AZ Road Trip

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Late in June my dad came down to visit me in Phoenix. In previous weeks we had discussed some of the things we wanted to see and do which boiled down to a lot of travel.

I had just seen my parents on June 1st when I was back in Wisconsin for a day and two nights. But it was different now because Arizona was my turf and it marked the first time when the half the couple responsible for raising me in this world had seen me out of Wisconsin and living.

The following morning we started out early towards the Grand Canyon via I-17 which runs through Flagstaff. Thirty minutes out of Flagstaff, we experienced a flat tire and had to pull over to correct the situation. In a way it was fortunate because I really had to go to the bathroom. We put on the spare and used the GPS to find the nearest tire place in Flagstaff, Discount Tires.

It was about 80 degrees which was much nicer than the consistent 110 that the Valley of the Sun produced in the summer. While the car was being repaired I found information on the train that runs from Williams to the Grand Canyon and learned, unfortunately, that we had missed it.

We got back in the car and drove up to the Grand Canyon. $25 gained us entrance and we drove along until we saw a lookout point. We parked the car and it wasn't until I got out that I realized the magnitude of it. It was an indescribable feeling, but here was this gaping, multi-colored hole and a force of silence seemed to come straight out of it and envelope me in its energy.

I immediately respected nature of having the persistence to create without self-consciousness. Impatient man does not always have the resolve to create things of magnitude for lack of patience and desire and consistency.

There are many places to view the canyon and we explored several, feeling the sun beating down and making us rosy and sweaty. We descended into the canyon on the trail. The people coming up had looks of anguish on their faces from the grueling ascent. It checked my zealousness to explore and reminded me that we had to get back to Flagstaff. My dad and I agreed on a place to stop and return to the top.

From the Canyon we went to Williams, Arizona, which is a town along the infamous Route 66. We ate at a nice diner, getting some much-needed sustenance as I was irritable from the sun and exertion. I'm in shape for the quick sprint, not the long walk. And, although I tan, it requires a primer coat of sunburn before brown skin results. A strawberry smoothie was able to restore me and we walked on the streets where crowds were getting ready for a recreation of a shootout.

Flagstaff was the next stop and despite a detour that inexplicably took us over miles of unpaved gravel roads, we were able to arrive at the Best Western and relax and get some sleep. In the morning, after a continental breakfast we took I-40 over to Meteor Crater.

50,000 years ago a crater smashed into plot of land now called "Arizona." The resulting crater is large enough to contain 33 football fields. It's impossible to judge its magnitude, especially after the Grand Canyon, but there is a marked in the middle of the impact that sheds some light. A six foot tall man next to a 3x5 foot flag is barely visible to the naked eye from the rim of the crater. Dust and debris traveled 7 miles from the site of impact. As though the earth has been scarred, vegetation seems relatively sparse in the surrounding area.

What goes up must come down so we ventured from northern Arizona down to southern Arizona. First stop: The Biosphere 2.

Claudio, an Italian, led the tour. He began at 3 PM on the dot and was precise throughout the tour. He'd been giving the tour for 16 years. The original group of scientists who stayed in the Biosphere 2 did so for 2 years. They had to grow their own food. To put it in perspective, it took 2 weeks to grow enough coffee to have a cup for each of the occupants. The structure is quite marvelous and going from different climates inside these bubbles housed in the intense heat of the Sonoran Desert was indescribable, especially after seeing the engineering and underpinnings of the structure that made it all possible. The building, originally designed to be 100% airtight, needed to have inflatable lungs to keep the glass from either imploding or exploding depending on the temperature extremes on either side of the structure.

We returned to the outside sun-baked landscape and found our way to nearby Tucson where we went to the hippy district on 6th street. Originally we intended on staying in Tucson, but after finding a crappy hotel on the side of the road, we thought heading out east to Benson was more appropriate. I-10 made this trip quick and we soon found ourselves at a nice hotel which positioned us perfectly for Tombstone and Bisbee Arizona.

Bisbee is called the town "Too high to care" and Tombstone the town "Too tough to die."

From the scathing hot desert, Bisbee's altitude offered a welcome breath of cool air. It was a perfect place to find a good cup of coffee which we promptly did and walked the streets of this town which is built up on the side of mountains and hills. While enjoying our coffee, a local named Thaddeus displayed some of his artwork. It was dark, etched on small paper and displayed what he called robots. He attempted to sell us this artwork despite our obvious disinterest and lack of appreciation. He said he lived in a big place for 400 dollars per month. His "manager" was with him and inexplicably quiet, as though still enjoying the experience of whatever drugs were present in his system. Thaddeus remained with us until another mark presented herself and he and his manager left us to return to our conversation and walk the rest of the streets.

We both needed to go to the bathroom but could not find one. It reminded me of Mexico and used my bladder control experiences to last until Tombstone where I was able to locate the public restroom I discovered the last time I had visited the town. My first order of business was to return to an antique store that had an unusual collection of books. While purchasing the books I began talking with the store owner who mentioned Pelenque in Mexico as a place he would like to visit. Surprised, I told him that I was just there in December of '06 and we became immersed in a conversation which lasted at least a half hour. My dad left the store and called up some family to keep in touch.

We roamed the streets of Tombstone and found a place to eat. Below the eatery was an old mine, but one you could not enter. The history pours off the walls and streets in this town and you feel tougher just for being there. We found a mine tour after lunch. It was absolutely fascinating to see how they followed the vein of silver and to hear about the things that were discovered in the mine, such as a pair of boots. A SMALL pair of boots because the people who did the mining were short and stocky. They were also well-paid and spent their money in the town, mostly at the bar, which is generally where the trouble began. On the streets, signs of where people were shot and killed keep the history alive.

We took 82 from Tombstone to Nogales, Mexico, passing through Patagonia on the way and stopping for some ice cream. Patagonia is just a small relaxing town that appears out of nowhere. The kind of town where you wonder: If I lived here, what would I do?

In Nogales, we walked around, got pestered by every street vendor there was, and ate some delicious chicken. We finally returned back to the Valley of the Sun and returned to my apartment in the east valley. The following day I did some work and my dad was able to cruise around the town. Trying to find some hiking trails we ended up finding the Phoenix Zoo.

We connected with my friend and his daughter who live in Scottsdale for dinner. And that was when Mexico caught up with me. It was something in the chicken, or something in general, but my stomach was not happy. It was a case of food poisoning my father and I could both share and it knocked me completely on my ass. And with that, my dad returned to Wisconsin and I spent the next four days losing weight.

It's funny how when you live in a state you don't have the cravings for exploration, but you come to a new state and you want to see it all. I still need to get to a few more parts of this state and then perhaps it'll be time to move on and go somewhere else.