Arizona - Painted Desert, Grand Canyon, and Mario P. Gonzalez (YES!)

I've done a lot over the weekend, so this may be a bit long...After leaving New Mexico early on Friday morning, I stopped by the Petrified Forest National Park across the border in Arizona. I wasn't too impressed with the Petrified Forest (just a bunch of broken-up petrified logs). I was, however, impressed with the northern part of the Park, which was a scenic drive by the Painted Desert.

And I thought New Mexico was breathtaking.

I was stunned by some of the vistas I came upon, which sent shivers down my spine and had me yelling obscenities at their sight (which the elderly tourists around me didn't appreciate). Every time I stopped, I was amazed more and more, even though the stops could be a half-mile apart. Just freakin incredible.

I then swung over to the Grand Canyon. And again, my jaw dropped at the immensity of the scenery. Seeing these places undisturbed by mankind really makes you appreciate the beauty of the natural world. It's something you don't get back East, and let me tell y'all, you're missing out. As with New Mexico, the pics below and in the Album don't do the views justice. I highly recommend that everyone get out here sometime in their lifetime and spend a few days touring the numerous parks around here. Trust me, you will not regret it.

That evening, I drove down to Phoenix, where I stayed with an old fraternity brother, Mario P. Gonzalez (YES!). He works for Honeywell doing mathematical modeling on Aerospace-related stuff--I told him he should tell people he does government contract work that will help send people to Mars (which might or might not be a lie, but is definitely a better pick-up line). We watched the Sox beat the Yanks at happy hour, and over the weekend we went to the ASU/USC game (where I got him pretty hammered before the game), drinking with his friends at a huge bar/club called Sugar Daddy's, to a Beer/Jazz festival in Scottsdale, and then out to dinner for some good Southwestern food. Good nightlife times, although I couldn't get Mario hooked up with a girl like I promised.

I had lots of fun in Phoenix--there was an active nightlife, food was good, lots of places to go and things to do, and just like Austin, girls in skimpy clothes and fake breasts. My only beef with the area is that it's hot. Real hot. 100 degrees-is-normal hot. Apparently they break out the parkas around here at their 50-degree winters. But no place is perfect. I think I'd actually move down here if the job was right (yet another place for me to look for a job). But until then, it's off to San Diego to visit my friend Rebecca, so check out some of these pics of the Painted Desert and the Grand Canyon below and in my Photo Album, and wish me luck on the last legs of my trip!