Automobiles, Planes and Trains

No offense to John Candy & Steve Martin, we are back on the road, enjoying some gypsy life. Tucson is incredibly beautiful in summer, as blooms are everywhere and the colors are spectacular. But with summers in Arizona, so comes the heat and as a bonus, monsoon season. 110 + degree heat isn't my idea, or Julie's of comfortable. And the monsoons that simply are pop up weather events are down right scary.

So decisions were made that we would bug out for about 6 or 7 weeks and get back on the road. The itinerary had us driving from Tucson to West Seattle. There, we'd stay for a few days visiting with my daughter, son-in-law and their 8 month old daughter; our granddughter. The roadtrip would take about four days. The total mileage was about 1,700 from start to finish.

But before that, we spent the fourth of July atop Mt. Lemon, which was really relaxing. People go there to escape the summer heat, as temps are anywhere between 15 ~ 20 degress cooler than the desert floor. We were at 9,100 feet +/- and the difference was immediately noticeable. Very comfortable during the day and nights/mornings were cool and refreshing.

Mt. Lemon is an unincorporated town that swells in the summer, but offers year round recreation... hiking, snow skiing, four wheeling or just plain laid back relaxation while the world's hub-bub keeps making obnoxious noise.

What brought us there is the guitar player pictured above. Frank Filipo married my cousin Joanne years ago. I'v'e known him since I was a teenager and he'd been playing guitar before I met him. To say he's good is an understatement. His ability to flow seamlessly between folk, rock, country or Jazz is pretty cool. He doesn't have his own band, but is actually sought after to appear in a lot of different groups. The occaison was to play on the fourth with Kevin Pakulis, who is a singer - songwriter who pens tunes about life in the southwest.

Pictured on the left is Carl, who is a terrific bass player. He used a stand up bass, which is not his usual, but anyone who's seen him perform before knew his talents were flawless. The acoustic set was supposed to be a couple of hours long, but they were so lost in what they were doing, no one seemed to keep track of time. They were setup outside on a deck overloooking the main drag. Songs ranged from upbeat to soulful ballads. It was pretty perfect, as Julie and I got lost in it and were just happy. Pretty simple.

So the first leg of our road trip officially began on Mt. Lemon.

Upon getting there, Frank and Joanne took us on a hike, that went to the edge of the mountain where you can see forever - one way looked down upon Tucson, another view looked out over the Biosphere, and yet another looked towards, I bellieve, Nevada. It was a short hike, about a mile and a half, but being up about 9,000 feet, we felt the need for O2. Still, it was well worth the time. We ate lunch at the Iron gate, which was good. Views from the parking lot showed us a "pocket fire" that had devastated a lot of the trees. Fire warnings on the way up, telling you conditions were severe, and reminders every few miles drive home the point - don't be careless with anything that can ignite a fire.

Dinner was good, as we ate at another venue with Frank, Joanne and 200 billion flying bugs. Little teeny, tiny nits that changed the color of my wine from deep burgundy to black coal. Our waiter was kind enough to spill out my wine and resupply me with a tall plastic cup, complete with lid and straw. It was not exactly refined, but highy effective. I never mentioned it to my palate, which didn't seem to mind.

On the morning of the 4th, we watched a fourth of July parade. Small town community members representing the surrounding area and the nations 250 years, celebrating the occaision. It was wonderful... boys and girls sports teams, volunteer mountain rescue teams, veterans, sheriff departments, fire and rescue teams, people decked out in red, white and blue costumes and so much more. For them and for us it was a big deal, reminiscent of what it was like when we were little kids. Everyone turned out, the streets were lined, and a lot of the Lodge employees were in the parade. The view from the deck was perfect. So much fun.

Then we spent the afternoon lazily listening to the acoustic music with cold beers.

Later, we said goodbye to Frank, Joanne, Kevin, Carl and Carl's wife, Judy. It was one of those rare days where everything was in sync - we didn't want it to end.

The next day, we drove down the mountain and prepared to launch our drive towards the first stop on the way to Seattle.

Hoover dam is one of the countries coolest engineering feats. It took us about 7 hours to get there, but Julie and I switched driving responsibilities often, stopping for lunch or a good stretch. After getting into the room, we took the front desk manager's advice to visit the dam.

The Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge spans over the Colorado River, where Arizona and Nevada meet. You can actually walk on this span, where you can see an unobstructed view of the dam. This is one of the entrances to get to the dam, so we drive down to a parking lot, where there are stairs and rampways for wheel chairs to get up on the walkway. It was 110 degrees and brilliant sunshine. The hand rails going up were too hot to hold on to. But once there, the walkway is narrow, where on one side is a thick concete barrier, perhaps 2 feet thick that protects walkers from the vehicles that are screaming by at 70MPH. That is eye opening as you'd never put yourself in a situation where you were a few feet from a tractor trailer truck going 70 MPH. The other side is piped railing a little more than waist high.

So we venture out onto the walkway and I'm going slowly, as my irrational fear of heights starts occupying too much space in my head. But I'm up for it. But Julie casually saunters along looking for the perfect spot to capture photos of the dam. We agree on a spot, thinking there is enough of a view to get a good photo.

And then this mammoth truck goes whizzing by, making all kinds of racket, but the effect is the bridge swaying back and forth as well as up and down. I reach for the railing thinking it will steady me, but by then, I'd had enough of the walkway and turned around and headed for solid land. I'm not sure, but I think Julie got off the bridge before I did. Editors note: Anyone wanting to see a view of the dam from the bridge can Google it any time they wish.

From the walkway, you can drive down to the dam, where there are gift shops, restrooms and a drive across the top of the dam. There is a walkway that looks down at the dam wall. We know this because we devised a plan where I stopped to let Julie out, then I'd drive, find a place to turn around and pick her up on the way back. I was suffering from BWWS (bridge walkway sway), and surely didn't need a relapse. The plan worked, Julie got the photos and I got the hell out of there. All in all it was spectacular and we're glad to experience it.

That night we ate dinner at Your Mom's italian Kitchen & Bar, right next to the Best Western Hotel in Boulder City, NV. It's not a large place, The food was really excellent, the drinks tasty, service was good and the atmosphere was eclectic. The patrons were a mix of travelers like us & locals. Great spot that offers outside dining (too hot), but a bar and dining tables where conversations and food mix with a lot of laughter. If you go this way and enjoy good Italian food, don't miss this cool spot.

That's all for now... we'll catch up soon.