A long holiday weekend means that Caroline and I will be taking another long drive. This Thanksgiving was just that, as we aimed our compass and pointed the car towards the Pacific Northwest. Our ice chest can be seen over my shoulder, so the essentials are traveling with us to minimize our need to lose precious driving time as we need to cover nearly 1,600 miles (roughly 2,600 km) each way for our seven-day adventure.

This may be the most glorious sunset we’ve ever experienced on a trip out of Arizona, a kind of southwest-themed rainbow portending great adventures ahead.

The art deco architecture of Hoover Dam out in the middle of the desert between Phoenix and Las Vegas is in stark contrast to its environment. It’s an iconic image that is seared into my memory due to driving over it back in 1969 with my great aunt and uncle Annie and Woody. We were nearing the completion of my first cross-country road trip from Buffalo, New York, to Los Angeles, California.

No time for Las Vegas tonight; we have an encounter scheduled out in the desert north of the city. One of us, or maybe both, are getting anal probes.