Westward Ho! taken in Phoenix, AZ

It’s been almost one year since I took that multi-state “Vision Quest” through California and Arizona, which I now realize I never really wrote about fully.

Hmm.

Well, however untimely, here are a few conclusions from that week (in no particular order):
1. If you spend 5 hours driving across desert, you will hear that Gotye song approximately 3947299876 times. Okay, maybe not now. But if you spend 5 hours driving across desert in May 2012, you will.
2. Going to a wedding alone is more terrifying than hiking Sedona alone. This will cause you to reactivate your dormant OKCupid account upon returning home and go on a lot of bad dates – including one where you physically run away from the guy, just so you don’t have to endure the ignominy of making small talk to strangers in cocktail dresses ever again.
3. Motel rooms aren’t as glamorous-in-a-cool-way as they are in the movies.
4. There is a place in Scottsdale, AZ called the Philadelphia Sandwich Shop, mercifully open 24 hours, that will teach you humility in the face of loneliness. (Translation: You will go there upon arriving in Scottsdale after your solo hike through Sedona, just to have a taste of home.)
5. Oh, that’s where Palm Springs, CA is?

My journey started in Laguna Beach.

I then drove across many miles of desert to reach Arizona

At least I had some Kettle Corn to keep me company.

Sedona

Solo trip through the American West – CHECK!

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