Here’s To New Adventures

When the clock strikes midnight tonight, its chime will signal the end of my first full day in Scottsdale, AZ. For those of you who don’t know, the headquarters of the company I work for moved to Scottsdale recently – as did my job. I was excited, in a sense, to get out of Coeur d’Alene. While I love my friends, the townies, and the area, I felt as if there wasn’t much else for me there other than work. If it was a place that I had lived in ever since I was little, I could understand that the decision I made would have been a different. But, truth be told, I’ve lived in 7 different states so moving is not something that is terribly new to me. States have a 2 year shelf life before I have to move on. At least that seems to be how it is.

I had this grandiose plan when I left that I was going to compose two or three posts around the actual act of moving. But the moment I started up the truck and hit the highway, my ancestral trucker instincts* kicked in. I was Hell-bent for leather the entire trip down here. If I could have, I probably would have tried to drive all the way through to Scottsdale without stopping to rest. It’s one of those young and invincible sort of contests that I felt I needed to have with myself. But, due to weather and traffic conditions, I decided to stop in Provo, UT.

I’m not sure if there’s a city in the United States that has received a bigger “initial disapproval” from me. It could have been the fact that the hotel was 4 miles off the highway. Perhaps it was the gigantic Ty Detmer poster staring down at me in my room. Or it could have been the hotel clerk that didn’t understand the concept of a “Wake-Up Call”. The hotel room sucked – that was for sure. It was as if the Utah Correction Facilities master architect had designed a Super 8. Friday night was a blur of energy drink withdrawal and The History Channel’s “Gang Land”. By 5 AM, I was back on I-15 south.

For those of you that haven’t been to Provo, UT, it looks extraordinarily different in the daytime than it does at night. I don’t know that much about Provo or its surroundings, but it does look like a place that is worth exploring.

The drive down through central Utah was a little boring – very hilly in spots and surprisingly covered in snow. I say surprisingly, but there are probably those of you reading this who are thinking, “Uh…it snows there, idiot.” For me, when I know that my end result is the desert, I seem to make the rationalization that everything between my departure and arrival should gradually turn into desert.

Southern Utah is a lot prettier than I imagined it to be. I fell in love when I saw the coral pink rock faces running parallel to the highway. I could only imagine what it must be like to stand on top of those ridges and have the ability to literally see as far as the eye can see. I am utterly fascinated with the way that the solitary nature of the desert can make one feel so secure.

Now if that isn’t a place that invites aimless meandering, I don’t know what does. Flagstaff, AZ reminds me a lot of a mini-Coeur d’Alene. Or at least the Arizona equivalent. The drive down I-17 into Phoenix was fairly quick – only one wreck to slow traffic. I’m not looking forward to making that drive again in a month with a 24-foot moving truck. Ugh. Let’s not get into all that.

Phoenix itself was a bit of a culture shock. Being in North Idaho for the last couple years has really made me sensitive to traffic. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been in a true traffic jam. When I hit the AZ-101 Eastbound, traffic was stopped nearly bumper to bumper. For no real apparent reason. There was no wreck anywhere. And then, as if the flagman dropped the Green, all of the traffic floored it to 75 MPH. I’m definitely going to have to get used to the traffic again.

All I can say is thank God Raquel bought me that satellite radio before I left. The comedy station kept me entertained the whole way and I had the ability to listen to all of the basketball games. It was a long, long trek (nearly 1,400 miles). I made it fairly quickly because I only stopped to use the restroom and gas up. I should have taken a picture of the floor of my truck – it was littered with Amp and Red Bull cans.

So, as I said, I’m now an Arizonian. This is another state that will go on the list of “States I Never Thought I Would Live In”. So far that list is:

1.) Missouri

2.) Idaho

3.) Arizona

Stay tuned for more to come. Being away from Raquel makes me extremely lonely, so I’m sure I will spend a lot of time creating material for the website. Which, as you can see, has changed appearances again. I like the old format that I had, but it was a little too busy – didn’t focus enough on the content.

With that, I’m going to eat some dinner and watch the Amazing Race. Have a good night!

*I do not have any trucker ancestors.