It was interesting to watch the changes to
the landscape transform as I drove along.
I was leaving a desert region of AZ and as I headed east towards NM, the
textures of the mountains, the lay of the land, the ecosystem, they all
reflected the change in climate for their region. We often think of a certain state being a
certain way with a certain climate and a certain landscape, but there are no
state lines in nature, no ecological labels, the structures of existence just
transform gracefully paying no mind to their placement on our mental map.
As I crossed into New Mexico I stopped at
the Visitor’s Center, both to use the rest room and to get a few photos of the
landscape. I met a fellow from CA in the
rest room, we just started talking and before long he was suggesting some
scenic highways in northern CA, Oregon, and Washington. I told him I wanted to make that trip when
the weather was hot in the south, I would travel up north to keep cool. He and his wife were just taking a little
vacation to take in the sites.
I snapped a few photos and got back on the
road. You can tell a lot about the area
you are in by just turning on the radio to see what stations are available,
what genres of music predominate, and to listen to the tone of the DJ’s
commentaries. However I remember one
place, I believe it was in southern Utah or northern Arizona where I turned on
the radio and hit seek, only to have it cycle through the entire bandwidth three
times without finding a single radio station.
I’ve never done that before.
I wasn’t planning on making the full trip
to the state park in one day. I could
have made it if I pushed but why push…
So I saw the Saguaro National Forest sign
and decided to give it a try. It was
about 20 miles off the interstate, but seeing a large quantity of the saguaro
cacti might be a good photo opportunity.
So I headed for the park and when I got there I talked to them at the
visitor’s center and they told me they didn’t allow any camping. Guess I should have looked it up before I
made the trip. But it was beautiful none
the less.
There were Prickly Pear cactus lining the
roadways and they were thick with their beautiful purplish-red fruits. I really wanted to pick some to eat later,
never had them but they say they are delicious, but the highway didn’t really
allow room to get off the road so I made my way back to the interstate and
headed east. I wasn’t too far down the
road when I realized I really was tired and wanted to crash for the night. My camping apps showed nothing in the region
for miles so I ended up staying at a Loves truck stop in Benson AZ.
Staying at a truck stop seems like a
horrible place, but it’s really not bad at all, in fact most of the time I
enjoy my stays there. They are a handy
place to stop for the night while traveling from one point to another and they are open 24 hours, have bathrooms, showers ($12.00 - never tried them but I’m
sure they are a blessing for the truckers), eateries, and convenience style
grocery with every impulse buying item you can imagine, and the people are
usually very friendly and will help you any way they can.
I usually try to park off to the side of
the parking area to save room for the tractor trailers. As it worked out I happened to be parked
right next door to a Motel 6. So I
booted up my computer to see if I could get internet access. When I selected the Motel 6 WiFi, a login
screen popped up requiring a username and password. So for shits and giggles, I just typed in
‘guest’ and ’guest’ and boom, I had internet.
I wasn’t able to upload any pictures or
videos because the upload connection was extremely slow, but I was able to
catch up on some the YouTube video channels I subscribe to and check a few
other things online. I also want to
mention that if you are on the road and you access a public WiFi, you should
always use a VPN enabled browser like Epic.
That is your best protection against your date being hacked.
I ended up jumping off the Internet, pulled
up a saved movie on my computer, stretched out on the bed and relaxed for the
night.
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