- Joined
- Aug 6, 2002
- Messages
- 746
Just got back from tooling around in a rental car in your beautiful country. Next time I will bring someone with me to show them too, and we'll stay longer than 4 days. It was kind of a whirlwind tour. I never really planned anything except a route I would try for the next day. I had to make up plans based on how everything went the day before. In the end, I never made the Death Valley/ Joshua Tree leg that I hoped to drive. Music was picked on-the-fly. 
I started out in Laughlin, Nevada on Tuesday morning listening to Zappa's Sheik Yerbouti, and drove to Tuscon, AZ; stopping in a few places on the way. The Joshua trees just north of Wickenburg were really neat. I made the drive through Phoenix at 5:30 pm. Holy Moses but I have never seen traffic like that.
Driving from Phoenix to Tuscon, I was thinking about the Eagles and being on a dark desert highway with the cool wind in my hair. What are coolitas(sp?) anyway?
I spent the next morning driving around Saguaro national park and taking pictures in the rain, then drove back up to Phoenix (in daylight this time) and there on up to Sedona and Flagstaff. The flat land around Phoenix reminded me a lot of being in Australia, and I felt a warm familiarity wash over me. Sedona looks like a beautiful place to live. Overnight in Flagstaff, the rumour was that we were to get a foot of snow. At that point I was a bit distressed as I went south to get away from all the dayumed snow.
Fortunately it just kept raining.
The next morning I drove up highway 89 through the Painted Desert to Page and the Glen Canyon dam, and on up into Utah. The painted desert was not what I thought it was going to be either, but it knocked my socks off! I was listening to Neil Young's album, "Broken Arrow", and will always remember that feeling of the music and the desert it seemed to fit so perfectly.
Utah was different again! On the way to Zion I stopped in a place called Coral Pink Sand Dunes State park. The entry tickets were all wet and dilapidated and I didn't have a pen so I just dropped five bucks in one and put it in a slot. On Zion; I guess I had visions of Monument valley, but what an amazing surprise! I heard that John Wayne lived in Zion, so I popped in John Prine and Iris DeMent. The lilt of Western folk music accompanied me through the canyons.
I dropped in on Valley of Fire state park, north of Vegas, before it got dark. Valley of fire was virtually empty, so I drove through it fast twice, while listening to Motorhead on a CD, the curves and heavy metal seemed to suit each other.
Then I drove through Vegas and on up to Laughlin in fog and blackness. Some cabbie looking for an exit in Vegas almost got me squished. It somehow wasn't all that intimidating after rush hour in Phoenix.
I spent friday recouping from the long drive and tooling about in the hills around Laughlin and Bullhead City.
I got a sense about a few things on my trip:
1. Drivers in my city are lousy, which is something I have always thought but has now been proven to me.
2. You guys have a pride and patriotism which I admire. Nice to see those flags flying everywhere!
3. Crime in Canada? What crime? I didn't even know how to pre-pay for gas. Not used to glass in front gas station attendants either.
4. I live in a small town that I used to think was a big city.
My apologies to Wildmanh: I couldn't look you up 'cuz I tried to see everything and my plans had to change on the hour. When I got up into your neck of the woods, I realized I didn't even have time to see Bryce canyon. Also to Uncle: I just didn't get the chance to drive all the way up to Reno and see everything else that I wanted to see.
It rained from Tuscon to Zion without stopping. I gather that this is highly unusual?? In any case, there was mist and fog everywhere I went, and it was beautiful. 1350 miles in 3.5 days, and all I can say is, "Wow!". I shot 17 rolls of film in all and will post a couple of pics on this thread when I get my scanner working again.
I guess I want to say thanks for the people I met, for a great visit to places I have always wanted to see, and thanks for their kindness and generosity while I was out on my adventure. I never once felt unwelcome.
I started out in Laughlin, Nevada on Tuesday morning listening to Zappa's Sheik Yerbouti, and drove to Tuscon, AZ; stopping in a few places on the way. The Joshua trees just north of Wickenburg were really neat. I made the drive through Phoenix at 5:30 pm. Holy Moses but I have never seen traffic like that.
Driving from Phoenix to Tuscon, I was thinking about the Eagles and being on a dark desert highway with the cool wind in my hair. What are coolitas(sp?) anyway? I spent the next morning driving around Saguaro national park and taking pictures in the rain, then drove back up to Phoenix (in daylight this time) and there on up to Sedona and Flagstaff. The flat land around Phoenix reminded me a lot of being in Australia, and I felt a warm familiarity wash over me. Sedona looks like a beautiful place to live. Overnight in Flagstaff, the rumour was that we were to get a foot of snow. At that point I was a bit distressed as I went south to get away from all the dayumed snow.
Fortunately it just kept raining.The next morning I drove up highway 89 through the Painted Desert to Page and the Glen Canyon dam, and on up into Utah. The painted desert was not what I thought it was going to be either, but it knocked my socks off! I was listening to Neil Young's album, "Broken Arrow", and will always remember that feeling of the music and the desert it seemed to fit so perfectly.
Utah was different again! On the way to Zion I stopped in a place called Coral Pink Sand Dunes State park. The entry tickets were all wet and dilapidated and I didn't have a pen so I just dropped five bucks in one and put it in a slot. On Zion; I guess I had visions of Monument valley, but what an amazing surprise! I heard that John Wayne lived in Zion, so I popped in John Prine and Iris DeMent. The lilt of Western folk music accompanied me through the canyons.
I dropped in on Valley of Fire state park, north of Vegas, before it got dark. Valley of fire was virtually empty, so I drove through it fast twice, while listening to Motorhead on a CD, the curves and heavy metal seemed to suit each other.
Then I drove through Vegas and on up to Laughlin in fog and blackness. Some cabbie looking for an exit in Vegas almost got me squished. It somehow wasn't all that intimidating after rush hour in Phoenix.
I spent friday recouping from the long drive and tooling about in the hills around Laughlin and Bullhead City.
I got a sense about a few things on my trip:
1. Drivers in my city are lousy, which is something I have always thought but has now been proven to me.
2. You guys have a pride and patriotism which I admire. Nice to see those flags flying everywhere!
3. Crime in Canada? What crime? I didn't even know how to pre-pay for gas. Not used to glass in front gas station attendants either.
4. I live in a small town that I used to think was a big city.
My apologies to Wildmanh: I couldn't look you up 'cuz I tried to see everything and my plans had to change on the hour. When I got up into your neck of the woods, I realized I didn't even have time to see Bryce canyon. Also to Uncle: I just didn't get the chance to drive all the way up to Reno and see everything else that I wanted to see.
It rained from Tuscon to Zion without stopping. I gather that this is highly unusual?? In any case, there was mist and fog everywhere I went, and it was beautiful. 1350 miles in 3.5 days, and all I can say is, "Wow!". I shot 17 rolls of film in all and will post a couple of pics on this thread when I get my scanner working again.
I guess I want to say thanks for the people I met, for a great visit to places I have always wanted to see, and thanks for their kindness and generosity while I was out on my adventure. I never once felt unwelcome.
