Checkout time. We miss home... but we will also miss Sedona. The trip has been a difficult, dusty adventure, but well worth it. To sum it up:

  • Flagstaff: Windy but hip.
  • Grand Canyon: Ultra-windy and touristy, but, um... grand.
  • Kayenta: Sad.
  • Monument Valley: Breathtaking and sobering.
  • Sedona: Overrun with Kokopelli yet peaceful.
  • Jerome: Skinny. Ah, we haven't discussed Jerome yet.

So, off to Ravenheart for a croissant, blueberry muffin and some mocha refreshment, and we're...

Hey, wait.

I've ALWAYS wanted to do this... what an opportunity...

(Puts on a CD by a particular California band...)


Well I'm standin' on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona,
such a fine site to see...

It's a girl, my Lord
in a bright red Ford

slowin' down to take a look at me.
Come on, baaaaaby... (singing)

... Fine. So it wasn't Winslow; we were too far West. But dammit, we had everything else, and it had to be done. Anyway. Bianca takes the wheel and will remain behind it until we leave Arizona. It's a long drive home. First we hit Cottonwood. I don't remember it.

NOW PLAYING: Electric Skychurch - Deus


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We wind our way through the town of Jerome, which would have been interesting to stay and look at if we had the time. The entire town is wrapped around a tiny mountain road.

NOW PLAYING: B-52's - Revolution Earth/Is That You Mo-Dean? mini-EP

On to Prescott Valley. It's a sleepy, sleazy desert town.

NOW PLAYING: Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

On to Prescott. It's a quaint town with a Southern feel, and seems mostly populated with cute girls and mean old men. Outside of Prescott we encountered a bit of a slowdown, since the surrounding area had recently suffered a forest fire due to the extreme dryness. A grim procession of black trees and grey ground passed us by.

NOW PLAYING: Six Degrees: Asian Travels


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We wind down long roads into the mountainous desert. It's brown and it's burnt, mixing a few of the Arizona reds with umber and black, giving it an alien feeling. Soon the heat of it hits us like an opened oven. We drive through one-road towns barely deserving of the name, such as Wilhoit and Yarnell. Time to switch the music to deal with it.

NOW PLAYING: Happy 2B Hardcore Volume 2

Hot. Dust devils all over. We realize with a start that the top's been down all this time, and Dave is close to heatstroke. We find a spot where it won't melt the tires and put it up, and try to drink some of the overwarm water from bottles. We change from the 71 to the 60, which will take us home. Towns like Aguila, Salome, and Harcuvar. Dead, hot and lifeless except for battered places to pull over and grab something. Dry mountains and saguaro cacti. More towns. Hope. Brenda. Quartzsite. It's hard to believe that people live out here. Many trailer parks appear and pass by.

Blythe! Bianca has taken us successfully back to California! Gas stations with vapor recovery nozzles! Refreshments! Something we can call civilization! We grab some much-needed, absurdly large cups of fluid to drink, and drive on. Between Twenty-Nine Palms and Banning there is a forest of white wind turbines, and I wish I'd had film left to capture it. Some last few hours of agony as we get stuck in 5:30 traffic, and we're home.


DAMAGE REPORT: Dave nearly got heatstroke without realizing it.