A Surprise Visit and The Grand Canyon

Our original plan was to camp as much as possible on this trip. I should say that was Bruce’s idea. My idea of camping is a fully equipped Winnebago. You could say I was not into camping. To humour him, we went camping one night out in the desert in a tent a few years back. Just us, the rabbits, coyotes, red ants and whatever else went scurrying past in the night. So, I was rather reluctant to camp. But then Bruce found this really cool contraption that hooked onto the back of the truck and made it part of the tent. You actually sleep on a blow-up mattress in the bed of the truck off the cold ground. Now I felt a little safer. I just feel that when I’m on the ground in a tent that I’m just a convenient bear-sized Hershey bar. All they have to do is peel away the wrapping.

We soon realized that after leaving Hoover Dam that we would not be getting to the Grand Canyon in time to put up the tent before it got dark. So we stopped at a little place called Seligman. We were familiar with the town having stopped on the way back from our Sedona trip a few years back. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the town, it is the birthplace of historic route 66 and they have a welcome sign that says so. What you also might not know is that John Lasseter loosely based the town of Radiator Springs in Cars on Seligman. So the kind folks of that town have parked old cars all over their tiny little downtown and painted eyes on them. I kid you not, and I love it!

The tent contraption

We stopped at the general store and they had a small RV park in the back so we decided we might as well stay the night, we were tired, it was getting late and the place was cheap. Real cheap, and the people were real nice. We parked the truck and started to put the tent up for only the second time since we bought it. That’s when the wind picked up—really picked up. I guess in the spring Arizona is blessed with almost hurricane force winds on the plains and we were right smack dab in the middle of the plains. It would have probably been easier to wrestle an alligator than getting that tent up. 

We had stopped at a grocery store in Kingman on the way and bought some produce, coffee and other staples. Bruce made a wonderful meal on the cook stove and I cut up the veggies for a nice salad. We were so toasty and comfy inside the tent with our little chairs and table. Yep, so toasty and comfy until about 2 am when we woke up freezing. It was cold, bone chilling cold, even with our thermal sleeping bags because the cold seeped up from the metal truck through the air mattress right into our bones. And wouldn’t you know it, I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. At least the bathroom was heated. In the morning we ate scrambled eggs and corned beef with English muffins; packed up, took the hottest shower I’ve ever had, wrestled with the tent again, and booked a hotel for the next night…and we continued to book hotels for the rest of the trip. It was just too damn cold.

At this time, I have to tell you about my very pleasant and unexpected surprise. An old friend of mine from my Brockelle Drum Corps days, Anita Proverbs, had posted on Facebook that she was at the Grand Canyon! I hadn’t seen her since I left Brockville at the age of 18. She was a horn player and I was a drummer and we were glued at the hip. She lived near me so we used to practice together all the time, to the dismay of our parents. We would have been together 24 hours if we didn’t go to different high schools. In the summer we had band practice twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursday nights after supper) and parades practically every weekend. In the winter we had practice for 4 hours on Sunday afternoon and had to do the dreaded cold Christmas parades, so we were together a lot.

Over the years though we lost touch, she moved to Calgary and I wondered throughout North America. We did get in contact a few years back via Facebook, but she’s hardly online so I was pleasantly surprised to catch her post. I got in touch with her and told her we’re going to be at the Grand Canyon soon. She was so excited! We made arrangements to meet in Williams and have lunch. And here we are.

We chatted and laughed for over 2 hours over lunch and beers. She was there with her son and his girlfriend so I got to meet the whole family. We were explaining to them how wonderful it was to be in the Lions Club Brockelles, image a small town of 21,000 people with a 150 all-girl drum corps? It was a big deal to be in the Brockelles and we wore our purple and gold band jacket with pride. The town’s parents wanted their daughters in the band because it meant there would be no boyfriends—we were just too busy! In the 1970s drum corps were a big deal, a lot of cities had them and many were sponsored by the Lions Club and other fraternal organizations. There were a lot of Lions club bands that we would meet at the big convention parades and I have to say we were the coolest in our cute dresses, white go-go boots and Scottish double-snare drums. No other drum corps had those. We were taught by the best Scottish drummer in Canada, Gary Allen, and it showed. Sweet, funny Gary just passed away this week.

 And, we had a little mascot. One of the girls was going to have to quit because her mum had passed away and she had a little sister she had to look after. So, the band mums dressed her up in a little matching outfit and gave her a little stuffed lion to hold. She proudly marched in front of us saluting the crowd. She was awesome! I still to this day tear up when I watch the kids on TV marching in parades knowing how they felt; so proud and honored that your heart is about to burst from your chest.

See joined at the hip!

We were talking about our best memory. The Grey Cup Parade in Ottawa. This is a big parade as the Grey Cup is Canada’s version of the Super Bowl so you’re playing in front of thousands of people. I remember like it was yesterday: the parade turned the corner into the stadium and Don Shaw was standing there shouting and pointing #1. We had won the band competition! I think everyone that day played the best they ever did when we entered that stadium, grinning from ear to ear. Gives me goosebumps to this day. Anyway, we were all talking about this and her son kept commenting that he never knew this about his mum. I told him she was the drum major her last year. That’s quite an accomplishment.

So, we finally said our good byes and Bruce and I walked over to the hotel we booked to check in. I have to tell you about his hotel. If you are ever in Williams, you have to stay at the Grand Canyon Hotel. It is the oldest hotel in Arizona and it’s not that expensive. For one night we booked a room with a shared bathroom, just like in the wild west, and it was great but I would have loved to have stayed in the suite with the claw foot tub or one of the suites. The couple that own the place are so nice, you really felt like you were a guests in their house.  All the rooms are themed and we stayed in the Corner room. You can see a photo of all the rooms on their website. The only downside is the floors were creaky and it’s not that soundproof. There were whole mess of German tourists up at 6 am to get their tour bus, and German is not a soft language. Speaking of German tourists, boy there are a lot of them. We met them everywhere we went in Arizona. I guess it’s because they have all the money right now.

After we lugged our stuff up to the room we decided to try and make the Grand Canyon before the sun when down. I wanted to get that shot because I’m not the type to get a sunrise photo. The drive up was a little longer than we realized and the speed limit was a lot slower than we thought. Unfortunately, Bruce, being a truck driver, has to drive the speed limit because he can’t afford to get a ticket. But I was about ready to jump out of my skin when we had to drive 30 mph most of the way. I kept saying, it’s okay if we don’t make it” but I desperately wanted to get that shot. The minutes were ticking down and I thought we’re never going to make it, only 10 minutes to go, and we were just getting to the park. That’s when Bruce told me his truck clock was about 15 minutes fast! Whoo hoo there is God!

We practically ran the whole uphill path. I’m huffing and puffing because the air was so thin, and the smoker next to me is just honky dory. (He says it’s because he’s used to not having enough oxygen from the cigarettes.) I didn’t think we’d ever make it to the rim and then suddenly—THERE IT IS. Right in front of you in its full glory. The canyon sort of sneaks up on you because it’s hidden by the trees until you’re right on it. And it’s breathtaking.

I was speechless, and I kept telling Bruce that, for truly anyone who knows me knows that I’m rarely speechless even when I am speechless. Then I got into action, snapping all sorts of photos as the sun when down. And I got it. That shot, the shot of all shots—the trophy shot. And here it is. I will never, ever, take a better photo as long as I live.