On Thursday, C.J. gave me a list of things that I should pack for a surprise weekend trip. He managed to keep the destination and ALL of the details a secret right up until the last minute. Before I went to sleep on Friday night, I had convinced myself that we were driving a nice long road trip somewhere warm. It wasn't until we were on the road headed to the direction of the airport that we were actually getting on a plane, and even then I still wasn't positive on that.
The trip was relaxing, full of amazing views, and natural beauty. Coupled with a nice techno soundtrack, the weekend was definitely one to remember.
We visited the Winter home of famous and eccentric architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Look him up if you've never heard of him as his ideas have likely influenced all modern architecture we've seen.
We drove on to the Grand Canyon and stayed for a few days. I've wanted to visit this park for a long time and it blew my expectations away. If you're a fan of that feeling small in the grand scale of things in time and space, you definitely must visit the Grand Canyon; it's a very moving experience.
It's funny that the first single off the new Puscifer album is titled Grand Canyon, where they capture a feeling perfectly.
One among infinity
Witnessing the majesty
Calm in this humility
Hope as far as one can see
Standing on the edge of forever
Grand Canyon, Puscifer
On the way back to Phoenix, we stopped outside Flagstaff to visit the Sunset Crater National Monument; an extinct volcano that erupted about 900 years ago. You can walk around the original lava flows under the now blown-out crater. Very cool.
1.84 Billion years old and still less than half the age of the Earth. We are insignificant, indeed.
It is so dark by the South Rim of the Grand Canyon that you can see the night in a completely new way. On this particular night, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter were aligned in a near-perfect line. If you zoom in, you can see the small red dot that is Mars.
