U.S. Road Trip Day 16: Destination Arizona & New Mexico

We left “Lily’s” condo at 6 AM today instead of the planned 3 AM. I went to sleep around midnight last night and didn’t want to get up at 3. So the fiancé left me to sleep another 2 hours before he got restless and pulled me off the bed. According to Google Maps, it should take us 5 hours to get to Arizona and another 5 to get to the border of Texas.

 
 


 We arrived in Phoenix in 4 hours. The temperature was about 80 degrees. We thought we would be able to grab an early lunch, but realized that the whole town was still asleep. I wanted to stop into Alice Coopertown for lunch but it was too early. Sorry, but downtown Arizona is not that good looking. There was no charm, no history and no place to stop into especially at 10 AM. We decided to move onto Tuscan which was less than 1 hour away.  I was in the mood for Mexican food so we stopped into Guadalahara Original Grill.

I ordered a lunch portion of chimi (aka chimichanga) and the fiancé ordered shredded beef quesidillas. The décor of the restaurant is reminiscent of the ones in the tourist spots in Mexico. I thought it was cute. Before our orders were taken an employee came by with a cart of salsa ingredients and made our complimentary dips for us. I wanted mild and the fiance wanted extra spicy. The employee smiled and laughed at the fiance's request and did as he asked. And to make him happier, she put his salsa in a large bowl and mine in a regular bowl.

Sign on McDonalds says its 105 degrees at 3 PM

We hit the road again as the temperature started to rise. One thing about road trips and me  – if I haven’t told you yet – if I am not driving, I fall asleep. One more thing to take note of, I grew up with 3 snoring males. Dad and my two brothers all snore very, VERY loud. So now, when I sleep near someone who snores, it will instantly put me to sleep. Snoring lullyby is what I hear. So imagine what happens when I take the wheel while my snoring fiancé naps. I got sleepy after 1 hour of driving. I felt bad, that the fiancé had to wake up to take over, but I couldn’t keep my eyes opened. Good thing because 30 minutes into the drive we hit several dust storms. Have you watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal? If yes, do you remember the sand storm scene? What we drove through was exactly like that. You could barely see beyond 5 feet of you and my tires had no traction on the sand covered asphalt. I was scared and terrified. The storm continued into New Mexico and ended right before Texas.