Bar Trip Day 1

For most of this year, I've been looking forward to going on what I've begun calling the Great American Post-Bar Road Trip. The idea is to drive Icy Z (my 2003 Nissan 350Z) around the nation, starting with Santa Monica, going through to Florida, up to Boston, across to Seattle, and then back down to Southern California. The trip is estimated to take 3-4 weeks, depending on how many stops are made.

I am joined on this trip by my dad and first mate, who has been getting bored of his early retirement. We packed our gear, grabbed breakfast with mom, and then set off today. Although Icy Z is petite, she's got enough trunk to take a couple of sleeping bags and the luggage of two men.

We started off with Santa Monica, just so we can see the comparison between the Pacific and Atlantic ends of Interstate 10:

We swung by downtown Los Angeles to pick up some bottled water, and so that I could get my passport (you should discover why in about two weeks). Then, it was back onto Interstate 10:

We wound up in Phoenix, and managed to catch dinner with Dabu, an old college friend of mine, and his lovely wife. We had dinner at Arriba, a neat little Mexican place in Phoenix, and with my meal I had a nice "little" mango margarita. Then it was back to Dabu's place for a little socialization.

Dabu and Becca were very nice. Phoenix is probably just too hot for me, though. After bidding farewell to the delightful couple, we headed up Interstate 17, and found ourselves in Flagstaff. We were too tired to take pictures or videos, so the following video finishes only in Phoenix:

Flagstaff is a lot cooler than Phoenix, and at night, the Motel 6 we're crashing at smells of trees. Tomorrow we hope to hit the Grand Canyon. Sadly, the Skywalk is on the Western end, which is closer to Las Vegas than to Flagstaff. Therefore, Dad and I will be doing the more traditional thing at South Rim, before coming back to Flagstaff to meet my plane buddy (assuming she has time), and then heading on to ... well, stay tuned to find out!