February 4, 2009

We stopped for gas after checking out of the hostel and made our way to The White Sands National Monument. We arrived at the park in the early afternoon and made a quick stop in the visitor’s center. We decided to first drive through the dunes and then find a place to get out so we could see them up close. The dunes are 8 miles of beautiful, natural white sands and so much fun to play in. We parked in the picnic area, which looked like it was directly out of Star Wars, and got out to walk around. After writing notes in the sand and taking pictures I tried to slide down the hill (there was a family there that had sleds) but that didn’t work so well. Emily sat under the shade while I did this because we didn’t have any sunscreen.




After enjoying the dunes for a few hours we were on our way to Arizona. The plan was to find a room in Tucson for the night. The funny part of that story is a few hours early I had said, “We haven’t had any trouble finding a room yet” to which Emily replied, “Great. Now you’ve jinxed us.” We get to the Econo Lodge in Tucson after having to go about five miles out of our way. It seems Arizona doesn’t believe in signs so the exit we needed was blocked off. Emily was a bit frustrated but we went into the lobby and waited our turn behind a couple that seemed to have never been to a motel before (i.e. questions about the continental breakfast). We tried to get the guys attention but he obviously could only help out one person at a time. So we waited and waited and finally when it was our turn we ask for a room. He tells us that there is a Gem Show this weekend and he just sold his last room to the couple before us. So why couldn’t he just tell us that while we were standing around like idiots? We leave even more frustrated than before and head to the Rodeway Inn down the street well they are charging $80 a night because of the Gem show. Our last resort is to call the hostel in Tucson and they are charging $35 a night instead of their usual $20 so we decide to keep driving until we get very far away from the Gem Show.

We called a Super 8 in Eloy, Arizona for the night and they were pretty reasonable. It was supposed to be right off the exit but when we arrived we could not locate it. We see a Red Roof Inn and hurry over only to find that it is closed due to reconstruction. The only other motel we see is an America’s Best Value Inn. Emily has been against these since the beginning but we figure we’re tired and this is our best bet. Emily jumps out and wouldn’t you know it, it used to be a Super8! We watched The Matrix on HBO and called it a night on the hardest bed I have ever slept on. In fact, I was pretty sure it was box springs.

Are we in San Diego yet?

This concludes our broadcast day.
Dave (with Emily’s expertise!)