oh, I cried

c. 2013) I think I cried when I got there. ⁣

It wasn’t just because of the sheer beauty- that can literally take your breath away- but it was because I thought I was totally lost on my way there. ⁣

On my drive north from Sedona, Arizona- I came across a “road closed” sign. I pulled into a gas station/outpost to ask what was up. ⁣

The woman behind the counter said I should just turn right (the only other road) and that would take me to the same destination. Seems as though a bridge was out. I
felt confident- as I had all of the necessary travel gadgets- the rental car GPS, my phone, a hotspot, and an actual map. She said it would add an hour. ⁣

⁣Ok. I thought- I can handle that. ⁣

Well, I drove over a cattle crossing and onto a reservation. It was about 3:00 pm in the afternoon- so, I turned up the tunes and began to drive. ⁣

The landscape was so fascinating- large rock formations that looked like huge cow pies or what I imagine how it would look on to the moon. ⁣

Dusk was coming. ⁣

My heart began to race. It had been more time than I was told. ⁣

All the questions started popping up in my mind. “Who do you think you are to do this?” “Why are you alone?” “You should have been more prepared...” ⁣

And then- I came to a stop sign. I could turn east. Or west. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯! ⁣

Here I am…in the middle of nowhere- the GPS was not picking up any road and my trusty paper map had no evidence of the current road I was on. ⁣

Dude. ⁣

I looked up at that descending sun...and knew that I eventually needed to head west- so, I punted. And went west. ⁣

With that decision- I began to shake. Then- I saw a sign that said: “Welcome to Page”. ⁣

Omg- I had made it! To say that I let out a-sigh of relief-is an understatement. ⁣

Was I lucky? Was I stupid? Maybe a little of both. But- I learned lessons about myself that I’ll never forget. ⁣

This photo was taken that next day. Those glorious shadows-created by years of flash floods that ran through the sandstone. They were just stunning. #thingsIlearnedthatday⁣

PS. The middle photo is of the cattle crossing.

12.9.20