Cedar City via Navajo Bridge and Vermilion Cliffs, AZ.
Off to cedar City, Utah, to visit with DeLynn and Maggie, and do some hiking in both Bryce and Zion national parks, both of which Bev and I visited in 2014, with DeLynn and Maggie as a matter of fact, and Bryce and Zion again in 2021 with Kaye.
I was thinking that Sedona would be the last place I’d be releasing Bev’s ashes on this journey, which was a thought that actually saddened me, as spreading ashes was the original and primary purpose when I first thought about and decided to take this trip, and that meant this part of the trip, visiting places important to Bev and me, or places we really enjoyed, and releasing some of Bev in those places, had ended, even though there’s much more left to the journey. But I realize now, I also have both Bryce and Zion on that list of important places to release Bev into the world, so that still awaits.
After that, though, although Bev will be with me in my heart, memories, thoughts, and being every day, as she is now, after Southern Utah the trip will be less about where Bev and I lived or traveled, and what we enjoyed together, and more about my own journey, wondering where to now. I have to say, at the moment at least, I have little desire to return home.
Once I set out, around 10:30, the day was pretty much all driving, over 360 miles, taking about 6½ hours or a little more, partly because I stopped several times to enjoy the magnificent scenery and surroundings, and also because I stopped once for a 10 minute power nap (it amazes me, not only that I can fall asleep almost immediately when I take these power naps, and not only because I almost immediately fall into a deep sleep, but also because a 10 minute nap completely refreshes me). The scenery starting changing as I passed through Northern Arizona, heading toward southern Utah, with shifts in the appearance of the cliffs and buttes along the road.
Then, unexpectedly (as I hadn’t really looked at a map), I came to Navajo Bridge in Glen Canyon National Park, Arizona, which is a magnificent pair of twin span bridges, one for traffic on Route 89 and the other for pedestrians, 834 feet long and 467 feet above the Colorado River, in the mighty Marble Canyon. Wow!
And even more of a surprise, again because I hadn’t actually studied the map, immediately after crossing Navajo Bridge is Vermilion Cliffs, where Bev, Kaye, and I visited in 2021, another amazing sight.
I arrived in Cedar City, Utah at around 7 (there’s an one hour time change), and Google Maps dropped me off in the middle of nowhere, telling me I’d arrived! A quick phone call to DeLynn put me straight, and I was actually within minutes of his and Maggie’s home. I was last here in 2014 – 10 years ago, which hardly seems possible – with Bev.
Their home is a lovely semi-log style home, and really great, sort of like the Ponderosa Junior, as I recall from my last visit, and out in the middle of nowhere, with lots of land around it.
I’m not sure when I last saw saw DeLynn and Maggie, but it’s been a while, I probably haven’t see Maggie since 2014, although I’m sure I’ve seen DeLynn at conferences since then, but not for at least five years, or maybe six. It was good to see them both, but also very sad. One of their grandsons, just 2 years old, died about 3 or 4 months ago, soon after Bev, unexpectedly after a cold turned into a lung infection Needless to say, it has completely devasted the family. Maggie, too, is not doing well, and is experiencing serious cognitive difficulties, along with Parkinsonian symptoms, which has been developing over the course of many years. We talked about their grandson, and Bev, and Maggie’s condition, although I was reluctant to say too much about Bev for fear it would especially upset Maggie, given her own situation.
DeLynn and I continued to talk after Maggie headed to bed, about life and his views, very much shaped by the loss of his grandson and what’s happening, and has been happening for quite a while, with Maggie, but we also talked music, and Delynn, as always, proved to be a multi-facted thinker with a great interest in so many things.
We also went over maps of the area, and I now realize when Kaye and I were at Great Basin National Park in Nevada, we were only about 2 hours from here! There is so much to see in this area, most of it very familiar to DeLynn, whose grandfather was a homesteader and cattle rancher in the area, and the ranch, about 14,000 acres is still run by DeLynn’s younger brother, with cattle drives a couple of time a year. As DeLynn described it, though, he’s a better therapist than cowboy, but loves the ranch and cattle work.
Talking to DeLynn and going over the maps, I realize that for all my driving on the trip, there’s so, so much more I haven’t seen or visited. It makes me think about sticking around longer to visit some more spots in this region, or returning later.
Tomorrow we’ll get out into the local area, and perhaps go to Bryce Canyon among other places, although Maggie, once filled with life and exuberance, and athletic, is now quite limited in what she can do. So sad, again!