Westward ho!

Here we are at beautiful Sabino Canyon. It's about a 10 minute drive from our apartment. Emily took this picture while she was here a few weeks ago helping us with the cats. It's absolutely gorgeous here (mom would love it). Let's back up a little bit though. About a month ago on Pioneer Day, Vanessa and I, in the tradition of the pioneers, loaded up everything we owned into a 17 foot U-Haul and said goodbye to Athens, Georgia. We didn't want to drive anything bigger, so we sold or gave away lots of stuff to make it fit. I didn't think it was going to, but the elders in Athens had a different plan. Looking back, I still can't believe that they got it all in. We pulled our Camry behind us. Neither of us had ever driven anything this big (and I know it's really not that big) so we were a little nervous. We hit Atlanta about 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. Perfect timing. Just after the morning rush hour and just before the lunch rush. After Atlanta, I was feeling a lot more confident behind the wheel. I love the way that traffic just disappears after you leave a city. One minute you're surrounded by rows and rows of cars, the next there's no one in front you you. Alabama is pretty boring. I-20W wrapped around Birmingham so we didn't have to experience that. We drove through Tuscaloosa and saw the hotel we stayed in a few years ago when we went to the University of Alabama for the Southeastern Ecological and Evolution Convention. Fun times. After Tuscaloosa, I was in uncharted waters. I had driven across the country before, but never the southern route. If Alabama was boring, Mississippi was even worse. We stopped at a gas station about mid day for some fuel and food. One word: Rough. These people looked rough. The motel with the hourly rates and the gas station with the rap music blaring so loudly you could barely talk to the woman behind the counter and the Hardees where I couldn't even understand what the woman at the counter was saying her draw was so thick, rough. The only real city we drove through in Mississippi was Jackson. It must of looked a lot nicer back when Johnny Cash was singing about going there because it was nothing to write home about. Hot and muggy and really bad roads. Then we were crossing the mighty Mississippi. It's a pretty impressive river. Louisiana is also nothing to write home about. At least not the northern part we crossed through. We stopped for the night in Shreveport. It's a lot bigger city than I thought it would be, and we couldn't find a hotel vacancy anywhere. Well, at least not a hotel that Vanessa would stay in. Thanks to our Garmin gps device, we found a holiday inn express that had a few rooms. We ordered pizza and went to bed, thus ending day one.

Day two began about the same as day one. We got in the truck and headed west. After Shreveport, the scenery starts to change. Less forests and big trees, more fields and grasslands. It makes for a pretty boring drive. Texas was next. You always hear about how big Texas is, but you have no idea until you drive across it. It's just ridiculous. We drove through Dallas and Fort Worth, which is pretty much one huge city. Bad roads and lots of traffic is all I really remember. That and my constant prayers to help me keep the truck in my lane. After Dallas, there's nothing. And I mean it when I say nothing. Gigantic expanses of oil fields and ranches. I can't explain it, but even the sky looks bigger. We had planned to stay the night in Midland, home of the current president, but all of the hotels were booked. Not to mention they all looked crappy and the lobbies reeked of cigarette smoke. Now this was my birthday. July 25 in Midland Texas looking for a hotel. It was beginning to be the worst birthday ever. It was around 5pm so we decided to just head down the road. According to the map, there really wasn't anything between there and El Paso, about 300 miles away, so I figured worst case scenario I'd have to get some energy drinks and drive straight through to El Paso. Then we saw it. About 30 miles west of Midland was a little town called Monahans. It was the kind of town where the whole town was located around the interstate, and towering over everything was a brand new Best Western. I couldn't believe our luck. They had plenty of rooms available and it was a really nice place. Since the town was so small, we decided to walk around to see what they had to eat. We found this little barbecue place with the best brisket I've ever had and then we had desert at Dairy Queen. It ended up being one of the best birthdays ever.

Day three started about the same as day one and two. We loaded up the truck and headed west. Now if I didn't mention previously, driving through Texas is very impressive, and very boring. It's impressive for the sheer size and emptiness, but it's also boring for the same reasons. We continued west and eventually I20 ended and we got on I10W. This was exciting because this is the interstate that goes through Tucson. The next large city was El Paso. It's a huge city also. I guess I just always imagined El Paso to be this little frontier town with saloons and brothels and gunfights in the streets. I was really taken aback. I guess I watch too many westerns. It was cool though because El Paso borders New Mexico and Mexico. You could literally look to your left and see signs in Mexico. And as anyone who's ever driven long distances can tell you, you live state to state. That's another reason Texas really sucks. When you get to Alabama and the exit numbers start at 250, it okay, you can do it. Just 250 more miles and we'll start a new state. But when you get to Texas and the exit numbers start at 690, it's just down right depressing. So hitting New Mexico was awesome. It lifted my spirits and put me in a better attitude. We stopped at a rest area just as we got into New Mexico and there was a plaque dedicating that stretch of interstate to my hero, Jefferson Davis. I was shocked. It was all done by the daughters of the Confederacy. I was beginning to feel that maybe the west wasn't going to be so bad.

I got a call from the Bishop. He and the elders quorum president were trying to figure out where we were and when we would arrive. I told him we were just past El Paso and he said that El Paso is only 5 hours from Tucson. I was elated. We were finally going to get out of this awful truck. New Mexico was alright. Just desert, not much to say. Then we hit Arizona, and more desert. Lots of mountains from El Paso to Tucson though, it's very pretty. We drove down into the Tucson valley about 3:30pm, took the truck to U-Haul, dropped off the trailer, then went to our new apartment. The young men from the ward showed up at 6pm and had the whole thing unloaded by 6:15. It was really impressive, and they didn't break anything.

So that's how we got here. Not that exciting, but it was a lot of fun. I recommend that everyone drive cross country some day to see this beautiful country. The words of America The Beautiful come to mind: O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! It really is something to behold. And if you can't go cross country, at least drive through Texas. It puts things into perspective.