With semi-spontaneous vacation opportunities somewhat limited by Stephanie’s school schedule, we set aside two weeks in early June (between her spring and summer semesters) almost a year in advance. Our plan amounted to little more than a list of Utah’s best known natural wonders—and an ill-fated attempt to rent a Jeep Wrangler in Cedar City, UT. The rental fell through, but the puddle jumper was already booked, so Cedar City it was—a blessing in disguise, as Cedar City is just over an hour from both Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. A great starting point. Everything else (including the route) we made up as we went along.
Our route: Cedar City > Zion > Grand Canyon (North Rim) > Monument Valley > Canyonlands > Capitol Reef > Bryce
Our annual pilgrimage to the desert last Thanksgiving felt like a return to our road trips of yore. We had a few goals in mind, but no explicit itinerary. We felt this acutely on our first night, fighting exhaustion in order to find a place somewhere around Lake Tahoe to park our Escape Campervan. Turns out most of the places we’d researched in advance were closed for the season, so we had to head all the way up to Sugar Pines Point State Park for the night.
When traveling in a new place, I’m drawn to the backgrounds, the negative spaces, the tapestries of color and texture that exist just behind the people and cars and advertisements and graffiti. That background is what differentiates one place from another; it’s what makes a place a place. But it can be hard to photograph [well] because there’s all that other stuff in the way. And I didn’t have the weeks or months, let alone days, to immerse myself in the buzzing energy of Oaxaca enough to anticipate those moments of perfect urban composition.
As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a handy conceit. I was struck by how many Volkswagen Beetles were plying the cobblestone streets of the old city. So I took a photo of one or two—I love the juxtaposition of an old car against an interesting facade. I found that the familiar and graceful shape of the Beetle was a convenient foil for my true intention—to capture something of the place behind it. So what started out as a whim, turned into a sport, and I began walking the streets of old Oaxaca intent on collecting Beetles in their natural habitat.
As part of our Thanksgiving desert pilgrimage, Stephanie and I drove down to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on the border with Mexico. The park protects the desert wilderness surrounding the northernmost range of the organ pipe cactus. We had just enough time to drive the mostly unpaved, 21-mile Ajo Mountain Drive, before heading back to Phoenix to catch our flight home to San Francisco.
Last Thanksgiving, like the one before it, Stephanie and I made our annual pilgrimage to the desert. We spent this one in and around Tucson, Arizona—sort of a do-over of our initial visit (when Stephanie fell ill en route to our container ship in Philadelphia). Of course we returned to the incomparable Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and we went on a short walk in Saguaro National Park, but the real standout was the Telephone Line Trail in Sabino Canyon. The weather was beautiful, the sky was clear, and the late afternoon, autumnal light was golden. We really enjoyed hiking among the giant saguaro cacti. Many photographs were taken. Here are a few.
