Goin' Out To Cally – Part 22, Bedrock City

It felt like weeks since we had left the friendly confines of Tampa Bay, Florida, but the reality was that only 72 hours had passed since we started on this cross country trek. The first major milestone, the first step in our great adventure was soon to be upon us… the Grand Canyon.

As we entered Arizona and headed toward the great landmark, we noticed the price of everything starting to rise. It appeared the combination of being dead smack in the middle of a desert and the fact that tourism was in play were both combinations in the increased cost of water, gas, even the reliably cheap McDonalds cheeseburgers.

Our AAA Trip Ticket led us to the closest campground directly between Tucumcari and the Grand Canyon, a wonderfully unique place titled Bedrock City. As we pulled into the red clay and gravel parking lot directly off the main highway I was immediately struck by a large wall that ran the length of the long parking lot/campground. Over this lengthy, high wall we could spy the tops of dinosaur heads and rock structures.

Just where the hell were we?

Growing up I spent an unhealthy number of hours watching the animated version of The Honeymooners, called The Flintstones. The Flintstones were a couple from the Stone Age named Fred and Wilma with a pet dinosaur appropriately called Dino. Their best friends were Betty and Barney Rubble. And their hometown? Bedrock City, of course.

So, I could not help but be slightly dumbfounded to find our group setting stakes next to an oversized, cartoon-looking bone sticking out of the ground with a big number 19 painted on it. Around us, Bones 18 and 20 were currently empty, as was most of the rest of the campground. Fortunately, the main event was less than a half hour away, so where we slept wasn’t nearly as important as was the Grand Canyon itself.

The Bones at Bedrock City

After we setup our portable canvas home, Tim bought some more firewood and placed it inside the tent, so no one would steal it while we headed to the Canyon. As we finished unpacking some of our belongings I couldn’t help but be drawn to the big wall separating the campground from the heart of Bedrock City. Like Carl Denham staring at the wall on Skull Island designed to keep King Kong at bay, I was drawn toward the wall separating me from whatever tourist attraction sat on the other side. Instead of keeping a Kong-sized animal in, I realized this wall, instead, was to keep pint-sized prying eyes out. The price of your campsite didn’t cover entry into Bedrock City.

The mystery of the attractions behind that big wall would have to wait until later. Now we had to get to the main event and we all quickly hopped into the car and headed West.

As the car traveled down the highway I kept wondering how long before the Grand Canyon would come into view. After all, it’s massive, winding through multiple states. Surely we’d be able to see it from the distance, but no… only the highway and the surrounding sands were visible.

“How much farther?” I said with childlike excitement.

Beth, looking at the map, turned back to me and said “It should be just up this hill.”

The Grand Canyon can’t be hidden by a hill, could it?

The road winded up the increasingly steep hill, spotted with the occasional tree, until it reached the flattened ground at the top, where suddenly the grandeur of the great canyon laid directing in front of us.

It was jaw-droppingly big. It was so large, in fact, that my mind had a hard time wrapping itself around its immensity. Nothing in my practical experience had ever prepared me for such a sight.

As we pulled into the parking lot, I thought “Could you imagine the first wagon train that stumbled across this path?”

“How much longer?” the kids in the back of the wagon would whine to their grumpy parents.

“Just past this hill,” they’d reply. Once reaching the top they’d look at the massive crevasse stretching as far as the eye could see in either direction. The father would look, dumbfounded and confused.

“I guess we’ll have to go around,” the mother would say not quite realizing it would only take a couple of hundred of miles in either direction.

Fortunately, the four travelers from the south were blessed with gasoline powered transportation and an air-conditioned welcome center directly in front of us.

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Goin' Out To Cally - Part 22, (Text, Audio) Bedrock City
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 21, (Text, Audio) The Outhouse
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 20, (Text, Audio) Riding The Hump
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 19, (Text, Audio) Bob Hope, Lil’ Debbie And Restless Gods
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 18, (Text, Audio) Unlevel Headed
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 17, (Text, Audio) Starry Night, Confusing Night
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 16, (Text, Audio) Three Beds + Four People = Oh Crap
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 15, (Text, Audio) Masculinity At Stake
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 14, (Text, Audio) Texas: Latin For Shoot Me Now
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 13, (Text, Audio) Cars, Crossroads and Cosmic Convergence
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 12, (Text, Audio) Tumbleweed Dreams
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 11, (Text, Audio) Wet, Rinse, Repeat
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 10, (Text, Audio) Divine Misdirection
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 09, (Text, Audio) Getting Nowhere Fast
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 08, (Text, Audio) The Cock Crows Nine
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 07, (Text, Audio) Is Jackass A Sign?
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 06, (Text, Audio) Leftovers
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 05, (Text, Audio) The Kiss Of Friendship
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 04, (Text, Audio) Scholastic Intimacy
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 03, (Text, Audio) Space Invaders
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 02, (Text, Audio) The Fourth Wheel
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 01, (Text, Audio) The Seed Planted