We decided to take today a bit easier after the very full day yesterday. After our free Holiday Inn Express breakfast, which included this odd omelet with some weird pepper hash… stuff… the family relaxed while I typed up the blog (since the prior night the connection was so poor I couldn’t get it done). Hit the road about 10:30 and, after hitting McDonald’s for some stay-awake-during-long-drive juice, took I-10 westward towards Tucson, about 250 miles away. The weather was pretty enough but the thunderstorms were already starting to fire. New Mexico has these funny signs, stating “Dust Storms May Exist,” that really make me ponder. I mean, we know they exist, they’re documented phenomena.
Yeah... and?
A little later, after crossing into Arizona, we stopped at a rest area where I spotted a sign that stated “Beware of Rattlesnakes.” Though having a picture of Mr. Stick being bitten by a snake would’ve really ramped up the awesome I was thankful this wasn’t New Mexico or it would have stated “Rattlesnakes May Exist” or some such.
Now we're talking (sadly, I did not see any)!
The terrain was very flat, ranging from sandy scrub land bordering on desert to fairly green with grasses and small shrubs. There were always mountains visible in the distance, however, and occasionally they’d come right up to the road. I-10 is pretty remarkable in that there was always cell reception, unlike all of the state and US routes we had taken in the preceding days where cell reception would drop for hours. Most of the stretch of I-10 was also paralleled by train tracks. It was awesome, I saw at least five trains, mostly Union Pacific. There were also pecan groves between Las Cruces and Tucson — I had no idea that they could be farmed in that environment. We saw a good number of yucca plants, some nearing fifteen feet tall or so, and some curious cacti that looked almost like aquarium plants.
Mountain beside I-10
Southern Arizona mountains
Choo choo choo choo
Odd cacti
After a couple of failed attempts at finding lunch by leaving the highway in a few small eastern Arizona towns we found success at the Pizza Hut in Wilcox. We had originally looked at a Mexican restaurant but it just looked a bit iffy when we got there. I know, we’re not very adventurous I guess. Lunch was good, we had the buffet. And, yes, it rained again while we were eating. All but two days so far!
Cool rocky hills near Tucson, Arizona
Headed back towards Tucson for another hour and change before arriving around four (or so I thought). Also saw our first In-N-Out since last year’s trip to the Pacific coast. Looked down at the temperature and it was 106F. And not a dry heat — it was storming about a mile away so the humidity was up there, and the outflow from that storm caused a brisk, furnace-like blast. Ick. Checked in to the hotel which looked far fancier than we expected but still was a Holiday Inn Express. We decided to knock out a couple of loads of laundry (our last for this trip) and relax a bit before seeking food, putting off the trip to Saguaro National Park until tomorrow (besides, it was super hot out).
Cactus near our hotel in Tucson
We decided to eat at the mall very close to the hotel, at Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill (I kid you not). The food was decent and I managed to eat somewhat healthy, ordering broccoli, squash, and peppers along with a burger. It was in the restaurant that we realized that despite Arizona being in the same time zone as New Mexico that it was really an hour behind, as Arizona (other than the Navajo Nation) does not recognize daylight savings time. Turns out we could’ve probably made Saguaro NP. Still would’ve been hot, though. Returned back to the room for blogging and an early bedtime.
Route for Wednesday, July 31st, 2013