The Black Canyon Highway

To say we slept badly in our car parked outside the Wickenburg Inn would be an understatement. Apparently deserts get really cold at night, who knew? (ok, we may have had some idea). We slept in our leather jackets and were glad that we had nicked the Qantas pillows and blankets from our flight to LA.

When the sun came up we saw all the cacti and realised our parking spot was straight out of an old Western.

---road trip pics after the jump---

Life Lesson #8 - No Room at the Inn

Today I learned that you should follow baseball if you want to get a room in Arizona.

It was late, and I had been driving for six hours. Keeping me going for the last 150 miles had been the promise of a hot shower and a warm bed in Wickenburg, Arizona.

I had made a conscious decision not to book accommodation in advance, because I wasn't certain we would make it the whole way there in one leg. Travel advisors said we'd have no trouble finding a room even though it was Spring Break.

Apparently those travel advisors aren't aware that most of the major league baseball teams are based in Phoenix, Arizona right now. Die hard baseball fans book out all the beds within 3 hours of Phoenix on game nights. Wickenburg is an hour outside Phoenix, and no prizes for guessing whether it was a game night or not.

We were informed of all this by the receptionist at the Wickenburg Inn - the third inn we had failed to get a room at. "If you don't feel like drivin' another two hours, I suggest you consider sleeping in your car. There's a grassy patch behind the hotel where you can park up if you like". What, no stable? "Oh, and did you hear we just bombed Libya?"

Welcome to Arizona.

AA

Our rejection from every inn in town was somewhat less divine.

On the Road

We left San Diego just after 4:00 (about three hours later than planned). The Californian mountains looked like enormous piles of boulders as we drove east for six hours, most of the way parallel with the Mexican border.



To pass the time as we drive, Paul is reading aloud the classic American road trip novel, On the Road by Jack Kerouac. There are a few versions of the book. We're reading the original unedited version which is 300 pages of a single paragraph, but the way it flows is rhythmic and perfect for reading on the road.

---photos after the jump---