7.7.2012

After five long weeks in the Valley of the Sun, Teach for America Summer Institute was over July 7th. I was so, so ready. Jaime and I had been planning our Road Trip of the Century for a few months and it was finally here! Over ten days, we passed through nineteen states and two countries, and we had a great time.

Our trip started, obviously, in Arizona. I got up that Saturday morning, packed up my car in the already suffocating heat of the morning, and headed to the Phoenix airport where I picked Jaime up. We started on the road immediately. Poor Jaime. She didn't even get a break between the plane and the car.

One of the goals of this trip, the beauty of it really, was that we'd have no rules and no agenda. We wanted to just drive and stop when we wanted, see what we wanted, and do what we wanted. We did have to make it to a couple of places at certain times throughout the week which constricted us a little bit, but for the most part we just winged it. That's what we do best.

The first day, I had found a couple of places in Arizona that I wanted to visit, both in the Flagstaff area: Meteor Crater and Walnut Canyon, which has some ancient cliff-dwellings. My car had some other plans, though. About an hour out of Phoenix, the thermometer in my car started rising. We stopped in Camp Verde, Arizona and spent an hour and a half at this middle-of-nowhere mechanic's shop where they discovered nothing. I'm not sure how legit this place was, since I've since taken it to two different places that were able to diagnose the problem within an hour. Hmm... We were able to watch Men in Black II in the tiny little waiting room, though, so at least we were enjoying some nice Will Smith scenery. :) We got back on the road and, even though it rose a little bit a couple of other times throughout the trip, we didn't have any other major problems until our last hour in Indiana. As soon as we got to Indiana it got way worse to the point where I had to fix it or sell it. I know that a loving Heavenly Father was watching over us and allowed us to make it back safely. That's not the only proof of that. We had several other miracles throughout the week that I'll mention later. I'm really grateful not only that He watched over us, but that we were able to recognize it and show gratitude as we went along.

Anyway, since we took our little break to watch MIB II, we didn't get to go to either of the cool sites in Arizona. I'd been there for plenty of time, though, and I was more than happy to get out. Flagstaff was, though, an absolutely beautiful and pleasant place compared to Phoenix. It was a full thirty degrees cooler, which was very welcomed.

As we went along, we tried to get pictures of each of the state signs. We weren't entirely successful, but we did grab one of the signs in Arizona.

And New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment.

We made it to Albuquerque that first night, but we first stopped at the historic Hotel El Rancho in Gallup, New Mexico. Back in the early movie-making days, this was apparently the hot spot for movie stars that were working in the west.

There was a Native American dance going on outside but we missed it. We didn't miss the costumes, though. They were parked right next to us.

Late that night, we rolled into Albuquerque, swung by a grocery store to get some food for the next day since it was Sunday, and crawled into a much-appreciated bed. Oh yeah, did I mention we stayed at a hotel? I love hotels. All of them.