Sedona

First morning post insanity hike: UGH!  Even after dosing up with ibuprofen I could hardly move.  Actually it was all in the calves. My feet hurt a bit, but they hurt all the time so I hardly notice anymore. Thankfully my knees, which honestly felt mildly injured at the end of the hike, didn't hurt at all in the morning, and nothing else was particularly sore besides my calves. But let me tell you, you notice it a LOT when you can't use your calves properly!  I was somewhat comforted that even Jonathan felt a bit sore the next morning. 

The pain didn't get me at all when stepping up--I think if I were helicoptered to the bottom of the canyon I could have hiked out again. However, even a single step down was enough to make me stop for several seconds and figure out how exactly I was going to manage it. 

We had to get back over to Bright Angel to pick up our car, so we decided, despite feeling somewhat decrepit, to walk there along the rim.  It's only a mile and is flat, and gave us another chance to take in the views before leaving for Sedona.  Along the trail we came across a beautiful elk which we didn't see until we were literally right beside it, maybe 8 or 10 feet away. 

I also don't think I mentioned that it was really, really cold in the morning and evening--below freezing. Although it warmed up to tank top and shorts temps during the day, we were completely bundled up with hats, scarves, gloves, and the works both in the morning and basically as soon as the sun set in the evening around 5:30 or 6pm. 

We had tried both of the previous evenings to get a reservation at El Tovar, the nice restaurant at the rim, but it was pretty booked up. Since we were having a leisurely morning and didn't get over there until around 9am, past the rush, we decided to have breakfast there.  It was amazing, and we also got to try prickly pear sauce on our corn cakes--yummy!  Jonathan is going to try to replicate this at home. :-)

After breakfast we collected the car, returned to the room for our luggage and headed to Sedona. The drive was gorgeous and we had some really great conversations along the way as well. 

Because we were so sore (interpretation: I was so sore) we abandoned the plan of doing a hike in Sedona. We stopped at the uptown shops and visited the olive oil shop, did a bunch of tasting and had them ship several bottles for us. 

Then we headed down to Tlaquepaque and found a spectacular restaurant, Rene. Although it was the middle of the afternoon by this point and we were nearly the only people at the restaurant, there was a woman playing the piano and singing old jazz standards. So we just sat out in the Spanish courtyard, ordered tapas and listened to the music. Absolutely idyllic. 

We went back uptown for ice cream and then headed out towards Phoenix along 179 with all the red rock views. It was right about sunset, and the rocks were vibrant. 

Once we got to I-17 we started turning our attention to the fact that the next morning we were scheduled to fly right into Hurricane Sandy. Jonathan spent over an hour on hold trying to reach the airline to find out if our flights were scheduled to go or not. In the end it appeared that our flights were to run on schedule, so eventually we left our Starbucks wifi in Scottsdale and headed over to Karen and Bradley's condo that they had kindly offered to us. We were supposed to stay there Thursday night, and in fact Jonathan did stay there, without me.  It was fun to see their pad,  including a piece of art that they bought at an art sale we hosted in our house several years ago.  It was also fun to see Karen's many crocheted creatures around the house, as well as little touches like crochet samplers used as window valances. We were also fond of the saguaro cactus made from barbed wire that "grows" in their front courtyard. 

The Grand Canyon

Up at 4:15 to get ready for the epic hike.  At 5am, just before we left our room, the alarm clock in the room went off. Yikes!  It's a good thing we had gotten up early because if we were planning to sleep in it would have been a real bummer for the alarm to go off unplanned at 5 in the morning!!!  

It's difficult to park over near the Bright Angel trailhead, but we took our chances and drove over since the shuttle bus doesn't start until later in the morning (meaning 5:45am)   :-) 

We started down the trail in the pitch black with the use of our headlamps. There were a surprising number of other folks doing the same thing, so as you looked up and down the trail you could see a drawn out string of lights bobbing along. Very shortly after we started we were passed by a couple that were running down the trail. It turns out that they were going rim to rim to rim, meaning across to the North Rim and then all the way back (a 42 mile trek).  Suddenly it made our crazy hike seem almost sane!

It was pretty incredible to have the canyon gradually take shape around us with the dawn. The first part of the hike takes you down between massive rock faces and although we couldn't see them, we could tell they were there because of the quality of our voice echoing. If we shined our headlamps up on them, we could barely make them out--or at least see that our light was landing on something solid. 

After the second rest stop (did I mention that I absolutely LOVE composting toilets?) we apparently reached the "fun" part of the trail.  First we saw a dude hiking in full Batman costume. When I took his picture, he gave us his email and asked us to send him the picture later.  We also met people coming the other way who would send messages with us to other people further down the trail, such as, "OK, when you pass the guy with the green backpack, tell him he might want to empty out the rocks that I filled up his camp shoes with," etc.   Basically we were having a ball!

The thing that surprised me the most on the trail was how we saw so many lush areas. From the top of the canyon the whole area appears to be so arid, sandy, and dry, but down at the base of even the little side canyons, where the little streams run down, it's an amazing thread of vibrant green. At Indian Gardens there was apparently a native American tribe that farmed there for centuries. It is so picturesque there with big, beautiful shade trees, sprawling meadows, and then of course these massive red and white rock faces rising up on either side. 

We made it down to Indian Gardens in good time. We had been carrying less water to that point because we knew we could refill there for the rest of the hike.  Below that rest stop was my favorite part of the hike--a winding slot canyon with smoother rock than other areas along the hike, and the lush stream in the bottom, the random tree reaching up to where our trail hugged the edge of the cliff, about 20-25 ft above the stream.  Spectacular!!

Below the slot canyon we had a bit more to descend, but much more gently and before we knew it, we were at the river!  I probably would have been more emotional about our arrival if I hadn't suddenly taken notice of the fact that my ankles, calves, and knees were completely shot.  Somehow when you are hiking down you just don't notice for a long while, and so it was pretty much when we stopped at the river that I realized how much pain I was in. It was 9am and we had the whole day hiking ahead of us, going up!  To say that I was worried would be a bit of an understatement but I was relieved to discover that when we started going up, the different set of muscles I needed for that were still fresh and strong. 

From there we hiked along the river for a couple of miles as we had decided to go up on a different trail.  The other trail was supposed to be four miles shorter (which also means a lot steeper!) but we decided that it would be nice to cut the distance, as well as just have a different set of views on the way up. In the end we only save ourselves two miles rather than four, but we were still glad we chose that route.  Plus, the hike along the river was pretty awesome.  When you are down in that lower slot canyon where the river is, you can only see to the top of that little tiny crevasse--it's hard to get any feel for the massive greater canyon. It actually *feels* like you have huge walls rising on either side, but then you come out to a few spots where you can see all the way up to the rim and it is positively breathtaking!

When we got to the bridge we were about 15 minutes past the point at which we had decided our turnaround should be, so we bypassed the side trip to Phantom Ranch. It would have added an extra mile for us, plus we would have started our ascent too late. That was disappointing, as we were hoping to postmark a postcard from there--apparently they carry the mail out by mule, and it's kind of a novel thing to do. Anyway, we headed straight on up to meet the South Kaibab Trail. 

It was pretty grueling, but spectacular. By the time we got to Skeleton Point, which is where you come out of the lower river canyon and onto the plateau, I was literally in tears and not at all sure I was going to be able to make it.

Somehow I was able to put mind over matter and work through it. One way was by just forcing myself to walk normally (rather than hobble) and pretend that I wasn't in pain. Interesting how when you do that, you actually do experience less pain. Important life lesson. The other way was to look at a place up the trail and decide that yes, I was capable of getting at least to there. Maybe not any further, but at least that far. If I couldn't manage either of those approaches, I would resort to just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. 

We found a completely amazing place to stop for our lunch, at a red rock outlook somewhere above Skeleton Point. It felt delicious to rest, but the pain was fifty times worse when I started again, so I decided against any more long breaks. It was easier to not break the rhythm and momentum. 

Our trail up was along a ridge, as a contrast to the valley we hiked in on the way down. In many places we had sloping cliffs going thousands of feet down on either side of the trail. I didn't feel particularly frightened going up because the trail feels close when you have it directly in front of you, close to your face and hands. However, when I would turn around periodically to take in the view, I was glad we didn't hike down that trail. It seems much more scary with everything dropping away in front of you. 

After many, many, many agonizing steps, we made it to the top. I had started talking to some people at the rim when Jonathan noticed that the shuttle bus had arrived at the parking lot. We were anxious to get back, shower, and find some real food that didn't involve salty nuts or Luna bars, so we were in fact forced to run--yes, that right RUN, to the bus stop. I thought I would collapse and die!  I guess that's the motivation of food...

We somehow climbed the stairs to our room and showered, but the real fun was going back down to catch the shuttle over for dinner. It turns out I simply couldn't go down the steps. At all. Eventually, by hanging into Jonathan with one arm and on the rail with the other, I could sort of hop down, crutches-style, as if I had both of my legs in casts or something. Then,  believe it or not, we had to run to the shuttle bus AGAIN!  

Once on the bus, we realized that we had forgotten the car keys (the car was over near the other trailhead, which is also close to where all the restaurants are). After debating what to do, we decided to just take the bus back to our room after dinner and get the car in the morning. 

Our dinner was great, but we were so tired we could hardly stay upright. We basically went straight to bed when we got back around 8:30, and we slept for 10 hours!

Taliesen West

Flew US Airways Friday morning and got to Phoenix at 9am. Jonathan was anxious to see Taliesen West before we headed up to the canyon. Best detour ever!!!  In addition to it being simply a spectacular place, and the fact that we hit the jackpot with an awesome guide (ask for Kathie D), I actually got to play on the Steinway in the living room. Our guide asked if there was a pianist on the tour that could play for us and there was no way I was going to pass up that opportunity!  So amazing to play on the instrument the Frank Lloyd Wright probably played on himself! I hope I can go back and actually do a concert sometime.

I learned that Wright's two absolute essentials in a living space were 1) a fireplace, and 2) space for a piano. For clients who said they didn't have a piano his response was, "Get one!  And learn how to play it.". Also, when asked who was his favorite architect, he replied, "Beethoven.". How can you not love this guy?

The drive up to the canyon was beautiful and we arrived in time to see the sunset. We ate in the Bright Angel Lodge and walked back to our room at the Yavapai Lodge by way of the Rim Trail, illuminated by a nearly full moon.

Airport déjà vu

Well, here we go again... hopefully I will actually make it out of Pittsburgh this morning.

Some random and unrelated observations from the airport:

After I purchased my breakfast for the plane just now, I realized that I still had in my backpack the dinner for the plane that I bought last night. I guess I will be well fed!

I just spent some time talking with a sales person in one of the shops and she was telling me that her husband has never wanted to go sightseeing anywhere, or go anywhere and do things. I'm feeling fortunate that I'm not in that situation!

Overheard as I passed the Bruegger's Bagels shop: "You're not afraid of butter, are you?" Haha!

Delta strikes again

I attemped to leave today for Arizona to meet Jonathan, who has been in Tucson at a conference this week.  I made the fatal error of booking the flight with Delta, and so naturally instead of being in the air at this moment.... I'm back at home!

My parents already fully moved into our bedroom since they are staying with the girls for the weekend, so I get the surreal experience of sleeping in my own guestroom tonight.  :-)

The good part of all of this was that I had an extra night with the girls and was able to read their stories and put them to bed tonight.  Up at O-dark-thirty and hopefully will arrive in Phoenix by 9am.  Shouldn't throw off our plans for the day by too much--except I may be sleeping in the car rather than doing the driving.

Sunday--heading home

5am alarm, quickie bath, haul luggage out to Basil's car.  Oops, all our luggage won't fit in Basil's car!  Good thing Brian (Basil's cousin) and his wife Beverly are heading back to Joburg as well.  We put some of our luggage in their car and head off.

Three hours later, around 9am, we hit the Zim/SA border. We blaze through the Zim side, and drive across the bridge to the SA border patrol.  Basil groans because the buses are still there.  Evidently there are buses that go through the border each day early in the morning.  It of course takes a lot of time to get all those people through, so it's best to not hit the border when the buses are still there.  Basil deftly maneuvers around a different way and parks at the immigration building and we go inside to assess the damage.  We see that there are thousands of people milling around and winding around in an endless queue.  Apparently they have been there for 7 hours already, and expect it will take another 5 before they get through the line.  Since we need to be in Joburg at 6pm for our flight, this is not really an option.  For some reason I'm overcome with an overwhelming sense of calm that everything is going to turn out.

At some point we had switched around and Erwin and Esther were riding with Brian and Beverly, Gail and I were with Basil and Nathan.  Our two guys have Zim passports, but work visas for SA since they go down there twice a week as part of their business.  Nathan went with us up to the counter for the SA residents (since there was no line on that side) to see if we could get our passports stamped there in order to make it to the flight.  The Afrikaner official there (who apparently proudly announces to everyone he sees that he was born on Hitler's birthday) got angry with us for coming in the wrong line and started shouting at us.  His quip was, "This is Africa!  That's just a casualty of international travel--sometimes you miss your flight!"  Unfortunately he saw that we were with Brian and Beverly and so when they got into the line, he wouldn't even stamp their passports (they are SA citizens!!)  Brian had some other connections that he was trying to work out, so we waited.  Meanwhile we are milling around in the oppressive heat and dust with all the other thousands of people there.  We are sweating and the dust is caking onto all of us, and we recognize that we will have no opportunity to shower or get cleaned up for the next 35 hours... or longer if we can't get through this border and we miss our flight.  We try various methods over the course of the next 2.5 hours.  At one point Basil, Nathan, Gail and I are waiting on one side of the building and Brian's gang manages to get someone to help them and stamp all their passports.  We somehow miss out on that batch, so when we come around and they try to repeat the process, the Hitler guy comes all the way outside of the building and starts tirading us again in the parking lot.  He claims that Nathan was rude to him (huh???) and unless Nathan apologizes, he refuses to even consider our request.  So, regardless of the fact that it was him who was rude (not Nathan), Nathan comes and dutifully grovels to him with Gail and me as witnesses.  Immediately he announces in a loud voice, "All right, then!  Now you can see some true African spirit!!!"  and he marches on into his cubicle, quickly stamps all our passports and we are on our way.  Absolutely surreal!

After you get your passport stamped, you get back in your car and drive across the actual border where the police check all your stamps again, and in our case, search through all the luggage.  One official was looking through our carry-on bags which were with us in the back seat.   I had been pretty alert when he was looking through my bag with my phone, cash, passport, etc.   Next he went through my other carry-on.  I saw that he was unzipping the case for the nice noise silencing headphones that Jonathan had loaned me for the long airplane trip.  I made the mistake at that moment of turning and saying something to Gail.  When I turned back around maybe two seconds later, the guy handed me my bag all zipped up again and I stowed it back into its spot.  Seven hours later in Joburg, I discovered that he had conveniently not put the headphones back into my bag.  There's some good ol' African police for ya.  

We have one more checkpoint to go and we are thinking we're totally in the clear, but when we get to that second checkpoint, we realize that we failed to get some particular stamp on a separate piece of paper relating to taking the car through.  So..... back to the immigration building, Nathan goes running in--we have no idea how long this new iteration will take.  Gail and I are holding hands in the backseat and trying to breathe.  Luckily it takes about 3 minutes, Nathan is back, we zoom through the checkpoints and are out on the open road again.  Very glad to be back in a cool, air-conditioned car by this point!

Now Basil and Nathan, who are driving in turns, are really cruising down the road.... FAST!  Trying to make up lost time.  We do make really good time and since it looks like we have a bit of play for our airport arrival, we stop a couple of hours out of Joburg to get a bite to eat.  It takes them WAY too long to make our food, but we think we have plenty of time, so we are not too worried.  But then, to our dismay, when we get into Joburg, we hit a colossal traffic jam.  I haven't been all that nervous all day, miraculously, but at this point I really start feeling anxious.  It seems ridiculous to have gone through everything we did, and then miss our flight because we are sitting in traffic.  Eventually we slog through and pull up to the terminal a mere 80 minutes before our flight is supposed to leave, 30 minutes before boarding.  Brian and Beverly are already there waiting for us, they have a cart to load our luggage, so we grab our stuff and tear into the terminal behind Brian who is running pell mell pushing our luggage cart.

Thankfully we blaze right through check-in and security and we even have time to go to the restroom, fill our water bottles, and spend about 10 minutes browsing in a shop before boarding.  This is the point at which I discover that my water bottle leaked throughout my entire carry-on bag.  Everything is soaked.  Luckily my phone, charger, passport, etc. have all been stuck in pockets higher up along the sides of the bag, so they take a minimal hit, but everything in the main compartment of the bag is absolutely dripping.  So now we are standing in line to board the plane and as we push the bags along as the line moves forward, I'm trying to fish things out, dry them off, put them in my other carry-on.  Wow!  What a saga!

At long last we are on the flight and I start to relax.  I'm especially excited when I realize that there are maybe three empty seats on the whole massive flight.... and one of them is next to me!!  I have a window seat and the guy on the aisle (who is "sharing" the empty seat with me) turns out to be Neven Matthews,  Dave Matthew's uncle!!  ... Yes, that Dave Matthews!  We hit it off and have many philosophical discussions over the course of the 17 hour flight.  He also has musical connections in SA and helps me with some contacts for potential future performances in Africa.  It's an absolute pleasure to have a nice seat mate and a relatively comfortable flight due to the empty seat between us.

Gail also has a window seat several rows ahead of me.  We don't see each other on the flight very much because it's difficult to visit someone on the plane if they are not in an aisle seat.  However, we arrive in Atlanta in relatively good spirits--we've both managed to give ourselves some sort of modified spit bath in the lavatories on the plane so that we aren't so sweaty and dusty.  I even manage to get my hair mostly wet all over!  Don't ask..... there's quite a bit of water all over the place in there to mop up before I can leave with a straight face.  I have not read up on the FDA regulations pertaining to bathing in the lavatories.

In Atlanta we blast through US customs with no problem, exchanging pleasantries with the extremely polite and professional border officials.  We have a private laugh remembering how one of the things the Hitler guy had said to us was that if you "tried something like that" at the US border (referring to Nathan's imaginary "rude quip"), the Americans would throw you straight in jail.  :-)

I walk Gail to her gate and then make my way over to the next terminal for my Pittsburgh connection.  At long last we have wifi and phone service and so I make the most of my time by making some phone calls, checking email, etc.  Flight to Pittsburgh is uneventful for me, although when I arrive I discover that Gail's flight to San Antonio has had mechanical difficulties, so after deplaning in Atlanta they manage to get on another aircraft and get to TX several hours late.

I'm excited that I arrive on a school holiday and the girls are able to come out to the airport to greet me.  They are there at the bottom of the escalator and come tearing over and jump into my arms.  It's so, so, SO good to see them and I get an added surprise that there with my mom is my cousin Sharon, who is unexpectedly in town for a conference!  I haven't seen Sharon for several years, so it's a very fun surprise!

We head back to the house and I try very hard to keep my eyes open--my goal is to try to stay awake until 10pm, to try to kick the jet lag.  Alas, I only make it to about 8:30.  The girls tuck me in and Sierra reads me a story--I'm in dreamland before she even gets through the first page.

Lovely to be home, but already plotting my next trip to Africa.  It gets into your system, that place!

Saturday

After an early morning walk with Gail, we attended the service for the local SDA church, which had sponsored our trip.  Helen and Basil were hosting a baptism afterwards, so there was a lot of hubbub at the house, getting the swimming pool ready, etc.  During the church service I started doodling on a pad and discovered that it's very fun to draw mazes.  All of this was a good distraction from the fact that it was concert day--generally a time that I spend waiting, waiting, waiting for the concert to begin. (If it were up to me, I would schedule all my performances at 10am!)

There was a huge convoy to Basil and Helen's for the baptism after church.  The choir was very picturesque out in the courtyard, singing during the ceremony.  Once that concluded, we all changed and went out to Hillside Dam for a picnic by the water.  I would say there were about 40 or 50 of us there.

As Gail, Lynn, and I were leaving to go rest and get ready for the concert, I had a conversation with Erwin in which he confided that he wasn't comfortable playing the Piazzolla Tango that evening.  Since it was only 3 hours until the concert and taking out the Tango left a good 12 minute hole in the program, I spent the next bit trying to rack my brain for what I could stick in.  I hadn't brought any solo music with me, and hadn't even thought about anything memorized since before the summer.  I fished around in my brain and dug up a few things that I thought were in there solid enough to play in two hours.  I ended up with a Chopin Nocturne, and my signature modern piece where I "crawl inside the piano."  I went into the house at Helen's and tried it out and discovered that there was a passage that I couldn't remember.  I was at a loss for awhile since I didn't have the music there.  Then I remembered that I had a bunch of my CDs there, and that piece was on the recording.  I went running out to our cottage, ripped open a CD, stuck it in Lynn's computer and listened to that section for awhile until I thought I had it.  Back at the piano, I finally sorted it out until I felt comfortable.  During all this time, Lynn and Gail were incredibly supportive and encouraging (which I really needed, as I was kind of freaking out!)

The concert went really well and when it was time for my solo pieces, I decided to play the modern piece first.  There were no printed programs so after I finished that piece I was waiting for the applause to die down so I could announce the Chopin Nocturne.  Well wouldn't you know it, they just would not stop clapping!  (And here I had been worried whether or not the piece would go over with that audience!)  I bowed.... waited.... bowed again.... waited..... I think I probably bowed three times and finally they subsided.  This just made my day that people liked it so much!

Gail and Lynn sang spectacularly on the concert and the trios with Nathan were awesome.  I did collaborate with Erwin on a Bach piece for 2 pianos and that went very well.  The choir also sang towards the end of the concert and so it was very festive back in the green room with all of us there during the second half.

After the concert it was hard to leave because we knew we wouldn't see anyone again.  We had to pack up and pull out in the car at 5am the next morning.  We just lingered and lingered, taking pictures with everyone, exchanging hugs, getting people's email addresses, etc.  Finally we managed to load up and head back to the house, after which we went up to the kitchen and hung out with Helen's family and the other musicians until after midnight.  Eventually we made it back to the cottage to crash for a few hours before our departure.