Gemini Rising

Road Trip to Arizona - Part 1

I usually try to keep my blog entries between 300 to 500 words since I recently got back into blogging here on WDC so my Arizona road trip will probably be about 2 or 3 blogs.



Part 1 - The Drive

Where to start? It was a sunny day in SoCal… haha! Okay, so I’m not Snoopy. We started early though – left around 8:30. Gas was about 4.65 when we gassed up at the Shell here in Castaic. Friday morning traffic could have been worse. Me and boys power napped while hubby drove and we made it to Beaumont before the hubby stopped for lunch. Boy #2 ate McDonalds and the rest of us had Farmer Boys. Being on Weight Watchers, I tried to be mindful of portions, etc and I just ate the hamburger and nibbled on the chili cheese fries. Sigh… Hubby had to have them.

We passed Coachella and it was Weekend #1 but thankfully, we avoided the traffic. Saw the big blimp overhead. Between Beaumont and Indo there is a rash of wind and solar farms. At least half the windmills weren’t turning. I suppose it’s a pro and con – those things are ugly as all get out and they really take away from the aesthetic beauty of the desert. Ah, but they produce clean energy. Which is another side post for me, as California has the most ridiculous energy laws and the price for energy is outrageous here in California. Enough about that for now. My initial impressions about the wind and solar farms was that it took away from the aesthetic beauty of the desert.

As soon as we hit Arizona gas went from $4.65 to $3.03 for a gallon. The difference? Taxes. Anywoo.. we continued on our journey and made it to Goodyear. Once we got settled in, I met up with my friend and we went to the local BBQ place called Rudy’s.

What ambience! Definitely cowboy and western. They sell the meat by the pound. I had the prime rib, Andy had turkey, Brent had brisket, Joey had prime rib. I tried the coleslaw. Andy had a 3 bean chili which was good. It was nice catching up with my friend who is enjoying retirement. She likes Arizona but said it gets really hot and people just learn to stay indoors. Makes sense. I liked the vibe almost immediately. Laid back in some ways. Easy going.

Next: The Maricopa County Fair!