A Coming Together!

These are dark times of the Coronavirus. The lockdown has already been in place for about 20 days now, return to normalcy is not close, and the grim news just keeps on coming. It is no help to keep worrying about the future so I thought that I will take a trip down the memory lane, about a great American vacation.

For a vacation, it's not the location but the people that matter and I had that covered. A reunion of college friends, sparked by a wedding, made grand by the presence of our girlfriends/partners/fiancees and truly special in nature with everyone flying from all across the world on their student stipends just to rekindle the flame of the good ole' days. This was a homecoming that beckoned an adventure. To rise to such an occasion, we planned an 8-day vacation through the American West and Southwest, beginning from our friends' LA wedding, looping through the motley landscapes of three national parks, seasoned with Vegas, and dipped completely in the American style road-trip.

Unlike every year when we got barely managed to scrape together a couple of days during Christmas break, this time we had 8 days of bliss, largely unconcerned with the post-vacation mayhem of work. Right at the wedding, everything was new yet familiar. We partied all night just like we were back in the hostel but the location was a well-endowed hotel suite, the jokes remained crass but this time we also had our female companions, the booze kept flowing but this time everyone wanted to pay, the food was sumptuous but it wasn't Dominos BOGO offer. As everyone caught up with each other and their jet lags set in, time just fast-forwarded us through the wedding. It was a beautiful affair and with a desi-style flash mob, we bid adieu to the bachelorhood of one from our gang.

The next day we were to set out on our trip. The take-it-as-you-go gang surprisingly started organizing themselves on time! As I drove our 15-seater monster van into the hotel driveway, everyone was packed and ready to go. With a push and a shove, it seemed like a cakewalk to pack the 12 of us + our luggage into the beast.  Wheels rolling on the afternoon of Dec 29, we were on our way to the Death Valley National Park. Sun gave way to absolute darkness as we navigated the traffic of LA, bid adieu to the tree-lined roads of the city, and transitioned from the massive interstate to the empty state highways. En route to our hotel for that night, not many cars crossed our path as we tread along at 60mph in the eerily dark California. Just before we reached our old western-style motel, our gurgling stomachs took us to a local pizzeria. Full of fresh pizza, and exhausted with the last two nights of wedding parties, everyone just took to their beds quickly.  

   
The next day we found out that some of us sneaked out at night to enjoy a couple of beers and have a gala time with the locals. As the stories and games began, we reached the Death Valley National Park within an hour. Even after 5.5 years in the US, new landscapes continue to amaze me. A barren, rocky, hilly park full of white sand spanned as far as I could see. Cameras were out and spirits were up (a good nights' sleep helped). We hiked across large swaths of dunes near the Visitor Center, and around the Uhbebe Crater. It was just a day that we spent in the park but our sand-filled shoes and overstocked photos looked like they had been there for much longer. I don't remember what we did for lunch that day but everyone sank into their gluttony at Denny's diner that night.

As we woke up to another splendid day, the new years' eve awaited us at Hoover Dam and Vegas. The most expensive part of our trip didn't pan out as we planned. Everyone was disorganized, no one wanted to drink or gamble, all the parties were full, the strip got boring too soon that night, and to top it all a mishap caused a muscle tear for Ashu, who was actually visiting Vegas for the first time (quite a few of us had been to Vegas before, I included). After everyone realized that no one is awestruck by the extravagance of Vegas, we finally celebrated New Years' at our Orleans Hotel terrace with the fireworks. It was painful to see everyone trying so hard to make the most out of Vegas. Thankfully, the following days were so much better.

A sumptuous breakfast the next day set us back on track. Well, not quite! We did run a bit late. Our plan was to reach the Hualapai Reservation and visit the Grand Canyon West Rim. A couple of stops and 100s of photos later, we finally reached the reservation just in the nick of time to enjoy a beautiful sunset from Guano Point. In my opinion, visiting the reservation was quite expensive.
That day our nigh pit stop was in Kingman, AZ. For some reason, close to the city there is a Punjabi Dhaba in the middle of the American countryside catering to the truckers. As soon as I found out about this, I turned the wheels for an amazing desi-dinner. A great end to a beautiful day.

A long drive awaited us the next day as we had paid tickets for a tour of Antelope Canyon, all the way around the Grand Canyon. The van was abuzz as everyone engaged in different games, made sandwiches in the moving van and we drove this distance without many stops. On our way, we came across roadside Native-Indian shops, dilapidated vehicles, and mobile caravans. This was a very different countryside to the one that I am used to seeing in Wisconsin. Close to the canyon, we made a stop at the Horse-Shoe Bend. It has become an organized tourist spot, unlike my last visit of 2015. After another ton of pictures at the Horseshoe bend, we finally reached the Antelope Canyon and were greeted by our local guide. The tour was like muscle-memory for her.
She bossed her way around, telling us exact locations where to take pictures, an uninterrupted description of the canyon, and identifying specific features that were beyond beautiful. With the beautiful canyon captured in our phase, we were back on the road. After another short drive across the state line into Utah, a long wait for our dinner, and reaching our frigid hotel location in Tropic, UT, everyone just sprawled across a room. All of us played an online mobile game 'Psych' and finally snuggled into our beds after deciding to see the sunrise in Bryce Canyon, our final major destination.

As expected only a few of us got up early enough and I am glad I did. The Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon greeted us with a beautiful snow-capped landscape in the briskly cold weather. We were a bit late but still, the sun looked like it was splitting the landscape in the distance as the rays reached us. After soaking our eyes aplenty of the sunrise, we headed back to pick up the rest of our entourage and some grub for our tummies. We didn't loiter around too long and headed back to the park. At the visitor center, we found out that our attire was not sufficient to go on a Ranger hike. Nonetheless, we decided to do a different hike deep into the canyon, which was open to us. We ventured into the Navajo Loop and Peekaboo Loop, marveling at multitudes of unique rock formations. It's fascinating to think that these beautiful canyons have been carved out due to the ice, water, and airflow patterns specific to only this particular part of the world. We only stayed close to the Bryce Amphitheater in the park. Had it been a longer trip planned in better weather, there are plenty more hikes and the other end of the park left to explore.

Procuring dinner was a big hassle that day. In the off-season, only the famous Ruby's Inn was open. Everyone was exhausted with the hike so I and Ameek went there to get a supper packed for everyone. Our order was too overzealous and we had plenty left after everyone was done eating back at the hotel. The freezing night turned darker as we scrolled through all our pictures, played more games and recalled the beautiful memories we have made so far. The next day was the beginning of our return journey. We stuffed all our bags one more time in all the cramped spaces of the van, the way we had been doing at every stop-over.

No more plans, just the busy highways of Arizona, Nevada, and California. On our return, we were supposed to reach our final cheap hotel right outside LA, convenient to catch our flights the next day. On this last long day of driving, we planned for lunch at an amazing Indian restaurant, me and Nidhi had stumbled across the last time we visited the area. It's called the Red Fort Cuisine of India near St. George, right on our way. Managed by a Sardar Uncle, we relished the great tasting Indian food. We touched Vegas by early evening to pick up Nidhi's credit card. Oh yes! She forgot it while paying for our breakfast the day we left Vegas. I am glad we called in and asked them to hold it for us. The winding roads kept moving away, puzzles started to float in the van, snoring and dozing heads in all rows, and eating the left-overs from last night just passed our time. On the last night, everyone was tired of the long drive. We planned on how to return our super-van tomorrow, and how to get everyone to the airport on time before calling it a night.

Just like that, a beautiful week ended and made way for a year of excitement until of course the pandemic. I defended my Ph.D. thesis three weeks after that breakfast in the dingy truck-diner, and moved back to India a month later. That trip was a true reunion and we missed all of our gang who were not able to come. It did make me hopeful that no matter where we are, our network follows.