“You know this is the worst time to visit Arizona, right?” – dude at Auto Zone

Note: I could only add so many photos, so Monument Valley Pics will be in another post.

My car was filthy after driving from Austin Texas to Chandler, Arizona. I left Austin on Wednesday after work. I worked during the day and as the time zones changed was able to leave earlier and earlier along the way, I stopped two nights before I arrived in Chandler on a Friday night. Saturday morning, the first thing on my to do list was to find a car wash. I drove into the car wash with a perfect windshield – when I came out there was not only one but two cracks from the right side all the way to the middle. I asked the guy about it and, apparently, there was a tiny pebble that was at the side of the glass. That, mixed with the heat and water temp caused the cracks. Geico promptly set up Safelight to come repair the windshield, but I hadn’t met my deductible yet … needless to say it was the most expensive car wash I’ve ever had. It has now been over two months since the car wash and my car is filthy again. Even though I’m not in hot Arizona anymore, it will stay dirty until, at least, September. 😊

About a month later, one of the turn signal lights went out on my car. I went to Auto Zone, bought the new bulb and they replaced it for me. While changing the bulb they guy noticed my NJ license plates. He couldn’t understand why I would visit Arizona in July. It was so hot … don’t let that ‘dry heat’ excuse fool you, hot is hot. That’s why I made sure my Airbnb had a pool. While I was in Arizona I pretty much did three things; work, float in the pool, and watched Yankee Games. I spent a good amount of time in the pool working on my tan.

Arizona is a beautiful state. I didn’t realize how much there really is to see there. After the Grand Canyon trip I did a lot of site seeing – well, of course my first stop after the camping trip was to the spa. In two days I went from one extreme to the other … camping under the stars to massages and facials. This was my third trip to Civana resort & spa – I love love love it there. Other than the spa treatments, I did yoga, aerial yoga, meditation, and pickleball. I did work from ‘home’ the four days I was there but with the three hour time difference I was done by 2:30 every day and able to enjoy everything the spa has to offer. I definitely understand the definition of work/life balance.

From there the Arizona site seeing began at the Petrified Forrest and Painted Desert. It was breathtaking. I drove the loop twice, stopping at every pull out to take pictures of the scenery. The pictures are beautiful but they really can’t capture the beauty. Driving the loop you’re able to see the original site of Route 66, The Santa Fe Railroad and The Painted Desert Inn. The Inn is set up as it was when the Harvey Girls served food at its diner.

On the way back to the Phoenix area I stopped at Meteor Crater. If you’re ever in Arizona and are near the Meteor Crater, keep driving. It’s just a big hole in the ground, not that interesting. Especially given all the other places to see in Arizona. As luck would have it, I made it back soon enough to have brunch with The Peterson Family. My friend Christine, her husband and two boys were in Peoria for a baseball tournament. The timing worked out well, and I was happy to be able to see them before they drove back to California.

That week I stayed at an AirBnB in San Tan Valley, which is about 40 minutes outside Phoenix. That week I splurged a little on tickets to see the Arizona Diamondbacks game on the 4th of July. I had ‘well’ seats. (You’ll see what that means when you see the picture.) From that seat I was able to hear the baseball hit the catchers mitt and every crack of the bat. Being so close was great… I didn’t actually love being as low as the dugout, but it was nice to be so close up. I relaxed in the pool and worked from ‘home’ in San Tan Valley until I flew home for my July Yankee Games. It had been six weeks since I drove from NJ to Texas and I was ready for some Yankee Baseball! I went to five straight games and my mom finally made it to The Stadium this season, before flying back to Arizona to stay in Chandler another week and a half.

My last week in Chandler was pretty much like the others, I worked, floated in the pool, and watched Yankee Games. The last weekend in July I did my last bit of Arizona site seeing. I had been to Sedona before but

it was so long ago, so I went again. I went horseback riding one morning but, unfortunately, the two days I was there it rained most of the time. I was able to get in a few pictures between the raindrops at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock.

Late that night I arrived in Kayenta, AZ – the closest town to Monument Valley. I actually had never heard of Monument Valley before I saw a tourist video of Arizona a few weeks before. It looked beautiful on the video, yet I knew nothing about it or the town I was staying in.

That’s the beauty of keeping my planning agile. I learned early on this journey that it doesn’t make sense to plan too far ahead. You never know what you might come across along the way. I have been good about following the Shonda Rhimes “year of yes” lead. In some cases, I find things like Meteor Crater, a dud. But then I stumble on a place like Kayenta and Monument Valley. When I arrived in Kayenta it was already dark so I didn’t get to see my surroundings. The next morning I had to leave early to get to the tour I booked. When I walked out of the hotel I stopped dead in my tracks … the beauty of the landscape was breathtaking. I had no idea what was in store for me at Monument Valley but when I got there I quickly learned, this is some of Gods best work. (Well done!)

The tour I booked was led by a Dineh man … the more popular name for the Dineh people is Navajo. He told us they prefer to be called by their correct name, Dineh. Monument Valley actually has five Dineh families that still live on the land. After seeing Monument Valley, I don’t know which one was more beautiful – Monument Valley or The Grand Canyon. It really was that spectacular. There were only three of us on the tour that morning. Me and a couple from Sicily on their honeymoon. So there I was, in one of the most beautiful places in the US, or the world for that matter, on a tour led by a Dineh man while I was speaking Italian to my new friends from Sicily! Only in America.

From there, I moved on to my last stop in Arizona … which was actually a stop in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Another place I’d never heard of that I added to my list on the fly. The Four Corners is the only place in the US where four states meet. I stood in four states at one time … pretty cool. There weren’t many people there when I arrived so I actually got back in line to try and get a better picture.

I loved Arizona, I’ll definitely go back – not just for the spa! Hopefully next time there will be no trips to Auto Zone or visits from Safelight!