Life is a Sunset: Arizona

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Driving Cross Country: California & Arizona

One of the greatest recommendations I could give someone is to drive cross country. At least once. I've now done it four times and I can honestly say, I've appreciated it more and more each time. Maybe it's because I'm different. I'm older. I've learned. I've lived. And each trip cross country was made for a different reason.

But the way it feels to drive from one state into another. From one time zone into another. To cross the Continental Divide. To enter the territory of Native American Tribes. To look several hundred feet to your left and see another country. To watch the temperatures change. And my favorite - to watch the landscape of this country grow and twist and shift. The colors, the textures. I can't even put it into words.

Cross country trips are exhausting. Physically and mentally. But, even after the thousands of miles, gas station/truck stops, traveling with a cat (that I'm allergic to!), checking in and checking out of hotels, seeing two horrific truck accidents, and drinking two V8s for dinner because there's nothing else to eat/drink, I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

The drive from San Diego to the Arizona border is one of my favorite legs of the trip. You wind through the mountain range [okay, so the lack of guardrails did not make me the happiest driver] and then as soon as you come out of the mountains, boom... it's pure desert. I love the desert. It was at this point that I took my hands off the wheel [and may or may not have crossed my arms at one point] because it's literally a straight drive along the 8. You look to the right and see the black wall that separates the U.S. from Mexico. You look to the left and see the beautiful, pure sand dunes. No one else is on the road. It's just you, the road, the blue sky, and pretty sand!

Oh, and there was also a hay fire. Naturally, as soon as I saw the smoke from far away, I shrieked, "Is that a tornado?!" It's to be expected coming from the girl with recurring tornado nightmares. It was instead a horrible hay fire.

The first stop was just across the border in Yuma, AZ. A town where the super friendly gas station worker said the employment rate is so high he's just lucky to have a job. Another reason why I love driving cross country. The people you encounter. Their stories. Their communities.

After getting back into the car with my Arizona iced tea [when in Arizona, do as the Zonies do] reality started to sink in. I said to my cat, "Stella, I have a feeling we're not in California anymore." The sun started to set as we approached Phoenix. Looking in the rearview mirror at the jagged mountains pressed against the orange sky... it's heavenly. The Border Patrol officers and their adorable dog weren't a bad addition to the already gorgeous surroundings. Just saying...

We got a late start to the trip [I mean, did you see all of those boxes in yesterday's post?!] so Phoenix was the stopping point for Day One. I slept for about two hours that night due to Stella going haywire in the hotel room after being pent up all day and staying up to read. I'm crazy, I know. But Day Two was going to be the day I most looked forward to!

The drive through Arizona is a long one because you drive halfway across, all the way up, and then halfway across the other side. However, Arizona HAS to be one of the most naturally astonishing states. You start with the desert, get up into the mountains, then hit beautiful Sedona, into Flagstaff, and then level out into the old, sleepy historical towns such as Winslow, Arizona.

We took a quick trip off the road to drive to the 50,000 year old Meteor Crater. We didn't pay to get the tour but it was still so interesting to drive to the top of the crater! The picture below doesn't do it justice. I loved the drive from the crater back onto the freeway. Nothing but nature!

The final stop in Arizona was in Winslow! I totally recommend stopping in this tiny, tiny town. It's a blast from the past [it was right along Historic Route 66.] Winslow is best-known for being mentioned in The Eagles' song, "Take It Easy."

"Well, I'm standin' on a corner

In Winslow, Arizona..."

That song just so happened to come on my Pandora station during the trip :)

Well, that's it for California and Arizona! To read about and see pictures from my trip through Arizona last year, check out the post here. Stay tuned for the highlight of my trip...

Friday, January 4, 2013

The Final Stretch Home

I didn't forget about the final and most important recap of my trip Westward. Final Day! I had been through little parts of Arizona before but had certainly never driven through the entire state. I am in love with Arizona. The way the state changes gradually yet so dramatically all at the same time. It is truly a work of art and something that has to be seen to understand.

The morning started off on Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ - home of the Wigwam Village Motel #6. [That's right. #6. It's not the only one!] My favorite part was obviously the retro cars! I can only imagine what it would be like to stay there in a wigwam!

Next stop — Winslow, Arizona. Many of you have heard the song by The Eagles, Take It Easy. There's a line in the song that says, "I was standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona..." So, sure enough, they dedicated that very corner of the town of Winslow to that song. It was really pretty neat.

Reading about that town and how it was frozen in time after Route 66 was done away with, was pretty heartbreaking. It's such a small, little town now. It's hard to believe how much it once thrived. This corner was a way to bring tourists back into town. I'm so glad we were able to stop on by and pay a visit.

Then it was off to beautiful Flagstaff. I didn't know much about Flagstaff other than it tends to snow there a lot. Did you know the snowfall averages around 100 inches per year? That makes it one of the snowiest cities in the U.S.

Anyway, we stopped for coffee in Flagstaff and not only was everyone friendly there but it really was breathtaking. It was such a pretty drive meandering through all the pine trees.

After Flagstaff, I learned a new life lesson:

Always take the scenic route.

Always. At the last minute, we decided to veer off the road at the "scenic view" sign. Friends, what I'm about to show you is the true, untouched beauty of the United States. This is the kind of view I live for. The kind of view that makes everything around you stop. All the worries float away. Life is just good.

Here is a glimpse into the land known as Sedona. Raw. Untouched. And unedited.

We made a stop at Sunset Point before driving into Phoenix for lunch. Then, it was onward into a tiny town known as Gila Bend [please note the Space Age Lounge] and then into Yuma before finally crossing into the California border :)

Pardon the horrible quality of that picture but I had to snap it! I was finally in my new state. Finally. However, the drive wasn't over yet. There were still a few hours ahead. Those hours consisted of driving through the desert. The real desert. It might as well have been the Mexican desert. The largest sand dunes I have ever seen.

And then we skimmed next to the border of Mexico, into the mountains full of boulders, through the border checkpoint [that was fun], and finally... onto my street :) But not until we saw that beautiful sunset...