A Difficult Night of Driving Out West

It was a strange day, and it started off at a ridiculous hour, although admittedly, I hardly have any regrets, since it ultimately went well.

You see, my son and I got to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon earlier the previous day, and then we got a pleasant surprise when we kind of stumbled into the Horseshoe Bend outside of Page, Arizona, on our way towards Durango, Colorado.

We spent extra time in both places, and so we were running far behind schedule.

Since it was that late, I figured it might be best to eat somewhere in Page, remembering that in this part of the country, unlike the greater Tri-State area, it can be extremely difficult to find anything that is open late. In fact, even during business hours, it can sometimes be a task to find businesses at all, depending on what part of the state you are in. And if we needed any reminders of that, we had just come from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and that was about 70 miles away from the next real town. So, we knew that this was our chance.

Of course, we had limited funds, and so this was not going to be high dining at a first class establishment, but rather a quick and filling meal to kind of refuel and recharge prior to the next really big chunk of driving, which again, would have to be completed now in the dark.

After a dinner at Jack in the Box in Page, we headed out. It can be extremely dark in the desert at night, and that was what it was now. Very dark, but at least it was clear. If driving conditions could remain optimum, hopefully we could make up for some of the lost time.

We were going to stay at the KOA in Durango, Colorado, and maybe an hour after leaving the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I got some reception on my cell phone again, and was able to call them to let them know that we would be running late. At that time, we were still four and a half hours or so away, and so I guessed (incorrectly, as it turns out) that we would be arriving at 10:30pm.

That turned out to be waaaayy off.

By the time we finished visiting the Horseshoe Bends, and then by the time we finished dinner (and I finished my daily writing) at Jack in the Box, we were not likely to get there before 1am.

As it turned out, we would not make it there at all that night.

The drive was indeed long, and the darkness did indeed hinder driving. Still, it needed to get done, and so after finishing our meal, I made sure to fill up the gas tank (again, every little bit helps when you are driving out in the desert and do not know when you will run into another gas station, let alone one that stays open late.

However, I had no idea that the fill up at the next available gas station would prove to be far and away the strangest occurrence of filling a car up with gas so far in my life.

 Not surprisingly, almost every gas tank was full, as everyone had the same idea that I did. However, there was one that was open. So, knowing this is not full service like we have in New Jersey. I went in the store and paid for $10 of gas, knowing that it was still quite full, and would probably be significantly less. Again, I was getting gas out of an abundance of caution.

Well, the first strange thing that we noticed was a stray dog crossing each gas tank. Of course, we were in a rental car, an unfamiliar car in a still mostly unfamiliar state. It was not all that late, yet with how quiet those back roads in the desert can be, and how everything closes early, it felt like it might have been three or four in the morning.

So, after paying, I go to the car, and am approached by this young Native American girl. She is trying to sell Native jewelry - specifically earrings. They were not very expensive, and they looked nice, so I went ahead and bought one pair for my girlfriend, and one pair for my mom. But it seemed so strange to be approached by a young and obviously pregnant girl, looking to make the equivalent of scraps. It brought to mind just how impoverished Natives were here, and I was glad to help. I had bought a nice necklace for my girlfriend earlier in the day, shortly after leaving the Grand Canyon, and had also bought a real arrow (at least, that was how it was advertised) for my son.

All of that was strange enough, but then, as I was pulling away after filling the tank, I noticed that it still was at the exact same level that it had been when I pulled into the station. That was strange, and so it was time to call in a worker. He agreed that it seemed strange, but told me to go inside and speak with the teller. That is what I did, but he seemed as perplexed as me, and not inclined to look into the matter further.

By then, I was feeling tired and annoyed, and so I walked out and took the car across the street, to the slightly more expensive station. Put in my credit card, and filled it up.

It stopped before it reached 40 cents.

A little baffled, I tried again, and it stopped again. Looked at the gas meter, and now it read full, even though it had been running for the better part of ten minutes by then. I happened to look inside of the gas station and, amazingly, in the twenty or so seconds that I was filling the tank, the lights inside of the gas station were turned off, and the guy working inside was heading outside with trash bags in each hand.

Clearly, they were closing.

Still, I had managed to get the 50 cents of gas, plus the gas that I got in the other station was now showing.

Good.

And so it was time to start getting a move on again, and that is exactly what I did.

As the border between Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona approached, yet another wildly strange incident occurred.

It was very dark, and very quiet in the desert. Had been all night, and then you kind of figure it will be for the rest of the night, too.

Yet, I suddenly saw this huge form on the road, and was wondering (almost excited in the fraction of a second after I saw it and slammed on the brakes) if this maybe was a buffalo.

Nope. It turned out to be horses - two of them! And they did not show any real fear or sense of danger with the car.

Even now, thinking about it, I thank my lucky stripes that we managed to avoid one another, because a collision could not only have wrecked the car, but it could have led to something far more serious. Frankly, it could have been fatal. At the very least, it likely would have ended the trip right then and there, one way or the other.

So, yes, I am very, very appreciative that we did not hit, and it was one of those things that I felt very grateful for. Still do, actually.

Obviously, though, that was enormously unsettling, and my speed went significantly down after that, half convinced that there would be more stallions waiting in the middle of the night just to jump in front of the car. The rental car.

Before too long, my son was sleeping, out like a light. He had been drifting prior to the horse incident, although that really woke him up for a while. But maybe half an hour later, he laid down, and went promptly to sleep.

Funny thing was that even though I made it to within 20 miles or so of Durango, I pulled over, realizing how obnoxious it would be of me to pull into the KOA roads - surely gravel - at some ungodly hour, and then keep the car running to heat us up a bit, because it was cold. Certainly, setting up the tent at such a bleak hour was virtually unthinkable.

And so, my night in Colorado was spent in the car, and I might - might - have gotten three hours.

In fact, as I write this, I am still just trying to recover from the excessive fatigue. Hopefully, I will catch up on the rest later.

But it was not a great night for rest, and I was cold. My son said that he was fine, and he had taken my hooded poncho sweatshirt as a pillow, even though I had meant it as a blanket for him. Tried to get it, but he can be very hard to wake up when he is really, really tired.