Arizona

2015 | Sedona, Gilbert, Phoenix, and Tarzan

Friday, Aug 14 - Yuma

Prison hill brewing for dinner. The poutine was amazing. Total game changer.

113 outside

Mike got a pineapple cider from California cider ℅. Fucking delicious.

Went to tiki yogurt. Self serve yogurt bar. We were the only people there. was yummy!!

Back to hotel. Mikes sewed patches on his bag, I read hell boy. Woke up at 2:20. Smelled like burning plastic or something. Finally went away.

Saturday, 15

Brunch at Cracker Barrel. Left Yuma. It was hot. Car was reporting 117 in some places. Glad for AC!

Got to Hotel. Left to get dinner at some Tuscan place. 45 minute line, and mike was not feeling it. 1 block away was Gordon Biersch. No wait, appetizers and dinner and out in 30 minutes.

Saw Tarzan. It was great fun. There was also a furry cubbie as one of the gorillas.

Went to The Bikini Lounge. It was actually a total local dive bar. The DJ played all kinds of stuff. New York dolls, focus, roxy music (early) but wasn't a tiki bar per se.

Went to Hula modern tiki. Had Hawaiian ceviche ( so fucking good) a Mai tai (with pineapple) and a hula hurricane. Mike had Asian bbq chicken wings, a zombie, and a Mai Tai. I bought 2 glasses from there. they were cheap, considering (ony $8), but the coconut mug wasn't personalized for them. Still, it's a neat mug. I'll use it a lot, i'm sure.

Sunday, 16

98 degrees at 10 am.

Went to Firehouse for subs. Really good!

Went to Starbucks to get coffee. the drive through was some bulshit, so we went inside. it was even more bullshit in there. I swear, we waited about 15 minutes. While waiting, i saw a mother and son (he was about... 15? maybe?) waiting to pick up their coffee. THe son has super long hair, was kinda lanky, some zits. A guy sitting near us got up to go talk to them. Sounded like he knew them pretty well. The mother grabbed her son by the chin, and forced him to look at the guy. THe guy said something to them, and then the kid held up an alphabet board, and pointed to letters to spell out his response, while his mother held her hand over his.

I was fascinated by this level of autism (I am assuming). he was able to communicate, and even make some jokes. He was aware when his drink was ready, and grabbed it and bounded off to sit at the table with his father. He even flipped the alphabet board around in his hands, like a teenager would with a toy.

Fascinating.

(about 106 degrees around noon. )

Anyway, we left, and drove out to Sedona. About half way there, i stopped to get gas at some tiny town (black rock town? something like that).

I puled over on the freeway about 30 minutes out of Sedona. It was just so freakin beautiful, i had tyo get some shots.

We drove out to sedona. Stopped at the visitor center and we got our first real view of the rocks... buttes... hills... whatever they are. WOW and WOW. we were both in awe. And that was just the begining. Aso, Sedona was much cooler than Gilbert and Phoenix... maybe 100 or so. (But as we drove higher, it cooled down a lot. A much more manageable 98 or so, and then down to about 90 by the time we left.)

Got dire3ctions frpom the state park woman inside. she drew highlights on the maps and told us some detais about places and things to see.

Drove first to the Chappel. It is truly inspiring. Designed b y Loyd Wright? Frank Loyd Wright's son, i think, abd built in the 50's. THe outside is beautiful. Clean, bold lines, that blend in perfectly with the organic rock face. There's a winding path to get into the chapple that perfectly compliments and brings the straight edges and ines of the chappel and the round and weather worn rocks together. Just brilliant.

Drove into town. It was nearing 3, so we decided to get a quick bite to eat, then continue around. Stopped at Open Range Grill and Tavern. I got a sammich (it was ok. not great). mike got a salad. THe view, also, was amazing.

Stopped and got some sweets at a candy shop, then headed back out to explore some more. As we drove out onto the street from the parking lot, mike exclaimed "omg, i think that guy is naked!" and he's pointing up to a balcony a couple levels above the main street. sure enough, there was a naked man, with a woman standing in front of him in the doorway to their room. I didn't see peen, but saw butt, and it was obvious he was totes naked. She was wearing a back nightie kinda thing. I think we were the only people that noticed, even though there were a lot of people walking along the street.

we drove to the airport. It has a fantastic view of all the surrounding mountains. The clouds were rolling in, and starting to block out the sun, so the views, while great, weren't spectacular for photos. Also, the airport is a "vortex" or some such. I felt nothing. well, maybe a little headache aS WE WERE DRIVE BACK DOWN. LOL

Wen searching for the THunderhead trail WOund up getting a little ost in residential Areas. Finally found it, and walked around and got some bmore pictures. So beaturiful. Every time you are walking ro driving, and turn a bend, there's another surprising, breath-taking and spectacular view.

Drove around to find another park. Turns out it was just a standard neighborhood ike park. heh. oh well. Drove to Tlaquepaque , which is a recreation of an old Mexicany villa kind of thing. Touristy, with shops and restaurants. but whatever. We ate at El Rincon, and ordered Nachos. Mike had a margarita (it was tiny compared to San Diego sized ones) THe sun was starting to go down. Got a couple more shots, then decided to head back to GIbert.

Driving back, the highways are realy, truly rural. There were NO lights on most of the first hour stretch. ANd in many places, teh speed limit was 75. GOing downhill, on a 2 lane highway,with some cars and trucks and pickups, in the dark... a little stressy. But also beautiful. I only wish that there were more stars visible. The clouds rolled in and the sky was mostly overcast.

back to the hotel. Our keys didn't work. Mike went to the front desk. They said that since we had booked 2 nights, but not at the same time, then we needed to go through the whole process of deposits for the room and all the rest of that crap. Mike said "uh... no. you told us we didn't have to"... it became a bit of a thing.

GOt back to the room. The glasses were dirty, and even the coffee mug Mike had used wasn't really washed. maybe just rinsed out. bleh. Called front desk and had them send up 2 fresh, clean glasses

Made Gin and TONics for us. Looked through some of the pictures I took, and stareted to document the day :-)