DRIVING TO THE ARIZONA HIGH DESERT

FRIDAY

I left Barstow, California this morning for the 350 mile drive to Flagstaff, Arizona and a three day visit with my sister-in-law, Carol. I will be on I-40 the entire day.  Actually, I-40 will take me within an hour of my home in Tennessee.  Of course I won’t stay on it for the entire way, but it’s an interesting thought.  I see signs for Route 66 as I drive.  I could travel some on that route, for historical purposes, but it won’t really change my view. I’m expecting a desert drive today, but there are good hills on both sides of me that add perspective to the desert. 

I had a hard time going to sleep last night because my brain kept right on working after the lights were out.  I kept trying to put all the pieces together:  pieces of this trip, pieces of my life, pieces of my Mother’s life.  I almost got up to write my thoughts down, but then I would never get back to sleep…and I n beed sleep for a long drive in the morning.  When I woke this morning all the brain workings of last night could not be resurrected enough to be coherent. Of course.

Last night was my first night in a hotel on this trip.  All the other nights, when I haven’t been staying with relatives and friends, I’ve stayed in bed and breakfasts.  I’ve always wanted to take a trip where I only stay in B&Bs so this trip was my perfect opportunity.  I see B&Bs as a way to meet people while I am traveling and to have someone to eat breakfast with and share a few stories.  I see it as a way to add warmth and personality to my travels. B&Bs are a bit more expensive than hotels (I limited myself to $130/night), but I only needed reservations for twelve nights so I forged ahead with my reservations.

The B&B experience has been interesting.  In at least three places, I have been the only person staying the night, which makes breakfast really awkward.  Generally, the owner will sit down and chat while I eat – but it’s odd knowing that someone is cooking breakfast for just me.  It blows my whole purpose of wanting to share breakfast with other people who are also traveling. Breakfast is usually served at 8:00 or later so an early departure is not always possible, or it at least complicates things. In a couple of places, the male owners who were also preparing breakfast had questionable personal hygiene and because of my years in the food business, it raised all kinds of questions for me.  In another location I found used washcloths in my bathroom and only family-size soaps and shampoos so it made me question other housekeeping details. One man was a professional chef, turned B&B and construction business owner.  I saw his kitchen.  I didn’t like what I saw.

When I got to my hotel last night, I realized I had several conveniences I had not had in the B&Bs:  controllable room temperature, a desk to work on, adequate plugs for my electronics, and good light. There are fewer unknowns at a hotel, though I have to admit I have been in a couple of hotels in the past that didn’t meet my standards.  I guess in some areas I am not as much of a risk taker as I thought I was.  I did what I set out to do, but I have come to understand the B&Bs have not been the best part of my trip.  What has always been “I really want to stay in B&Bs for an entire trip” has become “been there, done that, don’t have to do it again.” In the future I will stay in hotels whenever possible – one more decision made.

I am running with the trains again, as I drive across the desert, with the mountains off in the distance.  I’ve missed the trains the last three days while I’ve been in Yosemite and the surrounding mountains. My fondness for trains extends to boats and barges on the rivers that parallel my route.  People and materials are moving across this vast country, all day, every day. I lack the words to explain why the trains and boats are important on the journey.  Perhaps it’s the varied means of transportation, perhaps it’s the distant companionship in my momentary geography, perhaps it’s just a point of interest that captures my attention.  I wonder about where they are going and what are they hauling and how long is their journey.

I must be close to Needles, California because all of a sudden I see a row of about twelve billboards, one right after the other, on my side of the highway.  There are a few on the opposite side as well. I’ve been driving for about two and a half hours and these are the first billboards I’ve seen today – not that I had missed such sights – I just didn’t realize there weren’t any until now. About 5300 people live in Needles and the valley is quite green, obviously the result of irrigation.  The Colorado River, though small, runs through this area, providing boating and recreational opportunities. The town name “Needles” sounds like it’s right out of Gunsmoke.

At 11:30 it’s 96 degrees in Arizona – a big change from the cold mornings and cool days in Oregon. Small spindly cactus are beginning to replace the sagebrush.  These cacti have ten or twelve shoots spraying from the ground and are five to six feet high. There are multiple signs for washes along the road – places where the water runs when there is water.  All of them are dry today.  One was named The Holy Moses Wash.  Of course there was no water to be parted so we could walk across, but I couldn’t help but smile at the name.

At Kingman, Arizona I spent some time in the Route 66 museum, watched the movie, and learned about the history of this route.  I actually tried to soak up this place for Fred.  It’s amazing what a mother will do just because she’s thinking about her son, knowing he would love a place like this. I learned that Andy Devine was from Kingman; I read his biographic sheet which brought many early memories. 

Everything here looks very southwestern:  tile roofs and beige stucco houses.  When I leave Kingman I see more mesas in the landscape and hills covered with large round reddish orange rocks. As I climb out of Kingman I reach an elevation of about 5000 feet and everything is green – the sagebrush is green, the ground grasses are green.  I thought all of today would be desert driving so this greenness is a nice surprise.

Farther down the road, at Williams, Arizona I saw a sign for the Grand Canyon Railway Depot.  The Grand Canyon is only about 60 miles from here and this is the interstate turnoff for it.  Off to my right, I see an Amtrak passenger train, about ten cars long, waiting at the station.  This is the first passenger train I’ve seen on the entire trip.  I am wondering now where you start to get here on a train. I’ll have to research that when I have a little time.  Another option for another trip. 

As I near Flagstaff, all the trees are evergreen, the ground is spotted with yellow-flowering plants amongst the grayish green grasses, all as foreground to the peaks in the distance.  It makes for lovely driving, that never tires the eyes or the spirit. Now that I am at a higher elevation, the temperature has dropped to 76.  The Arizona Divide is 7355 feet.

I am anticipating several days of working with Carol, having important conversations and exploring the grandeur of these mountains.