvy, tilted roadway that wound down the side of the rock rim, I saw the view. But the view was great.

And it only took an additional twenty minutes.