Reality bites (Arizona day funf)

What's that you say? You wish I had more panoramas from yesterday? Well. I guess this is your lucky day!
(Click for the seriously large versions)

The sunset that never stops.


Newspaper rock.


The oh-so colored desert.


Having lost some of my celebratory mood, so I decided to skip a few stops, take it easy, and drive back to the Phoenix area a day earlier than planned.

Through that wonderful redness.


Arizona is full places with great Western names. I even drove across a Dead Skunk Creek.


Stopped some Alpine Pizza in Flagstaff. Like the guy said (this works better with a heavy Russian accent): Flagstaff is a premium place to spend the afternoon in. I walked around for an hour or two, bought Marina a pretty wool hat, and, you know, chilled. This was the only city street I saw on this trip


Further down South. When you start getting off the plateau, you go through a brief forest period. Awesome.


30 minutes later, you're back in the Southern desert.


Quick stop at Montezuma Castle. The Spanish Conquistadors used to think the Montezuma, the Aztec king, stayed here for a while. Nowdays, white man say Montezuma never come this North. White man say, this just village of stinking farmers. iDoc say, is impressive anyway.





You can't actually go up there though, so let's head South and get some mileage before our last

SUNSET MADNESS!!!

And then it was three hours of driving back to Catalina State Park, listening to Neil Gaiman reading Fragile Things, his new short story collection. I cannot say enough about how this book is right for me. Let me tell you, reflective mood + driving alone through the night + Neil reading "Other People" = a whole new type of chill down the spine. And The Problem of Susan... Neil calls it "disturbing and annoying", and it is exactly that. If you've read The Last Battle, this story is just for you.

Close to the end now. Can you feel it?