Refreshed

That was a good vacation. It was my first visit to the desert in the spring and I was surprised by how many shades of green it was. So inspiring. We were cut off from the internet for most of the trip and it was awesome. Somehow we managed to get where we were going and find what we needed without Google. I've already made a resolution to take a step back and be more conscious of my internet usage.

While we were in Phoenix we visited Taliesin West which was very cool, though I was left with the impression that Frank Lloyd Wright was quite the tyrant. And who knew that Anthony Quinn was an apprentice at Taliesin before he made his break in film? Speaking of celebrity artists, I happened upon an exhibition of Anthony Hopkins' paintings at a gallery in Sedona. Not my thing, but see what you think. We liked Sedona so much that we made a point of passing through a second time on our way back from the Grand Canyon. Good thing, because we discovered Picazzo's, home of the most amazing gluten-free pizza I could ever have imagined. Fantastic.

The Grand Canyon: I expected to experience that mild disappointment that I often feel when finally seeing something that gets a lot of hype. But when we rounded the corner at the first viewpoint, and the earth fell away to nothing, I was speechless. Dumbfounded. Without words. There really is no way to comprehend the scope of that enormous chasm without seeing it for yourself. We stayed a night in the park and I couldn't sleep knowing that we were only a few hundred yards from the rim. I could feel it pulling me towards the edge; it was a very primal experience. The only other time I've felt that kind of energy was when I visited Viking burial grounds in Norway. Freaky.

Photos here.