This morning I left Phoenix and drove ten and a half hours. There’s a town in Texas called Dalhart, population slightly over seven thousand people. This is where I-54 turns—I had to turn left onto Denver Avenue, which is also 54 East. There’s a basic little hotel on the corner, as soon as you turn left…and that’s hwere I am. Going to be in a few minutes—though I’ve already lost two hours and the clock says it’s 9”30 though it feels more like 7:30. (Phoenix is on the same time zone as CA and OR, at least for six months of the year.)
Last night, I had the Ikea shopping experience with Francis, Jennifer, and Malcolm, and made a wish list because there’s an Ikea store in Portland.
Last night I also thanked Francis for treating me so well, and he said, “We’re family. Our mom’s side of the family are a bunch of dicks, but relatives don’t have to be that way.” Very true. Living in Topeka and having so much contact with my mother’s side of the family, I’ve become over the past few years accustomed to thinking of relatives as an abomination and as my worst enemies. Francis has reminded me that this doesn’t have to be the case and that I’m generalizing.
I’m so looking forward to being back in Portland!
Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phoenix. Show all posts
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Back in Phoenix
It only took me five hours and fifteen minutes to drive from the Los Angeles vicinity to Phoenix, and I only stopped at two gas stations (and my tank was still almost full when I arrived in Phoenix).
As I was leaving the Los Angeles area, there was a dust storm, something I don't think I've ever experienced firsthand. I rolled up the car windows. The trees were dancing and dust and debris was flying at my windshield, and the sky looked sort of foggy in a beigey sort of way. I've read that Tibet has dust storms during a particular time of the year. And then of course there's the Dust Bowl. I went through a great deal of wind and flying debris throughout the trip to Phoenix--it's extremely windy here, at this very moment, and there's a weather advisory out. I mostly kept the car window closed and the air conditioner turned on during today's drive. Besides the wind, there were lots of purty mountains and palm trees.
My brother was at home when I showed up, and I took a shower and changed before we went out and picked up Malcolm (my six-year-old nephew), and we went out to eat at a buffet restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. Francis had asked me what I wanted for supper, and I said, "Something that involves broccoli and/or cauliflower." Sweet Tomatoes was a good choice--there's a big salad buffet with broccoli and cauliflower, and I also had steamed vegetables that included broccoli and cauliflower. Yum.
I was expecting it to be over a hundred degrees here, and normally it would be about 110 degrees Fahrenheit, but instead it didn't reach a hundred today and is currently 89. When we left the restaurant, it seemed nice out--I'm sure the wind makes it feel cooler, not to mention the sun had begun to set. It's supposed to be 99 on Friday.
As I was leaving the Los Angeles area, there was a dust storm, something I don't think I've ever experienced firsthand. I rolled up the car windows. The trees were dancing and dust and debris was flying at my windshield, and the sky looked sort of foggy in a beigey sort of way. I've read that Tibet has dust storms during a particular time of the year. And then of course there's the Dust Bowl. I went through a great deal of wind and flying debris throughout the trip to Phoenix--it's extremely windy here, at this very moment, and there's a weather advisory out. I mostly kept the car window closed and the air conditioner turned on during today's drive. Besides the wind, there were lots of purty mountains and palm trees.
My brother was at home when I showed up, and I took a shower and changed before we went out and picked up Malcolm (my six-year-old nephew), and we went out to eat at a buffet restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. Francis had asked me what I wanted for supper, and I said, "Something that involves broccoli and/or cauliflower." Sweet Tomatoes was a good choice--there's a big salad buffet with broccoli and cauliflower, and I also had steamed vegetables that included broccoli and cauliflower. Yum.
I was expecting it to be over a hundred degrees here, and normally it would be about 110 degrees Fahrenheit, but instead it didn't reach a hundred today and is currently 89. When we left the restaurant, it seemed nice out--I'm sure the wind makes it feel cooler, not to mention the sun had begun to set. It's supposed to be 99 on Friday.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Phoenix, Arizona
On Wednesday I began my Journey to the West.
Most of the mountains I saw in New Mexico were sprawled out and squat, but they were pretty colors under the vast cloudy sky: some mountains were pink or terra cotta, and some were striped terra cotta and pale green dotted with dark green shrubs.
After driving for eleven and a half hours the first day, I spent the night at an Econo Lodge on the outskirts of Albuquerque, which was fine except for having Spongebob Crankypants, a grumpy old Irishman, at the front desk in the morning. But there was continental breakfast and a big soft bed. Too soft for doing yoga, I found.
The next day, I drove through some breathtaking landscapes, including what I think was called Prescott National Forest, where the highway curved through the mountains. That must be the first time I ever cruised downhill at 75 miles an hour. Wheeee! (Note: the speed limit was 75, and it actually wasn't raining.)
I reached the "Phoenix City Limits" sign at about one pm Mountain time and got to my brother's apartment about an hour later; my Mapquest directions were a bit whacked and I had to stop for directions. So it took me about nineteen and a half hours to drive from Topeka, Kansas, to Phoenix, Arizona.
It also turned out that I didn't have my brother's current phone number, so it was useless using a tea shop's cell phone, but fortunately someone who worked for UPS had just stopped there. So although I had told my brother I'd show up in the evening, I showed up in the afternoon and camped out in front of his apartment. The guard cats looked out the window and meowed at me periodically. Neighbors walked by and greeted me. I went up a half flight of steps and watched doves fighting on a Spanish tile roof. I went back down and continued reading a book.
It rained slightly (which is weird, since this is a desert and it's not monsoon season). As soon as it stopped raining, huge gusty ornery wind made the palm trees dance and threw dirt in my face. I heard popping noises, looked up at a palm tree on the other side of the swimming pool (yes, my brother's apartment faces a swimming pool) and I saw yellow and orange balloons popping in the tree, and another cluster of balloons flew off and exploded in the air. I guess flying debris popped them.
My brother Francis showed up after 5, and we went out to a pizza place where we met up with my nephew Malcolm and my x-sister-in-law Jennifer, who has lived in Portland, Oregon, so we talked about Portland. Because of the shockingly high rent in the San Francisco Bay I've decided to move to Portland instead, and Jennifer told me about some of the neighborhoods and said she can definitely see me living there. I mentioned the neighborhood that includes apartments that only cost $285 a month, and she said that's a high-crime area. I decided that I'd rather pay $450 a month for rent than dodge bullets every time I step outside.
My brother's apartment actually makes me feel like a clean freak, which is pretty scary since I'm the Anti-Housekeeper; but my brother has a six-year-old son, and his apartment is like a big toy box. Since Francis is working today, I'm going to stay through Saturday and we'll go museum hopping (oh, yeah, and it's supposed to be 96 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow), and I'll leave Phoenix Sunday morning to head out to the Bay area.
Most of the mountains I saw in New Mexico were sprawled out and squat, but they were pretty colors under the vast cloudy sky: some mountains were pink or terra cotta, and some were striped terra cotta and pale green dotted with dark green shrubs.
After driving for eleven and a half hours the first day, I spent the night at an Econo Lodge on the outskirts of Albuquerque, which was fine except for having Spongebob Crankypants, a grumpy old Irishman, at the front desk in the morning. But there was continental breakfast and a big soft bed. Too soft for doing yoga, I found.
The next day, I drove through some breathtaking landscapes, including what I think was called Prescott National Forest, where the highway curved through the mountains. That must be the first time I ever cruised downhill at 75 miles an hour. Wheeee! (Note: the speed limit was 75, and it actually wasn't raining.)
I reached the "Phoenix City Limits" sign at about one pm Mountain time and got to my brother's apartment about an hour later; my Mapquest directions were a bit whacked and I had to stop for directions. So it took me about nineteen and a half hours to drive from Topeka, Kansas, to Phoenix, Arizona.
It also turned out that I didn't have my brother's current phone number, so it was useless using a tea shop's cell phone, but fortunately someone who worked for UPS had just stopped there. So although I had told my brother I'd show up in the evening, I showed up in the afternoon and camped out in front of his apartment. The guard cats looked out the window and meowed at me periodically. Neighbors walked by and greeted me. I went up a half flight of steps and watched doves fighting on a Spanish tile roof. I went back down and continued reading a book.
It rained slightly (which is weird, since this is a desert and it's not monsoon season). As soon as it stopped raining, huge gusty ornery wind made the palm trees dance and threw dirt in my face. I heard popping noises, looked up at a palm tree on the other side of the swimming pool (yes, my brother's apartment faces a swimming pool) and I saw yellow and orange balloons popping in the tree, and another cluster of balloons flew off and exploded in the air. I guess flying debris popped them.
My brother Francis showed up after 5, and we went out to a pizza place where we met up with my nephew Malcolm and my x-sister-in-law Jennifer, who has lived in Portland, Oregon, so we talked about Portland. Because of the shockingly high rent in the San Francisco Bay I've decided to move to Portland instead, and Jennifer told me about some of the neighborhoods and said she can definitely see me living there. I mentioned the neighborhood that includes apartments that only cost $285 a month, and she said that's a high-crime area. I decided that I'd rather pay $450 a month for rent than dodge bullets every time I step outside.
My brother's apartment actually makes me feel like a clean freak, which is pretty scary since I'm the Anti-Housekeeper; but my brother has a six-year-old son, and his apartment is like a big toy box. Since Francis is working today, I'm going to stay through Saturday and we'll go museum hopping (oh, yeah, and it's supposed to be 96 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow), and I'll leave Phoenix Sunday morning to head out to the Bay area.
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