Sapevamo che eravamo un pò tirati come tempi, Vegas era l'unica tappa in cui volevo incastrare un pò di cose che sulla mia lista delle cose da vedere nella vita non potevano mancare. Dopo una seratona nella più psichedelica delle città, abbiamo fatto scattare la sveglia alle cinque e mezza e puntato il cofano in direzione del deserto, lungo la Route 66 su fino al Grand Canyon. Ero super motivato appena partiti, ormai le distanze nn sono una cosa più così spaventosa dopo un giro completo d'Australia. L'aver sentito il Davide la sera prima mi aveva messo di buon umore, sapere che un amico sta vivendo la sua leggenda personale con energia e felicità, mi aveva dato lo stimolo per mttermi alla guida sreno con un pò di buona musica. Dopo cinque ore di guida avevo la faccia che mi cascava dal sonno ed ho piazzato alla guida il mio copilota. Strada dritta e navigatore impostato, altri cento kilometri a dritta poi svolta a destra ed altri duecento fino al nostro primo stop a Grand Canyon Village. Mi sono addormentato come un bimbo, un sonno così profondo che ho persino sognato di surfare a Trigg Point in Perth. Quando ho aperto gli occhi, il vecchio mi guarda con sorrisetto da faina e mi chiede qual'era l'uscita che doveva prendere a sinistra perchè lui non ne aveva viste. Nella mia visuale c'era ancora nebbia, avevo la bocca impastata e la gamba destra informicolata al punto che poteva essere quella di un'altra persona. La mia bussola interna aveva l'allarme acceso, la mappa e l'orario confermarono i miei sospetti. Il babbo aveva guidato un'ora e dieci nella direzione sbagliata. Facendo un piccolo calcolo eravamo cento quaranta kilometri dopo il punto dove avremmo dovuto svoltare. E' stato carino da parte sua non volermi svegliare pur avendo il dubbio di dove andare, solo un amore paterno può giustificare il fatto che lui cercava un uscita d'autostrada sulla sinistra, quando ovviamente come in tutte le autodtrade del mondo si esce a destra e poi gli svincoli ti dirottano nella direzione ce devi seguire. Ho deciso che dopo averlo visto perdersi in tutti gli hotel che simao andati ed avermi portao quasi in Colorato invece che nello Hutah da oggi lo chiamo Bussola!! Comunque tutte quelle ore in macchina, sono certamete valse la pena quando, abbiamo fermato la macchina in mezzo alla neve e ci simao affacciati su quella che probabilmente è stata la visuale più ambia che i miei occhi abbiano mai visto. Woooow, nn riuscivo nemmeno a mettere a fuoco al cento percento. Incredibile e stupendo, anche bussola è rimasto senza parole. Avendo percorso il South rim, cioè il percorso che corre a sud del Canyon, ho poi puntato attraverso Cameroon e su fino a Page dove il mattino seguente sinamo andati a fare un tour sull'immensa diga costruita negli anni sessanta. Un altro spettacolo considerando l'ubicazione geografica, cioè in mezzo a terre indiane nel più puro dei deserti di roccia rossa che mi facevano sentire a "casa Australia". Un altro brivido lungo la sciena quando davanti a noi sono apparse le prime formazioni tipiche della Monument Valley. Lo spirito del viaggio si stava facendo sentire ed era impossibile nn rendersi conto di quanto nonostante avessimo visto e rivisto alla Tv titti quei posti, esserci è sempre un'altra cosa. Con calma prendiamo la via del ritorno verso Vegas...anche Bussola è tornato alla guida..ma stavolta in rettilineo di trecento kilometri...ho dormito con un occhio aperto lo stoesso. Mi è dispiaciuto non avere moltissimo tmepo da dedicare alla cultura degli indiani d'america, abbiamo attraversato le loro terre e pranzato con loro ed avrei avuto mille cosa da chidere. Per stavolta mi accontento di aver assaporato la loro cucina, i loro sorrisi e quel modo così differente di vestire, indossare gioielli e nn parlare con i tavoli vicini. Magari avrò un'altra possibilità di incontrarli un giorno, per il momemnto mi devo accontentare di aver respirato l'emozione di un viaggio senza tempo attraverso rotte leggendarie.
English
We knew we only had a short time in Vegas and I wanted to fit in all the things that were on my list of things to see at least once in my life... So after a huge night in one of the most psycho cities in the world, the alarm rang at 5.30am... We put the car in drive and headed to the desert, along route 66, to the grand canyon.
I was very motivated early in the morning (the distances don't scare me anymore after a whole loop of Australia) and I had heard from David the night before. Knowing he was living his personal dream had put me in the right mood to drive,with a bit of good music on. After five hours of driving, my face was coming off and i was falling asleep at the wheel, so my dad started to drive. I gave him the directions; it is a big straight road for a 100km, turn left when it indicates, and then it is another 200km till the canyon. Easy. especially with a set gps.
I slept like a baby. I slept so deeply that I dreamt i was surfing at trigg point in perth. When i opened my eyes my dad was looking at me with a guilty face asking where this exit was that he should have taken... “Because I didn't see anything on the left...” I could only see fog. I felt like i was still sleeping. My mouth was very dry and my left leg felt like it wasn’t mine. The interior compass alarm was on and both the gps and map confirmed we were 140km out of our way... My dad had driven for 140km, in the wrong direction. It was very nice of him not to wake me up even though he wasn't sure of the direction, but not even a parent’s love can justify the fact that he was looking for an exit on his left, when on every freeway on this side of the world the exits are made to the right... AFTER the exit, you turn left. I have watched him get lost in every hotel we have stayed in, in every city we have walked, and now also on the road. I have decided his nick name is Compass.
Anyway, the trip and all the hours in the car were worth the view we saw when we parked the car close to the snow and saw the canyon. Wow. My eyes had never seen something so big. I couldn't even focus properly... amazing. Even compass was breathless. Driving along the southern rim of the canyon, I stopped every second km to enjoy the view... I drove through Cameron till Page, where we had a tour of the massive dam the next morning. That was amazing, especially considering the location. We were right in the middle of the red desert, which made me feel like i was “home” in Australia, but we were on Indian land. Another shiver was sent along our backs when the monument valley appeared in front of us... the spirit of travel was there with us, and it was impossible not to notice how even though we have seen these places so many times on tv, to actually be there was super special. Calmly we drove back in the direction of Vegas. Even compass drove again... but this time for 300km straight.. and i slept with one eye open.
I'm a little bit sorry that we didn't have time to get to know the Indian’s culture better. We went through their land and saw how they live. We had lunch with them too, but we didn't have the chance to ask them many questions about their life. For now i guess i should be happy just to have eaten with them, to have seen their beautiful dress and jewellery and how funny it is that they don't talk to any of the other tables close to them. Maybe one day I’ll meet them again... but for now I’m just enjoying my trip along legendary routes.
English
We knew we only had a short time in Vegas and I wanted to fit in all the things that were on my list of things to see at least once in my life... So after a huge night in one of the most psycho cities in the world, the alarm rang at 5.30am... We put the car in drive and headed to the desert, along route 66, to the grand canyon.
I was very motivated early in the morning (the distances don't scare me anymore after a whole loop of Australia) and I had heard from David the night before. Knowing he was living his personal dream had put me in the right mood to drive,with a bit of good music on. After five hours of driving, my face was coming off and i was falling asleep at the wheel, so my dad started to drive. I gave him the directions; it is a big straight road for a 100km, turn left when it indicates, and then it is another 200km till the canyon. Easy. especially with a set gps.
I slept like a baby. I slept so deeply that I dreamt i was surfing at trigg point in perth. When i opened my eyes my dad was looking at me with a guilty face asking where this exit was that he should have taken... “Because I didn't see anything on the left...” I could only see fog. I felt like i was still sleeping. My mouth was very dry and my left leg felt like it wasn’t mine. The interior compass alarm was on and both the gps and map confirmed we were 140km out of our way... My dad had driven for 140km, in the wrong direction. It was very nice of him not to wake me up even though he wasn't sure of the direction, but not even a parent’s love can justify the fact that he was looking for an exit on his left, when on every freeway on this side of the world the exits are made to the right... AFTER the exit, you turn left. I have watched him get lost in every hotel we have stayed in, in every city we have walked, and now also on the road. I have decided his nick name is Compass.
Anyway, the trip and all the hours in the car were worth the view we saw when we parked the car close to the snow and saw the canyon. Wow. My eyes had never seen something so big. I couldn't even focus properly... amazing. Even compass was breathless. Driving along the southern rim of the canyon, I stopped every second km to enjoy the view... I drove through Cameron till Page, where we had a tour of the massive dam the next morning. That was amazing, especially considering the location. We were right in the middle of the red desert, which made me feel like i was “home” in Australia, but we were on Indian land. Another shiver was sent along our backs when the monument valley appeared in front of us... the spirit of travel was there with us, and it was impossible not to notice how even though we have seen these places so many times on tv, to actually be there was super special. Calmly we drove back in the direction of Vegas. Even compass drove again... but this time for 300km straight.. and i slept with one eye open.
I'm a little bit sorry that we didn't have time to get to know the Indian’s culture better. We went through their land and saw how they live. We had lunch with them too, but we didn't have the chance to ask them many questions about their life. For now i guess i should be happy just to have eaten with them, to have seen their beautiful dress and jewellery and how funny it is that they don't talk to any of the other tables close to them. Maybe one day I’ll meet them again... but for now I’m just enjoying my trip along legendary routes.
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