1800 miles

We made it. Our week in the southwest was a blast. The first desert stop after Kingsburg was the Mojave Preserve. The wild flowers were in full bloom and quite amazing. I couldn't help but play a little U2 as we rolled through the miles of joshua trees on our way there. We pulled in and went for a quick hike on the rings trail—the desert is like a different planet. After a chilly night we packed up and headed for Prescott, AZ.

That morning we stopped for gas in Needles. The chump at the gas station said our rear wheel was wobbling and it looks like we need a new tire. Hmmm? Strange—didn't notice anything. We checked things out, made a few phone calls, put the truck up on their rack, determined they were trying to sucker us and moved onto Costco in Prescott for a second opinon and new tires if needed. The tech at costco said, "You're fine. These will go to 50K easy." Thank you much, we'll be on our way. So when in Needles, watch out for roadside weasels. Now with a bit more confidence our tires weren't a ticking timebomb, as the boys at Shell would have liked us to believe, we went looking for Newt and The Raven. Eureka! Thanks to the Garmin, we drove straight to The Raven. It's a very cool hangout. Newt and crew did an impressive job restoring the classic downtown building and creating a sweet hub for the community. Be sure to stop in if you ever find yourself in Prescott.

The next day we spent the morning in the old hillside mining town of Jerome. It felt like stepping back in time. In the early afternoon we made our way to Sedona. Wow! Driving into Sedona reminded me of driving though the tunnel and popping out at the south entrance to Yosemite—spectacular. The town was more touristy than we envisioned, but the surrounding landscape is unbelievable.

Thursday morning we punched the South Rim of the Grand Canyon into the gps and hit the road once again. That is some hole. We spent the sunny but cool day cruising the stretch from The Village to Hermits Rest. Next trip we want to plan on enough time to hike down into the canyon.

On the way home, we cruised much of the historic Route 66 (now I want to see Cars again). There are still some great signs from a bygone era out there. Jana pulled a marathon read of The Glass Castle and read nearly the entire book to me between Williams, AZ and Kingsburg, CA. It made the time pass quickly by. We rolled into Kingsburg, showered for the second time since we left, and headed to a late dinner with my parents at Sal's Mexican Restaurant for a Fancy Burrito. Mmmmmm.

The trip was great, but it's always nice to come back to Santa Cruz and our friends and family here.

I have a few snapshots from the trip posted on flickr