Arizona Reflections

Arizona is a big state, and we didn't see nearly as much of it as we did Utah.  That being said, I will comment on what we saw.  We were not impressed with Arizona's roads.  The ones we were on were in pretty bad shape.  We were very unimpressed that Arizona has closed so many rest areas.  I know they have to do what they have to do because of economics, but it's too bad they couldn't work out something else.  Utah has worked out a deal with private businesses to act as rest areas and that system seems to work.  I know that on the stretch of I-40 that we were on (from Kingman to Williams) there weren't many businesses, so maybe that wouldn't work.  Idaho and Oregon had the best rest areas!

The presence of Native Americans trying to peddle goods at every corner and at every turnoff was annoying to us.  We saw this once in Utah on I-70 and the very next rest area/view point had a big sign saying "no soliciting" and we never saw it again.  I know they have to make a living and I give them credit for being enterprising, but this peddling was something we weren't familiar with or comfortable with.  In fact, it made us decide to skip stopping in Monument Valley other than what we saw from the highway and from our quick stop at Gouldings.  By the way, the road to Gouldings was the worst road we were on during our entire trip except for a couple of the gravel roads in Utah. 

It was disappointing that the Four Corners Monument was closed while we were there.  We drove in, didn't have to pay the $5, which was good since there was nothing to see except for booths selling stuff.  We won't hurry back to that area.  That part was officially in New Mexico so I won't blame Arizona for that!

In my opinion, Arizona is unfairly being boycotted by California for trying to crack down on illegals.  This boycott is ridiculous!  Maybe we should all boycott California?  Boycotts generally don't work anyway.  Arizona is doing the best it can and is trying to solve an unsolvable problem. 

Since Arizona is not on daylight-saving's time, sunrise came very early at 5:30 am and sunset came very early at 7:15 pm.  Our first night in Arizona was at the Grand Canyon and we wanted to go take our first look at the canyon, but we couldn't see much because it was already dark!  Cell phones are smart because they (eventually) automatically adjust themselves to the local time, but going from Utah to Las Vegas to Arizona and then back to Utah meant that we kept having to adjust our clocks and we never did understand when the network TV shows were on, so we finally gave up on watching network TV.  At one point we were still in Utah, but Dave's cell phone said we were on Central Time.  Huh??

The people we met in Arizona were friendly and very nice!  It seemed like another laid-back area, at least compared to here in Washington state and definitely laid-back compared to California where we lived for 17 years and where Dave lived his whole life until we moved to Washington. 

Wildflowers at Capital Reef National Park

Utah Reflections

It's raining here in Vancouver, WA again today.  The rain has really been getting me down since we got home.  I was so used to no rain in Arizona and Utah.  We exercised inside today and I'm glad we have that option, but it's not as satisfying or refreshing as being able to exercise outdoors.

Speaking of Utah, I was impressed with the wide, spacious streets of the towns that we visited.  I understand they were planned that way in order for buggies and wagons to be able to turn around on the streets.  The first town where I noticed the wide streets was Nephi.  We went for a bike ride there and we were able to ride on the main street because it was so wide.  Then I noticed the same thing in St. George, Hurricane, Bluff, Moab, Richfield, and Brigham City.  To me, it felt midwestern because that's the way my hometown of Osage, Iowa was laid out, even though it wasn't settled by Mormons.  It definitely made me nostalgic!

The other thing that reminded me of growing up in the midwest was that many businesses and restaurants were closed on Sunday in Utah.  Even the RV park office in St. George was closed on Sunday.  This used to be common when I was young, but gradually that custom has gone by the wayside, and we just expect that places will be open on Sunday. 

I also noticed the lack of litter and graffiti in those towns.  I'm sure the cities have their share of crime and drugs, etc., but it wasn't evident.  Theologically, I don't believe what the Mormons believe, but I do think they know how to run their cities and their states. 

Wildflowers at Capitol Reef National Park

Words of Inspiration

Today there is no traveling to write about.  No trips to a national park.  No RV news at all.  Not even any more oddities to tell about.  I met with my friends for our usual Tuesday afternoon chat and it was great to reconnect with them after our travels.  I will leave you with a short but sweet inspiration from St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430):

"For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.”

Wildflowers at Capitol Reef National Park