Assignment 3- Mary Huffman- The Westward Voyage (Again)

My topic for this blog post is one I've already written about, but one that is notable in other ways. I'm not the kind of person who likes to stay in a condo on a beach, surrounded by jellyfish and sunburned fat people who never wear enough clothes. The only way to escape boredom, and more threatening, the heat, is to wade into strong currents of salty fish pee. I'd hardly consider that a vacation. So, instead of driving to the nearest seacoast, my family decided to drive for 3 weeks straight on an incredible tour of the western United States. Our destination was really the Grand Canyon, where we spent one cold, rainy day and another two sweltering ones. This stop was by no means the only breathtaking one, since we made good use of a National Parks pass. Each park we visited was blooming with foreign languages and peoples, but they were all there for the same reason, basking in the beauty of the same natural and man-made structures, despite the incredible differences between them. My state of awe didn't change, as each time I witnessed an indescribable view, people from all around the world experienced it with me. I felt a sense of unity with these complete strangers who didn't even speak my language. All it took was an 18-mile wide hole in some orange rock. Even amidst the camaraderie I felt, I felt like I was on an alien planet. Every time I heard a strange accent, I tried to decipher what language it might belong to; I eventually gave up on trying to translate the French I heard on every shuttle bus. The landmarks in each park were so different from anything I'd seen before. Even when it seemed like I was in a different country, or looking at the landscape of another world, I was still somehow comforted by the chaotic beauty around me. This trip made me truly appreciate my surroundings, no matter how mundane. As I drove through Kansas on the way home, I was surprised at how beautiful the endless interstate-cut plains of corn could be, even to a Kentuckian who knew nothing but rolling green hills.