Sunday, May 31, 2009

Memorial Day

After work, we left Nipomo at for Phoenix heading south on the 101. We drove along the ocean to Santa Barbara, then inland to Los Angeles. We drove east through the desert to Palm Springs, over the Colorado River, and finally into the Phoenix Valley.

As I was driving into Phoenix, several bright lights flashed in my eyes from the side of the road. It was 2 am, and I figured I was hallucinating or the "Mother Ship" had come to get me. I soon realized that in Arizona they have vehicle speed cameras, much like the red light cameras. I was going about 68 mph in a 55 zone.

We arrived in New River at 2:30 am, 570 miles and 9 hours and 30 minutes later.

At about 10 am the next day, I awoke to the sounds of birds and other farm life . I was ready for some coffee; It was ready for the drinking. Mmmm...just what I needed.
Sitting outside I could see mountains covered with cacti and other desert flora. The area around the house had some interesting decorations.


In the backyard, was the strangest camping trailer I have ever seen. It's called a TAB.


Here on the farm, there are many animals. Outside, there are 2 horses, 2 farm dogs, a poodle, and 9 chickens.




Inside, there is another dog (who survived an owl attack), and a bunch of alien looking hairless cats.




On Saturday, I drove to Phoenix and visited my Dad. We did some Father/Son stuff like repairing a clothes dryer. He lives in a beautiful house filled with cats.

The big event came on the night we had mud-oven pizza and homebrewed beer. Sarah's Aunt built the oven from things found in the desert near the house.

The oven was heated up for three hours and then the cooking started. Pizza after pizza was baked. Each one was better that the last. It was all so yummy!

(The picture does not do it justice)


I didn't want the weekend to stop. We left for home on Monday afternoon. We hit holiday traffic in Palm Springs. It lasted for a little over an hour, then we got moving again. We watched the sun set in the smog of L.A. We drove though Hollywood on our way home. The cats were very happy to see us get home. I was happy to get home.


Well, now back to the daily grind.

1 comment:

Nicki said...

Sounds like a really nice getaway. I love the mud oven! The pizza looks delicious.