On the Open Road

From my experience – road trips are always a great time. As a kid I loved to have extended time with my parents (who both worked), we would sing in the car – and explore new places… but my older brother and I didn’t always get a long… so barricades needed to be built between the seats to stop the fighting (and for parental piece of mind). Imagine my parent’s disbelief when they heard that my older brother and I decided to go on a road trip – together. INTENTIONALLY!

Over the years, my brother and I have had our differences, but we both have a love for photography, so when I told him about Rodney S. Braun Photo Adventure Tours and their 2018 Spring Break Photography Tour – he jumped at the opportunity to join in! Seven days on a bus… no barricades and no parents to make sure that we both make it back in one piece.

The last time my brother and I lived under the same roof was about 20 years ago – and now we live in different areas of the country. I am in Winnipeg, Manitoba and he lives in Calgary, Alberta – so it is a very different dynamic than it used to be. We no longer feel the need to compete for the same things – or against each other – it’s ok to just be who we are. The trip was absolutely FABULOUS!!!

There were 11 of us on the tour, 1 from British Columbia, 2 from Alberta and 8 from Manitoba. All with a love for the outdoors and a passion for photography. We started out the trip in Arches National Park, Utah which is indeed “A red-rock wonderland” as the Parks websites boasts. With large natural arches of rock formed over centuries – it was incredibly awe inspiring.

We started out the following morning with sunrise at Mesa Arch – which was spectacular as you could see the sand storms blowing in across the valley below, and the sun danced in the sand as it broke through the clouds. We then hopped in our tour bus for a stop at Twin Rocks Trading Post, where we got out to explore the surrounding area, and some of the fascinating old cars and machinery that us kooky photographers are so intrigued by! Once our curiosity was satiated, we moved on to sunset at Monument Valley. Monument Valley (in my opinion) is one of the most iconic images of Arizona (although technically it is located on Utah / Arizona border). It’s deep red rocks coming out of the sand are iconic – and a place my brother and I visited as teenagers a long time ago. It was fabulous to be there again – and although Mother Nature didn’t feel the need to cooperate with the weather (it was quite windy, and the sunset was blocked by cloud) the sweeping vistas were truly incredible.

A late night in Monument Valley followed by a well needed soak in the hot tub – gave us little time to sleep before our sunrise adventure to Horseshoe Bend – but we had an incredibly comfortable bus (well – more like a large van with standing room and reclining leather armchairs) to take us from location to location – which gave us ample time to catch a few zzz’s now and then. From there we went back to our hotel to pick up the few people who chose to sleep in – and then off to Page, Arizona for the spectacular Antelope Canyon – which is the place that most of us we most excited about exploring.

Antelope Canyon is hard to explain – it is more like a narrow crevasse in the rock than a canyon – that you can walk through and see the light play with the colours in the rock. It is truly spectacular – enhanced only by our guide (Malcom)’s singing a traditional Navajo song – which echoed hauntingly while we took out photographs. It was a truly spiritual experience – and one that I am likely never to forget!

It was incredible – over half way through and my brother and I had not had a disagreement once!! In fact – he was REALLY GOOD company! This is the first time the two of us have done something like this together – and it was absolutely fabulous! Each day we would send a selfie to our parents of our most recent adventure (partially because it was just fun… and partially to show that we were still getting along) and in the evening we would FaceTime with our respective households and catch up on the day’s news.

The following morning we were on the road again – to the Grand Canyon for sunrise – and then off down the infamous Route 66 on the way to Las Vegas – for an evening on our own (although most of us chose to walk the strip together – oohing and aahing at the sights).

The Valley of Fire State Park in Overton, Nevada was incredible with it’s Rainbow Vista Lookout. The rock truly was a rainbow of colours from oranges and tans to pinks and purples – another breathtaking sight to add to our journey. From there we went to Zion National Park (back in Utah) for a hike and were thrilled to have some big horned sheep come to play.

We were attempting to catch a sunset at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park but there was a storm brewing so not much light was getting through. It was a treacherous drive through the snow storm back to our hotel – and we wondered if we were going to be able to make it for our last stop before heading home, or snowed in in Utah… but the following morning we woke to blue skies and a glorious 12 cm of fresh snow. Bryce Canyon, with its hoodoos covered in snow is something none of us had expected – and really the icing on the cake for our amazing trip!

This was truly a fabulous and memorable adventure – and one I would highly recommend it to anyone (photographer or not) who loves adventure, meeting new people and seeing new places. Everything was very well laid out; the sights were incredible and my relationship with my big brother has been forever enhanced – because of our grand adventure – on the open road.

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