Friday was our last day on the road, and we started with another sunrise, but this was a famous New Mexico sunrise, and it didn’t disappoint. See photo below. In fact, New Mexico didn’t disappoint. Sedona, Arizona is known for it’s red rocks, but I think the red rock of the Continental Divide was gorgeous. It continued intact across most of the state; some 300 miles.
We drove past mountains, snow covered grasslands, and made our way up to Albuquerque at around 5000 feet.
Three hours later and we neared the border of Arizona. The scenery and plants changed suddenly. A small sign on the side of the road told us what we already knew, we were in Arizona; big cheer, “yeah”! We were on the home stretch.
We turned south off I-40 and headed toward Heber. We had to stop at Heber because we had almost run out of gas! Oops. Snow covered the ground while majestic Ponderosa pines lined the road; beautiful. Silly me, the best was yet to come. A sign told trucks to switch into low gear, while another sign told us we were at 7700 feet. In 20 minutes we were at 5000 feet!
What a ride! You have to take the 277 (I think. I’m writing this in a McDonalds so I don’t have the map with me) to Payson once in your life. All of a sudden we were looking over a cliff at mountains as we raced down a steep winding road at top speed! Yeehaa! It was one of best moments in my life. I immediately wanted to go back and do it again.
After driving slowly downhill for another two hours, we finally made our destination, Tempe, Arizona. We had travelled through one province and nine states over four days to get here. We’ll be doing this in reverse in one month, and this time I’m looking forward to it.
Life with Becky 
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What a beautiful sunrise shot! 🙂
Thanks. It was with an iPod, and the van windows were really dirty, so I didn’t expect too much. I was glad to see it worked out.