It’s a perfect day for the beginning of a long trip. As Ontario fades in the background, the
abundance of yellow wildflowers seems to lay a carpet out for me. The sky is so blue that it looks photo
shopped, the white fluffy clouds placed exactly in the right place and the tips
of the mountains are dusted with snow. The air is clear, no smog nestled into the
valleys.
The first day of my journey is Los Angeles to
Flagstaff. I enjoy the drive
through the lava fields at edge the California/Arizona border. I can envision this area as the shallow
sea it once was and often wonder if the volcanoes erupted under the water or
above. I often think of Hawaii as
I drive through this area.
Closer to Flagstaff the road climbs to an elevation of over
5,000 and the desert gives way to rock clusters, shrubby trees and patches of
flat, green land. I call
this section of my drive The Ponderosa.
This is where I imagine where Hoss and Little Joe rode.
I have always had a crush on Flagstaff but have never had
the opportunity to stay here.
Most trips I push on to Albuquerque, but today, with two
travel weary cats in the back seat, I am stopping early.
Taking advantage of the late spring sun, I drive through the historic Route 66
downtown Flagstaff and my crush turns into a full blown infatuation. I wish I had time to wander into the
old antique shops and the newly painted “Granny’s Diner”. But the cats have been in
their cages without food or litter box breaks for eight hours so I push forward
and find my hotel, Marriott Springhill Suites.
The Springhill was a wonderful surprise. Newly redecorated and renovated, it is
located right off the freeway, five minutes from downtown but also with plenty
of restaurants and shops within walking distance.
And they served me breakfast the next morning. Well, they served everybody who stayed
there breakfast but really, its all about me.
My second road trip day takes me from Flagstaff, Arizona,
all the way across New Mexico and into Texas, ending at Amarillo.
After the tall pine trees of Flagstaff fall away, the
scenery becomes boring until right before the New Mexico border. That is when the magnificent red rocks
that makes this area famous, push up from the brown dirt. They always take my breath away.
New Mexico is using their “Putting America To Work” money
wisely and updating their infrastructure, especially along Interstate 40. This includes a new Visitor Information
Center, which replaces what I awarded as the worse rest stop in the United States. It is a welcome change! In addition I went through at least ten
“road work” areas where improvements were happening. They have also beautified overpasses and state boarder
signs. I give them a gold star for
all the work they have done since I worked on “The Longest Yard” in Santa Fe.
My dad and I have talked of driving old Route 66 and as I
travel along the same path now, I can’t help but want to stop and explore all
the cute little towns, especially Winslow, AZ. Everybody wants to stand on the corner and sing the song…..
What amazes me is how many famous or world famous
restaurants, hotels or travel centers there are along Interstate 40. Really? World Famous Travel Centers? Cause when a truck driver goes on vacation to India and
meets an Indian guy he says, “hey dude, you gotta check out the travel center
in Cerritos New Mexico. The showers are stellar.” I want to investigate to find out what makes it
so world famous, but alas, this is not a pleasure (or truth seeking) trip and
Molly gives me a complaining meow as if she can read my thoughts. Time to put the petal to the metal and
get my kitties to their new overnight home.
Oh, but that reminds me. I discovered the joys of cruise control today. Back in the day when my dad taught me
to drive, well we didn’t have cruise control. And I am pretty sure my last car (or any car previous)
wasn’t fancy enough to have it but my adorable silver 2005 Audi A4 Wagon has it
and, since my gal (the car, not me) loves the open road and loves to go fast, cruise
control was really our only option.
(The Audi at rest, home in Nashville)
By the way, there is nothing as boring as driving through
the panhandle of Texas. Except
maybe driving between Palm Springs and Yuma, Arizona.
Our last full day of driving, between Amarillo and Little
Rock, AR is uneventful, if you don’t count the drama at the Residence Inn in
Amarillo.
The cats have figured out my evil plan of feeding them their
drugs in the morning food, so I had to force part of pill down Molly’s
throat. Talk about pissed. And if you’ve ever wondered how long it
takes for a cat’s claws to grow back and be sharp, it’s about a week! I had the complimentary breakfast,
while giving the cats time to calm down.
But they weren’t going to make it that easy on me. They managed to find the one space in
the room where I couldn’t retrieve them, between the king sized bed and the
wall. After an embarrassed call to
the front desk, a tall young man from maintenance came in to help me dismantle
the bed. Molly was easy to scoop
up but Bailey freaked out and ran himself around the room until he was
exhausted. Needless to
say neither one of them spoke to me for the entire nine hour ride today. Not until we were safely in our new
Residence Inn hotel room in Little Rock and they decided they were hungry. Then all was forgiven.
(Bailey not speaking to me in the car)
On the road today, I wonder what that attraction, Devil’s
Rope might be, but will have to wait for another road trip to find out. I also notice that in Oklahoma,
competing towns have Route 66 Museums.
One is advertised as the “Official Route 66 Museum” and then ten miles
down the road is “Oklahoma’s Official Route 66 Museum”.
Our final push, Little Rock to Nashville, was only six hour
long. It feels good to be
home. I had perfect weather for my
entire trip, sailing through Okalahoma City between thunderstorms, hail and
more tornados.
