Day 21

We left out of the truck stop in Phoenix, going to Tempe Arizona. We picked up our load there and headed back toward New Mexico with our ultimate destination of Missouri. Did I mention it was hotter than Hades here? Well, it is. Even early in the morning. Nothing really notable happened all day, just driving and driving through Arizona, which is exceptionally beautiful, like New Mexico. We did pass through Winslow Arizona and an ad on the radio mentioned that we could visit Winslow, stand on the corner and have our picture made with the girl in the flat bed Ford. Come on Eagles fans, you know what that means! I would have done it in a heartbeat, but well, you know, we are truckers not tourists. We also could have visited Meteor Crater Road and seen a 2.5 mile wide meteor crater. That would have also been cool and they do have trucker facilities, but even Bigfoot the space enthusiast would not slow down for it. Sigh…….. Visit my favorite www.roadsideamerica.com and type in Winslow Arizona for info on both things we missed.

We made it through Arizona, into New Mexico, and past Albuquerque to a little town called Moriarty. It’s claim to fame apparently is that it is on Route 66. When we got there, a horrible storm was brewing with the darkest clouds you can imagine and wind and lightning. I scrambled in to the bathroom before the flood gates could open and trap me in the truck for who knows how long. When I came out, I was sure I was in Kansas and the flying monkeys were on the way. The wind was whipping and howling and dust was blowing all around in little miniature cyclones. I could hardly open the door to get outside. I had to shield my eyes from the blowing dust and I high tailed it to the truck and grabbed Sparkle so she could get her business done too. We jumped in the truck, expecting a torrent of rain to close in behind us and it never rained a drop. Not one!

I got out the trusty cigarette lighter pan and whipped up another serving of my famous Big Rig Dirty Rice. It was the best EVER! I think I have my technique down pat now. We had to scarf down our meal, as once again we got a bum reefer unit and our 40,000 pounds of cheese is in peril. We have to turn around and go back to Albuquerque to ThermoKing to get it looked at/repaired. I feel like hell tonight for some reason, so I am going to bed NOW! Hope to see ya tomorrow.

Cacti in Arizona

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Going down..........

I think this area was called Black Canyon?

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Again, maybe Black Canyon in Arizona?

WEEEEE.......Bigfoot likes to coast down!

See the road ahead going down down down.....

So pretty........

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

We are UP there!

Standing on the corner in Winslow AZ, it's such a fine sight to see..........Sing it with me!

Arizona, between Phoenix and New Mexico on I-40

Dry river bed...........I don't wonder why it's dried up!

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

This is actually into New Mexico on I-40

Day 20

OMG!!!! I may spontaneously combust. I have never been so hot in all my life. It feels like we are sitting on the sun. This has been the hottest July on record in Arizona ever. The high today was 114. The thermostat on the truck, which is a few degrees off when it is sitting still, registered 128. We are in Avondale Arizona, just beside Phoenix. I took Sparkle for a very quick walk and the asphalt burned her little feet and made her yelp out loud. There is no grass so she had to do her business on gravelly rocks, which were also hot. It is absolutely miserable here right now. I don’t know how anybody stands it.

On a better note about today………I have a friend, Debbie, who I worked with at a crappy transcription company that will remain unnamed here, who lives here in Phoenix. We have never met before but I promised if I was ever in the area I would call her. So I did and since our next load does not pick up until tomorrow morning, we made plans to go to dinner. She and her mom, Donna, picked us up and took us to Glendale to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. It was in the coolest outdoor mall (not like any mall I have ever seen!) with a pretty fountain and cool shops and restaurants and the road runs right through the middle. Margaritaville was SO much fun. It was very colorful and lively with great music and a man on stilts making balloon shapes and lots of cool stuff to look at. You could sit in a boat/booth with your own little TV playing beachy music videos. I had an enormous plate of nachos that I swore I would eat all of and did not come close and everyone else had some variety of Cheeseburgers in Paradise! We had a great time visiting and getting acquainted face to face after the many hours of talking on the phone over the last year or so. She was so generous to take us to do something so fun and special and to treat us to a great dinner with awesome margaritas! Afterwards, we walked around a little and went to the Smuggler’s Hold gift shop in Margaritaville and I got a pretty T-shirt and a magnet to commemorate my visit to the Valley of the Sun. It made my HOT trip to Phoenix very COOL to be able to spend time with my friend and be a tourist for a little while. Thanks, Debbie for a wonderful time.

After a big night out, I am pooped and am calling it a day. We head to Tempe Arizona in the morning for our pick up and our destination is Carthage Missouri. I am excited to see Arizona tomorrow, since it was dark when we came into the state last night. Should be another good photo day!

There is absolutely no excuse for it to be this hot!

Home of the Arizona Cardinals NFL team......

and host of the Super Bowl a year or so ago.

Probably a cool bar to go to. I liked the name.

Our destination!

A very cool restaurant on the same strip as Margaritaville.

More of the outside of the Saddle Road Chop House.

Inside Margaritaville.

My Volcano Nachos........

On the ceiling.

Me and Debbie on the Margaritaville bench with mom on the side!

Me and Bigfoot on the Margaritaville bench!

Me and Bigfoot on the Margaritaville bench!

Gift shop at Margaritaville.

It's US!

Me and Debbie, the Arizona hostess with the mostest!

The main drag through the "mall".

Bigfoot watching the fountain water dance.

Day 19

REDEMPTION!!! New Mexico definitely saved this trip. We left the truck stop this afternoon from Santa Rosa New Mexico headed toward Albuquerque and then on to Arizona on I-40. New Mexico was just mile after mile after mile of beauty. I took 94 pictures in New Mexico alone. I won’t put that many here, but it will be a bunch because it was just so gorgeous. Red rocks, black rocks, white rocks, pink rocks, gray rocks……

Of course, it is dark now and we have been in Arizona for about 15 minutes. I should get a look at it tomorrow from a truck stop somewhere. Nothing noteworthy happened today. We just rode and rode and rode. I really hated to see it get dark because I was not done seeing.

As we were leaving Santa Rosa, we could see rain bands behind us. This is the little mirror on Bigfoot's side of the truck looking backward.

Pretty..........New Mexico

New Mexico mountains.

I-40 in New Mexico

Aren't these pretty, two tone mountains!

I-40 in New Mexico

A little village at the foot of the mountains.

It's so much rock, but it all looks different.

I-40 in New Mexico

See the church? It looked like it was carved into the rock face.

I-40 in New Mexico

Black rocks along the Interstate.

I-40 in New Mexico

I-40 in New Mexico

We really liked this red rock face.

I-40 in New Mexico

I-40 in New Mexico

Self photo.......here is one way to get our picture together! Taken in the little mirror at the top of my door window!

Pit stop in New Mexico

A beautiful end to a beautiful day. I am so blessed to be able to see our beautiful country.