Start of an Adventure

Days 1 & 2:

Katie and I have left Beautiful Colorado. The story behind this decision is not so extraordinary and rather a sad story directly correlating with the economy. Yes, I had been let go from my job and with a "less than practical" solution to the problem we have decided to embark on a much needed road trip. Katie has resigned her two jobs and now we begin the search for "what's next?" Everything seemed like it was moving at the speed of light for the last month and now that we started, the full realization of the situation has set in... we are jobless and homeless.

Oh well, C'est la vie. It sounds whole lot worse than it feels right now.

We left Vail Monday morning, drove through Utah (Moab and Monument Valley) and into Arizona. Our first night was spent camping at Navajo National Monument. If you are in the area we highly recommend this campground. It was one of the few national parks/monuments that are still free. Free entry and camping! The campsites are nice and they have water and restrooms. If you can spend more time there, the park features cliff dwellings, canyon hikes, and cultural info at the visitor's center. There were also a lot of pesky flies this time and no bug spray so do come prepared for that. The definite highlight of the first day was the sunset at the campground.

Tuesday morning we left the campground and started heading south towards Rio Rico, Arizona. After hearing wonderful things about Sedona, we planned a detour, expecting to find a quaint artist town. Breathtaking views abounded, but what seemed like the Gatlinburg of Arizona was not what we were looking for. The natural beauty was totally worth the detour, and staying in one of the retreats in the park would be an excellent vacation. Passing through Phoenix, the thermostat on the car read 107, which was a little too hot for comfort. Further south the rainstorms of monsoon season rolled in and the temp dropped as we arrived at Bill's Casa late that afternoon. He and the delightful Alba prepared a feast of: grilled peppers stuffed with cheese and wrapped with bacon, still warm tortillas fresh from Mexico with queso fresca, and carne asada tacos. Delicious!