Back in Action-Moab, UT

Ch'nel and I had dinner tonight with some friends of the blog (shout out to the Weise Family!). This dinner was originally supposed to take place a year and a half ago when we got back from our trip. We were going to relive our favorite moments and bask in the glory of being the adventurers that we were. Much like this blog, we dropped the ball on it. Now, 15 months after we came home, we finally got our act together. As we rehashed broken turn signals and Mt Rushmore I was flooded with the excitement that writing the blogs used to give me. I realized I have so much more to talk about, so much more that I've never shared with anyone who hasn't asked about it. I also realized that I'm losing those memories. I still remember each place we went but I'm starting to forget the looks on people's faces, the casual comments from fellow travelers and the feel of a 10 hour ride across Texas and Oklahoma. I'm going to try and get everything down. These final entries will be different. They're going to lack the fine detail that the original ones had. I'm not going to lie...I might lie in some of them. I've made up a couple of memories over the year and I apologize if those come out. I'm not done with our story and I want to tell it.

Perhaps the strangest thing about writing over a year later is realizing how little has changed. Our great trip West became a great trip East which eventually led us home. Where we stayed. Chiz and I still live at home, we still work at the same office where we met five years ago. I even sold my soul for some health insurance and am working full time. Chiz is holding onto her soul with hopes of selling it to a public health related job in the very near future. I'm happy with my situation, but long for those forty days on the road. My job is far from boring, there's always something going on, but my entire world is contained within four roads. Those vast stretches of highway and endless canyons are a memory now, occasionally popping back into my life on documentaries and calendars. There's nothing to do now but save up my ample vacation time and know that I'll get back to that life soon, if only for short periods of time. For now I will blog.

When I checked in with the blog to see where I left off I was surprised to see it was at Moab, UT. Arches National Park, located in Moab, is much like the Grand Canyon in that I cannot accurately describe it. Never in my life have I felt more disconnected from what I previously accepted as normal.

Chiz and I started the day at the local mechanic shop. Our taillight had burnt out and we needed it fixed. After dropping it off we walked along the road into town to get breakfast. It was mid-October yet the air was dry and warm. The sun bounced off of the red rocks surrounding the town and I suddenly realized this was the first time I had truly seen the desert. Up until now everything had seemed like a bigger version of something I had already seen back east. The Rockies were giant versions of the Appalachians. The Redwoods were the woods behind my elementary school only on steroids. The Pacific Ocean was a Snooki-less Seaside Heights. Kicking up the red dust along the quiet highway brought no parallels. The blinding glare of the sun hitting dirt and sand reminded me of nothing. I was experiencing something completely and totally new.

We found a breakfast place with ease and sat down for our usual pancake breakfast. It was the offseason in the tourist town so the restaurant was quiet and filled with locals. The town sheriff, complete with ten-gallon hat sat down at the table perpendicular to us and proceeded to eat his meal in silence, never taking his eyes off of us. A few tables over some other tourists argued with the waitress over how many cinnamon rolls they thought they could eat. They soon regretted their fight when she brought over a roll for each of them, each the size of a birthday cake. After eating our pancakes (which we declared fine, nothing special though) we walked back up the road to get the car. The mechanic hadn't left his desk since we had left and it was clear the car wasn't ready. He jumped up when he saw us and quickly went to go fix the light. Thanks, buddy. We got our car back and headed down the road to Arches National Park, ready to break out the National Park Pass one last time.

Arches visitor center was small, but informative. While others tended to focus on how parks have changed over the last 150 years or so, this visitor center brought you back millions of years to the parks creation. As I touched pieces of two million year old rock as well as rocks that had fallen from the moon I realized that this was going to be a special place. A place that defies time and space.

The visitor center film strip, my favorite part of any visitor center, also took a different turn that most film strips (ok fine, it's not actually a film strip...but I like that image better). Whereas most parks focused on the parks history and infinite future, Arches also focused on former arches and collapsed rock formations. A magnificent arch the size of a football field was shown as well as footage from the day it collapsed. A giant of nature, brought down by a breeze. The video ended with the narrator imploring us to go out into the park immediately because you never know when another arch might fall. It was both sobering and invigorating at the same time.

We got back in the car and drove up the road into the park with a sense of urgency. As the visitors center dropped out of sight we were on our own, slowly making our way through the most breath taking rock formations I could ever imagine.

Balanced Rock and the collapsed mini-Balanced Rock provided really interesting insight into the National Parks system. As the former Balanced Rock proves, these formations don't last forever. One day Balanced Rock will fall off of it's precarious perch, crashing down on whatever, or whomever, stands beneath it. Yet there are no safety rails, no signs telling you to stay away from the rock. In each of the parks we visited it always amazed me how they took the smallest safety efforts. Guard rails to keep you from steep edges, warning signs for difficult trails. Otherwise you're on your own, let nature take it's course, God help you if you're in it's way. Ch'nel and I dashed around the base of the rock, almost daring it to fall on us. From every different angle it looked even more unsteady, even closer to doom. While we could have stayed and admired all day, we had a lot more to get through. So we got back in our car and soldiered on, off to count the arches.

Our first arch was reached by a seemingly short set of stairs carved into the stone. These stairs were deceptively steep and Chiz and I were left winded at the top of them.

 Another trail led down the the second arch....we settled for viewing it from afar.

A crack in the arch served as another reminder to the fragility of the park. A reminder that what took millions of years to form will one day take a second to the destroy.

We carried on until reaching the stopping point for Delicate Arch, the symbol of Utah. The viewing platform for delicate arch can only be reached via a hike through various terrains. The arch itself takes an additional hike out across the sandstone, only seasoned hikers are recommended to visit. The long hike up gives you a good reason to stop at the top and enjoy the scenery. From the arch, which is impressive, to the wide expanse of stone rolling out in front of you, it's all a sight to see.

 Says the woman taking this picture "suck in your gut, you'll look 10 years younger" Um, I don't want to look 12, but thanks (holy moly, was I really 22 in this picture? It doesn't matter that I was turning 23 in 3 days when this was taken...22 sounds young)

New Friend.

We moved on through the park stopping at various sites, gaping for awhile then continuing on. We expected to do the same at Sand Dune Arch but instead found ourselves relaxing in a narrow sand floored cavern for what seemed like hours. After following the path up a stone pathway and through a narrow entrance we came to Sand Dune Arch. At the suggestion of the Indian family already playing on the arch we took off our shoes and felt the smooth sand between our toes. The sand was so fine it was like walking on a bed covered in silk sheets. We clambered up and down the rocks and cartwheeled in the sand as if this were our playground and we were having the most exotic recess of our lives.

Chiz and I made sand angels and lay in the sand contemplating just how we got to this moment. During our moment of zen the Indian grandmother behind us noticed she had lost her barrette and shouted "SHEET!" leaving us in convulsions of giggles. We would have moved into Sand Dune arch if given the chance but we had the nagging words of the visitor center video stuck in the back of our minds "Go see Landscape Arch before it's too late". It was getting late and we needed to get over there before dusk.

We trekked down to Landscape Arch, waving to different friends we made along the way. A National Park is the ultimate equalizer. No one owns the park, no one is a townie, no one is an outsider. Everyone who is a visitor to the park on that day becomes part of a pack. You see everyone over and over again, but not in an annoying DisneyWorld way, but rather in a familial "we're on this trip together" way. Would I like to travel in the same car as these people? Not on my life. But I did enjoy running into "friends" along the way.

When we reached Landscape Arch we marveled at it's delicateness. On any given day a strong wind could snap it in two yet it stands strong and majestic. We stood for pictures with a somber mood. A knowledge that we might one day show these pictures to our children or grandchildren with the message that we were there when the arch was still standing. There are no guarantees that we will be able to take our children back to that spot to see that arch. This is really a fact of life for anything. Nothing is guaranteed to be there. The Arch just served as a tangible reminder.

Life on Mars

There was one place that everyone told us we should go, Utah. No matter who we asked, everyone told us that a trip to Utah was neccessary. We were surprised to say the least. Almost as surprised as we were when we came home and everyone chewed us out for not going to the Corn Palace. Now THAT was surprising.

As we were preparing to leave my cousins house in Arizona I realized that I couldn't find my wallet. After tearing apart the house and car I realized that it was more than likely at the Grand Canyon. Credit cards...identification...medical stuff...all sitting out in the open at the biggest tourist attraction in the US. Or worse, hanging out at the bottom of it. I called the gift shop and after identifying myself they assured me that they had it. I inquired about the contents and they said the the best of their knowledge everything was still there. Phew....

Unfortunately this put QUITE the detour in our trip to Utah plans as there is no easy way to get to the Grand Canyon. When we finally made it there I ran in to grab it and noted with relief that my cards were all still there. My cash was definitely missing...but I figured I deserved that.

We took a quick look at the Grand Canyon, still impressive, then continued on to Utah. Ha, no, that would have been too easy. Actually we backtracked back down towards Flagstaff again and went to visit Wupatki National Monument. We had a National Parks Pass and we were damned sure going to use it. Why couldn't we have visited on our way TO the Grand Canyon? I forget, but we had a reason...believe me we had a reason...I hope. Wupatki is a series of ruins of an old Native American settlement (I want to say Navajo but I don't think that's actually correct. I apologize). The National Parks Service site gives vague credit to the Hopi, Zuni and Navajo tribes. Long story short, it's impressive. It is a massive structure with the remains of over 100 rooms. Very cool.

The day was quickly getting away from us and we had a trip to Utah to make so we couldn't stay long. We got back on the road, stopping briefly for "navajo tacos" at the Cameron Trading Post. A navajo taco is basically a giant taco made with fry bread rather than a taco shell. They are enormous and they are delicious. I think I will be able to eat one every 15 years. It was delicious, but I get full just thinking about it.

I had never actually seen a food item that I believed could kill...until I met navajo taco

After eating as much of the navajo taco as we could without dying we spent some time wandering around the trading post desperately trying to digest the beast. Unfortunately time seemed to pass even faster while we were inside and by the time we got back on the road we had only limited sunlight left. We drove up into Utah as the sun set amongst the rocks. I know I've talked about sunsets a lot on this trip, but they really are different everywhere you go...and each place seemed to get more and more spectacular. The rocks glowed red and orange as the sky turned from blue, to purple, to black. Once it went black everything went black. We were at the mercy of our GPS. Crossing into Utah I noticed the time on my phone had changed but thought little of it. I was more concerned when we reached a fork in the road and our GPS told us to go one way, while the paper map we had seemed to suggest a different way would be better. We trusted the GPS. One day technology will realize my dependence on it and start to destroy me by leading me astray. Today was not that day, thankfully.

As we drove through the deserted darkness I was vaguely aware of every 60 Minutes special report I had ever seen. We had the makings of a good one, two girls, setting out across the country to find themselves, alone in the Utah desert at night....choose your own ending. I need to cut off my own Law and Order: SVU access. Eventually another familiar feeling crept over me...that feeling that we were on top of a mountain. Sure enough the road began to twist and turn and scenic overlook signs started to crop up. Great, there's nothing I love more than being on top of a mountain in the middle of the night. I really like it when the roads are narrow and trucks are coming straight at you with their high beams on too.

Utah driving had all of this then threw in the added bonus of deer. Deer everywhere. Lining the roads you could see the light reflect off of their eyes creating tiny glowing spheres on either side of you. Does that sound creepy enough? Because it definitely was.

We pulled into our hotel in Cedar City, UT at around 10 o'clock...or so we thought. We were surprised to find the door locked as we were told after hour check in didn't begin until 10:30 or so. We rang the doorbell and waited before a night clerk let us in. We asked why they had closed early and she said "it's 11 o'clock". We checked our watches and said "oh....we have it as 10 o'clock....". "It's 11." she assured us. Chiz and I looked at each other, each silently pondering what our next question would be...clearly there was a code that we had to break. "Could it by any chance be 10 o clock in Arizona?" Ch'nel asked? "Yep!" the woman eagerly replied. I pulled up the map of American time zones that I keep in my brain and attempted to figure out where I had gone wrong, it was my understanding that Utah sat DIRECTLY to the north of Arizona and thus a time zone change wouldn't make sense. "So....there's a time zone change in between Arizona and Utah?" I asked. "Sometimes!" the woman replied. "But it is now 11 o'clock" Ch'nel asked, desperately trying to get a hold of a crazy situation. "Yes. There was a time change. You're in room 212. Good night!" and with that she retreated back into the room she basically hangs out in all night. Whatever time it was, I was ready for bed.

We checked the internet and discovered that Arizona does not observe daylight savings and is thus sometimes on Pacific time and sometimes on Mountain time. I remember my friend Megan telling us about this but I always assumed it was some sort of Wild West folklore.

The next day I woke up and decided it would be a good day for my Red Sox t-shirt. This was a great decision as nothing attracts friends better than a Red Sox shirt. Even in Utah they started coming out of the woodwork. The man sitting behind us in the pancake restaurant wanted to know my feelings on the day's Patriots game (my response: Wait....is it Sunday?!?!?! What time is it again?). We hit the road and went to Zion National Park where a couple from San Francisco (by way of Brookline) were interested in my feelings on what went wrong for the Sox that year. I stuttered through it the best I could (team wasn't cohesive...no clear leader...blah blah blah) before Ch'nel was able to distract them with tales of our road trip. No one is better at changing the topic of conversation than Ch'nel, and that's a fact. Whether she intends to or not....she is quite good at getting me out of sticky situations.

The entrance to Zion National Park marked the last time for the next 48 hours that my mouth firmly closed. From that point on I was in a constant state of amazement. Every twist and turn throughout that park and Bryce Canyon, which we hit up later in the day brought a new mesmerizing sight. We had seen some awesome things on this trip, Yellowstone, Yosemite, The Grand Canyon, but the parks of Utah were out of this world. I actually thought we might have left earth. You could blindfold me, put a spacesuit on me, fly me to Utah and tell me that I was on Mars and I would totally believe you. I am that gullible. And, it's like nothing else on Earth.

As I mentioned after we left Zion National Park we went over to Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce was awesome, however we didn't give it nearly enough time. In order to fully experience Bryce we would have had to have at least a full day and probably a little more hiking experience. Bryce looked like a giant child (imagine the kid in Honey I Blew Up the Kid but BIGGER) had taken all the wet sand in the world, dyed it orange, and made drip castles like you make at the beach. Also imagine that kid had an advanced degree in architecture and was able to make arches out of said sand. It was cool to say the least.

Once again we were fighting the sun. It was clear that fall had come and we were now working against daylight savings. We had to make it to the other side of Utah for our next days adventures and while we were pretty sure there were no sudden mountains in our way, we definitely wanted to avoid midnight desert driving.

And so we took off across the open desert. Once we reached the major highway signs began to threaten us that we were about to reach a 100+ mile stretch without a rest area. We decided to play it safe and pull off at the last gas station/Subway sandwich shop. Here we also stocked up on CDs and cassette tapes, a steal at 3 for $5. As Chiz painstakingly sifted through her selections I went to go pay for my sandwich.

Cashier: Whaddya have?

Me: Just half a hoagie

Cashier: A WHAT?!?!?

Me: Sorry, sub, half a sub

Cashier: No, what did you call it?

Me: A hoagie? Sorry, it's a...

Cashier: That's crazy. $3.75.

I met back up with Ch'nel at the car and asked her what she picked. She eagerly pulled out The Prince of Egypt and Hercules soundtracks, a CD of patriotic music and a cassette tape of prank calls. Awesome. This was going to be an fun 100+ miles. We threw on The Prince of Egypt and settled back to listen to our first new music in a month. We love Party in the USA as much as the next person (probably even more than the next person) but we were glad to get the opportunity to put our well worn CDs to rest.

We made it through the 100+mile stretch and were just ready to pull into Moab, our base for the night, when lights began flashing behind us. Dammit. Chiz pulled over and we were met by our second state trooper of the trip. This state trooper was infinitely better than our first state trooper as:

1. He pulled us over for a legit reason (our taillight was out)

2. He didn't charge us anything ("Not a problem, but it is a safety issue so if you could get it fixed I'd appreciate it")

3. He really wanted to hear about our road trip ("You're from New Jersey? So where are you going? Moab? Oh you're really going to like Moab. Where have you been? Oh wow, everywhere then. This sounds like a great idea you must be having so much fun!" sadly he was then almost hit by a car and realized he should probably finish up his paperwork)

4. He was hot.

Yes. He was very, very attractive. How attractive? Very. Classic clean cut American male. My type. Loved it. I tried to hand over my own license just so that I could give him my name and address. He thought I was nuts. After Chiz gave him her information he went back and finished up the paper work. When he returned he had a friend with him. Apparently he told his patrol buddy that they had a car with two girls in it. I know I should be appalled by this...but I liked it. I cannot stress how nice and attractive these cops were. Like everything else in Utah, they were gorgeous.

After we finished with social hour we bid adieu and went on our way. Day one in Utah had been an overwhelming success. Nice views, nice people, nice weather...we couldn't wait to see what day two had in store.

Until we reached the National Parks, this was my face in Utah "WHAT TIME IS IT?"

Zion

The scale of these parks is inimaginable

Every individual rock formation is different

Bryce Canyon

I knew I loved Utah!

The Truly Grand Canyon

It's been exactly 4 months since we returned from our trip. I'm not exactly sure why I stopped blogging, I think I just got caught up in being back home and the time I was away seemed like a dream. That's all the more reason for why I should get back in the game and blog while I remember what happened. My memories faded so quickly once I got home, now I even wonder whether I actually was gone or not. Ch'nel put up some more pictures of the trip on Facebook today and I was spellbound looking at them. The sky was so much bluer, I was tan, my face had a constant incredulous look on it, I suddenly remembered what that month and a half felt like.

Even more spectacular were her pictures of the Grand Canyon. How can I describe the Grand Canyon? If I can say one thing about it it's that no matter what you read, no matter what you see, you cannot grasp the magnitude of the Grand Canyon until you see in it person. I was prepared to be underwhelmed, to be disappointed, to find that it didn't live up to the hype. Absolutely not, it is absolutely spectacular. Perhaps that's why it's been so hard to write about. No matter what I say, no matter what I tell you, I cannot describe the feeling you get, standing on it's edge, looking into a 3000 foot crater. I cannot describe the way the light bounces off the walls of the crater, creating a new view every moment of the day. I cannot describe the feeling that we got standing out at Shoshone Point, alone, as the sun set along the horizon. The absolute silence, the feeling that we were part of something completely bigger than ourselves. The absolute submission to nature. I'll provide the pictures, but until you go there and see if for yourself you'll never understand.







I will never be able to acurately describe how blue the sky was the day I first saw the Grand Canyon
I was constantly afraid Ch'nel was going to go over the edge.
We killed time before the sunset by jumping out of this tree


Ch'nel is far more daring than I'll ever be.
Whipping out black and white mode.
Sun begins to set.
Best travel companion I'll ever have.

1000 people told us how spectacular the sunset over the Grand Canyon was, and I would never believe it until I saw it for myself.

I also left my wallet at the Grand Canyon, but that's a story for another day. Probably tomorrow.

Red Rocks of Sedona

Driving north to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon was the start of what would be about 5 days of the most glorious car rides one can imagine. Rock formations began to pop up in the desert, all of them different shades of orange and red. Every five minutes Ch'nel or I would yell "Hey! Look at that!" or "Over there! Over there!" (not actual quotes, but you get the idea). We were making great time so we decided to pull off at Sedona and see the famous red rocks.

Excellent decision. Excellent, excellent decision. Mark it down on your "must see" list. We pulled into the park and began the always exciting task of snapping pictures while driving. There wasn't anywhere to pull off at this point but yet with every new turn a new view revealed itself, each more glorious than the last one. After about a mile the road disappeared and we were on dirt. I began to worry about the car, Rigby is not made for off roading by any means. As we bumped along we also took note of the giant houses that had been built along the rocks. Stunning enormous houses lined the road, each set at awkward angles so as to give them the best views. The land that there were on alone must have cost an outrageous amount of money, couple that with the size of the houses and I could only imagine who lived in them. I don't think even the queen of England could afford one of these houses.

Eventually we picked the right path and made our way to the official park where we could get out and walk. We pulled up to the ticket booth and prepared to pay our three dollars or whatever parking fee there was. As it was a state park we assumed our national park pass didn't work there. After I paid the fee I noticed a small sign in the window with a picture of the park pass on it. I inquired as to whether they do actually accept the pass. The woman angrily tapped the sign that said "We accept the following passes" only the national park pass had a giant X through it. Hey! Don't get huffy with me, I already paid my three dollars, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be missing out on a ice cream cone or something later because I wasn't smart. Rare instance of a bad attitude in the West.

The park was a lot of fun with lots of rocks to climb on, streams to jump over and otherwise gorgeous scenery.

We took a spin through the town of Sedona after we were through exploring the park. Very nice town, although creepily I would later discover that we were there on the same day as the sweat lodge deaths at one of the town's spas that later became national news.

We continued north to Flagstaff where we pulled up to my cousin Paul's house, our base for the next few days. We were met at the door by Paul's son Alex who showed us where to get settled before running off to join his friends. We assumed he was going to go do those things that teenage boys do, you know get drunk and high. Nope, he was going ice skating. Well then. He stopped right before he left to say "Oh....and don't let the dogs out of their crate". We looked down at the crate to see two tiny dogs, one peacefully sleeping in the back and the other starring us down with a look that would strike fear in even the toughest marine all while letting out a low constant growl. While the dog could fit in my hand....we decided that yes, it would be best to leave her in her crate.

Not very long after he left Alex came flying back in, apparently free skate at the local rink had been cancelled. Ch'nel and I were impressed that he hadn't used that free time to go get drunk and high. Neither Ch'nel nor I were hell raisers during high school, but we can only assume that's because we're lame. Clearly, every other high schooler out there is constantly drunk and or high in our minds. Alex ran out the door to go down the street for a "couple of minutes" and true to form returned literally a few minutes later. We were very amused by Alex and his honesty. It gave us back hope in those younger than us, hope we were beginning to lose after seeing the newbies at work in the summer.

Eventually the rest of the family, Paul, his wife Theresa and their daughter Maisie, returned home and we set about making ourselves at home. The dogs were let out and after barking at me for an hour straight Kina finally decided she was ok with me in the house. After a delicious dinner it was announced that it was almost time for the office. This got me super excited as it was the Jim and Pam wedding episode and I didn't think I was going to be able to see it. Ch'nel and I laughed a little too loudly at this scene

And would continue to quote it for the rest of the trip whenever there was a long boring stretch.

After The Office we stretched out on what just might be the most comfortable sofa bed ever and passed out. I was going to talk about the Grand Canyon in this post as well, but that really deserves it's own post. It's just that awesome. We'll do that tomorrow.

Getting Back in the Game

It's been almost a month since we've come home, which is actually not too hard to comprehend. I definitely feel like I've been home for a month. A threatening message was left on my Facebook wall regarding the state of this blog and to my horror said message was "liked" by someone else. Clearly there is a bounty on my head if I don't step my game up.

Where we last left off we had reached San Diego. San Diego, as you all may know, is on the absolute opposite side of the continent. We therefore have A LOT to cover.

After finishing our pizza sized pancakes we hopped back in the car and set out for Scottsdale, AZ. The drive through Southern California and Arizona was lovely. The desert is probably the region that fascinated me the most on this trip as I had absolutely nothing to compare it to back East. When we were in mountains I would think "Wow, this is just like New Hampshire...only BIGGER!" when we were in the Redwoods I would think "wow, this is just like down the street...only BIGGER" etc, etc. Driving through Arizona I could only stare and soak in the new experience.

I took a course on the American West last year and a recurring theme was the vastness of land out there (funny side note, I woke Ch'nel up because I was listing the themes of the American West out loud in my sleep one night. Apparently I did learn something in college.). It's no more true than in the southwest. Thousands of acres of land stretch on either side of the highway, bordered by mountains in the distance that you just never seem to reach. They are perpetually in the distance. At one point we pulled over to a rest stop (the only one for hundreds of miles around) which consisted of a bathroom and a memorial marker. The memorial was to a police officer who had been shot on the road back in the fifties. My breath was taken away as I realized how deserted the area was in 2009, I can only imagine how little traffic there had been in the fifties. It's a little morbid but I couldn't help wonder how long he had been there before someone discovered him. I wish I had written the name down to find out more later, but again, morbid.

Arizona also introduced us to a lifestyle that must be so common for their residents, yet so alien to us. Every hundred miles or so we had to slow down to pass through an immigration check point. We had heard about these stops but had no idea what to expect. As we pulled up the the first one Ch'nel was passed out in the front seat. I woke her up and told her to grab any identification that she had because I wasn't sure how intense these checks would be. I gave myself a quick pep talk about how this was neither the time nor the place to crack jokes so just keep your mouth shut and do what the officer asks. We slowly rolled up to the check point and rolled down our window. A friendly officer sauntered up to the window, looked at the mess in the back and yelled "JERSAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Chiz and I were silent. How do we respond to that. After five seconds of silence we chuckled and I muttered "jer..sayyyy?" in response. The officer laughed and waved us through without any sort of check. Alright, spread the word, put Jersey plates on your car and you can smuggle as many immigrants through Arizona as you like.

We laugh it off and a hundred miles later get excited as we see another checkpoint approach. Sweet! We love checkpoints. We roll up, far more jauntily than we did to the last one, and are met by a rather stern officer. He stares us down as another officer takes a German shepherd around our car to sniff for god knows what. When he gets the ok from that officer the original officer leans into our car and says "Are you both US citizens?" We nod yes. He steps back and looks into the back of our car, which is covered in clothes and food and other stuff that could easily be hiding a person, before coming back to the window "And there is no one else in this car?" *head shake* "Alright, carry on". Far more intimidating that the first one. The idea that a whole section of the country has come to accept this as a daily part of life is mind-boggling. As we pulled away Ch'nel looked at me and said "What if I wasn't a US citizen but I never told you that? How pissed would you be if you only found that out at an immigration check-point?" I chose not to respond to that question, I felt a strong look conveyed my feelings on that matter.

We continued along our merry way into the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. I've always had mixed feelings on this region as I feel it's a completely inhospitable area that has been altered in a way to support development that will ultimately end up in a catastrophe of epic proportions. There are really just some places that aren't meant to be lived in, folks. The problem, however, is that I know a TON of people from the area including very close friends and family who claim the region is paradise. It's hard to argue when you've never been there, so I was eager to check it out.

We began to see signs of life as we drew closer to the cities. I was less than impressed as the signs of life looked just like New Jersey. This isn't a diss to NJ or AZ...merely an observation that NJ is more hospitable to this sort of development. I don't see this need to move west merely to build the same thing that you had back east. I was hoping that there would be something different about the cities. Also unnerving were the speed traps that were everywhere. Along the highways leading into the city were cameras with speedometers attached. I would later learn that if you went 9mph above the posted speed limit there would be a flash and a picture of your car would be taken and you would be sent a ticket. Arizona is a police state.

We made our way to Scottsdale where we pulled up to my Aunt and Uncle's house where we would be meeting them for dinner. They were out at Tai Chi but told us that the backdoor was open. We weren't exactly sure that this was the right house as there we couldn't find a house number. When we walked up there was music on in the house and I started to get nervous that we were about to break into the wrong house. We opened up the back door and I immediately began to search for a picture of the family that would confirm we were in the right place. Luckily, my Aunt has decorated her hallways with pictures of her grandchildren so we could all breathe a sigh of relief.

Ch'nel set to work trying to remember the names of all of my aunt and uncle's grandchildren, a game she had started when we stayed at their daughters house in Oregon. She was really getting quite good at it, much better than I was to say the least.

The family soon arrived home and my aunt started cooking us dinner while my uncle set to work quizzing us on the meaning of life. The actual meaning of life. He's a very philosophical man. My aunt joined us and began giving us a pitch on why we should live in Arizona. I had to admit her backyard was lovely, purple mountains in the distance, fruit trees in the side yard, the ability to eat dinner outside in October....it was very appealing. "We live where others vacation, how great is that" she closes her pitch with. That stuck with me, why do you want to live where you're supposed to vacation? Doesn't that take the joy out of it? Who am I to judge, though, maybe there is something to waking up to a yard full of lemon trees. Maybe I'm missing out on something, but despite it's beauty I'm still not sold on living in the southwest.

We realized that we had to get a move on as we would be spending the night with our friend Christina. My aunt refused to let us leave without getting a tour of their house, right down to the artwork in their bathroom. Ch'nel pulled out all the stops on this tour, referencing children and grandchildren as well as commenting on their wonderful pieces of wycinakni (Polish paper cuttings). Damn you, Ch'nel, damn you.

We said our goodbyes and set out across town to see Christina. We hadn't seen her since summer 2006, our first summer at CES. This was also the infamous summer when I didn't talk...at all. For some odd reason for an entire summer I showed up to work every day, did my job and said nothing. Now they can't get me to shut up. Driving over I realized just how weird this situation would be. When Christina last knew Ch'nel and I the two of us weren't friends. We didn't really talk to each other, we barely interacted, now we're driving across the country together? I can only imagine what must have been going through her mind when she heard we were stopping by. I wondered if I should retreat back into my silent self, the me that Christina was more familiar with, or go above and beyond to prove to her that I now was quite gregarious. Eventually I chose to be myself, surprisingly not one of my first two options.

All and all everything turned out great. Christina won our hearts over when she already knew quite a bit about our trip as she had been following our blog. That always made the trip recap easier, when people had done their research. After a bottle of wine and a couple hours of "remember whens" we turned in for the night. Christina unfortunately had to leave early the next morning so we said our goodbyes at night. She gave us a tip to check out South Mountain before we began our journey north to Flagstaff, a tip that we gladly took her up on the next day.

Navigating the streets of Scottsdale was a bit rough. After breakfast at Dennys we attempted to follow the GPS to South Mountain. A series of traffic circles and multi street intersections turned us around a couple times but eventually we made our way there. The views were really great. The area is vast, as we touched on before, so you can see quite far. Also interesting was looking down at the city it looks like one large city. I overheard the man next to me explain to the person he was with, however, that what I was looking at was actually three different cities. Phoenix was obviously the largest, then Scottsdale, then...something else that I now forget. I have no idea how they decide where one ends and one begins because from up there it all looks the same.

We came down from the mountain and began our drive north. Tune in shortly (and I promise, it will be shortly) to hear about Sedona, Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.