Back in Arizona

Today I got a bit of a late start because I took my car in to get serviced. After getting the oil changed, the tires rotated and a new air filter I was ready to hit the road. The guys working on the car were joking that my hubcaps didnt match and they didnt want me going home and telling everyone that mexicans at jiffy lube stole them. After this I made the decision that I really like Mexican Americans. I only know 1 mexican guy and that wasnt a big enough sample size, but after this trip I have decided that mexicans are OK. I figure that they are a hard working, family oriented people with great food, they are like the Italians of the early 20th century (minus the hand motions), plus you really dont want to get on their bad side. I was able to head out by 10 and had a full day of driving in front of me. I am glad that I got everything running smoothly because shortly after I left LA i headed through the Palm Desert and into the valley of death (death valley). There were signs saying not to run the AC because of overheating (which is find because mine doesnt work), and that there were no services for up to 60 miles ahead. The desert was actually more green that what I expected with a lot of sage brush along the roadside. I saw my first Cactus of the trip just after I crossed into Arizona. I had seen a few planted and manicured ones outside the Airport in Phoenix when I flew in this summer, but those werent real cacti.

I hit a little bit of traffic when I crossed through Phoenix at rush hour, but after what I dealt with yesterday in Cali this is nothing. I made it down to Tucson and stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel. About 2 years ago I was listening to a comedy CD on a road trip with a few friends and the guy was talking about swearing at Cracker Barrel billboards. Since then I have yelled profanities at every cracker barrel billboard that I have ever seen, even though I have never previously eaten there. In the words of Stephen on the drive back from Baltimore "I didnt realize how many cracker barrel signs there were until you started all that swearing". So I finally broke down and got me some good homestyle country food. I was decent and extremely cheap. I will continue to yell at the signs simply because its a tradition. I wound up in Benson, AZ where I got into a hotel and did some laundry. My last load is in the dryer and I will be going to bed soon. I did have an opportunity to book my hotel for New Orleans and will be staying downtown about 4 blocks from bourbon street in a clarion hotel. It was pretty cheap and looks like a nice place. Tomorrow I am going to head down to Tombstone and then over into Texas. It should be a pretty straightforward drive and in 2 days ill be in San Antonio hanging out with OD.
-O