all along the I-40 east

My sister and I drove out to Arizona and New Mexico last weekend! Our main destination was the Lightning Field in NM, but along the way we stopped outside of Flagstaff to break up the drive. Time wasn't a luxury, but we managed to make all our stops while getting a seductive taste of the enchanting Southwest. It is magical, no question about it. I don't really know what it is, but it's inherent in the land. The light quality is arguably similar, if not the same as Southern California, which is largely desert as you go east, away from the beaches. Maybe it's the noticeable sparseness of the locale and the breathing room that affords, and knowing that you're outside of a big metropolitan area. Not to mention that some of the most badass and intriguing Native Americans lived on and with it, perhaps the magic comes from that history.

We stayed in an awesome little town called Williams AZ the first night. That afternoon we visited an outdoor drive-around wildlife park called Bearizona (!!!). As we drove through it (windows rolled up at all times) we saw bighorn sheep, mountain goats, bison, gray and arctic wolves, and black bears. It felt like Jurassic Park! Our feelings alternated between excitement and unease, as we couldn't figure out if this was more like a wildlife sanctuary or a zoo. Pretty sure it's the first one though, and it's not like these animals were captured on another continent and shipped here to satiate the curiosity of wide-eyed humans (I hope). I didn't get any shots of the animals I mentioned before, because I was driving, but in the walk-around part of the park I made sure to get a few shots of this snoozing lynx. I love big cats.

One of the best parts of the road trip was when sister spied piles of glass electrical insulators on the side of the road. We took a three mile detour, hopped out of the car and just wandered around this field of insulators, mouths agape and silent with excitement and wonder at our discovery. Had I not been collecting for years I think I would have gone crazy and filled my truck. But I just looked around carefully for models I didn't have and walked away with four. And yet I can't help but think that we'll be back.

On the way in we had noticed an abundance of chollas all along the highway, and a quick peek at the map noted that we were passing through the Bigelow Cholla Garden Wilderness. I wanted so badly to stop and wander around and admire the fuzzy glow of the teddy bear cholla, and got to do so on the way home, for a couple of minutes. Sure it was through the barbed wire fence on the side of the road, but when it came down to a trip this quick, I took whatever I could get.