I'm wondering ... does this mean I have too much time on my hands, or is it painstakingly thoughtful and meticulously wrapped?

The Botanical Garden in Phoenix

This was one of my favorite days. Just a fun vacation day. No real estate to see, no driving around for hours, just warm sunshine and walking around the desert landscape. Then off to lunch with my childhood friend.

more of the Botanical Garden

Tempe Rowing Club

Okay, so there is water in Arizona to row. At Tempe Town Lake, near Phoenix. The bad news... total distance 3K. The good news... row all year. Now I understand why out-of-town crews have such a hard time with the bridges and curves at HOCR. CRI is very lucky to have the best river to row on for 7 months out of the year.

at a gas station along the highway

Flagstaff

Getting south of the clouds and leaving that snow behind.

Map of AZ

I drove 900 miles in my little compact car rental. $65 dollars for gas. Not a bad state to travel in. Nice grids in the cities, and a straight shot north/south on the highway.

Tucson's Mt Lemmon

Descending Mt Lemmon has to be worse than the climb...

In Tucson, Mt Lemmon is a cyclists dream. Literally you climb 9,000 ft to the clouds. I envied the cyclists doing the work. There were more bikes than cars on the road that day. Tucson TV news posts biking reports. It tells you what part of the day is best to cycle.

On Highway 17 South from Flagstaff

I headed out of Flagstaff early. It was snowing and cold and it was not where I wanted to be. The warm sunshine of southern AZ was calling me. So as I left 7,000 ft and drove south, after descending 2,000 ft, the cloud line was apparent. And these were the photos I took by the side of the highway.

The first thing to go during days of unemployment is the certainty of what day it is.

My trip to Arizona. Can a dreamer catch the rainbow?

One week after I was laid-off, I traveled to Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff and back again. AZ has always been a draw for me, and now I have an opportunity to move to the sunny warm southwest from the snowy cold northeast.

Today is the day after Christmas and it's snowing here in the NE. A good day to post photos from the trip.

December 2009

These are my first weeks of blissful unemployment.