Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

From June 28th through July 3rd, I had the privilege of being on a raft on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. This was part of a family trip “for the guys.” On a trip put together by my father-in-law Allan, his two sons, me (a son in law), my three sons, two other grandsons, one grandson-in-law, and one great grandson spent five days and five nights on the Colorado River. These blog posts are part of the story.

Monday morning June 28th – I finally decided that the town of Marble Canyon, Arizona is on California time. Arizona doesn’t go on Daylight Savings Time. The rest of the country is on this “special time” 7 1/2 months of the year and standard time 4 1/2 months (is the math right?).

Anyways, I digress. While digressing, here is another digression –  I keep prefacing “Marble Canyon” with “the town of” as we spent two days in the actual canyon called “Marble Canyon,” but that comes later.

I live on eastern time and go to bed early and wake early – 5 AM eastern time or 2 AM in the town of Marble Canyon. I wasn’t sure when I woke that Monday morning. My iPhone (see the previous blog post) kept switching back and forth among time zones. The cafe opened at 6 AM, so I wanted to roll out of bed at 5, shower, pack, and eat. I rolled out of bed at a quarter to 5 according to my iPhone. I did a few morning things and waited until my alarm sounded at 6 AM. I went down the hall to wake my sons. They didn’t seem much like waking. I went outside and across the gravel parking lot to the cafe, but it wasn’t open. The lady in the motel registration room told me that it was 5 AM, not 6 AM. I think I woke at 3:45 AM local time. It was going to be a long day.

The Cafe and Store part of the Marble Canyon Lodge

The next hour was the best of the day for me. I sat on a bench on the porch in front of the store and cafe. If you click on this photo you can see the benches. Another man and I sat on the porch, chatted much about nothing, and watched the occasional truck roll by on U.S. Route 89.

It was cool, dry, and quiet on the porch sitting on that wooden bench. If I had a cup of coffee, it would have been perfect. I love sitting on a bench on a porch in the morning. It soothes my soul. I love the western scenery. A person can see for 20 miles. On the east coast and in the south, sight lines are limited by the trees and often span only a hundred yards. A porch, a bench, a conversation, and long sight lines – they make for peaceful gazing.

At a quarter to 6, I was sure of the time by now, one of the Tour West guides walked by and asked if I had seen the bridge across the river. I thought the river was five or six miles away, but he told me that it was only a few hundred yards down the road.

I stood quickly and walked east towards the river. In five minutes I was at the twin spans of the Navajo Bridge. Wow! The first span was finished in 1929 and the second in 1995. I thought they both carried vehicle traffic, so I walked about a third of the way out on the south bridge. I felt like I was 10,000 feet above the river (actually closer to 450 feet). This was great.

I excitedly walked back to the motel and cafe to tell the others in my party. The cafe was open, so we sat down to a buffet breakfast. At $10 a person, it was a bit expensive for what they had, but pancakes, bacon, and coffee make a good breakfast. I told the others about the bridge and several of them made the short walk.

A side note – there were 11 of us at the breakfast table. We split the meal among four different tickets. I paid for myself and my three sons. It amazes me how much time and how many words are required to have this all straight with the waitress.

A final phone call to my wife, and we were loading a van for a trip to Lee’s Ferry and the rafts.

Another side note – the town of Marble Canyon, Arizona doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. I am working on one this week and hope to have it up in a couple of days.