My husband and I just got back from a long weekend in Arizona. We were there for a wedding, but my ultimate goal was to see the Grand Canyon. Well, I'm sad to report we didn't make it. Things came up, yadda, yadda, yadda, and blah, blah, blah, but our concierge redeemed herself by setting us up for a day trip to Sedona.
This was my first visit to the Southwest. Phoenix was interesting, and I got to have breakfast with one of my favorite writers Tina Gerow (aka Cassie Ryan). The mountains were beautiful and I was doing okay with the dying of thirst all the time thing. They weren't kidding with the dry heat. I kept wondering how my 7-year old would handle it. He's always making all the spitting sounds that go with his invisible sword/gun/laser/webslinging/whatever. He wouldn't last five seconds before his saliva dried up. Actually, that's not a bad idea...
Anyway - the trip to Sedona was fascinating. It's amazing how much the terrain changes - from brown, desert with huge Saguaro cacti to green, hilly canyons of red rock with short, prickly pear cactus. We took the Pink Jeep off road tour of the Broken Arrow trail and it was awesome. I want that as my retirement job. We spent two hours driving over boulders and seeing some of the most beautiful terrain on the planet.
Anyway - it got me thinking about how something you don't expect can surprise you. I expected all of AZ to resemble Pahonix (I love that commercial), but I was wrong. I thought I'd be disappointed missing the GC and that I was settling for Sedona - wrong again. It turned out to be one of the most awe-inspiring trips I'd ever taken.
Afterwards we went down into town and had dinner at the Cowboy Club - a place that actors from the 40's and 50's used to frequent. We had rattlesnake, buffalo and cactus fries. Hell, I even had a margarita made from the juice of the prickly pear cactus. It was veeeeeeerrrrryy sweet. As we drove back to Scottsdale, the sun was setting over the red rock canyons and I have to say that ranks right up there with some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen (right behind my first book cover - of course.)
So, take some time out of your day to surprise yourself. Get off the beaten path. Eat some things you wouldn't normally eat. (Be sure to have the venom and needles removed first - and deep-fat frying helps.) You just may be amazed by what you find.
Leslie "The Assassin" Langtry
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10 comments:
Leslie,
Sounds like a real adventure. Hmm...is it true? Does rattle snake tastes just like chicken?
Crime Scene Christie
Sounds like you had a great trip. I have never eaten rattlesnake. I don't know if I could.
I'm so jealous!!! I miss Arizona dreadfully.
Re the Grand Canyon, by the way, pictures DO NOT do it justice.
I will try anything at least one time. I have even ate turtle and some of it does taste like chicken. Your taste change when you get older. So try everthing.
I am not sure I could get past the thought of it being snake.
Rattlesnake... that sounds horrible!! I don't think I could eat it.
I have once eaten crocodile in New Orleans, and I was surprised because it was pretty good.
That sounds a bit gross, but there is an insectarium where I live and they serve chocolate filled with insects! Never tried it and I think I never will!!
Sedona is great, isn't it? I didn't get any fried rattlesnake or prickly pear margaritas but I sure did enjoy the scenery.
By the way, when my daughter saw the GC (she was 5 at the time) her first comment was "is that real?"
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