You may call me a biased person considering I live in
arizona, when I say it is probably one of the place with
the most diverse scenic beauty.
A few weeks into living in arizona and you would hear
your friends telling you how beautiful their last previous
trip to one of the scenic places was that you decide its
time for you to whet your appetite. The not so adventurous
like the likes of myself pick up a well known destination,
others venture a bit farther to pick up a newer not so
unheard place and you plan a weekend trip with friends.
One of the best think I like about the different trips I
overtook for the different scenic destinations, is that the
trip itself is so rewarding that you begin to wonder what
the destination has in store for you.
Once you leave the hustle/bustle of the city and hit the
two lane highway you start seeing gorgeous sites on the
sides of the road. Initially you will see the land around you
full of sand which reminds you of a desert area. You begin
to think about your water supplies and to beat the heat you
turn up your AC. The cactus’s on these sands stand tall and
alone in the hot sun without showing any weariness at all
that you begin to wonder are we humans really so superior and
strong a species they claim to be. You slowly start slipping
into deep thought and a quick look on your friends faces
reveal they are lost in pensive thought too. And suddenly the
sight disappears. The road ceases to be a flat stretch and
before you know you start climbing. You look around and now
you see mountains so close to you that they give you a feeling
you are going into a cave. The shadows from these mountains
block the sunlight and you begin to enjoy the sceneries
around these mountains. The vegetation, the shape of the
mountain the surface of the mountains some irregular, some
highly regular as if someone had cut the edges in a geometric
fashion all this amaze you. Then out far far away you see
outlines and a faint dark images of something. You ask your
friends to see it and each one has a different interpretation. Some
think it is nothing just a mirage, some think it is cloud
formation and some see even a movement and say there is a lake.
It is nothing like you have ever seen as if it is manifesting
a personality. The curiosity to know what it is now drives
you faster towards it. The mountains, lakes, vegetation that
interested you earlier tend to take low priority so much so
that you dont seem to notice them as they pass by. Then you
slowly begin to see that the landmarks are leaving you. There
are no more lakes. The mountain ranges are dying down and
you begin to wonder where was that thing I saw. What was it?
Did I miss it. You ask your friends and they are confused too.
You reach a flat land yet again and begin to dismiss what
you saw was a mirage. But the thoughts linger as if trying
to tell you something then suddenly you stumble upon the
truth. The truth that what you saw was not one thing it was
the ultimate culmination of the lakes, mountain ranges, the
vegetation the valleys everything small and big juxtaposed
with the beautiful sunlight and their position with respect
to each other that creates an image which only exists when
we are far from it. Something so perfect yet its existence
only in sight not physical, that you begin to question are
we driven by senses or by reality? An experience that makes
you reach for your inner self and ask fundamental questions,
an experience so full filling that you yearn to do this once
more. And you are ready the next weekend with a rental car
to a different destination, one of the ulterior motives
being to enjoy the trip.