(For safety reasons, locations will be referred to by letters rather than name until after the trip is over.)
Yesterday morning about 10 AM we officially set out on our trip for AR! It's about 24-ish hours (driving) to get to our target in AR, so we've budgeted 3 days out and 3 days back, with 1 day there for any visiting and nabbing of my stuff.
We drove through a lot of desert and the middle of PAZ, and then visited the real-world town that Friendly, Arizona (n Erin's current Big Story) is based on, and got pizza there! There isn't actually a Pizza Barn... but there IS a Pizza Factory, and it was DELICIOUS.
We stopped for the night in an Eagles song, and are now up bright and early, double checking the site and a few social feeds before setting out on the road again.
So far the trip's been good, and pretty fun, but we haven't gotten to the real danger spots yet (TX, AR itself.) Still, there are a couple tourist-y spots on today's route we're both looking forward to seeing, and I think Ms. Joyce is having fun introducing me to places I've certainly never been!
*hugs*
Take care of yerself folks.
Melanie E.
Comments
Love the blog!
Stay safe, you two! And keep blogging!
— Emma
Anne Elk
We came up over the Mogollon Rim last evening and spotted a couple herds of elk along the road. (American Elk, not moose).
The big gray animals were the size of cow ponies and one young stag stood tall and proud, glaring at the traffic. More desert today as we climb down from the Plateau. We'll probably lunch in ABQ and spend the night in TX.
Hugs to all,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Love travel blogs
I always find the neatest places when I'm lost and wandering around. I hope its that good for you too.
Ron
I call it the stumble upon effect
When you do find places like that, all the crap motels you have stayed in and all the fast food that you have eaten along the way get forgotten.
Samantha.
You stopped in an Eagel's song?
Maybe it's the trucker in me, but I'd have gone on to the horse's dead run or maybe the next wide spot. That'd be only six hours driving for each of you. My wife and I did Portland, OR to Billings MT (13.5 hours) without stopping except for eats and gas.
As a trucker, with two drivers 20 hours driving is an average day.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
13.5 hours
When I was in my late thirties/early forties I was able to do that all by my lonesome. I just get into a zone and just stay there.
Granted I was not up for driving much the next day.
The longest stint I ever did in one day was like 17+ hours.
Man I was never so glad to get into bed at the end of it.
I promised myself to never do it again as I did nod off for like a few seconds. That was scary.
We're targetting about 8 hours of driving a day
Not including breaks/meals. I'm not much of a driver (read: pretty much useless in big cities or on highways,) so Ms. Joyce has to bear the brunt of most of the driving. Add to that that we both want to feel up to a bit of site work when we stop in at night, and yeah :)
Melanie E.
Take It Easy
Interesting thing about that song, it was written by Jackson Browne and Glen Fry, who were neighbors in Northern Cal at the time. Thanks for blogging, ladies. Hope you're having a great time. :DD
DeeDee
Actually
Browne and Frey lived in the same Echo Park apartment building at the time (Echo Park is a neighborhood in Los Angeles). The song was initially supposed to appear on Jackson's debut album but Browne kept getting blocked after the line about the town that won't be mentionned. Frey, who liked the melody after hearing Browne play it probably dozens of times, came up with the next line: "Such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin' down to take a look at me." Now, I'm a big Jackson fan but, that line is surely the best line in the song and it scans perfectly. It's probably the best line Glenn Frey ever wrote and it was mostly off-the-cuff. See what a little THC can do for your creative juices? That's one toke over...a line. Sorry. I'll pun-ish myself for that one.
Hugs,
Sammy
No problem
Lots of us are willieing to accept puns here.
Puns!
The blunter they are, the better! No need to weed out the weaker ones either!
My mistake
I thought Echo Park was near San Fran. Thanks for the info Sammy. I grew up on Jackson Browne and the Eagles. Glenn Frey grew up in my hometown and had an amazing career. :DD
DeeDee
You're from Royal Oak?
I should've remembered from one of your comments on my stories that you're from Michigan! I only recently found out Glenn Frey got his first real career boost from fellow Detroit area legend, Bob Seger. Glenn played acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals on Seger's "Rambling Gambling Man." At 19, he wanted to be an official member of Bob's band but Glenn's mother didn't like her son smoking weed with Seger (I guess she didn't fall for the old oregano ploy). It took 50 years but pot is legal now in Michigan for anyone over 21. Well, a 19 year old Glenn Frey would still not be allowed to smoke...
Hugs,
Sammy
Just N of Royal Oak actually
Bob Seger used to play in a bar in my hometown, Waterford, called '300 Bowl'. That's a funny story about weed, at the time I turned 18, that was the drinking age thanks to the backlash over the draft. I'm now a gardener in my retirement and cannabis is a favorite plant (or plants) in my garden in the summertime and provides an abundant supply of organic gummies I make for me and my friends. :DD
DeeDee