Across the Southern U.S. – Day 1

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Caroline Wise, Jutta Engelhardt, and John Wise in Phoenix, Arizona

This will be the most ambitious trip we’ve attempted to make with Jutta. Back on our year 2000 cross-country journey that we embarked on following Jutta’s last visit, where we took her to Yellowstone, among other places, Caroline and I headed out for nearly a month as we drove to Maine and down to Louisiana before heading home. We wanted to share with her that spectacle of seeing the breadth of America while not duplicating the same path we took previously, so this one will focus on the southern United States.

Prior to our departure today, yesterday, the jet lag bogged my mother-in-law down with some long naps. In between, we packed and repacked her bag for what she’d need for the 12 days we were scheduled to be out. Hopefully well rested today; she and I locked our place at 3:00 and went to pick up her daughter.

Pikacho Peak in Arizona

Heavy traffic out of Phoenix doesn’t see us making great time. It’s after 5:00 p.m. by the time we reach Picacho Peak and 6:30 when we pull into Benson, Arizona, for our first pit stop. I have to admit I don’t know how these two women have such great bladder control. At 7:45, we are crossing into New Mexico and are now traveling with the plan that as we get to the point where we’re too tired to go on, we’ll grab a motel. On this first day, our goal was to get as far away from Phoenix as possible, and we did great pulling into the Fabens Inn in Fabens, Texas, just before midnight. We are 462 miles down the road.

A Short Road Trip

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Caroline Wise, Jutta Engelhardt, and John Wise in Phoenix, Arizona

With jet lag in full effect, Jutta puts on her best face and says, “Let’s go.” I presented her with the option of taking the day off so she could rest, but she insisted on going with me to drop her daughter at work; Caroline’s vacation doesn’t start until late afternoon on Thursday.

Ocotillo bloom in Arizona desert

From Scottsdale Jutta and I are going to take a drive southeast to chase some of the spring blooms that Caroline and I were out looking at a couple of weeks before. This incredible specimen is the blossom from the ocotillo plant.

Jutta Engelhardt next to the Gila River in Winkelman, Arizona

We make it as far south as Winkelman, where we stop to check out the high water of the Gila River. While not flood stage, this is high for what feels more like a creek than a river.

Horse in Winkelman, Arizona

This horse was just wandering around; Jutta found it interesting because you won’t be finding random horses just anywhere in Germany. Our road back north through the Mescal mountains is to the east of the one that brought us through Kearny to the riverside. Along the way, Jutta and I talk, and she practices her English, which she insists is horrible, but it is not.

Jutta Engelhardt and John Wise in Globe, Arizona

Seeing Caroline couldn’t join us, I did the next best thing and drew her likeness so she could be with us in spirit. I would have loved for Jutta to join me with Caroline’s and my favorite spicy guacamole, but anything much spicier than ketchup for my mother-in-law will create such drama that you won’t be asking her to try a second time. We are at Ed’s La Casita East in Globe. We used to visit La Casita West in Superior, but it has since closed down.

Along highway 60 in Arizona

Looking back into the Superstition Mountains I stop where I can for Jutta to gather impressions of the wild desert landscape that she’s oft to tell me how beautiful it is and how amazed she is to be back in Arizona. Back in Phoenix, we stop at Indo Euro for Jutta to meet Sonal who Caroline has been telling her about during her weekly multi-hour phone calls. From there we go pick up Caroline and head home so these two can start going through the loot Jutta brought with her from Germany. Don’t go thinking jewelry or anything like that; imagine candy and knickknacks.

Jutta Arrives in Arizona

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Caroline Wise, Jutta Engelhardt, and John Wise in Phoenix, Arizona

My mother-in-law’s smiling face and her excitement seeing her daughter make these stays with us worth everything “the son-in-law” has to endure. This is her fourth trip to the United States, and she’ll be here only 25 days compared to her previous trip in the year 2000 of 29 days, but still much longer than her first visit back in 1996 when she was here for a mere 14 days. We have big plans for Jutta, with our most adventurous road trip yet mapped out. We leave in a couple of days.

New Living Space

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John Wise and Caroline Wise's loft apartment in Phoenix, Arizona

There’s an intimacy here with our belongings that weren’t being had in the condo. Most of what we owned was in places we weren’t living in and, hence, didn’t really see. What I mean is that we spent the majority of our time in our office in front of our computers or our bedroom sleeping when we were at home and so we’d walk right by our stuff.

John Wise and Caroline Wise's loft apartment in Phoenix, Arizona

Here in the loft, we can see almost everything we own from wherever we are. The first photo shows the bookshelf in the background that bisects the room, so our bed, seen above, is in a separate space to a degree. Our bed is a queen-sized futon and suits us fine as we abhor king beds due to the vast distance between us.

John Wise and Caroline Wise's loft apartment in Phoenix, Arizona

Little things like coming home and immediately seeing the pots we bought at the Ute Mountain Pottery shop outside of Cortez, Colorado, make us smile. As for the frog in the background, that plushy had to be put up high in a place where our cat Andy couldn’t jump as he had a thing for it that, while funny at first, got old fast.

John Wise and Caroline Wise's loft apartment in Phoenix, Arizona

While some may find it tragic, this is the hub of where our lives at home revolve. We are addicted to computers, not just the internet but the multitude of things we can do with them around art, coding, organization, and learning. I sit on the right and Caroline on my left. In front of me is our bedroom, seen two photos above, and in front of Caroline, our living room while on her left is our dining room. In a few hours, Jutta will arrive from Frankfurt, Germany, to spend about a month with us. We are about to learn just how livable our space is.

Driving South

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Caroline Wise and John Wise driving south out of Phoenix, Arizona

Well, I turned 40 yesterday and so far, no existential crisis is appearing on the horizon. On the contrary, things are terrific, and life is amazing. When I was a kid in the 70s, I used to hear people talk about “mid-life crisis” like it was a form of menopause or cancer. Turns out that maybe being suspicious of the stupidity of adults to glom on to every idiotic, fearmongering bit of nonsense that could justify their anxiety was insightful. Guess I’ll have to see how the next decade rolls out.

South of Phoenix, Arizona

This reminds me of the thistle we saw at the ocean last year. Click here to visit that trip.

South of Phoenix, Arizona

Can you tell from the lush green colors that we’ve had some spring rains? Trust me, this is lush for the Arizona desert.

South of Phoenix, Arizona

We are heading in the general direction of Tucson, following the road for as long as the wildflowers pull us forward.

South of Phoenix, Arizona

What’s not to love about these explosions of color? Makes me wonder about how one cultivates that sense of reemergence and new growth as the seasons unfold. Every month should be springtime in our heads, and every day another Saturday.