11 | March | 2011 | calley drives

I left New Mexico for a jaunt next door: Arizona. Based on a recommendation from a Southwesternly-knowledgeable lady (Kate!) I took a drive a bit further north, off the interstate and through the Navajo Nation. I hadn’t wanted to dash from point A to point B, but instead I wanted to take an extended driving tour to see more of both New Mexico’s and Arizona’s awesome landscape. It was perfect. It was a quiet, two-lane drive with few cars and even fewer clouds. More time to think and more time to listen to THE BEST mixed CDs made by Liz, Rusty, Ben, Anna and Pete.

I rolled into Scottsdale, AZ later that night where Sue so graciously welcomed me into her home and adopted me to join in the girls’ retreat weekend. (SUE! YOU ARE THE BEST! THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU MAMA G!!) It was only a matter of moments before I was settled in front of the fire with wine and some absolutely lovely ladies to end the night. Sue, Paula, Trish, Betty and Martha were an amazing group of women to spend the weekend with and I feel utterly revived for the last leg of the trip. Some sun, some wine, some laundry, some sleep, some delicious food and some wonderful women truly rejuvenated this road wanderer.

Thank you ladies for allowing me to join in on the fun!

I filled the weekend with a good hike and a small spy mission to Grandma and Boppa’s old house–complete with a super sneaky peek over the back fence (the place really does exist! its not just a figment of my childhood memory or the background from a handful of early family photos). Additionally, I made my way to 25-house-garage-sale-date with Mr. James! Though James and I didn’t find any superb treasures (I did get another pair of earrings…oops), we had a wonderful encounter with the owner of Goldwater salsa, a chat about the hilarious painting she was selling of her father, former senator Barry Goldwater, plus, she sent us off with a taste test of her awesome salsa. We finished the jar with two spoons before we’d even made it out of her driveway. YUM. James and I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up, ALMOST buying an almost-meant-to-be Burberry coat at the sale, and downing several cokes on a nearby sunny patio restaurant.

Before the weekend was over, we celebrated Paula’s birthday and Sue’s birthday, had a few amazing dinners and lots of tasty wine. And then, just when we thought I was ready to go on my way…..Sue and I schemed up a little detour so that Kate and I could cross paths sooner than we anticipated….

I flew to Portland, Oregon on Sunday for a quick night with Betsy (THANK YOU BETSY CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU SOON! Say hi to Sidney!) and then met up with Kate Monday morning! We swiftly made our way down the west coast and back to Phoenix with a lovely stop in Napa Valley for a good dinner and a good sleep, well rested for a tour of Frog’s Leap Winery the next morning followed by a day-long trip down route 1 and an all night driving-fest for an early A.M. arrival back in Scottsdale!

To rewind back to the Frog’s Leap visit–this was my first ever visit to Napa Valley, not to mention my first ever visit to a winery, and my oh my, Frog’s Leap is amazing. They are doing everything right, from completely organic grapes with no imposed irrigation system, to growing fruits and veggies, raising bees and chickens, solar power, all processing/bottling happening right there, winery dog Abby to follow you around and winery cat Tara to sleep in front of the fireplace, an amazing tour from an amazing host (BOB, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!), plus a wonderful story of how the whole company got started–I want to see the ins and outs of every winery I drink from to know that they are up to par with Frog’s Leap!

So after a morning of wine-tasting, Kate and I were off down the coast for what we didn’t realize at the time would be a marathon 19-hour meander to our Arizona destination. We stopped for lots of good views along the way, headstands at sunset, snoring/grumbling/yelling elephant seals, pizza and coffee, and then powered through the night fueled by podcasts and techno and intermittent naps.