The Left Coast: Part 5 Arizona

 It was the 58th hour of our road trip. My foot began to itch and then swell while taking this photo. That didn't stop me from running across the highway to get a sunny New Mexico picture because I was unpleased with the dark rainy one from the previous night. The retake was perfect!

The sunny retake

The Back 

When I returned to the car I said, “We have a problem Nik Nak my foot is burning. I hope this does not lead to a hospital visit.” After assessing the calamity with my foot I poured water on it and tries to focus on getting to Phoenix as well as how good dinner was going to be.

The highway art in Phoenix was beautiful. Nikky and I just loved the landscape. Texas was into decorating their highway but Pheonix had a wonderful color scheme and the plants were amazing. 

Nikky selected The Yard as our food stop. We thought it was one restaurant but it was three. A common area that looked like a yard hence the name “The Yard”connected them all. We chose to dine at the Mexican Restaurant, Burrio Urbano created by James Beard nominee Chef Silvana. 

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The Yard

Each restaurant had 2 entrances their was the option to dine in the restaurant, on the restaurants patio, or take your food to “The Yard” and relax there. We chose to dine on the patio. We could still feel the mist, which felt great as we people watched. People were having beers and playing ping-pong. They looked so happy. I was devastated that we had to leave shortly after dinner.

My perfect vegetarian plate.

We left Pheonix pumped and quickly fell into are we there yet mode. There is something about knowing the next state is the destination state. I made the minutes seem longer.

The Left Coast: Part 4 New Mexico

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Did you guess what I discovered? I was in Anthony, Texas when I saw the New Mexico sign in the pouring rain three minutes later I was in Anthony, New Mexico Exit 0. I am not sure why seeing exit 0 made me laugh. It inspired me to name the first blog entry to this series Part 0. I thought to myself another same city name set up!

When we arrived at White Sands it was 1:30 in the morning. The park was closed and dark, so I continued up the highway. There was a boarder patrol stop. Thee officer told us the next town was 13 miles away. We had one drop of gas and I was nervous. We barely made it to town filled up and waited patiently until 7 am to head back to White Sands National Monument. 

There were several signs at the monument warning drivers that there is no water beyond a certain point. The sand in the beginning had many plants and other things in it. As we got deeper into the dunes the hills became higher. The sand was so clean it looked like snow. 

The sand was very moist. The view was amazing. The air was thin and the sun was hot. I felt joy, excitement and peace. New Mexico was the land of enchantment.

Photos by: NikkRich

Photos by www.nikkrich.com

The Left Coast: Part 2 Arkansas

It was 1:14 am, before we could even read the names of a few schools and streets in Memphis we fell into Arkansas. I wish I could tell you that something amazing happened in Arkansas. Besides realizing the lack of creativity in the naming system of the United States. I saw signs for West Memphis in Arkansas.

• The same city name in both states right next to each other?!? 
• Combo state names

There was so much of that to be discovered for me. Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee right next to each other, Memphis, Tennessee and West Memphis, Arkansas. Texarkana! Why? I did not understand how the naming system came to be or better yet remained in place. I am sure the answer lies somewhere in a history book.

No food in Arkansas, no sight seeing, no pictures besides the state sign. We were really tired too tired for anything. 

The Left Coast: Part 1 Tennessee

We rolled out of VA and into Tennessee at about 1:00 in the afternoon.The temperature was rising but I could not let go of my hoodie. The AC from car still had my bones chilly.

From this sign it would take another 7 hours to get to Nashville. Tennessee was so green and beautiful. I listened to Biggie and Jay -Z as I zoomed up and down the hills. I found all my motivation from seeing miles to Nashville moving from triple digits to double digits.

In Virginia we had Subway as our first food stop and decided each food stop going forward needed to be more meaningful. We wanted to dine at places that recieved awards, nominations for awards, featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives or at minimal excessive positive recommendations and high ratings online.

The system went as follows, Nikky would start searching for places to eat about 30 minutes before we hit a big city. Reading the descriptions and comments a loud. A minor set back included that it was Sunday when we entered Nashville and some places were closed early or not open at all. We decided on place named Fido. I had a black bean burger with sweet potatoes. 

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After being pretty content with our meal selections at Fido’s on the way to the car we spotted Jenis an ice-cream shop. We both selected the Gooey Butter sundea. I have to tell you it was thick and rich. Far from a soft serve special. Nothing like anything in the freezer at the grocery store.

The best part is inside of the fortune cookie is a conversation starter. Mine read, “When was the last time you lied to anyone about anything?"

After Ice Cream and back on the road.

Photos by @NikkRich WEBSITE