Category ArchiveEverywhere Once |

Mission San Xavier del Bac

by Brian on July 2, 2012 in Arizona, Travel, United States

We rounded a corner and, at first, the gleaming white building looked to us like the Taj Mahal. An instant later we recognized the Moorish-inspired structure looming over a sea of green as Mission San Xavier del Bac.

A short drive from downtown Tucson, Arizona, San Xavier stands as one of the most impressive missions we’ve visited in our tour of the Southwest. Its seemingly spotless white façade is a distinct contrast to the more ancient look of the San Antonio Missions. And its ornate architecture sets it apart from the simpler structures we found on El Paso’s Mission Trail.

Another Grand Canyon First

by Brian on June 27, 2012 in Arizona, Travel, United States

How do we celebrate the four-year anniversary of our favorite trip ever; one that had us locked in to seven days of tent-camping and whitewater rafting when we’d never done either before? We revisit that destination with a new first-time experience.

And how do we follow up rafting through the entire 280 miles of the glorious Grand Canyon and rectify never seeing any of it from the rim? We view it from the air, of course.

That is how we found ourselves aboard a three-million dollar EC-130 helicopter, flying a mile over the Canyon floor on our very first helicopter ride.

Go Big or Go Home: Our Grand Canyon Rafting Adventure Continues

by Brian on June 25, 2012 in Arizona, Travel, United States

(This is the second part of a two-part series. Click the following link to read Part I of our Grand Canyon Rafting Adventure)

Bedding down in the Grand Canyon meant finding a spot along the surprisingly beach-like banks of the Colorado and pitching a tent; although our tent went mostly unused. After the first night, we found we preferred sleeping directly under the stars.

Without the overwhelming light pollution of our native Manhattan, the night sky lit up like a Christmas tree. Even though I was exhausted by sundown most days, I’d still spend a couple of hours each night watching satellites drift past billions of stars before drifting off to sleep.

Morning came with a rising sun that painted the canyon in hues of red light and bluish shadow. One of the things we found most rewarding about our trip was seeing how the canyon changed throughout the day and with each passing mile. From striated red sandstone cliffs illuminated by soft evening light to towering black schist shining beneath a mid-day glare, we didn’t just experience one Grand Canyon, but dozens. Every day and every hour offered something remarkable and new.

Go Big or Go Home: A Grand Canyon Rafting Adventure

by Brian on June 22, 2012 in Arizona, Travel, United States

Four years ago we embarked on what is still the best trip of our lives.

In what we now clearly recognize as a prelude to our current travels, in July 2008 we set out for a seven-day, six-night Grand Canyon rafting excursion. Before that trip, we had never pitched a tent under the stars; never rafted; and certainly never experienced whitewater of any kind. Yet there we were, flying off to confront some of the biggest whitewater in the country, on a trip that once started had to be seen through to its end. The only way out of the Canyon for us would be by medical helicopter.

That assumed we made it into the canyon in the first place. We almost didn’t.