USA Chapter 4: Full Car Southwest Road Trip and the Great People of Flagstaff

Once we returned from Texas, we spent another two nights at the co-op with Summer. It was nice being in a co-op again, although it’s a very specific vibe. We also got to meet Summer’s partner, Josh, who seems like a sweet guy. They showed us around Boulder, and we went for a short hike. It’s nice hanging out with locals, because there are so many little facts and stories about a town that you would never know without talking to someone who lives there. We also went to a local consignment store, where I seriously debated buying a pair of ski touring boots, but decided against it – we already had a lot of stuff in the car and were about to add two more people.

On Monday morning we said goodbye to Summer and went skiing at Eldora ski resort for half a day. The snow was hard and the field was not that big, so we went for a hike in the afternoon. That evening we drove to Vail. We would be staying with our friends Mon and Levon (who are from New Zealand) for the next 5 days, and then they would join us on our road trip to Flagstaff. Mon is on a J1 visa, which is a visa that you can get within a year of finishing uni which allows you to work in the US for a limited time frame, and Levon is there on a tourist visa. Mon’s uncle has been living in Vail for years, so Mon and Levon are renting out his extra bedroom and Mon is working at the same restaurant her uncle works at as a back wait (it makes pretty good money – she said she makes around $250 a night on a 5-hour shift).

We picked up Mon and Levon on our way into Vail – they had been ice climbing and appreciated the lift back. We let them know an hour or so beforehand when we would be there, but when we arrived, we waited for another 20 minutes till they emerged from the snowy forest; “Mon was still up on the wall!” “Levon dropped his helmet in the woods, and we had to go get it!”

The next day, Mon and Levon snuck us into Vail ski field. Day passes are upwards of $300 there so there was no way we were skiing unless it was a bit sneaky. Now, most of the ski fields we had been to had gates on (almost) every lift that automatically scanned your pass as you went through (the exception being very remote parts of the ski field where you would have to go past other gates first). Vail, however, had people holding manual scanners that would scan each person’s card, but only at the lifts in town – all the other lifts on the field had no gates whatsoever. Also, Mon and Levon had both a physical card and a barcode on their phones that they could use at the gates. Given what I’ve told you, I probably don’t need to explain the heist in detail – add in ski helmet/goggles/buffs over faces (not suspicious at all), I briefly became Mon, and Travis briefly became Levon, and we spent the rest of the day skiing all the lifts but the very bottom ones.

Now, as you may remember, Travis’s ski had been loose in Salt Lake City, and he had gotten it repaired there. As it turns out, however, they did quite a shoddy repair job, and the binding fell off his ski that afternoon! He had to ski to the gondola and then ride it down. He was very lucky he didn’t get hurt when he came off.

We sat in the hot tub at Mon’s work that afternoon and went into the sauna as well, which Mon and Levon had never done despite having sat in the hot tub many times. It’s in a very fancy hotel so they provide you with towels, moisturizer, shampoo, q-tips… Mon was also able to get a large serving of fries for very cheap with her staff discount. A very nice afternoon!

That evening, Levon fitted Travis with his touring ski set-up. One of the skies was beginning to come apart layer by layer, and Levon had put in several screws to keep the ski together. The next day, however, the binding ripped out of the ski while Travis was skiing. That day he went up and asked the ski patrol if they had any extra skis in his size, which they did (not sure who is losing single skis on the ski field, but I guess it happens). We skied a bit more that day, with Travis on one light and wide touring ski and one narrow and heavy carving ski.

We went to a consignment store that evening and Travis was convinced to buy a decent quality pair of skis for $50. At first he said he’d skied enough on this vacation, but even he couldn’t pass up such a bargain. It turned out that mounting the bindings on the ski cost more than the skis themselves (but only $10 more thank goodness). The other skis had been looked at by a professional and deemed rotten to the core – literally the wood core was rotting and that’s why the binding came out. I guess that’s what happens when you buy discount skis, even new ones.

Mon was working in the evenings, and Travis and Levon and I had just been making dinner and hanging out at the house, so when we decided to go skiing at Copper Mountain the next day, Mon decided to have a rest day at home. We woke up early to some snow! Copper Mountain is on the Ikon Pass so Levon had to buy a day ticket (only $100), and we drove over Vail Pass. It was snowing, and the police had a whole blockade set up to catch and fine people who did not have snow chains or snow tires on. Levon said that California license plates were basically code for “I don’t have snow tires” so we should put on chains, which we did. We might have been able to get away without them, but it definitely made the driver safer, if not faster.

When we got to Copper Mountain the snow was coming in fast in thick flakes that stuck very nicely to the ground. We spent the day doing, in my opinion, some of the best skiing of the entire trip. By this point I was feeling very confident in my skiing ability, and skiing had become fun instead of just terrifying. There were some lovely forests we went through with very deep untouched powder snow, and it kept snowing all day.

The next day was our last in Vail! We were slow to get going in the morning, and watched an episode of Bridgerton over breakfast. Then we spent several hours packing up the car and preparing to be back on our road trip tomorrow, this time with the addition of Mon and Levon. We went on a walk to the local icefall that afternoon, which involved walking through some snow and up some slippery slopes which we were not prepared for, gear-wise. Mon had some crampons that allowed her to walk up the snow, no problem, but for the rest of us it was challenging, and I was glad I had brought my gloves because I was in 4WD the whole time.

The next morning we piled everything into the car and got going around 8. We drove from Vail to Great Sand Dunes National Park, stopping along the way to peruse the “garden” around the UFO Watchtower. This was a very odd cross between an interactive art installation and a shrine: there was a (closed) visitor centre, a watchtower, and a collection of random objects spread out around the nearby area. Evidently it was good karma to add something, so we did – I dug a European 2 cent piece out of my wallet and left it tucked in by a rock.

We went to the visitor centre at Great Sand Dunes and then spent the afternoon climbing the tallest sand dune in the park, a ~2 hour walk to the top. Great Sand Dunes really is just a big pile of sand in this expansive valley, brought there by a combination of geology, wind, and water. The sand was quite nice to walk in, and all of us ended up barefoot in short order. We sat at the top for quite a while before making our way down the dunes, which is definitely more fun than walking up. Travis and I discovered that if we walked down the dunes in sync, the whole wall of sand would start to slide and made a vibrating sound that continued for ten seconds or so when we stopped.

We made dinner as the sun set and Mon and Levon got to experience “The Bastard” for the first time. We started (un)affectionately calling the cooker “The Bastard” because it was so frustrating to use. After Mon was put in charge of washing the dishes and I nearly pulled out my hair watching her – not all of us were raised washing dishes in the desert and conserving every drop of water. And then we drove three hours to Durango, where we had booked a hotel to sleep in.

The next morning we checked out of the contactless hotel (didn’t have to physically talk to a person throughout the entire experience) and went to Mesa Verde for the day. Mesa Verde (which is actually a Cuesta – mesa means table in Spanish and a Mesa is a flat area of land that sticks up the rest of the landscape, whereas a Cuesta is slanted) is known for the many ruins of the Puebloan people, who, as we learned throughout the day, started living on the Cuesta around 7500 BC, first nomadic people and eventually in several different epochs where they developed more and more advanced building styles. Then, around the beginning of the 13^th century, they moved into the cliffs and built a series of impressive cliff palaces. Around 1285 they all packed up and left, going to other areas of the Southwest but completely deserting Mesa Verde. There are many theories about why this happened, but no one truly knows the whole history of what happened. Water scarcity was definitely part of it, which caused conflicts between groups of people. Our friend Grace, an archaeologist, later told us that one of the only confirmed instances of cannibalism in the US happened nearby, likely as an intimidation tactic. Regardless, the area has been abandoned for a long time, with only the incredible cliff palaces still there.

We spent the day exploring – we weren’t able to go into any of the palaces, because you need a guide to do that and they don’t work in winter, but we were able to go into an area of the park that is usually closed in winter due to snow, because, you guessed it, there was no snow.

That evening we drove to Canyon de Chelly, where we stayed at the Spider Rock campsite. Canyon de Chelly is in the middle of the Navajo Nation, which is beautiful, and strikingly poor compared to most of the rest of America. The campground was run by an old Diné (Navajo) man who spoke limited English. The toilet was a very cool water-saving toilet which used less than a liter of water per flush, and the campground had advertised warm showers, turned out to only be available in summer – cold pourover showers for us. Even though it was quite run-down, it was beautiful and felt very authentic, with hogans and sweat lodges built throughout the campsite that you could also stay in.

The next day we got a bit of a later start than Travis and I normally did, and after a trip to the visitor center, hiked down into the canyon itself. Visitors are only allowed into the canyon at one spot without a guide. It’s not a very long hike, but is quite stunning, and you end up by the “White House Ruins”. We spent a couple hours down by the ruins just enjoying the view before hiking back up to the top of the canyon, where we met a Navajo man who told us that the caves near the top of the canyon were where his people hid from the US soldiers who came to shoot them. He also told us that the river is usually much higher at this time of year, and he usually grows apricots and other crops down in the valley, but doesn’t know if he’ll be able to grow anything this year.

For sunset we went to look at Spider Rock itself, which is an impressive spire in the middle of the canyon. Legend has it that Spider Woman lives on the top of the spire, and naughty children are taken to the top and held captive there. We had the first and only fire of our trip that evening and I introduced the kiwis to proper s’mores. Mon and Levon turned the fire fun colors with these packets they bought that were “environmentally safe”, although you burned the powder in the plastic packaging which I didn’t think seemed especially good for the environment.

In the morning we drove to Petrified Forest National Park, which is an area of eastern Arizona that has an extraordinarily high amount of petrified wood. It’s in a stunning but harsh area called the Painted Desert that was nonetheless inhabited by many Indigenous people. The national park is set up in classic American national park fashion – you drive along a main road and stop every few miles to do a short walk. The petrified wood logs and pieces along the way are beautiful once you look closely. The colours the wood turns when it becomes rock are incredibly variable, from oranges and browns to pinks and greys. There was one area known as the “log jam”, where a prehistoric flood collected a large number of tree trunks and entombed them in mud where they became fossilised. Another area is a landscape formation known as “Badlands”, which are characterized by bands of coloured dirt that then erodes out in a specific fashion, leaving the bands visible, and in this case, exposing chunks of petrified wood.

There were many signs in the park that explicitly said “No Collecting”. However, there were so many incredible little pieces of petrified wood it was impossible not to slip one or two into your pocket. At one point, Travis asked me “How many rocks do you think is too many to take?”. “More than five is probably a bit gluttonous,” I replied. “Ok, I’ll stop then.” Later that evening at dinner Travis showed me what he had in his pockets. 1, 2, 3… 7, 8, 9… out came the rocks.

We met with some old friends of mine in Flagstaff for dinner and stayed with Michael, a friend who I have done the Peaks Hike with many times. He is retired and has a beautiful house outside of Flagstaff which he kindly let us stay at – we even all got to sleep in a bed!

The next morning we drove to the Grand Canyon, where we all got in with the National Parks Pass Travis and I had bought in Oregon. The Grand Canyon is one of the national parks that has the new $100 international visitor fee for non-US citizens, which would have meant a very expensive day without the Resident’s pass, which allows you to get a whole car in regardless of who’s in (only one US citizen needed). Once we had finally navigated the Grand Canyon System (which involved deciding on an appropriate hike and taking a shuttle to the trailhead) we began our hike down into the canyon. Travis hiked off by himself, needing a bit of alone time.

Travis and I had both really looked forward to traveling with Mon and Levon – spending so much time with one person makes you really look forward to having other people to talk to. Having traveling buddies definitely livened things up! Mon and Levon are both very entertaining people to be around as well – some good chats were had. The downside was that we were traveling in the car, which was already tight with me and Travis, but felt overfull with 4 people and all their gear. Also, Travis and I had a very practiced and streamlined system that minimised the amount of time we spent on things like cooking and other faff, and we would move through our days very efficiently, not rushing but just prioritising exploring and going more places over comfort and good food. Mon and Levon had a different approach – having coffee in the morning and nice meals was part of the journey and made it more enjoyable. These two approaches sometimes clashed – when half the group wants to sleep in and sit in the sun enjoying their coffee and the other half is almost ready to go, this creates some frustration on both sides, with one side feeling rushed and the other feeling slowed down. Although my pace matched Travis’s more, I experienced less frustration than he did.

Back to the canyon: Travis needed a hike at a fast pace and so shot off down the canyon by himself – we would meet him back at the top at 5 at the latest. Mon and Levon and I took a chiller pace, with lots of stops for photos and catching lizards. Hiking the canyon is interesting; on most hikes, you hike uphill first, and if you run out of energy to hike up, you come back down, which is less intense energy-wise but harder on your joints. When hiking down first you have to be careful not to hike down so far that you can’t come back up, and factor in the extra time it takes to walk uphill. We were all conscientious with our time and energy and Travis actually caught up with us again on the way up. Walking back along the rim we came upon a group of Bighorn Sheep that were not scared of us at all, and we observed them from mere armlengths away for a time.

On Mon and Levon’s last day before they went back we went down to Sedona and did a hike there. The red rocks and canyon were beautiful but the highlight of the trip was when we saw a Gopher Snake, which I caught after identifying it. It was a very chill snake and the Kiwis, none of whom had ever held a snake, all got to hold it. It was amazing seeing them go from “Ew snake” to “Ooh snake!”. Holding a snake is a wholly unique experience – the way they move and interact is like no other animal.

That evening Michael and Travis and I went to his granddaughter’s 3^rd grade play at Pine Forest, which is the school I went to from kindergarten to 8^th grade. The school moved the year after we moved to California in 2016, and ironically is now very close to where we lived in Flagstaff. It was cool to see the inside of the new school and show Travis what a Waldorf school is like. We also saw a couple teachers and administration people who were there when I was at school and actually recognized me!

When we went to bed that evening, we said goodbye to Mon and Levon. When we had first made plans for them to join us for a part of our trip, I asked when their flight back was – Friday March 6^th was the answer (at this point in was the middle of February). Travis and I had made plans to go skiing with some friends in Flagstaff that day, and so I told Mon and Levon that they should probably book a shuttle to Phoenix because we wouldn’t be able to drive them. When we arrived in Vail, I asked if they had booked the shuttle – no. On our drive from Petrified Forest National Park to Flagstaff (three days before the flight), Levon pipes up from the back seat, “Maybe I should actually book that shuttle.” Three minutes later: “It appears that the only spots left are on the shuttle that leaves Flagstaff at 3am! You’ll drop us off… right?”, “…”, “Maybe we’ll take an Uber.” I felt bad not agreeing to drop them off, but this was also a completely avoidable situation.

Mon and Levon are classic “Type B” people, where planning usually happens as an activity is occurring. Travis and I are both very “Type A” – planning happens well in advance and there is some amount of anxiety if there is no plan or the plan suddenly changes. Both personality types have their benefits and downfalls: Planning in advance usually means things are cheaper and more convenient, but when things don’t go as plans life is more stressful; planning as you go means you’re open to more opportunities that might present themselves along the way, but things are often more expensive if booked last minute or less convenient, case and point the 3am shuttle.

Somewhere online I had seen the quote “Your mistake is not my crisis”, and this became my mantra over the next few days. I have a tendency to want to fix people’s problems for them. If the person on the receiving end is a child this can be necessary – a baby can’t change its own diaper – but when everyone involved is a responsible adult this results in stress for me and people on the receiving end thinking I’m either too controlling or becoming reliant on me to do things for them.

Mon and Levon took the Uber to the 3am shuttle and made it down to Phoenix, with the morning to spend there before their 1pm flight. Around noon on the ski field, I got a call from Mon: “We went to check in for our flight, but check in wasn’t open for another hour, and that’s when our flight is! But then we double checked and our flight is not till tomorrow! Do you know anyone we could stay with in Phoenix?” I am skiing with my friends, there is spotty reception, and I actually didn’t know of anyone in Phoenix I felt comfortable sending two friends to stay overnight with. I asked my friends to see if they knew anyone but we couldn’t find anyone at that moment. Your mistake is not my crisis. Deep breath. Mon and Levon found somewhere to stay and flew out the next day.

Skiing with Tien, Everett, and Ben (and of course Travis) was awesome. Considering I wouldn’t have been able to do it at all a year ago, I was able to keep up with them (they’re all very good skiers). It was fun having Travis meet them – as expected he and Everett especially got along quite well – and to hear what all of them have been up to. The snow itself was pretty terrible, although snow is a bit of an overstatement – it was very icy and hard top to bottom and I made sure to ski very carefully.

That evening we went to Shannon and Grace’s, where we would be staying for the rest of the time in Flagstaff. They have a large property with a stunning view of the Peaks, a beautiful house, and a lively alpaca herd. I always love spending time with them because they’re both such amazing women doing good work in their jobs and political activism outside of work.

On the Saturday Travis and I met Ben for brunch and then Travis and Everett went to play pool while Ben and I went to capoeira. It was really nice to see Avi again and be in the class – the music and capoeira are both top-quality. It was interesting, though, to realise how much my style has changed with my new group – I definitely belong to the style and group in Christchurch now. The energy was also quite intense, and I’ve been in other groups where things get more intense and involved the longer you are a part of the group and this felt very much like that. Personally, I tend to want to distance myself from those kinds of dynamics – I am happy to come to class regularly but I prefer not to have my teachers extensively involved in my personal life.

In the afternoon Everett and Travis and I went to explore a lava tube outside of town. It’s a popular cave and there had been a lot of graffiti inside it at some point, most of which had been scrubbed off. It was nice to see people caring for this interesting space, not so nice that people kept defacing it. We pushed on till the end and then sat in silent darkness for a few minutes – it’s always interesting to remove the stimuli of sight and sound and see what it feels like and what the mind does. In the past I’ve really enjoyed it but this time I found it hard to sit still for long enough to really enjoy it, and when every small movement is loud that takes away from the experience.

We made spring rolls for dinner that evening and chatted with Shannon and Grace and Everett for a while. I am trying to convince Everett to come do a working holiday in New Zealand, which Shannon is very encouraging of. Everett, like many who grew up in Flagstaff, feels very comfortable and stable there and finds it hard to leave and start somewhere new. I understand it – being back in Flagstaff kind of felt like I had never left, and like it would be so easy to return. Even though I’ve been gone for a decade I would still have friends and a support system if I moved back there. But, as they say, growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone, and moving to a different country for a year would be a good way to do some growing. Flagstaff will still be there afterwards.

Sunday morning Shannon, Everett, Travis and I went on a hike to Red Mountain. What makes Arizona such a cool place is that there are so many geologically different landscapes in a relatively compact area. Red Mountain has what are known as hoodoos, which are upright spires of rocks that have eroded in interesting ways. We climbed up into them, which was a bit sketchy, but we all got down safely… as soon as we were down, Shannon fell and got a big wound on her chin. Walking on flat ground is dangerous!

When the current US president (he-who-shall-not-be-named) was elected for the second time, Shannon and Grace started having monthly Sunday resistance potlucks. In the beginning these began as protest planning meetings, but they have morphed more into social events, because building community in today’s world is resistance. This Sunday was one of those special potluck days, and so after Travis and I prepared the car for the last leg of our road trip we helped them prepare for the potluck. About 20 people ended up being there, some of whom I knew and hadn’t seen in years. It was good to catch up!

The next morning Travis and I said goodbye and set off on the last leg or our road trip, so I’ll end this blog here. It was so nice to visit Flagstaff and show Travis where I grew up. In this world where I so often question where I’m from and where home is, going to Flagstaff does feel like going home in a way, although I don’t live there, and it’s reassuring that I still feel like I’m “from” somewhere. Mostly it’s the people who are still there and still know me and have for a long time that make it so special.