Driving PHX -> KC
05-24-2002
Click a picture for a larger view.

Another summer, another trip from Phoenix to Kansas City! I love the drive, 17.5 hours of nobody bugging you to do anything, just me, the car, the road, and the gas stations, thankfully with fully functional bathrooms :).

				Al's new house. This was my departure point.
				Beautiful Mesa AZ, where the roads are wide and, well, the roads are wide, which is important for driving.
				Four Peaks. These are some of the mountains you have to drive by to get out of the Valley of the Sun (aka Phoenix).
				Drove all the way thru Payson and realized I didn't get a picture! thats ok, a long arm helped obtain this shot of the way in to Payson from the east. And no, I didn't stop to take it (:.
				Who says AZ is a desert? Well, Ok, most of it is, but that doesn't mean there aren't beautiful pine trees and mountains.
				Beautiful highway 260, still within an hour of Payson.
				Arg, the scenary is beatufiul, but the traffic isn't always so when you get on these 2-lanes. Oh well, still faster and prettier than going on the Interstates.
				And eventually it opens up! Vegetation getting a little more sparse as you keep getting farther north here. This is on highway 377 or 277, can't remember which.
				Still on 277/377. Even less vegetation, but no traffic, woohoo!
				A small dustdevil off to the left or the road. Almost to I-40, just a bit more to go.
				Here's the big rock along I-40 as you head into/out of AZ from New Mexico. One state down, 4 to go.
				You know you're in New Mexico when...a) Its hot. b) you don't really want to play this game do you? Ok, fine, the answer was z) when the mountains change to mesa's, as seen here.
				Well, there are a few mountain like shapes left in NM, here's Alberquerqy. I don't know how to spell that town, let me try again. Albuquerque.
				Highway 54, my favorite highway. This is still NM believe it or not.
				Well, the sun's going down, guess this'll be about it for the photos.
				But wait! Lights! I can take another picture, of the National Beef plant, woohoo! Yep, ya know you're in Kansas now.
				And you thought you were done, nope, ya gotta get some green in the pictures to balance out the brown. Here's my place of residence over the summer. Lots of green here
				And more green! It's everywhere! This is what it looks like when you get 3-4 inches of rain a week, instead of 3-4 per 6-12 months! Perfect grass for laying in and talking on the phone...err, as long as the phone doesn't cut out on you.
				Ok, last shot, trees, grass, and yea, not all trees are green. So if any of yall want to come visit and see it this green, ya better come in the next month! July starts to get a bit dry around here, at least too dry to keep the grass this bright.