Shades of the Southwest

If you imagine the south western United States as being home to gun-toting rednecks and cowboys, you are partly correct. Never before have I seen so many trucks with rifle racks in the back and this morning I saw my first real cowboy up close. I noticed him because of the sound his spurs made when he walked. That being said Texas is one of the most friendly states we’ve been in. Normally I would be terrified riding into a city like El Paso (pop. 650 000) on a three lane highway with no shoulders, but the drivers here all gave us plenty of space.

Looks like they really live up to this motto: “Drive friendly, the Texas way”.

Changing of the Seasons

If you think of Arizona, what comes to mind?  Heat?  Desert?  Cacti?  The Phoenix Suns? 

We had similar expectations of Arizona and were expecting lots of hot desert riding.  But as we climbed on Route 66 towards Flagstaff we were surprised to see forests and grassland.  The leaves were changing colour and the night time temperature was dropping below zero.  It was the first sign of fall that we’ve seen so far.

We ended up staying with our friends John and Vicki in Flagstaff longer than originally planned, enjoying the surroundings and catching up on rest.  Flagstaff is a small university town up in the mountains and has an exciting feel. 

John and Vicki were wonderful hosts (as always) and we had a great time with them.  The best part was that Vicki loves to cook … and we love to eat!

Our first stop was the Grand Canyon.  We decided to go for a day hike with John, so we headed about halfway from the rim to the river.  Both Jenn and I were blown away with the scenery.  It’s so much larger and prettier than either of us could have imagined.

John and us at Plateau Point

Opposites Attract

Our last post left off just as we entered Nevada. Since then we have been mostly in the Nevada and Arizona desert. It's an area of extreme temperatures, hot during the day and cold at night. We've noticed a number of other opposite extremes along the way. Here are three of our favourites:

1. Churches and Brothels

Striking East: Highway to the Danger Zone

As you may have noticed we were treated wonderfully in San Francisco and were sad to say good-bye, but all good things must come to an end. After all how else would we find out about all the other good things to come?

We kinda cheated and took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) as far out of San Francisco as it would take us. It was still a tangle of suburbia and construction zones for a half day until we were back on the open road.

Sometimes open road can mean ghost towns where you expect to find services