What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?

The Grand Canyon.

I first saw it in the summer of 1948 when I was 10 years old. Mom, Dad, Jim (7), and I were on a car trip that took us from Sulphur Springs to California, up the coast to Washington, along the Columbia to Idaho, down to the Great Salt Lake, and back to Texas.

An overarching memory is of the heat. Having no car air-conditioning, we deployed two meager cooling devices. One was a canvas bag that hung on over the grille and “sweated” water. The rushing air evaporated the surface water, keeping it cool. The second was an ice-filled metal tube clamped in the front passenger window. On rushing air passed over the ice and into the car. It didn’t help much.

Mother kept Jim and me entertained by looking for out-of-state license plates according to the state we were in, but we found most fun counting squashed jackrabbits on the highway. There were a lot of dead rabbits. 

We stopped first in Carlsbad Caverns. It was wonderfully cool. Then we went to the Grand Canyon. The vastness gave me a thrill. In 1976 I took a week-long rafting trip through the Canyon on the Colorado River. Read Something Stung Me. You won’t forget the story. 

From there we dove to California to see the redwoods. Awe-inspiring. Then we drove north into Washington. Crossing the Columbia River Dad told us about the many dams, the production of hydroelectric power, and salmon migration.

Then we drove through Idaho to Salt Lake City to see the Great Salt Lake.

Finally, we made it into Texas. Mother complained of the heat, so Dad stopped in Wichita Falls for us to overnight in an air-conditioned room. Bliss.