Arizona
While planning my trip home for thanksgiving, I realized that it would be cheaper to stop over in Phoenix than to fly through it. And with a few vacation days to spare, it was a no-brainer to take it as an opportunity to add another state to my list. The trip in general followed what seems to be a trend in my vacationing: a wholesale lack of preplanning, rapidly covering a lot of sites, and tons of road tripping.
Once I landed, I asked for suggestions from the locals, grabbed a couple of travel brochures, and surfed the web. It quickly became clear to me that I needed to see the Grand Canyon. But with an estimated travel time of 4 hours each way, I wasn’t sure if I’d need to get another hotel for the night and drive back the next day. I didn't. The drive was a blast! Between reviewing two new albums I picked up, listening to a bunch of podcasts, and reflecting on the events of the last year of my life, the road trip blew by. Plus, it really took less than 7 hours total. And, it included a brief stint on the historic Route 66!
The Grand Canyon itself was amazing; more so that I could put into words. Though I tried, its grandeur cannot be capture by a camera either. You really just need to go and see it yourself. No matter how immune you think you are to typical tourist sites, I’d bet that you’d still find it breathtaking.
What was also interesting about it is how comfortable the groundskeepers are with letting people fall off the edge of the canyon. There weren’t rails anywhere around it. As such, you may notice that the pictures of me in front of the canyon are a few feet from the edge. Seriously, it wasn’t windy or anything, but there is no way I’m letting some unforeseen gust of wind be my demise.
So, the next day I took a quick tour of Phoenix. Honestly, it is a nice city and all, but I didn’t really find much about it that was distinctly its own or a must see. So, I wrapped it up and, you guessed it, did more road tripping! This time: Tucson. The highlight for me was Mission San Xavier del Bac.
When it was all said and done, I was proud to return my Hyundai Accent to the rental car lot with 798 miles added it to it. I can’t wait visit my next state.
Pics
posted by Mr. Sharps at 8:32 PM
