By the time I get to Phoenix (Arizona day tres)

It seems like I'm the only guy in the world who never recoded a version of this song. And phoenix was only about 70 miles out of the 250 that I drove on day three, I made sure to play the Nick Cave version two-three times before I actually hit Phoenix. And then drove right through it, because I am not a fan of the place.

Look at the birdie! Slow morning, hot shower, tea & cookies, and a beautiful bird. Sets your pulse to "dooode" for the rest of the day.


If you turn left at the Catalina campground exit, you find that your yourself driving straight into these mountains. And your spirits rise.



Today we're driving up to Flagstaff. Got the laptop and my big-ass speakers connected to the 110v converter, and I'm ready to log some mileage.

The South-Arizona desert is mostly flat, but dotted with these sharp hills. Excellent road trip scenery. Look at those skies!
Pretty Jeep too.


Doin' the old Thelma & Louise.


Took this one while driving, actually.


I don't know if this is as funny in reality as it was in my head, because there was a lot of "in my head" in this trip. Anyway, I did the Phoenix-Tucson road four times in a week, and each time I passed about 10 signs that mentioned Casa Grande. It's such a South-West name, it would made me laugh every time. And then I'd say out loud, in my worse cowboy accent "Yeah, that way out. Down by Cah-Sah Grahn-day". And laugh for 3 whole minutes, 'cause ahm this big city smart-ass fo-ray-ner. Better than all y'all/


Yet another great feature of driving America's main roads is the roadside rest areas. A nice clean place every 100 miles or so, to stretch your bones, take a whiz and make even buy a Coke.


And enjoy the view.


Plenty of cactus-on-cactus action all over the South, till about an hour after Phoenix.


Another 50 miles, and as you start to climb, you can feel the scenery slowly get flatter, cooler, and bigger.


Some Indian ruins. Sinagua, not Anasazi.



There's this beautiful little lake in a collapsed cave, named Montezuma Lake. Because it's close to Montezuma Castle, which we'll see later. Look at the duckies. And those reflections!


Almost 1,000 years ago, the Singaua people built their homes in the walls of this lake. The weather got too hot and they left before white man come and kick Indian butt.





It 5:20 again! Time to do that thing I do when the sun sets.


COLORS! This is getting better every evening.


Things you can't do with film. Not easily, anyway.


And then the sun goes down behind the mountain, and it's over.


After the horizon is on fire for 30 minutes.


Camped the night at the Flagstaff KOA, right next to the sign that said "elevation 7,000 feet". I started cooking dinner around 6:00, and was all ready to take my time with it, read a little at my picnic table, maybe do some blogging - reception was pretty good. At about 6:15 it was already too cold to even set up the tent. My main excuse for renting an SUV was that I'd sleep in it if it rains, but it proved itself very useful in the dry-yet-progressively-colder Arizona nights. If I lay diagonally in the back of the Jeep, there was precisely enough room for me to lie straight. Comfy.