This year, I wanted to drive to Phoenix. There is lots of history behind the road to the west, I-40 follows the historic Route 66 from Oklahoma City to LA. Let's start in western Oklahoma, at Elk City. Home to one of MANY Route 66 museums and roadside attractions along the way.
Once you leave the gently rolling hills of Oklahoma and cross into the Texas panhandle the terrain changes drastically. Completely flat to the horizon, the highway overpasses serve more than one purpose, the functional intersection between the highway and local roads, and the more important chance to look around at the scenery. Because of the incredibly flat terrain out here, there is nothing to stop the wind, and energy entrepreneurs are building massive wind farms to harness this plentiful and renewable natural resource. It's also a chance for me to practice some perspective photography. You can follow the abandoned railroad tracks straight out to the vanishing point!
Soon, you cross into New Mexico, and immediately you notice the terrain again change to reveal huge table mesas. I decided to stop and grab a mid afternoon snack.
Possibly my favorite shot of the trip. The brilliant afternoon sunshine in New Mexico.
While in Phoenix, I was anxious to take in a spring training game. This one featured the KC Royals vs. the Texas Rangers. We got seats in the front row right behind home plate. What a day! The Royals won, by the way, 9-2.
You could get up close and personal with all the players...even give Trey Hillman some advice if you wanted to! But everyone was just satisfied with the beautiful afternoon and some entertaining baseball.
On the way back home I stopped along the highway to take a shot of the rim country between Payson and Heber, AZ. This is the dividing line between the warm desert and high plateau of eastern Arizona.
I tried to capture a passing dust devil just outside Holbrook.
Finally, after about 16 hours on the road, I wanted to travel along Route 66 in Kansas. Just about 7 miles of the famous road cuts across the very southeastern corner on it's way between Missouri and Oklahoma.
