What do you do when you are in a pandemic and have a three-day weekend? How about joining a family who is already on a road trip? Sounds reasonable.
Grant and I climbed on a flight Sunday morning for Phoenix where we met up with Erica and Ashley. They had rented an SUV and have been driving from San Diego to Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. With a car full of gear and a cat named Molly— they went cruising the highways in search of the notable and obscure sites.
In March, I was put into quarantine/isolation from my co-workers due to our last trip to Mexico. Since then Grant and I tried our best to be respectful of the unfolding developments with COVID-19 and adhere to the stay-at-home orders. When we found out that our neighboring state to the east—Arizona— was opening back up we decided it was time for a road trip.
Friday night we left and crossed the state line into Yuma, Arizona. With a mask in hand, we entered our favorite road trip restaurant Cracker Barrel to eat. This was the first restaurant we have dined-in in over two months so we had no idea what to expect. Like we had seen in the news tables were separated, no one was seated next to us, and the servers wore gloves and masks. What was the most unique thing about this eating experience was just the joy of everyone there. Everyone in the restaurant was just thankful to either be working or in our case— not having to cook. We chowed down and then headed out to Phoenix.
3 hours later due to construction, we made it to our hotel. Some random hotel that Grant found off Priceline that did the trick. The only problem was “our systems are down.” Tired after having driven for so long all we wanted to do was go to bed. However, the attendant that was there struggled to find a room. He didn’t take Grants ID or credit card, and after 20 minutes of talking to technical support just handed us a key to a random room. We hit the pillow and we’re out.
The next morning we went to the Phoenix Farmer’s Market. We had been to this market before and fell in love with the Chile Acre Farm’s vodka chocolate balls. Unfortunately, the booth was there, but they did not have the chocolates. People in Phoenix were so nice that instead of saying “so sorry” they gave us the recipe! So now we know how to make them whenever we want, which is even better.
For lunch, we ate at Carrabba's because Grant loves that place. After chowing down on way too much food we drove to Arizona Mills Mall. The mall itself was a mixed bag. One in three stores were open. For example, Express and Forever 21 were open, but places like Bath and Body Works and the movie theater we’re closed. There was a super interesting store called Black Market Minerals that sold masks, crystals, and other random exotic stuff. We had to wait a while, but we found some fun stuff as souvenirs. What was open and didn’t have a wait was their arcade. I ended up winning enough tickets for a stress ball so I guess that was a win? $20 for a $1 stress ball.
Somehow without even planning it, our hotel was only five minutes from this mall. Grant decided to get a stay at the Arizona Grand Hotel because it had an outdoor water park that included a wave pool, lazy river, and multiple water slides. It wasn’t the best one we have ever been to, but boy was it the best one we had been to in 2020 for sure!
After swimming, Grant decided to go for a run and so I went exploring on my own. We actually ended up at the same point after a bit so he hopped in my car. He had watched the news and they made sure to point out Oldtown Scottsdale as a place of importance so we went there. It was a charming little area with a focus on art. There were art shops everywhere and it was amazing walking around looking at it even if we did have to peek through the windows for the closed ones.
The Beverly was a cute little bar/restaurant that seemed like a perfect place for dinner. Unfortunately, Grant was not dressed for this place so we went back to the hotel and then double-backed. The food wasn’t extraordinary, but the ambiance was just what we wanted. We back to the hotel and crashed.
The next morning we got up and headed back to San Diego. We stopped in Dateland, AZ, and got a date shake. We stopped in Yuma, AZ, and got a steak. We stopped in El Centro, CA, and got kicked out... we forgot our face masks. Welcome back to Cali!
