The “TRIPLOG” page was sorely neglected on my Western trip. I had hope of waxing eloquent on the joys of the open road and the marvels of Americana on the way, but the days just became too long. The laptop got used for emails, and that was about it. I’ll try to distill 2 1/2 weeks on the road into a few paragraphs and a few words. It was a long way to go for some sunshine and some desert travel in an Iowa winter, but it was more than worth it in sights and sounds and food and laughs, to speak mainly of the part where I was visiting the boys.
To the Grand Canyon?
Here’s the turnoff to Williams, Arizona and the south rim of the Grand Canyon, normally an hour’s drive from the Interstate, but on this day, rather intimidating. A tornado had passed within a couple of miles of my motel in Elk City, Oklahoma: now, an Interstate closure occurred behind me the next day. I pushed on, with dreams of California sunshine.
And as always, California comes through. Its more ungenerous citizens long ago trashed its tax structure, made it ungovernable, and is leaving its educational system, once one of the best in the world, to the streets and gangland. But the sunshine is still there, and the wonderful congeniality of San Francisco. Eight days in the Bay Area and the coast around Santa Cruz made up for a lot of staring into snow on Old Route 66.
More later, as the glowing memories of this trip give way to some realities: New Mexico and Arizona are showing signs of deperate poverty amid some sickening opulence, and Phoenix-Tucson has invented eight-lane intersections where fossil fuels go up in smoke while 20-minute traffic lights try to deal with the situation. The only plus factor is the tolerance of legal U-turns nearly everywhere, and in some of these places I recommend doing one as soon as possible.
Here are cities and towns where I stopped overnight. Westbound from Iowa City: Wichita, Kansas; Elk City, Oklahoma; Grants, New Mexico; Kingman, Arizona; Bakersfield, California; Berkeley, California (destination); and Santa Cruz, California (destination). Eastbound: Barstow, California; Tempe, Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Los Lunas, New Mexico; Shamrock, Texas; Emporia, Kansas; Osceola, Iowa—and home.
