Day Seven: New Mexico, Arizona & California

Day 7 miles driven: 705 miles
Day 7 time on road: 13 hours and 25 minutes

Our final day of driving would prove to be another long stretch of American road. First, we took scenic Route 60 (a two-lane desert offshoot of the old Route 66) from Albuquerque to Phoenix. Our goal was to stop in Pie Town, NM, a town totally dedicated to the idea of delicious road trip pie diners...but the town is apparently closed on Sundays. Fiddlesticks.

So we settled on an early lunch at a dirty roadside diner in Quemado, NM, where we sat one booth over from the oldest people in North America. The Mexican food was acceptable, but the art on the wall was certainly questionable.


Through the arid landscaped we trekked, eventually crossing over into the green eastern mountains (?) of Arizona. The road took us up through the winding slopes of Salt River Canyon, where we got some intense vistas of this Grand Canyon Jr... We had truly reached the American west.


We then descended into the heart of Arizona, and FINALLY met face-to-face with our first cacti of the trip. This meant that we needed to blast the air conditioning because it was, oh, 110 degrees without a cloud in sight. Unsurprisingly, Sadie was unimpressed with the dramatic change in climate.



Road trip bliss was achieved near Phoenix as we passed one of our final Food Exit signs: Waffle House, Taco Bell and In 'n Out, all together, an immaculate bouquet of fast food roses. We popped into Mesa, AZ, to visit family friend Collette before our final push towards the Golden State. One more stop for gas, and one more regrettable drive-thru dining experience later, we had crossed the Colorado River and entered California. As the sun set over the San Jacinto Mountains, we high-fived and clinked our Carl's Jr. water cups to a beautiful and epic drive from the Massachusetts bay to the California desert.


We enjoyed every minute of this trip (Well, maybe except those first two hours with the baying cat in the back seat.) - looks like we're road trip people after all. We're supremely grateful to the farms we photographed, the towns that fed us and the people who shared their homes with us. Stay tuned for more news from the western front!