38 Miles of Arizona

So, I left Visalia on Monday morning. I have been taking an alternate route to Nashville in hopes of avoiding Arizona. There are two reasons for this avoidance. A. I have driven that route so many stinkin times that I am sick of it. I don’t want any turquoise jewelry or moccasins. 2. I really don’t like two pieces of legislation they have passed recently. My disagreement led me to an Arizona boycott. But between Vegas and Utah, there really aren’t any choices. So I had to pass through the treacherous Arizona for 38 miles. It was a gorge and I passed at sunset. It was magnificent. Unlike anything I had ever seen. I proceeded to get stupid lost in Utah (thank you Google maps). Eventually, we settled for the night. The morning drive through Utah was unbelievable. There were these pockets of fog in the Valleys and perched in the tops of the rocks. It was so beautiful that there were view points every 10 miles or so. The weird thing about Utah was that there was a Ranch Road exit every 60 miles. I mean, how many Ranch Roads could there be? The little towns were quaint. Almost like they were take off the Pleasantville set and plopped down in Utah. Then came Colorado. You could smell the granola in the air. The towns weren’t that different then Utah except the shops are just a smidge cooler. And I have to be honest Durango is intoxicating. The hillsides are covered in shades of golden and red leaves. The clouds spread shade gently across the landscape. It was amazing. It was like I can’t even imagine what it looks like with snow. I did spot to choice church marquis signs. One said, “Jesus paid the price, you keep the change.” And another said, “If you feel like you are sitting on Heaven, Heaven is probably sitting on you.” What? If I hadn’t been going 75 mph, I totally would have stopped for a picture. Now I am settled in Albuquerque. I am going to take a shower and attempt to sleep with my hyper sensitive dog barking every few seconds.