from a cafe in sedona az

sorry it's taken me so long to get this in. we'll see about pix in a little while, for now, some impressions. today is friday, day 5.


Vegas video

las vegas: the strip, bigger than i pictured it; glitz; neon; under construction; tacky; went to the venetian, it's not italy but it's a beautiful fake. had a drink with kim that night. miguel won a few bucks as he always does. picked up our new (621 miles on it) chrysler sebring convertible. buzz and todd on the road.

leaving las vegas: tuesday morning. top down, Taj on the stereo, bright sunshine all over.

Joshua Tree Forest, AZ video

on the way to rt 66 in az, stopped in dolan springs and the joshua tree forest that's there. what a cool sight, miles after mile of these weird looking joshua trees, all up the mountains. a forest indeed. that afternoon, peach springs az. hualapai lodge, ownwed and operated by the local indian tribe, it actually sits on indian land. at the risk of being politically incorrect, i'm sure the translation for "hualapai" must be "paybacks are a bitch, white man". the hotel itself was fine, the problem was that a rr crossing was about 100 yds behind the hotel, and it was a very busy line. several times an hour, the bells would sound, then the train would pass through, blowing its horn three times, all night long. it wasn't funny. even a few JD's didn't help my sleeping that night. i got so sunburned with the top down that i thought for sure they would give me a discount when we checked in. no sun for me for the next couple of days. gas was 2.19 a gallon, not horrible.

day 3 wednesday: on the way to the grand canyon. it's really far from anywhere, but everything seems far from anywhere out here. BIG places, BIG spaces. first view of the grand canyon was just like i've read: it takes your breath away. no words, at least not mine, no pictures can do it justice. has to be seen to be believed. just the most enormous beautiful natural sight you could ever see.
elk munching the grass out back of the hotel, like 30 feet away. had a cigar and some JD outside at night.


Grand Canyon, Sedona video

thursday 4-7, grand canyon east rim to sedona az. east rim is maybe nicer than what we saw yesterday, less development, more open, less tourists. saw the painted desert from a distance, it really does look "painted", many colors: red, shades of rose, beige, light brown, and BIG. saw charcoal gray lava beds, who knows how old? huge areas covered in dark gray lava. sedona: worth a couple of days visit. red rocks all around. very similar to los mallos in riglos spain, but all over the place, every where you look there are these beautiful rock formations.


Montezuma's Castle, AZ

today: we leave sedona, heading sw across az to the border w california. staying tonight in ehrenberg az, next to the colorado river. tomorrow, into mohave desert and death valley. weather is spectacular so far.

i miss everybody a lot already. let's see if i can get some pix in here. later.....