Touring the Southwest

After spending three weeks in the office, I decided that it was once again time for a business trip – this time, a tour of the Southwest United States that would take me from Houston all the way over to Phoenix. I was excited about this trip because it would help me tie up some loose ends for work stuff (related to sourcing suppliers for our Mexico facility) but also (and arguably of more value) was the opportunity to catch up with some long lost friends.

My flight left out of Philadelphia on Thursday, March 29th and amazingly, the flight was on time and everything went smooth which I think is a first for the Philadelphia airport. I arrived in Houston in the early afternoon and tried out my new status as an Avis preferred customer. This system is pretty neat because it lets you go right to your rental car, keys waiting in the door, without waiting in the horrendous lines that seem to linger around the car rental desk whenever I need to rent. Because this was my first time using this program, I had to go to a special desk and check-in defeating the purpose of the program altogether but I'm told that I won't have to do that anymore.

I walked up to the parking space that I believed was mine to the ever-glorious Chevy Malibu but was dismayed to see that there were no keys in the door. My fleeting moment of frustration was replaced by an immense amount of hope when I realized that I had the wrong parking spot. You see, I'm doomed to always getting the crappiest of the American cars whenever I have to rent to the point where I resign myself to failure. But not today – no – today victory is mine because my car was actually parked in the spot next to the Malibu. The bad car gods were thwarted as I peeled out of the Avis parking lot in my Ford Mustang. What made it even better was that I had the car for the entire weekend.

As I drive down the freeway towards Houston, I rolled the windows down to fully relish the fact that I was driving a Mustang on a warm day in the state of Texas. I quickly reversed that decision when I realized that I was in Houston, the land of Humidity and Pollution. My overall thought on Houston – one of the worst cities I've been to in the United States; and this is coming from someone who lives 15 miles from the New Jersey border. At the risk of offending someone, it may not be the worst, but it's certainly a contender. No one can really ever say they've driven through Houston for two main reasons: 1) People in Houston can't drive – they're terrible (granted, not as bad as Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, or Italians). My friend stated that there are two speeds in Houston, 80mph and 20mph and the speed doesn't necessarily dictate the lane of travel. 2) The word driving implies going faster than the speed in which you can walk from one point to another. The traffic in Houston imposes an unofficial speed limit of 10 mph no matter what time of day.

I really don't know where all the people come from, where they are going, or why they are even living in that city but to each his own. This has not been my first trip to Texas so the whole Texas mentality was no longer a shock to me. However, there were some other subtleties that I picked up in addition to being exposed to hardcore Texas outside of [Weird] Austin. The main thing that interested me was the existence of "frontage roads". They seem very popular all over Texas. Frontage roads are those that run parallel (read: along the side of) major interstates; they are one way and you have to do a u-turn to go the other direction. While this isn't an amazing discovery by any means, it was an annoying one because the frontage roads go on forever and ever and it gets confusing when you are trying to navigate on and off of exits to the interstate. That, combined with the amazing amount of construction and the traffic made driving in and around Houston less than desirable. One of the more repulsive parts about Houston (and I guess Texas) is this restaurant chain called Luby's. Yes, Luby's. Why, on God's green earth would you name a restaurant Luby's?? Why not just call it The K-Y Kafeteria or some other ridiculous name. Luby's….unreal.

All that being said, I finally made it to my hotel and checked in a bit early before heading across the street for my token Chicken Caesar Wrap at a Red Robin's across the street. After partaking, I stopped at the Ikea that happened to be on the way back to the hotel to see if the Swedes have had any major new discoveries in the field of compact furniture (sadly, they did not). The rest of the afternoon was spent working on one of the massively major papers I have due in the next couple of weeks for my classes.

All that led up to dinner with my friend Paul, the Rocket Scientist. If I'm being honest, he isn't a rocket scientist but he does work at NASA which makes him pretty close (at least closer than I). We met up with some of his friends from his Church that evening for dinner (after catching up over some beers) at some seafood restaurant whose name escapes me at the moment.

After dinner, the crew went and shot some pool which was fun. Paul and I were cleaning up which made him confident in challenging the girls to a final fight to the death. The cleaning up continued until we had one ball left to sink before the 8 ball. The balls were semi-close to one another but the 8 ball was totally avoidable causing me to joke with Paul about making sure he doesn't touch that infamous black ball. Needless to say, against all odds and even some laws of physics, Paul sunk the 8 ball causing us to lose. The girls wouldn't allow us to take a mulligan and relished in their unearned victory. The positive aspect of the story is that I got to leave probably never to see these people again but more importantly, Paul will get to hear about it for some time.

The next day, I went to visit a potential supplier for thermoforming in Houston. After being led astray by MapQuest, I found my destination and met with the VP of Sales. Walking into his office was like going into Cabela's with all of the taxidermy. The guy was actually pretty cool and laid back and talked a lot about [shocker] hunting. The whole facility was somewhat amusing because it reminded me of Texas. There were red tape marks on the floor at various intervals which naturally represented the distances for archery which is set up after the work day ends. In their spare time, the tooling guys work on a 1950's Jeep which will be used for [shocker] hunting when it's complete. All in all, it was a good visit (and a good lunch that followed).

After working, I met up with Paul again and it was off to Austin to spend the weekend with my friends Dan Line and Dave "Sunshine" Hall (my Egypt traveling partner). The weekend was a blast and Austin once again grew on me as a place I could really see myself living. Upon arrival, we went to dinner followed by seeing the movie "300" which was fairly interesting. Their casting for the Spartan men seemed to typify the ideal man – strong, brave, virtuous, etc. I think they made every man in the audience re-examine their own manhood and I often found myself at various points throughout the movie making mental comparisons to how I fell short of the definition of manhood that these Spartans portrayed. In the end, I was just really bummed that I turned down the role of a Spartan soldier – my agent needs to hold me more accountable. The night was capped off with some beer and cigars by the pool and all was well with the world.

The next day was an adventure outside of Austin into the heart of Texas to a place called Enchanted Rock. This is a Texas state park that consists of three very large builder formations that stick very high out of the ground. As we pulled into the park, we noticed that there was an entrance fee of $6 per person, that's right kids – per person, not the more familiar per car – which led to mild outrage. An idea was quickly hatched to hide one of us in the trunk of the car while we waited in line at the entrance. Wasting little time, Dave threw down the back seats and climbed through an very small opening before completely retreating into the trunk. Soon to follow (unbeknownst to Dave) was a plan to get him caught by the park ranger. We pulled up to the window and the guard told us it would be $18 because there were three of us in the car. Dan, being the honest person that he is, gave the guard $24 and whispered to him:

Guard: No, it's only $18, not $24.

Dan: Pssst….Come here

Guard: What's the matter?

Dan: [In a low voice] Well, we have our friend in the trunk and it would be really funny if he got caught sneaking in.

Guard: Ok…Sir, I got a report that you were hiding someone in your trunk.

Dan: No sir, that's not true.

Guard: I'm going to have to ask you to open your trunk son.

Dan: That's not necessary.

Guard: [Banging on the trunk] I think it is.

Dan proceeds to open the trunk and Dave pops out, to the intense amusement of the people in the car behind us. We had Dave believing that he was actually caught for most of the day.

The day was spent exploring, slipping on wet rocks, climbing, sweating, stopping, climbing, etc. All in all, a very good time. The landscape of Austin is really cool – rolling hills covered in green and cactus. The view from the top of the boulders is pretty cool. After a long day of hiking, we headed back towards Austin and Dan wanted to stop at a really good BBQ place (shocker) called Coopers. We diverted to a gas station where the attendant told Dan to go to another BBQ place down the road instead because it was cheaper and better. In the end, it was cheaper but that's about it.

That evening, we watched the Wedding Crashers (a standard part of the Austin agenda) with some Toasted Head wine and Ice Cream (<-- This was very manly, I assure you). Before we went to bed, we had a conversation with Dave who was wrestling with the possibility of re-dating an old girlfriend which lasted until about 2 in the morning. He was excited about this considering he had a 6:30am flight to San Francisco. Needless to say, he missed that flight by waking up as the plane was taking off.

The following morning was spent at Church with the standard follow-up lunch at Rudy's. Rudy's is one of the quintessential Austin experiences for me because it just screams Texas. Rudy's is a chain of barbeque restaurants slash gas station (a natural combination). You order your food and the give it to you in a plastic crate. The throw a piece of wax paper in there, throw some meat on top of it, and voila, you have lunch. After proceeding to the BBQ sauce pump, you chow down at one of the wooden benches and tables.

After lunch, Paul and I headed back to Houston where, after dinner at the Galleria Mall, I returned the Mustang (sigh) at the airport. However, that was not before gassing up the car and having a scary toothless man drive his car up to my pump and asked me to spare a gallon or two of gas. This was the first time that anyone had begged for gas at a gas station. I declined his request and he proceeded to yell and curse at me but all I could notice was his lack of teeth. He drove off and I proceeded to the airport. My flight went fairly smoothly with the exception of seeing a middle-aged woman wearing an over-sized sweatshirt with black spandex shorts, and brown penny loafers. Faux-paux on so many fronts. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of her but then again, maybe not…it was just that disturbing. Perhaps the funniest part about it is that she was not only on my flight, but she was in first class sitting next to her husband with the toupee.

I arrived in El Paso for the second leg of my journey which is different from Houston. The climate out here is very dry and the Mexican influence is much more significant which is mainly due to the 2 million+ people that live in Ciudad Juarez across the border. I got to my hotel around midnight and was pleasantly surprised by the 42 in flat screen hanging on the wall of my room. Sadly, all primetime programming is on at like 6pm here so I missed it but all was well.

Monday morning, I awoke and looked at my hotel window which has a nice view of Juarez. If anyone has been to El Paso or Juarez, they would know that "nice" and "view" are two words that don't mix when it comes to the growing Mexican city. From my window, I saw an immense brown cloud of pollution hovering over the city. It was so bad that I could barely see the large mountain in Juarez. That alone made me excited to spend a day visiting suppliers Juarez. After meeting up with Carlos, our purchasing rep from Chihuahua, our first stop was a warehouse in Juarez that an El Paso supplier utilizes for distribution and logistics throughout Mexico. We followed that with a visit to a thermoformer. The thermoformer was actually decent and I was fairly impressed with their quality control procedures, especially for a Mexican supplier.

After lunching at an Applebee's in Juarez (the one time I've been thankful to see an American Chain restaurant), we finished our day in Mexico by visiting a small label manufacturer who decided it would be good to show me one thousand forms that comprised their quality program individually in broken English. That was exciting. After waiting an hour at the border crossing, we arrived back on home soil in El Paso.

The evening was spent with a sales rep for a corrugated company we are utilizing for Mexico. I wasn't sure what to expect because in conversations with this person, I have learned that she's a talker. When we arrived at the restaurant, she showed up and looked nothing like I expected her to. Picture Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady) crossed with June Cleaver and Princess Diana. Then, add a ridiculously loud blouse/shirt that screams tacky Southwest and you have her. Overall, dinner was good though and the conversation was decent.

The following morning, I once again admired (not really) the brown pollution cloud hovering over Juarez and was thankful I didn't have to go back into Mexico. We spent the morning at our customs broker reviewing their online data system and making some suggestions for improvement. After that, Carlos and I stopped by a metal stamper he had been working with. The sales guy was a bit weird (and I think a bit full of himself) but it was good to see how metal is stamped and made (notice I said good and not exciting). Before getting lunch, we met with the Houston thermoformer at his El Paso warehouse.

After lunch, we met up with a supplier I work with back east and toured their El Paso warehouse and distribution facility. Carlos left to go back to Chihuahua which left me and my suppliers to head to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that had some amazing margaritas. The large size was literally as big as my head.

The following morning, the supplier from back east and I got a ridiculously early start and drove to Tucson. The reason we left so early was because we learned that the plant we were visiting in Tucson is right down the street from the Pima Air Museum and the AMARC plane boneyard. After a 4.5 hour ride, we arrived at the airfield which was actually a pretty cool experience. Imagine a huge desert field with over 4700 planes parked in neat rows that are either utilized for spare parts or in stasis until the government needs to recall them. It's quite a cool site.

After taking a detour, we toured yet another supplier in Tucson before I headed up to Phoenix in all of its 100 degree glory.

Phoenix is hot, but it wasn't all that bad considering it was snowing back home. I met up with a sales contact from back east and we went to the Arizona Kitchen for dinner with the local plant manager. It was a small restaurant and a bit swanky if not overpriced. The corn chowder was worth noting. Also worth noting was the $350 bill which for three people and the amount of food we ate was a bit shocking but hey, it wasn't my expense account (thankfully).

The following morning was spent at the facility and we wrapped up with a Mexican lunch. The sales guy and I had some free time in the afternoon so we took a drive to Carefree, AZ and eventually to Lake Bartlett. I must say, this was a pleasant surprise – the road to the lake winded through desert mountains with more cacti than I can even fathom. It was a pretty cool landscape and it helped me definitely get a feeling for Arizona and the desert climate (minus the freakishly overcast sky).

That night, I stayed at a hotel called the Clarendon which was really awesome – I recommend it if you are staying in Phoenix. It was an old crack house that was bought an renovated in a very contemporary and funky style. I met up with a college friend, Matt Clower and went to a restaurant called FEZ with Matt's friend and another college friend, Rachel Kraines. Overall, it was a good night catching up with some long lost friends.

Friday was the most exciting part of the trip and the one that I was looking forward to the most: my first trip to the Grand Canyon. I had high expectations which tends to get me in trouble from time to time. I must say though, that the Canyon not only met my expectations, it blew them out of the water. It was on par with the Pyramids as one of the most amazing things I've ever seen and probably will ever see. The Canyon is one of those things that can inspire you to greatness by just looking at it. Upon first sight, you can't help but pause. You can only try to comprehend the vastness of it all because it goes on forever… It truly was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen and highly recommend it.

Based on the wisdom of Frommer's, I entered the park from the East via 89N to 64. This was a great move because it dumps you on the far end of the park near the Desert View WatchTower. You then take a road into the center of the park to Grand Canyon Village. The Village is where most of the people stay and commune. Basically, it's the touristy part with more people than I cared to deal with. Hermit Road extends from the Village and covers the other half of the Canyon. The nice part about this road is that no vehicles are allowed except the occasional tour bus and the tram shuttle that runs the whole length. The road itself is just over 7 miles and there is a hiking trail that runs along the rim of the Canyon. My plan was to hike out to Hermit's Rest, the end point, and then take the shuttle back to the Village. The plan was great in theory but difficult in practice. The views from the trail were stunning but the hike lasted a lot longer than planned (about 4 hours). I was so exhausted by the end of it that I bought myself a congratulatory Klondike Bar. Perhaps the most frustrating part was seeing all of the people who took the tram to the end. I loathed them in my head because they took the cheap way out but I helped my anger subside by convincing myself their trip was far less rewarding than mine.

That evening, I returned to Flagstaff and checked into my five star room at the EconoLodge before eating dinner at the Beaver St. Brewing Company. Flagstaff is a pretty interesting town. It's small but Historical Route 66 is the main street which is cool. Flagstaff wasn't a town that really excited me overall but it was a nice place to stop and visit.

The real treat came the following day when I headed down to Sedona which is by far one of the most beautiful cities in the country, I'm convinced (and I've seen a few). I've added it to the places in the country I wouldn't mind living (in addition to Colorado Springs and Austin). The road from Flagstaff to Sedona runs through the Coconino National Forest which is amazing – huge red rock mountains and canyons covered in pine trees. There were places to camp and park along the way but you had to pay to gain entrance (the only annoying park about Sedona). Upon arriving in Sedona, I noticed that they've done a good job adapting the architecture in a way that suits the town; in other words, you don't have a gaudy red McDonald's sitting in the middle of the street in a typical strip mall.

Sedona is a relatively small city surrounded by huge mountains and is really just beautiful. My first stop was Airport Mesa which is a pull-off on the way to the Sedona Airport. This pull-off has a few trail heads that lead out to these rocks that give you an unobstructed view of the city and is really amazing. While hiking out to the overlook (hiking is an overstatement), I met George, who was a religious pilgrim with a huge gray beard, but also a super-nice guy. I asked him where he was from and he said Heaven. The conversation was fairly brief but I learned, among other things, the history of digital cameras.

After having a quick bite to eat, I headed down a road that led to the Chapel of the Rock which was really amazing. This was a Chapel built into the rock face of the mountain and is triangular in shape. It's really a cool feat of architecture and apparently pretty well known. As I walked through the Chapel, I headed outside to see these Asians dressed in some meditation garb doing these strange poses and getting pictures with the mountain in the background. I kind of laughed to myself and went about my business taking pictures. I alter saw them again, but this time the guy had a sword in his hand with a bright color scarf hanging off the handle doing strange poses which really made me laugh. Apparently I wasn't the only one laughing as the security guard came running up the ramp to yell at the guy. Who would have thought that doing strange poses with a sword in your hand wouldn't have been acceptable at a sacred holy site?

From there, I went to find Schembly Hill Road which is an unpaved road that leads to these pretty impressive lookouts high over the city. Frommers warned that the road was meant for SUV's and Jeeps so I stopped at a tourist information place and the lady behind the desk asked if I had a rental car. I said yes and she laughed saying that I was good to go. I headed up this road and it was really sketchy with rocks and ruts everywhere. I was one of the only cars on it and people laughed at me as I drove by. Occasionally I would see another Malibu or Taurus driving the opposite direction and we would laugh as we passed asking if they were rental cars.

I eventually made it to the top (it took me about an hour to go 5 miles) and had some breathtaking views. I'm going to add this to the list of places I would propose (but maybe I'm getting too far ahead of myself). The only drawback was that the sun was close its peak to the view was a bit hazy, but the point got across.

It was another slow-moving six miles to go down the other side of the mountain which ironically led to an on-ramp to I-17. There it was down to Phoenix where I headed to Rachel's house for dinner before taking the red-eye home.

All in all, a great trip but tiring. It was nice because I was able to take a mini-vacation for relatively low cost. I'm glad to get home though because I've got to work on these papers I have due in a couple of weeks.