Saguaro National Park sits just west of Tucson, and is a must see. The landscape is like a forest without foliage:
Category Archives: Travel
The Good Father
I’m not a religious person. At all. But there’s something about churches I love. The stillness, the sense of history and reverence – it settles me down in an instant, like nothing else. (Well, except Valium. Where did I put that bottle?)
Beauty and Pain in Arizona
I’m spending a couple days with my friend Anna, and even though we haven’t seen each other since high school it’s like we were never apart. When I got to her house in Green Valley after a long day’s drive, she had a delicious, healthy dinner and glass of wine waiting for me. It’s all I could do to not drop to one knee and […]
Tagged Arizona, Cemeteries, Mishaps, Nature
How to Stand Out in Five Easy Steps
We’ve established Texas had its challenges for me, one of which was finding a meal not involving a dead cow or deep fryer, and about halfway in I was desperately seeking tofu. (I realize “desperate” and “tofu” are two words that naturally go together for many of you, but I felt them in a different way.)
Tagged Mishaps, Restaurants, Texas
Looking for Happiness in Lubbock
One of my favorite bands is Thrift Store Cowboys from Lubbock. Listening to their songs I pictured a quaint Texas town with serious but sweet cowboys, rolling tumbleweeds, and sprawling farms. What I got was strip malls, aggressive drivers, and McMansions.
Tagged Bars, Museums, Places I don't want to go back to, Texas
Where to Stay and What to Do in the Texas Panhandle (and Oklahoma)
In the interest of providing useful information, which is rare with me I know, here are links to a few things I recommend. (Real reason: it’s a hodgepodge link-fest because I’m still comatose from the giant meal I made yesterday. And even though I’ve been trying to lose four pounds for, oh, the last six months, I made a feast that is basically the opposite […]
Tagged Museums, National Parks, Oklahoma, Roadside attractions, RV parks, Terror, Texas
Why I Love Small Towns
Though I now live in Taos, I’ve spent most of my life in big cities – San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, New York. I love them and their energy, the sense that you can make anything happen. But these days, I seem to only care about exploring small towns.
Tagged Dying towns, Oklahoma, Roadside attractions, Route 66, Texas
Love and Sweetness in Vega, Texas
When I had lunch in Adrian, TX, the waitress told me to go to Vega, a slightly bigger town east on Route 66, and visit Dot’s Mini Museum (105 N. 12th St.). She had me at Dot, then you throw in mini and the cuteness is too much to ignore. So I went.
King of the Road and Rednecks
Erick, OK is in the Oklahoma panhandle, just across the border from the Texas. I bet Oklahoma’s petite panhandle feels inferior to Texas’s giant one, and Oklahoma is like, Hey ya’ll! We’ve got a panhandle, too! And it even looks like an actual panhandle, not like Texas’s where you have to turn your head sideways to see it! And then Oklahoma sighs a weary sigh […]
Tagged Oklahoma, Roadside attractions